URGENT ADVOCACY ACTION ALERT!
If you didn't already know, many agencies have been advocating in Annapolis for better funding for Direct Support Professionals, who (outside of family) are the most important person in the life of someone with an intellectual or developmental disability.
Better funding is CRITICAL for providing quality care to people with differing abilities (formally known as disabilities). When we do not have adequate funding, we cannot recruit and retain high quality Direct Support Professionals. Already, agencies are struggling with high turnover and short-staffing.
Direct Support jobs are not minimum wage jobs. Being responsible for another human being's life is not a minimum wage job. Yet, the other evening -every single member of the Economic Matters Committee voted to cut Developmental Disability Community Funding down to a 3% increase each year!
This action made Developmental Disability Community Providers the LOWEST funded providers in the entire bill!
We are asking you to do 2 things to ensure that your loved one, someone you know who receive services, or someone you know with differing abilities receive the quality support they deserve:
1.) Please contact ALL of your representatives who are on the Economic Matters Committee now.
This is what you could say:
- Your vote to cut funding in HB166 for Developmental Disability Community Providers will decimate the Developmental Disability Community Service Systems, and harm tens of thousands of people with disabilities, their families, and the workers who support them!
- When you cut Developmental Disability Community Services to fund other Medicaid providers in your amendments the other evening, your actions made developmental disabilities providers THE LOWEST FUNDED providers in the bill!
- At a mere 3% annual increase, the funding for our Developmental Disability Community Services will NOT KEEP PACE with the increases in the minimum wage and funding for newly hired (staring wage) Direct Support Professionals will be LESS than the state minimum wage!
- It's not too late to reverse what you did and make it right!
2.) After you contact your members of the Economic Matters Committee, please then contact ALL your district Delegates AND House Speaker Michael Busch with the same message. If you don't know who your district Delegates are you can click on the link to find out.
This is an extremely important message to get out for anyone that works within the Developmental Disability Community Services, their families and even if you know of someone who receives supports. We cannot keep non-profit organizations afloat if we don't fight! We cannot keep the quality of staff in supporting the people that we do without paying them a fair wage! As it is our Direct Support Professionals (DSP) do not make enough for the jobs that they do. I use to be a DSP and it's a very demanding job and it's definitely not a minimum wage job, it's a profession that deserves respect and not minimization! I'm passionate about this, not only because I've been in this field for over 30 years, but because my son had special needs and I couldn't have done it without the support I received from non-profit organizations that assisted me within the Developmental Disability Community Services. As the price of living continues to increase each year, the percentage that the state determines for the Developmental Disability Community Services has not been to par!
Please Join the Fight
What happens if the quality of care is not there? It puts the people we're supporting at risk and could even cost them their life. Not only do non-profit organization have to worry about paying their employees a fair wage, they also have to maintain the state required training and certifications. That's why it's stressed before that a Direct Support Professional or a DSP within the Developmental Disability Community Services is not a minimum wage job. Watch what a medical technician or a nurse does while they're assisting someone within their charge while at the hospital, this is what a DSP does and even more. If we cannot pay the DSP's then there is a high turnover rate and what does this do for a non-profit organization trying to assist people with varying abilities? It means that people come and people go, they don't care about the people they're supporting and they're going to find a job that pays more and they don't have as much responsibility; it happens all the time right now our DSP's tell us they can make more working for Amazon and other local companies.
It's a Constant Fight & We Need Your Help!
Please take the time to make the calls, send the emails and share the message.
According to the site statista, the U.S. cost of living - statistics & facts the "Percentage of change in average annual consumer expenditure of consumer units in the U.S. 4.8% but, the Economic Matters Committee voted unanimously that for the Developmental Disability Community Services will only receive 3% cost of living annual increase?! How does this make sense?! Just to give you an example, the site also states that the "Median asking rent for unfurnished apartments in the U.S. $1,492 [per month]" and you can do a quick Google search, here in the state of Maryland, the average rent is even more than that. But, if you take what the average Direct Support Professional is making, they cannot even pay rent on a place to live. The minimum wage in the state of Maryland right now is $10.10 per hour, a 3% increase is .303. The 3% increase would mean that the people out there supporting the people we love in the Developmental Disability Community Services, they would only be paid $10.40 per hour for assisting them with their daily activities, for cleaning them up when they've had an accident, for holding their hand and comforting them when they're sick, tired or scared; for working on their behavior plans, or personal goals or having special training; for being there during emergencies, having all their medical information at the hospital to give report to the medical providers, staying there with the person their supporting. This is including giving their medicines, which they have to go through Board of Nursing certification classes and maintain that certificate; certified medical technician or CMT. This doesn't even scratch the surface of the services provided and they're supposed to do this for $10.10 this year and $10.40 next year, and $10.71 for the year 2021? You're not going to get the quality of care that we need for the people we're supporting.
What happens if the quality of care is not there? It puts the people we're supporting at risk and could even cost them their life. Not only do non-profit organization have to worry about paying their employees a fair wage, they also have to maintain the state required training and certifications. That's why it's stressed before that a Direct Support Professional or a DSP within the Developmental Disability Community Services is not a minimum wage job. Watch what a medical technician or a nurse does while they're assisting someone within their charge while at the hospital, this is what a DSP does and even more. If we cannot pay the DSP's then there is a high turnover rate and what does this do for a non-profit organization trying to assist people with varying abilities? It means that people come and people go, they don't care about the people they're supporting and they're going to find a job that pays more and they don't have as much responsibility; it happens all the time right now our DSP's tell us they can make more working for Amazon and other local companies.
