Join the disability community in a call-in day on
Tuesday, August 4th, to urge the Senate to include funding for home and community-based services (HCBS) in the coronavirus relief bill being negotiated. We’ll have the latest updates available on our
Facebook event and encourage everyone to please RSVP and spread the word! We need to make our voices heard NOW. Contact your Senators to tell them
#WhatWeNeed is
#HCBS funding!
HCBS funding is crucial to help people with disabilities and older adults stay safe in their own homes and out of nursing homes and other congregate settings that are being ravaged by COVID19. The Senate introduced a coronavirus relief package, the HEALS Act, last week but it has no funding for HCBS! The House included dedicated funding for HCBS in the HEROES Act (H.R. 6800) passed in May, and the Senate must do the same (with a clarification that all HCBS, including community mental health services, are included).
Even if you’ve called or emailed before, or shared your HCBS story on social media, we need you to contact your Senators again. It’s urgent that they hear from as many of us as possible, as soon as possible to get dedicated HCBS funding included in the final bill.
Contact your Senators today! More on our efforts to make sure the needs of the disability community are met during the COVID-19 pandemic can be found on our
advocacy page. For more information on HCBS and why dedicated funding is so critical right now, check out our
fact sheet.
Contact your Senators
- Email: We’ve put together a portal you can use to email and tweet your Senators directly here using our email script. Please also consider emailing and tweeting Senate leadership and the leadership of the Senate Finance Committee using the information provided below.
- Call: Call the Capitol Switchboard at: (202) 224-3121 (voice) or (202) 224-3091(tty) and ask to be connected to your Senators.
- Social Media: In addition to using our portal to tweet your Senators you can use this tool to easily tweet your Senators, Senate leadership, or the leadership of the Senate Finance Committee using our sample tweets, below. This easy tool can also be used to find your Senators’ contact information, including links to their Facebook and Twitter.
Call Script
Easy Call Script:
Hello, this is [Name]. I’m a resident of [Town, State].
I am calling to ask [Senator’s Name] to make sure that the Senate’s COVID-19 relief bill includes dedicated funding for home and community-based services (HCBS) — including for community mental health services and HCBS waivers — to help the millions of people in this country with disabilities, who are among those most impacted by the pandemic. Dedicated HCBS funding is desperately needed to help people with disabilities and older adults remain safely in their homes rather than being forced in nursing homes and other congregate settings, where infections and deaths from COVID-19 are rampant.
The House included dedicated funding for HCBS in the HEROES Act (H.R. 6800), and the Senate must do the same in the HEALS Act. The need for HCBS funding is more urgent now than ever, with major outbreaks of COVID-19 in nursing homes and other congregate settings in the country. I ask you to convey the critical importance of dedicated HCBS funding to Senate leadership.
[IF LEAVING A VOICEMAIL: please leave your full street address and zip code to ensure your call is tallied]
Email Script
Easy Email Script:
Hello, this is [Name]. I’m a resident of [Town, State].
I am writing to ask [Senator’s Name] to make sure that the Senate’s COVID-19 relief bill includes dedicated funding for home and community-based services (HCBS) — including for community mental health services and HCBS waivers — to help the millions of people in this country with disabilities, who are among those most impacted by the pandemic. Dedicated HCBS funding is desperately needed to help people with disabilities and older adults remain safely in their homes rather than being forced in nursing homes and other congregate settings, where infections and deaths from COVID-19 are rampant.
The House included dedicated funding for HCBS in the HEROES Act (H.R. 6800), and the Senate must do the same in the HEALS Act. The need for HCBS funding is more urgent now than ever, with major outbreaks of COVID-19 in nursing homes and other congregate settings in the country. I ask you to convey the critical importance of dedicated HCBS funding to Senate leadership.
[Please leave your full street address and zip code to ensure your email is tallied]
Sample Tweets
Sample Tweets:
[Your Senator’s Twitter Handle] #WhatWeNeed is dedicated #HCBS funding in the HEALS Act so people with disabilities can access the services they need safely at home, not in institutions with severe #COVID19 outbreaks.
[Your Senator’s Twitter Handle] #WhatWeNeed is dedicated #HCBS funding. HCBS gives me the power to [your story here]
Senators from the following states are on the Finance Committee:
CO, DE, IA, ID, IN, KS, NY, LA, MD, MI, MT, NC, NE, NH, NJ, NV, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TX, VA, WA, WY
HCBS stories from these states are particularly helpful, so please spread the word!
Please also consider contacting Senate leadership and Senate Finance Committee leadership as well. Those members are:
Senate Leadership:
Senate Finance Committee Leadership:
Leadership Call Script
Easy Call Script:
Hello, this is [Name]. I’m a resident of [Town, State].
I am calling to ask [Senator’s Name] to make sure that the Senate’s COVID-19 relief bill includes dedicated funding for home and community-based (HCBS)
— including for community mental health services and HCBS waivers — to help the millions of people in this country with disabilities, who are among those most impacted by the pandemic. Dedicated HCBS funding is desperately needed to help people with disabilities and older adults remain safely in their homes rather than being forced in nursing homes and other congregate settings, where infections and deaths from COVID-19 are rampant.
The House included dedicated funding for HCBS in the HEROES Act (H.R. 6800), and it is critical that the Senate do the same in the HEALS Act. The need for HCBS funding is more urgent now than ever, with major outbreaks of COVID-19 in nursing homes and other congregate settings in the country. I ask you to work with your colleagues to ensure this critical funding is included.
Thank you!
[IF LEAVING A VOICEMAIL: please leave your full street address and zip code to ensure your call is tallied]
Leadership Email Script
Easy Email Script:
Hello, this is [Name]. I’m a resident of [Town, State].
I am calling to ask [Senator’s Name] to make sure that the Senate’s COVID-19 relief bill includes dedicated funding for home and community-based (HCBS)
— including for community mental health services and HCBS waivers — to help the millions of people in this country with disabilities, who are among those most impacted by the pandemic. Dedicated HCBS funding is desperately needed to help people with disabilities and older adults remain safely in their homes rather than being forced in nursing homes and other congregate settings, where infections and deaths from COVID-19 are rampant.
The House included dedicated funding for HCBS in the HEROES Act (H.R. 6800), and it is critical that the Senate do the same in the HEALS Act. The need for HCBS funding is more urgent now than ever, with major outbreaks of COVID-19 in nursing homes and other congregate settings in the country. I ask you to work with your colleagues to ensure this critical funding is included.
Thank you!
[Please leave your full street address and zip code to ensure your email is tallied]
Sample Tweets
Sample Tweets:
[Senator’s Twitter Handle] #WhatWeNeed is dedicated #HCBS funding in the HEALS Act so people with disabilities can access the services they need safely at home, not in institutions with severe #COVID19 outbreaks.
[Senator’s Twitter Handle] #WhatWeNeed is dedicated #HCBS funding. HCBS gives me the power to [your story here]
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