Nation’s Disability Services at Breaking Point, Report Finds
Workforce Crisis
Call to Action: Contact Governor Shapiro to Fund IDD Services
RCPA has partnered with other organizations representing intellectual disability and/or autism (ID/A) providers to send a letter to Governor Josh Shapiro asking him to invest an additional $430 million for IDD services in the 2023/24 state budget proposal. Governor Shapiro needs to hear from providers, families, individuals, and advocates for the IDD system that we are in critical need of this additional funding. This investment would enable providers to improve the wages for the Direct Support Professionals (DSPs) who provide care to individuals with ID/A. Improving wages will help to ensure services are available to the individuals and families who rely on these services.
Currently, thousands of Pennsylvanians with ID/A are not receiving the supports they are entitled to through Medicaid, and those individuals who are currently receiving services are in danger of losing them. The current rate system does not support the ever rising costs of providing services and paying the DSPs a wage that is reflective of their duties. Our workforce is not sufficient to meet the needs of everyone who requires care.
The additional investment into the Home and Community-Based Services rates will enable providers to give their DSPs a raise and a better starting wage to compete with other employers.
Please reach out to our Governor and ask for his support today! You can reach Governor Shapiro via this online form.
DDAP Surveying Providers on Workforce Issues
The Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs (DDAP) is seeking provider input for a brief workforce survey. DDAP is interested in hearing providers’ perspective on which jobs and positions are in short supply or understaffed, the challenges providers face, attempts to address them, and solutions that DDAP should consider. Responses will help inform DDAP’s regulatory reform efforts.
The survey can be taken here.
HRSA Workforce Expansion Funding Notice
Black Women and the Struggle of Health Care Access
Staffing Crisis Hits Organizations Caring for People With Intellectual Disabilities in Chester County
ID/A Associations Develop Unified Budget Ask
RCPA has partnered with several other ID/A associations to develop a unified budget ask to send to Governor Shapiro. RCPA, The Provider’s Alliance, The Arc of PA, PAR, MAX, and The Alliance sent a letter asking the governor to include $430 million in the 2023/24 state general fund budget proposal to significantly improve the wage rates for the Direct Support Professionals (DSPs) who provide care to individuals with ID/A. This funding, along with its federal match, is crucial because the ID/A system is in crisis. Nearly 60,000 Pennsylvanians with ID/A are at risk of losing or experiencing a reduction of essential services because there are not enough DSPs to care for them. The letter outlines several specific challenges in the ID/A system.
The letter was also sent to Dana Fritz, Chief of Staff; Lindsey Mauldin, Deputy Chief of Staff; The Honorable Uri Monson, Secretary of the Budget; The Honorable Akbar Hossain, Secretary of Policy and Planning; The Honorable Mike Vereb, Secretary of Legislative Affairs; and The Honorable Valerie Arkoosh, Secretary, Department of Human Services.
Free RCPA Member Training on Feb. 28: Moral Injury — Distress, Reframing, and Repair
Workers Who Serve People With Disabilities Must Earn More: Letter to the Editor by RCPA President/CEO Richard Edley
Workers Who Serve People With Disabilities Must Earn More
By Richard Edley, RCPA President/CEO
Read the print version in the Harrisburg Patriot-News, January 19, 2023
Providers who care for individuals with intellectual disabilities and autism (ID/A) are being pummeled by a workforce shortage driven by low wages and high vacancy and turnover rates.
RCPA partnered with The Arc of Pennsylvania and The Provider Alliance to have the Center for Healthcare Solutions examine the state’s ID/A workforce. The survey evaluated critical data on pay practices, hourly wages, scheduled positions, filled positions and separations for more than 9,000 employees representing 40 positions in 52 organizations.
The findings are stark.
Wages for direct support professionals who help ID/A children and adults with their basic daily living needs average $16.61 per hour, less than some fast-food restaurants. The turnover rate for DSPs is 38%, with providers reporting a vacancy rate of 28%. The numbers are similar for other residential and program supervisors.
The study also found that 14% of all DSP hours are paid at an overtime rate, and 41% of providers are now engaged in a more costly practice of contracting for staffing services to manage the workforce shortage.
Because human services like ID/A are funded primarily by Medicaid, providers cannot raise prices like private businesses to pay higher wages. So chronic underfunding by the state only
exacerbates these operational challenges.
ID/A providers simply do not have the staff they need to serve the thousands of Pennsylvanians receiving or waiting for critical services.
This is a system that is strained past its breaking point, and it needs our support now.
Letter to the Editor by Arc of PA’s Sherri Landis on DSP Workforce Crisis
Editor: Providers who care for individuals with intellectual disabilities and autism are pummeled by a workforce shortage driven by low wages and high vacancy and turnover rates.
The Arc of Pennsylvania recently partnered with other social service associations to get a better picture of the state’s workforce in the field.
The survey evaluated critical data on pay practices, hourly wages, scheduled positions, filled positions and separations for more than 9,000 employees representing 40 different positions in 52 organizations, including many in Northeast Pennsylvania.
The findings are stark.
Wages for direct support professionals who help children and adults with their basic daily living needs average $16.61 per hour — less than wages at some fast-food restaurants. The turnover rate for direct support workers is 38% with providers reporting a vacancy rate of 28%. The numbers are similar for other residential and program supervisors.
The study also found that 14% of all direct support professionals’ hours are paid at an overtime rate, and 41% of providers now engage in a more costly practice of contracting for staffing services to manage the workforce shortage.
Because human services for those with intellectual disabilities and autism are funded primarily by Medicaid, providers cannot raise prices like private businesses to pay higher wages. So, chronic underfunding by the state only exacerbates these operational challenges.
Service providers simply do not have the staff they need to serve thousands of Pennsylvanians receiving or waiting for critical services. This is a system that is strained past its breaking point, and it needs our support now.
SHERRI LANDIS
THE ARC OF PENNSYLVANIA
HARRISBURG
Prev