Director Spotlight: Kristin Ahrens (PA)

1. What inspired you to enter the I/DD field?

My journey started when I was 15 and joined a Youth Arc Team. The team focused on social and educational events for teens with and without disabilities. It was during my very first event with the group that I knew I had found my community. I was a DSP at 18 and, with the exception of a couple of years in retail, I have worked in the I/DD field my entire career. My plan is certainly to remain working to improve the lives of people with I/DD until my retirement.

2. Which priorities are guiding your work this year?

First, Pennsylvania began Performance-Based Contracting in 2025 as a massive change effort to improve quality, access, and clinical capacity in our I/DD services system. A top priority is sound and effective implementation of this new approach, including smooth transitions for individuals, families, providers, and supports coordinators.

Second, OBBBA changes on the Medicaid landscape will be profound. I/DD services in Pennsylvania, like most states, are primarily a Medicaid-funded program. Anticipating and planning for the impacts on Pennsylvanians with I/DD as different provisions in OBBBA take effect is top of mind.

3. What place best reflects the spirit of your state?

Let me begin by admitting my complete bias as a Philadelphian and then take a little liberty with the question. The “place” that comes to mind for me is actually a road, Germantown Avenue. Germantown Avenue runs the length of the city and passes through many neighborhoods before passing into farmland well outside of the city. George Washington marched Revolutionary soldiers down the Avenue. The Avenue hosted both a temporary White House and stops on the Underground Railroad. It passes through some of the poorest and some of the wealthiest neighborhoods in Philly. It’s commercial, it’s residential, it’s art, it’s history, it’s urban, it’s forested. It’s alive with Belgian block cobblestones transporting us back to the founding of our nation while new construction of massive apartment complexes of glass and steel grounds us solidly in 2025. The Avenue is reflective of the commonwealth in its diversity and in that Pennsylvanians are deeply rooted in our ever-present history, while charging ahead into the future by, as my boss, Governor Shapiro, says, “Getting Stuff Done.”