FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 4, 2024

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“Investing in our DSP workforce isn’t just compassionate. It’s the only financially sound approach for Texas communities.”

AUSTIN, TX – In case you missed it, this week Houston Landing highlighted the voices of Time To Care coalition members, parents of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), and direct support professionals (DSPs) who are calling on the Texas Legislature to prioritize support for community-based services for Texans with IDD by increasing hourly wages for the DSPs who serve them.

The Houston Landing report highlights the story of Marisa Luparello and her son Blaine, who has autism, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and bipolar disorder. Luparello placed Blaine in a group home approximately 13 years ago in hopes of providing him a stable living situation. She said living in unstable conditions without a sense of routine would lead to Blaine having outbursts that would turn physical:

“He went ballistic and wouldn’t leave my car, attacked me all the time, so I had to get him somewhere where he was stabilized and able to get some kind of normalcy,” Luparello said. “That was the hardest thing. He is my baby.”

With health issues of her own dealing with dysautonomia, a nervous system disorder that causes her to occasionally pass out, a husband who travels frequently for work, and a daughter in college who struggles with lupus, she needed help.

Once in the Houston area, she placed her son in an intensive, round-the-clock group home designed to create routine and provide habilitation care, such as nursing services, behavioral support and dietary services.

Luparello is among a collective of Texas families, service providers and community leaders who say the state has failed to provide and fund quality care for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities at home or via community services. They are calling on state legislators to raise wages for direct support professionals, caregivers whose base hourly wage in Texas is $10.60, a rate advocates say is inadequate to recruit and retain quality staff.

At a press conference hosted by members of the Time To Care Coalition last Monday, Michael Roberts, executive director of the Down Syndrome Association of Houston said the lack of investment poses a threat to public safety:

“When individuals with IDD lack proper support, they can end up in situations that lead to homelessness, hospitalization, and even incarceration, which further burdens our state’s social service and emergency resources,” Roberts said. “We cannot afford to overlook this risk.”

Charles Njuguna, President and CEO of The Center For Pursuit in Houston, emphasized the broader economic impact of continually underfunding community-based DSPs who serve Texans with IDD:

“We inevitably see increased costs to local governments and taxpayers because DSP income falls below the poverty line, prompting many of them to turn to public assistance programs. Investing in our DSP workforce isn’t just compassionate. It’s the only financially sound approach for Texas communities,”he said last week at a joint press conference alongside leaders of the Down Syndrome Association of Houston, the Avondale House, and the Time to Care Coalition.

Advocates also expressed hope that the Legislature will prioritize wage increases for community-based DSPs when they revisit the issue during the 2025 Legislative Session:

When House Bill No. 1, the general appropriations bill, was introduced in the 2023-24 legislative session, Texas House representatives initially proposed $15 an hour wage increase; the Senate proposed $11 an hour, leading many advocates to presume they would land somewhere in the middle, said Steve Vetrano, the CEO of Avondale House. The House and Senate settled on $10.60.

“We were all kind of deflated when we heard the news,” Vetrano said.

To read the full story in Houston Landing, click here or on the image below.

(PHOTO: Antranik Tavitian / Houston Landing)

Additionally, Fort Worth-based KERA News published a new report on Time To Care coalition members testifying before the Texas House Human Services Committee last week advocating for a competitive wage increase to achieve parity with those working state-supported living centers (SSLCs) as the workforce crisis continues to exacerbate:

Staff shortages at Texas group homes are putting residents with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) at risk, advocacy groups say, and they’re asking Texas lawmakers to fix the problem by giving workers a raise.

Group homes are funded through Medicaid, and the state Legislature sets the base wage for workers. Last legislative session, they bumped the hourly rate from $8.11 to $10.60.

That raise was woefully inadequate, according to group home operators, who say it’s a struggle to recruit and retain staff. They are left running their group homes with many staff vacancies, driving burnout among workers and worsening care for residents.

State representatives on the House Committee on Human Services invited advocates to talk about the workforce crisis at a hearing on Tuesday. One of them was Carole Smith, executive director of the Private Providers Association of Texas.

“I have never, ever seen the IDD service system this unstable,” said Smith, who has worked in the field for almost 50 years.

Group homes give people with disabilities the option to live in small settings in their home communities. Someone might live in a group home if they want to live independently but still need some help, or if they need intense levels of care their family cannot provide.

Group home workers cook, clean, dispense medication, monitor residents’ health and handle behavioral issues, among other tasks.

The Private Providers Association of Texas, along with two other advocacy groups, surveyed Texas group home providers and found their employees work an average of 60 hours a week. Some weeks, they work 100-plus hours.

The staffing problem leaves providers struggling to meet regulatory standards. Some reported in the survey they have seen an increase in medication errors, behavioral issues and hospitalizations.

Staff turnover has a profound impact on residents, too, Smith told lawmakers.

“The instability is grave. Their quality of life is diminished. Continuity in their services and supports is disrupted, and trusted relationships they once had with staff are lost,” she said.

To read the full story from KERA news, click here or on the image below.

(PHOTO: Yfat Yossifor / KERA)