Families caring for Guam’s most vulnerable are on edge after Catholic Social Services announced it will no longer provide respite and in-home care after September 30. But acting DISID director Reuel Drilon says families will not lose services as care transitions to the agency’s own program.

When CSS notified families last week that in-home care would end at the end of the month, panic set in. Families feared being left without the critical support they rely on daily. Senator Shelly Calvo, who chairs the Legislative Committee on Disability Services, fired-off a letter to the Department of Integrated Services for Individuals with Disabilities, demanding answers about the short notice, the decision to drop CSS, and what options exist for families.

The freshman senator wrote, “This eleventh-hour notification has created significant anxiety for families. Respite and in-home care services are not optional conveniences, they are essential to daily living for many residents, and there are very few alternatives on island. If these services disappear, the impact on families will be catastrophic”

But acting DISID director Drilon says the change is not a crisis — it’s a transition. "None of the clients will lose services. They are all DISID clients and will now be transitioned to the DISID in-home care program," he explained. Drilon also said that unlike the CSS program, which capped services to 35 clients with only 16 hours per month, DISID’s in-home care program offers more flexibility, adding “our program provides additional service hours based on need, and it’s more cost-effective.”

As for the short notice, Drilon said it was CSS, not DISID, that notified families just nine days before the contract expired. He added that transition work is already underway. Drilon says, "Despite the short notice from CSS, DISID immediately began transitioning clients to ensure there will be no gap in services.”

And while Senator Calvo questioned why this wasn’t raised during budget talks, Drilon insists funding was not the issue. He said “Funding was not an issue. In fact, this transition gives families more service hours in a more cost-effective way.”

For now, families wait to see if the promises of continuity match the reality on October 1.