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Tags Posts tagged with "Workforce Crisis"

Workforce Crisis

News from ANCOR:

Dear ANCOR members,

I write to call your attention to a segment that aired during Saturday’s episode of Good Morning America on the direct support workforce crisis. The story chronicling staffing shortages in group homes on Long Island and nationally included excerpts from an interview with ANCOR COO Gabrielle Sedor, as well as reference to ANCOR’s research on the State of America’s Direct Support Workforce Crisis. Overall, the show did an excellent job of packaging complex issues into an accessible, three-minute story.

View and share Good Morning America’s feature on the direct support workforce crisis.

GMA is the latest among several high-profile outlets showcasing the direct support workforce crisis, illustrating growing acknowledgment of the significance of our field’s recruitment and retention obstacles. To that end, I hope you will consider sharing the link to the video on social media and in your advocacy so we can help further amplify this important message.

Finally, this high-profile feature simply would not have happened without the contributions of Michael Seereiter, President & CEO of the New York Alliance for Inclusion & Innovation (who was also interviewed for the segment) who connected us with the producer, and Lauren Tilghman, Director of Strategic Communications for KenCrest who provided some of the photos that were used in the segment. Thank you, Michael and Lauren!

With gratitude,

Sean Luechtefeld, PhD, CAE (he/him)
Vice President, Membership & Communications
ANCOR

The PA House of Representatives passed HB 1300 (Fiscal Code) by a vote of 121-82. The Fiscal Code contains language appropriating the $100 million for mental health funding, which follows the recommendations of the Behavioral Health Commission’s recommendations. The Fiscal Code also provides another $34.5 million to expand mental health services, $34 million for workforce initiatives, and over $30 million for criminal justice and public safety.

The House also passed HB 1456, a general appropriations bill. HB 1456 passed by a vote of 115-88. The bill provided new monies of $50 million towards intellectual disabilities and direct support professional (DSP) workforce retention. The bill would also fund $642 million for Penn State University, the University of Pittsburgh (Pitt), and Temple University. While there is good news for the IDD providers in regards to additional workforce funding, the bill was challenged by House Republicans because the Penn State, Pitt, and Temple funding requires a two-thirds (supermajority) vote, which was why the colleges were not funded back in June.

This week, the House also passed a tax code bill and a school code bill.

Despite the flurry of legislative activity on the code bills in the House, the code bills will not have to go to the Senate for a concurrence vote. The code bills passed by the House contain new spending (i.e. IDD workforce retention), and the new spending was not negotiated with the Senate; therefore, the expectation is that because there is not a deal between the House and the Senate on the new spending, the Senate will not concur on the code bills.

The Senate will return to session on Monday, October 16.