Nonprofit providers serving people with developmental disabilities through New York's Office for People With Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) will get a 2.7% targeted inflationary increase, effective April 1, 2026. The increase is in the state's fiscal 2027 budget, which lawmakers passed almost two months late and Gov. Kathy Hochul signed on May 28, 2026.
OPWDD Commissioner Willow Baer outlined the budget in a June 9, 2026 letter, and the Cerebral Palsy Associations of New York State summarized it on May 29.
The 2.7% increase
According to OPWDD, the increase applies to voluntary-operated providers and is meant to help them manage rising operating costs and offer more competitive wages. It is the amount advocates requested. Hochul first proposed 1.7%, and both legislative houses had backed 4% in their one-house budgets, according to the Cerebral Palsy Associations.
The association said this year's increase carries none of the spending restrictions the Legislature imposed in 2024, so providers decide how to use it. Care coordination organizations are again left out. OPWDD said the state has invested almost $5 billion since 2022 to help nonprofit providers with costs and wages, including $850 million in fiscal 2025.
Other OPWDD items
The budget invests nearly $380 million in new resources and brings state OPWDD spending to more than $7.9 billion, according to OPWDD. It includes:
- $30 million in fiscal 2027 ($60 million annualized) for new service opportunities
- a 5% family care rate increase
- $15 million to develop independent living housing
- $5 million for an assistive technology innovation center
- $39.3 million in state funds for minimum wage increases at OPWDD-licensed programs, according to the Cerebral Palsy Associations
Why this matters for providers and DSPs
The increase gives New York agencies room to raise wages as federal Medicaid cuts approach. Because it carries no spending restrictions this year, providers will decide how much goes to DSP pay.