Report says wages for those who assist people with disabilities must rise

From the Sauk Valley newspaper in Illinois:

A new report is making a case for increased federal funding for low-wage workers who provide support to people with disabilities, such as those who work for Kreider Services in Dixon.

The American Network of Community Options and Resources is a national association representing more than 850 private providers of community living and employment supports and services to more than 400,000 people with disabilities.

The 2008 Direct Support Professionals Wage Study, which was conducted in partnership between ANCOR and the Mosaic Collaborative for Disabilities Public Policy and Practice, imparts what the association called a “sobering view of a national health care workforce in crisis.”

The ANCOR survey, released Feb. 19, shows a growing need for increased federal funding for low-wage workers who provide support to people with disabilities.

Direct Support Professionals (DSP) provide “hands-on” daily support, training and habilitative services to persons with developmental and physical disabilities. Analysis of survey results compared wages among DSPs employed by private providers with those who work for state-run programs.

The national average starting wage for private provider DSPs in community programs is $8.53 per hour, compared to the average starting wage of $12.13 for state-employed DSPs ��“ representing a 42 percent difference. Annualized, the average entry wage for a private provider DSP falls just short of the federal poverty level, as the private DSP entry wage is $17,744 compared to the federal baseline (for a family of three) at $17,600.

Bob Bartles, the director of programs at Kreider, manages more than 250 DSP staff members.

“Our Direct Service Professionals are the employees who work directly with people with disabilities,” Bartles said. “They provide the necessary support for people with disabilities to live fulfilling and productive lives.

“The grossly inadequate wages available to DSP workers causes many qualified and caring individuals to leave their disabilities services jobs because they can’t financially afford to care for themselves and their own families. It’s a crisis.”

The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects a 49 percent increase in the number of direct care positions that will be needed between 2006 and 2016. This problem is compounded by the fact that the workforce is almost entirely funded by the Medicaid program, the study concludes.

“According to the survey, the average wage for an Illinois full-time private sector DSP worker barely exceeds the Federal Poverty level established for a three-person family,” Bartles said. “When compared to state institutional employees doing the same work, private sector DSPs earn 40 percent less than their state employee
counterparts.

“Federal legislation has been introduced that would create incentives to states for narrowing this gap and for creating an adequate wage for these caring and desperately needed workers.”

Legislation introduced in Congress addresses the workforce wage issue by amending the Social Security Act to provide funds to states to enable them to increase the wages paid to targeted direct support professionals who are providing services to individuals with disabilities under Medicaid. There is no federal mandate for participation, but states that choose to participate will realize pay parity between private and public direct support professionals.

Bartles said U.S. Reps. Don Manzullo, R-Egan, Bill Foster, D-Geneva, and Phil Hare, D-Rock Island, all have supported similar legislation in the past.

“Without an increase in dedicated Medicaid funds from the federal government to the states, wages for DSPs working in the community will continue to stagnate,” said Peter Kowalski, president of ANCOR.“Coupled with the growing number of Americans who are projected to need the critical supports provided by DSPs, we are witnessing a health care crisis of significant proportion.”