Dear Chairman Bonnen and Members of the House Appropriations Committee:

I write to you today with a great sense of urgency and implore you, along with your esteemed colleagues in both the Senate and House, to prioritize increased funding for community-based IDD services, including for recruitment and retention of direct support professionals (DSPs) who provide critical specialized services to Texans with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) – one of our state’s most vulnerable populations. We urge you to work with your colleagues to appropriate funds that will improve services for people with IDD, including by increasing reimbursement rates for community-based DSPs to create parity with those working at state-supported living centers (SSLCs).

• Community-based direct support professionals (DSPs) currently make $10.60 an hour in Texas. These DSPs deserve parity with their counterparts at state-supported living centers (SSLCs) where starting pay is over $17.00 an hour. The lack of competitive wages has created a staffing crisis that is only worsening.
• Recent survey data reveals that the staffing shortage of DSPs who care for Texans with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) is rapidly worsening. Group homes all across the state are closing, and staffing shortages have risen to 34%. This number will only continue to rise unless action is taken. 
• The health, safety, wellbeing, and autonomy of individuals with IDD is urgently dependent on appropriating adequate funds to ensure the quality and availability of services. The current labor shortages and inflationary pressures have significantly impacted all areas of operations, threatening the continuity of care for Texans with IDD. Additional regulations or other programmatic changes, including efforts to resolve the interest list, will not be successful without relieving the pressures of an unstable workforce.
• We must ensure that community-based DSPs achieve wage parity with those working at state-supported living centers to protect the quality of care Texans with IDD receive.

Thank you for your support of this crucial issue.