Permanently increase pay for direct support professionals
Gov. Tom Wolf’s fall legislative recommendation to provide over $ 250 million to raise the pay of front- line workers by $ 3 an hour is a wise proposal. It will bring temporary relief to historically underpaid and underappreciated front- line workers for the tasks and risks they undertake to protect our commonwealth’s most vulnerable citizens.
The General Assembly should accept the governor’s recommendation; however, it should clearly understand that this action will not give a permanent fix to the problems deeply rooted in the way the commonwealth manages its funding of intellectual disability/ autism ( ID/ A) programs.
For at least the past 30 years, Pennsylvania governors and legislators have given short shrift to people in the ID/ A community. Rather than have a healthy community services sector, the commonwealth has forced communitybased programs to pay as little as possible for jobs for direct support professionals, who provide critical supports to people in the ID/ A community.
The governor’s recommended use of temporary
CARES Act dollars will help the ID/ A community sustain itself and provide some temporary relief; however, as soon as the funds are gone, the crisis of these Pennsylvanians will revert to its norms, including poverty wages, high turnover and vacancy rates.
The ID/ A community will work hard to help the governor achieve this recommendation. Simultaneously, many want the commonwealth to focus on these programs and make permanent rate improvements. When the temporary hazard pay runs out, programs will be back in deeper crisis coping with the effects of the pandemic.
Five years ago, Mr. Wolf and his health and human services secretary promised rate increases and then put that promise into state regulations. Those very regulations have been ignored, and rates have not been refreshed and raised as promised. Maybe that promise will be kept this year. Thousands of Pennsylvania residents can only hope. GARY H. BLUMENTHAL
Vice President of Governmental Relations
and Advocacy InVision Human Services
Pine