EXCLUSIVE: Roman Empire Agency's Gabriela Salcido on Why Immigrant Fear Is Disrupting Disability Care Access

After more than two decades in developmental disability services, Gabriela Salcido says the current national climate is reshaping how some families interact with care providers, and not for the better. In fact, amid expanded immigration enforcement operations across the country, she says some families are avoiding or canceling disability services altogether.

"Immigrant families are under the radar and if they were receiving services before, they're almost like they don't want it now," she tells The Latin Times. "They don't want to be in anyone's system."

Salcido is the founder and owner of Roman Empire Agency, a multi-state provider of services for people with developmental disabilities that she launched in 2010 with her husband after working as a case manager in California's regional center system. In 15 years the organization has grown from a single client to serving more than 1,000 people nationwide, with roughly 1,000 employees providing behavioral therapy, living support, and employment services for children and adults.

"We service clients from the ages of two all the way to 80 years old," she says, adding that operations have expanded beyond California into several other states and with additional credentialing in progress.

Her entry into the field was not originally driven by vocation. "I started out as a case worker for the regional center right after college," she says. "I didn't really know what I was getting myself into. Through the years of working for the state, I fell in love with the field."

One of the organization's most visible expansions in the last couple of years has, however, not happened in clinics or homes. It has happened in sports stadiums, of all places.

"It was very successful. It was very exciting," Salcido says, describing recent partnerships with the Arizona Cardinals, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Sun Devil Athletics to build and staff sensory rooms at major sports venues. Sensory rooms are dedicated spaces designed for people with autism and other sensory processing sensitivities who can become overwhelmed by noise, lights, and crowd stimulation.

The rooms offer quieter, controlled environments and are staffed with trained behavioral health personnel so families can attend games with on-site support. For many, she adds, that support makes the difference between staying home and being able to participate in public events.

"It was our first time doing the sensory room. It was a huge success," Salcido says. "A lot of feedback was that they — the families — were just so grateful that for the first time they were able to bring their child with sensory issues to a game for the first time."

Even as awareness and inclusion tools have grown since the agency was funded, Salcido says participation among some families has grown more fragile during the last couple of years. She describes a rise in cancellations and hesitation, especially among immigrant households worried about visibility.

"A lot has changed," Salcido says. "There's definitely more awareness, but there are so many people that are immigrants that are now afraid to get help." Some clients have stopped hiring services altogether. "They're just honestly afraid."

Salcido says the broader demand for developmental services is already high — and likely higher than official figures suggest. "One in 32 children get diagnosed with autism, one in 45 adults," she says. But she believes those numbers may undercount immigrant communities avoiding formal evaluation. "Maybe that number would be more. We just don't know because they're afraid to get diagnosed."

Operational pressures add another layer — one largely invisible to families but critical to whether services are available at all. Salcido says the sector is facing a staffing bottleneck driven by uneven reimbursement between state funding and private insurance. California has raised some state rates, she notes, but insurance rates for similar services have not kept pace.

"If I have a worker that is going to provide a service, they're going to provide the service for the highest paying company," she says. "Getting clients is not the problem. The problem is being able to staff the client." She describes wait lists stretching years in some cases and says stricter credentialing requirements have further tightened the labor pool. "We're dealing with a crisis situation," she says.

Salcido ties her leadership approach closely to her background. She was brought to the United States from Mexico at age one and grew up in a low-income household in South Los Angeles. She became the first in her family to attend college, later earning advanced degrees in law, education, and applied behavior analysis.

"I'm very humble. I came from a poor family. I'm able to connect with a lot of the families out there," she says. "Nothing was given to me. I had to work very hard to be where I'm at." Bilingualism, she added, helps build trust and widen reach, while cultural fluency shapes staff training — including instruction on formal Spanish usage and cultural customs when working with different communities.

She regularly frames her own trajectory as proof of mobility through persistence. "When there's a will there's a way," she says. "The American dream is very possible."

Looking ahead, Salcido says one of her goals is to eventually engage with lawmakers on reimbursement and access policy. Any push, she says, would need to be collective. "It has to be very well planned out, a group effort of certain organizations getting together," she says. "I think that we can make a difference."

In the meantime, she says the agency will continue offering stopgap education where formal services are unavailable, including group trainings for parents who cannot qualify for coverage. "At least you're starting to get some pointers," she says. "Someone can just join in and be able to receive some service for their child."

For Salcido, the core principle hasn't changed: early support changes outcomes — but only if families feel safe enough to accept it.