Behind the Care: Families, Employment & the Hidden Cost of Possible Budget Cuts

Every November, when National Family Caregivers Month rolls around, I feel a familiar tug in my heart. It’s a mix of gratitude, exhaustion, pride, and—if I’m honest—a little worry about what lies ahead.

Because caregiving isn’t abstract for us.
It’s daily. It’s personal.
It’s the rhythm of our home.

As many of you know, my daughter Mikelle and I have walked this journey together for decades. She brings joy, sass, style, organization, entrepreneurship, and a fierce sense of independence to everything she does—whether she’s selling bracelets, running her podcast, directing her team, or organizing our social calendar better than I ever could.

And behind the scenes, like so many families, we knit together a life filled with opportunity, employment, inclusion, and stability.
We build it one schedule, one support worker, one Medicaid renewal, and one cup of morning coffee at a time.

But we don’t do it alone.
Across the United States, more than 63 million caregivers show up every day to support a loved one. Here in Colorado, there are 600,000 of us, providing 560 million hours of unpaid care each year—a contribution valued at $11.2 billion.

Most days, it feels like both a privilege and a full-time job rolled into one seamless motion.

When Budget Cuts Hit Home

This year, though, something feels different.
Heavier.

Colorado’s proposed budget cuts don’t just land on spreadsheets—they land on families like ours.

Community Connector Cuts

Community Connector services—which help young people and adults engage safely in their community—are facing more than $5 million in reductions. These aren’t “nice-to-haves.” They’re the supports that help people like Mikelle practice independence, try new activities, and stay connected.

Family Provider Rate Reductions in the DD Waiver

The state is also aligning family caregiver payments in the DD waiver with host home rates—meaning up to 10% cuts for the families who provide round-the-clock care.

A 10% cut may seem small until you’re the one filling out forms at midnight, rearranging schedules, covering last-minute staff call-offs, managing medical needs, or paying for supports out of pocket because someone has to keep things moving.

For aging caregivers—many in their 60s, 70s, and 80s—these cuts don’t just trim budgets; they shake the foundations of stability we have spent decades building.

I know the feeling.
I feel it in my own bones.

What We’re Hearing Through the Back Office

We recently ran a Back Office survey to understand what families and direct support teams are experiencing right now. Their messages echo the quiet thoughts caregivers whisper to themselves after a long day:

• “I’m tired, but I can’t stop.”

• “I need support, but I don’t know where it will come from.”

• “I worry what will happen after I’m gone.”

• “I want to keep my loved one working and thriving, but I need a team I can count on.”

These aren’t statistics.
They’re realities.

They’re lived experiences that families like ours carry while also trying to make life richer, fuller, meaningful, and—when we can—beautiful.

Employment, Independence & the Power of Showing Up

One of the things that saves us—over and over again—is purpose.
For Mikelle, that purpose is employment: selling bracelets, hosting her podcast, engaging with her listeners, and finding new ways to shape her business. Work is more than money; it’s identity, connection, and contribution.

But supported employment doesn’t happen in a vacuum.
It happens because caregivers—family and paid—hold the system together long enough for opportunities to take root.

When caregiver support diminishes, employment outcomes diminish.
When families are stretched thin, inclusion wobbles.
When budgets shrink, futures shrink too.

Why This Conversation Matters

In this month’s podcast, Cary Griffin joins us to talk about the evolving landscape of customized employment and the realities facing families right now. It’s not a conversation about fear—it’s a conversation about strategy, creativity, and hope.

We invite listeners to look beyond the numbers and into the lives behind them.

Families like ours.
Caregivers like you.
Communities like the one we’re building together through The Shining Beautiful Series.

A Call for Compassion—and Action

This month, I hope you’ll take a moment to honor the caregivers in your life: the parents, spouses, siblings, friends, neighbors, and team members who show up with full hearts and steady hands.

And I hope our policymakers take a moment to hear us, too.

Because every budget decision echoes in real homes.
In real families.
In lives full of hopes and dreams—just like Mikelle’s.

As always, we choose to move forward with courage, creativity, and community. Because that’s what caregivers do.

We… keep showing up.
And that, in itself, is a shining, beautiful thing because caregivers keep the lights on, stabilize lives, and their voices deserve to be heard.  Loud and proud and with respect for the essential role they play.