To: Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen, Steve Corsi, CEO of Health and Human Services (DHHS), and Tony Green, Director, Division of Developmental Disabilities.

We, the undersigned families, advocates, and concerned citizens of Nebraska, call on the State to immediately Pause, Rollback, and Fix or Replace the current interRAI assessment process being used to determine services for individuals with developmental disabilities.

For months, families across our state have reported that this new assessment system is producing illogical and unsafe outcomes - deeming individuals with severe and profound disabilities capable of self-care or reducing their funding despite no documented change in their needs. The tool being used was originally designed for geriatric populations and has not been validated for Nebraska’s developmental disability community.

Our Demand: 

We are opposed to an inaccurate and biased system. Government decisions that impact the housing, safety, and quality of life of our most vulnerable citizens must be based on proven, accurate, and transparent data. The State has failed to demonstrate that this tool is valid for this population, yet it continues to move forward with life-altering funding reductions.

We are not opposed to accountability or modernizing systems; Nebraskans deserve a system that is accurate, unbiased and transparent. 

The burden of proof belongs to the government, not to vulnerable families.

Therefore, we demand that the State of Nebraska:

PAUSE: Immediately stop all interRAI assessments until it can be determined that the State delivered assessments are valid. 

ROLLBACK: Restore all previously assessed individuals to their previous level of care and funding levels pending the introduction of a validated assessment tool.  Individuals who may have had an increase in funding should be provided options individually.

FIX OR REPLACE: Initiate an independent, transparent review of the assessment system, involving families, clinicians, and disability experts, to either correct the existing flaws within the interRAI system or replace the tool with one specifically validated for the developmental disability population.  Nebraskans deserve a system that is accurate, safe, and worthy of our trust.