State I/DD agencies sit at a unique intersection — accountable to the people and families they serve, responsible for the policy and funding environment providers operate in and contending with significant external pressure from federal policy uncertainty and constrained resources. That vantage point shapes how states think about their provider partners and what they're looking for in those relationships. Beyond operational capacity, states are looking for partners whose values and practices are genuinely oriented toward people living full, self-determined lives in their communities.

This session offers a window into that state agency perspective — the federal and policy pressures bearing down on the field, the innovations states are pursuing to expand opportunity and outcomes for people, and what it demands of the organizations committed to that work. NASDDDS COO Kim Opsahl brings experience across state systems to explore that terrain, and what it looks like when values and practice are genuinely aligned around people and community.
________________________________________
ATTENDEES WILL LEAVE WITH:
•    A state agency view of the current federal policy and Medicaid landscape — what's at stake, what's uncertain, and how states are positioning themselves to protect gains for people with I/DD and their families
•    Exposure to innovations states are actively advancing in service delivery, employment, housing, and technology and what's driving those investments
•    Insight into how state agencies themselves are transforming and what that means for the partnerships and practices that will define the field's next chapter