North Carolina budget boosts Medicaid and staff pay for disabled childcare

Families of children with disabilities in North Carolina face long waitlists, high costs and a shortage of trained childcare providers. Many providers can legally turn away children with disabilities, leaving parents to reduce work hours or leave the workforce entirely.

State Representative Zack Hawkins, a father of two autistic sons, co‑chairs the General Assembly’s Intellectual and Developmental Disability caucus. In the latest state budget, lawmakers allocated $21.3 million annually to raise pay for direct‑support professionals and $70.8 million to expand Medicaid funding for community‑based and in‑home services that help families avoid institutionalization. Hawkins says the new funding will allow the next legislative session to address the broader childcare gap for children with intellectual and developmental disabilities.