Joint Appropriations Committee tour

Members of the WY state legislature visited CES' Riverton facilities last week

Shawn Griffin, CEO of CES gave members of the Joint Appropriation's Committee a tour of our facilities in Riverton, WY.

It's easy to overlook the significance of a line item in the sprawling State Budget and miss the forest for the trees. In this case, it's the impact on individual lives for better or worse by what the State decides to reimburse non-profit organizations for services rendered to WY citizens who have developmental, intellectual disabilities or acquired brain injuries.

Last week, members of the Joint Appropriations Committee, LSO staff and two CEOs of allied nonprofits who serve adults with disabilities in other Wyoming cities joined Shawn Griffin, CEO of Community Entry Services for a tour of our Riverton campus as well as a historical overview of the history of the work we have done on behalf of our clients over the past 50 years.

Shawn brought them on a tour both physical and historical as he laid out the history of how Wyoming has cared for our friends, neighbors and family members with disabilities or acquired brain injuries... how the funding for Medicaid and the IDD Waiver works in practice and how a small change to the formula for reimbursement of services already rendered could go a long way to helping shore up the entire healthcare sector, especially in the lives of thousands of Direct Service Professionals who provide direct, hands on service to some 3500 adults with disabilities state wide.

Rep. Trey Sherwood, Senators Tim Salazar and Tim French and Rep. Abby Angelos spent time meeting with individual clients at our Rocky Mountain ReEntry Services facility in Riverton.

Many of our state Representatives and Senators have personal experience with people on the "IDD waiver" program so their deliberations on how to fund this line item isn't as theoretical as it might seem. For others this visit was an eye opening experience of how we do what we do for people ages 21 to 80+ who often require round the clock care by a small team of professionals on rotating shifts 24/7/365.

Abe, one of our adults with acquired brain injuries has made remarkable progress in recovery - now able to walk and do some basic gardening. Here with State Senator Dan Larson. Todd Wright, Director of the Rocky Mountain ReEntry Services facility for acquired brain injury clients explained the challenges of caring for clients 24/7. Senator Tim Salazar and Representative John Bear took great interest in the details of our program, the lives of our clients and the challenges facing our Direct Service Professionals.

In an era of budget cuts, knowing which line item to defend is essential to helping keep Wyoming a place where all citizens can live with dignity and security despite developmental, intellectual disabilities, or acquired brain injuries.

We are grateful to our State Representatives and Senators, the LSO and allied organizations for their visit and time with us and our clients.

To encourage our State Representatives and Senators to fund these services, see their contact info at https://www.wyoleg.gov/Committees/2025/J02

For more information on where we support adults with disabilities and acquired brain injuries, see: https://www.ces-usa.org/locations