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Tags Posts tagged with "Workforce Crisis"

Workforce Crisis

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HARRISBURG, PA — A bipartisan group of Pennsylvania lawmakers joined members of the Rehabilitation and Community Providers Association (RCPA), the Commonwealth’s largest health and human services trade association, at a press conference at the state Capitol in support of vital disability and human service programs. These programs serve millions of Pennsylvanians annually and play a transformative role in their lives.

At the March 26 press conference, RCPA and lawmakers pushed for continued funding and improved payment models, including Medicaid capitation, as well as decreasing administrative burden in the safety net system, as part of any final 2025/26 budget adopted by the General Assembly. These initiatives will help improve services and make the system work better for everyone. They also highlighted the need to invest in the workforce, ensuring strong support for licensed clinicians, direct support professionals, counselors, case managers and support/service coordinators, and peers.

Richard S. Edley, PhD, President and CEO of RCPA, spoke on behalf of members and those who rely on health and human services. Fady Sahhar, MBA, PhD, RCPA Director of Physical Disabilities & Aging, also communicated the need for Medicaid preservation and continued funding.

Richard S. Edley, PhD, President & CEO Fady Sahhar, MBA, PhD, Director of PD&A

RCPA members also raised their voices to stress the importance of not only maintaining but improving the systems in place. Speakers included Melva Fair, an RCPA Board Member and CEO of Community Living and Support Services (CLASS), and Annie Smith, Director of Early Intervention at RCPA member Strawberry Fields. Also in attendance were RCPA Board Members Susan Coyle of Chartiers Center and Gretchen Kelly of PLEA.

Melva Fair Annie Smith Susan Coyle and Gretchen Kelly

Representatives from both sides of the aisle in the House and Senate spoke in agreement with RCPA’s message, voicing continued support for vital services in Pennsylvania.

Representative Doyle Heffley Representative Joseph Hohenstein Senator Tim Kearney

Last but not least, RCPA thanks everyone who attended this year’s Capitol Day. Your support and presence made this year one of our most successful press conferences to date!

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The Senate Appropriations Committee held the 2025 Department of Human Services (DHS) Budget Hearing at the Capitol in Harrisburg on Wednesday, March 5, 2025. DHS was represented by Secretary Dr. Valerie Arkoosh and Gloria Gilligan, Director of Fiscal Management, Office of the Budget. Other DHS leadership was also present.

The Senate Appropriations Committee was equipped with questions surrounding the proposed $21B DHS budget that focused on intersects with operating critical services for vulnerable Pennsylvanians across the human services landscape. RCPA submitted questions to the House Appropriations Committee’s legislators that voiced the concerns of the membership across all policy areas.

The hearing today covered several of those questions, including:

  • The projected $2.5B dollar increase in the capitation and intersects with Medicaid unwinding in PA;
  • Impacts of potential federal Medicaid cuts on state Medicaid funding;
  • Addressing IDD waitlists and funding;
  • The ongoing funding of SNAP benefits and how the state is addressing fraud, waste, and abuse;
  • Efforts to stabilize the human services workforce infrastructure with hiring and retention funding;
  • Maternal Health Care funding;
  • The viability of funding for the PA Medicaid 1115 Waiver;
  • Childcare and early education funding, including $10M in early intervention workforce monies;
  • Concerns about the fiscal and operational risks of covering GLP-1 medications; and
  • The absence of a unified plan for the allocation and implementation of the $100M in school-based mental health funding.

View the 2025/26 Department of Human Service Blue Book for in-depth budget information. Members can watch the full hearings and read the transcripts below:

Contact your RCPA Policy Director with any questions.

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RCPA partnered with The Alliance of Community Service Providers, The Arc of Pennsylvania, MAX Association, PAR, and TPA, in a collaborative workforce study and surveyed our members to collect data on the impact of the Commonwealth’s ID/A investment. We are pleased to share the results of that study, published and released today. This report also includes information on the demographic profile of our workforce, employee benefits provided, and critical data on vacancies and retention for Direct Support Professionals who provide the lifeline for individuals and families served by our community system.

Also available is a one-page infographic highlighting key data points from the compensation report, complemented with additional facts regarding inflation and the waiting list for intellectual disability services. Examined together, these factors illustrate the continued urgency for ongoing investment to meet the needs of our ID/A community and the thousands of people who remain on a waiting list without essential services.

The associations plan to continue our joint advocacy efforts regarding the budget for the coming Pennsylvania fiscal year.

Contact Carol Ferenz, IDD Division Director, with any questions.

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Senator Carolyn Comitta and Senator Lindsey Williams shared the following message with all Senate members. You may want to contact your local legislator requesting their support.

Posted: January 6, 2025, 12:56 pm
From: Senator Carolyn T. Comitta and Sen. Lindsey M. Williams
To: All Senate members
Subject: ID/A Market Index for DSP Services

Making our government more efficient and effective often means innovating ways to more closely align bureaucratic processes with best practice solutions. Pennsylvania’s method of compensating our invaluable Direct Support Professionals (DSPs) is one such opportunity. Over 55,000 Pennsylvanians with intellectual disabilities and autism need some assistance during the day to reach their highest level of independence and opportunity. These people and their families rely upon our committed DSPs to support some of the most personal tasks and make sure they live safely while engaging in the community. Often, our DSPs become like family to their clients.

Sadly, if you looked at the pay DSPs receive in Pennsylvania you would not know how critical they are to those who need their services. Despite best efforts, too many great staff leave the profession due to necessity in order to support themselves and their families. This often leads to a very high staff turnover rate even amongst our best providers, which has a negative effect on their clients.

Regulation requires a three-year refresh of market-based data in order to adopt a fee schedule, but there is no requirement for Pennsylvania to change rates at all – no matter what happens to inflation. Under this process, rates are already a year behind by the time they become effective. Last year’s rate increase was 3-4% below actual inflation, without any guarantee of correction for at least 3 years. For many providers, annual increases to health insurance, worker’s compensation, liability and other factors far exceed the available funds.

To help stabilize this workforce and provide better care for individuals with intellectual disabilities and autism, Senator Lindsey Williams and I will soon introduce legislation to amend the Human Services Code requiring that rates annually be set based on a national market consumer index. The adoption of a nationally recognized market index will help provide stability to this system and also support the hard-working DSPs that are essential to the delivery of services for Pennsylvanians with intellectual disabilities and autism. This legislation was SB684 and a companion to Rep. Miller’s HB661 in the 2023-24 session.

We hope you will join us in cosponsoring this important legislation.

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The Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs (DDAP) announced a joint initiative with Carlow and Waynesburg Universities to address the shortage of qualified addiction professionals within Pennsylvania’s behavioral health workforce.

Funded by DDAP, this pilot program will focus on the recruitment and retention of behavioral health professionals by providing financial assistance for participating students’ educational expenses. At its core, this initiative is designed to strengthen the substance use disorder (SUD) workforce pipeline by financially supporting master’s-level students at Carlow and Waynesburg Universities. Through the DDAP funding, both universities will offer tuition assistance, a stipend during the students’ practicum/internship with a community-based treatment provider, and additional SUD-related training offered by DDAP for students who qualify under each university’s respective programs.

Read the full press release.

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