UnlockGA Works to Improve Services and Supports for Georgians with Disabilities
UnlockGA is a group of people and organizations working together to make Home and 
Community-Based Services (HCBS) easier to get for people with disabilities and their families. The group looks for problems in the system and pushes for changes that help people who need these services live better lives.
HCBS, or Home and Community-Based Services, are personalized services provided in a person's home or community instead of an institution.
UnlockGA recently completed its strategic plan on ways to advance and protect HCBS in Georgia. The group worked with its members from across the state to help identify the priorities for 2026. Caitlin Bailey, project lead for UnlockGA, and Pat Nobbie, an UnlockGA member and former deputy director of the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities, said they gathered information by:
- Collecting stories from individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) and their families,
- Building a group of leaders and advocates to protect and advance HCBS in Georgia, and
- Working with agencies across Georgia to share resources and partner in advocacy.
“To meet these goals, we have been reaching out to the organizations, individuals, and providers in the community to reconnect them to the UnlockGA effort,” said Bailey and Nobbie. “This fall, we are recruiting and hiring UnlockGA Ambassadors. These will be people with I/DD who represent the six regions in Georgia and can connect people in their regions with the work of UnlockGA.”
Reducing the Waiting Lists for Services
The work of UnlockGA continues the advocacy work that Unlock started before.. One of the biggest goals for UnlockGA and similar advocacy groups is to reduce the NOW/COMP waivers waiting list. This has been an issue for a long time, and more work is still needed.
“The waiting list currently numbers around 8,000 individuals, and the Unlock movement has been working on reducing these numbers for over 20 years,” said Bailey and Nobbie. “You could say that UnlockGA is Unlock 3.0. The number of people needing waiver services and supports is substantial, so the effort to bring attention to the issue is critical.”
UnlockGA works to get additional funding for the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities to make sure people with disabilities can get the services and supports they need.
This includes making sure that people who get waiver services have good options and can choose the supports that work best for them. Support choices should follow the HCBS Settings Rule. This rule says people should be able to live, work, and take part in their communities just like everyone else in these areas:
- Community integration
- Making your own choices
- Privacy and respect
- Freedom of choice
- Person-centered planning
- Access to community life
- Access to food and visitors
Building the Direct Support Professionals Workforce
Another priority for UnlockGA is to make sure there are enough Direct Support Professionals (DSPs). DPSs care for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD). Right now, there aren’t enough DSPs. This is because many leave their jobs due to low pay, long hours, and tough working conditions. Bailey and Nobbie found that increasing pay and improving working conditions can help keep DSPs in their jobs and reduce the waiting list for NOW and COMP waivers.
"We need to help more people get off the waiting list and get the services they need. But to do that, we need enough workers to help them," Bailey and Nobbie explained. "These two things work together. That's why UnlockGA works with people with disabilities, families, and service providers to ask for more funding. Without enough workers, people cannot safely get the help they need in their communities."
UnlockGA is connecting with organizations that support DSPs and other caregivers. These organizations include the Domestic Workers Alliance, Caring Across Generations, and the Georgia DSP Council. Each of these organizations has a representative who serves as a member of UnlockGA.
Even though Medicaid funding is at risk, UnlockGA will keep working to help Georgians with I/DD get the services they need. The group is creating easy-to-understand infographics to explain the changes and what people can do to keep their benefits. UnlockGA believes that by working together and supporting one another, communities can create positive change for people with I/DD.
Learn more about UnlockGA: https://unlockgeorgia.org/
The Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities supports UnlockGA through its HCBS Stronger Together Coalition initiative with the National Leadership Consortium. The project aims to build on the success of the Unlock Coalition by using a collective impact approach to expand and strengthen home and community-based services (HCBS) in Georgia.