Support Coordinators as a Marginalized Population: The Need for Inclusive Research

Abstract

Through the lens of the inclusive research framework, this paper illuminates the marginalization of support coordinators (SC) who work specifically with people who experience intellectual and developmental distinctions (IDD) and are enrolled in the Medicaid home and community-based service system (HCBS). This marginalization exists within both academic literature and the operational frameworks of home and community-based services. Despite their integral role in supporting the needs of the IDD population in all states where the Medicaid HCBS system is operated, support coordinators are conspicuously absent as both participants and researchers in the existing body of scholarly work. This paper explores the lack of representation and voice of the SC, advancing the argument that as scholar practitioners, not only are SC’s positionally best suited to explore the impact of the HCBS system, their exclusion not only undermines the holistic understanding of case management as an intervention but also perpetuates a gap in the effective implementation of home and community-based services. The research underscores the necessity of inclusive practices that incorporate the perspectives and expertise of support coordinators, thereby enabling a more comprehensive and equitable discourse within the academic and service delivery spheres.