AUSTIN, TX – In case you missed it, over the weekend a new report from News 4 San Antonio highlighted the urgent workforce crisis facing the community-based care system for Texans with intellectual or developmental disabilities (IDD), featuring comments from Dona Kotzur, President and CEO of Time To Care coalition member Arc of San Antonio, who said “the system right now is on the brink…of collapsing.”

The new report focused on calls from advocates and lawmakers alike to address the urgent need to increase wages for direct support professionals (DSPs) who serve Texans with IDD in community-based settings, as state budget writers enter the final stages of the debate over investments to help stabilize the community IDD service system.

Kotzur explained that DSPs at the Arc of San Antonio, a social service home in Bexar and surrounding counties for children and adults with IDD, provide extensive care for their clients with IDD:

“They provide hand over hand care with toileting, feeding, daily living skills.”

The organization raises funds to supplement the current $10.60 per hour wage reimbursement rate set by the Texas Legislature to ensure its DSPs can earn a competitive wage – one that is closer to the Texas House’s budget proposal. However, many other organizations providing similar services do not have this option:

“Here at the Arc we fundraise to pay our staff more than 17 dollars per hour on average.”

State Representative Stan Kitzman, a member of the budget Conference Committee in the Texas House, expressed hope that Texas will make the necessary investment to raise wages for community-based DSPs who care for the most vulnerable Texans:

“There’s a lot of things government may do that we can debate whether it’s necessary or not, but helping to provide for those that can’t take care of themselves is something I think the people of Texas decided on a long time ago.”

To read and watch the full report from News 4 San Antonio, click here.

Time To Care: Save Texas Caregivers Now is a coalition dedicated to securing competitive wages for Direct Support Professionals (DSPs) who provide essential care to Texans with intellectual or developmental disabilities (IDD). Through collaboration and grassroots efforts, the coalition strives to enact meaningful change at both the legislative and community levels. Learn more at https://timetocaretx.org/

###