Keep Our Most Vulnerable Citizens Healthy and Safe!!
Community Residential Programs provide essential services to people with developmental disabilities. We teach all activities of daily living and provide highly specialized care which includes intensive health services (such as tube feeding, diabetes monitoring, etc.), assault prevention, mental health crisis intervention, and financial management, as well as managing federal programs such as food stamps, SSI, SSA and Section 8 housing. Maintaining the success of these vital services depends on adequate state funding. Cuts in Community Residential Services means cuts in wages for staff that provide critical support for our most vulnerable citizens.
- Community Residential agencies employ over 10,000 people across the state.
- Chronic high staff turnover increases costs (currently 44%), diminishes the quality of support and threatens access to services. Cutting staff wages will result in increased turnover and endangers the support of vulnerable people.
- Direct support staff struggle to make ends meet at their 2008 legislatively funded starting wage of $9.99/hr. Further loss of income would be devastating.
- Funding cuts during the last legislative session decreased benchmark funding for staff wages and benefits by $.46 to $.49 per hour across the state.
- In 2009, funding for Indirect Client Support was reduced by 3.4%.
- Providers were required to serve the same number of people at the same level of care – hours were not reduced but funding for wages and benefits was cut!
- Placement into more expensive RHCs is rising. If cuts continue and the community system is crippled, it would cost the state much more to place these clients in RHC’s.
- As outlined in the Feasibility Study for the Closure of State Institutional Facilities, supported living providers need substantial refinancing in order to support people leaving the RHC’s - further cuts would destabilize this service option.
- The health and safety of vulnerable people with developmental disabilities depends on highly skilled direct support staff.
Further cuts would devastate community services for people with developmental disabilities
Please preserve the funding that provides the safety net for current clients and people moving out of costly State RHC’s. Community Residential staff must be skilled, consistent, and stable.
For more information, see also:
For more information, contact:
CRSA Legislative Committee Co-Chairs
Scott Livengood
206.284.9130
livengood@alphasls.com
Chad Higman
206.772.5700
chigman@gopsrs.org
Lobbyist:
Melissa Johnson
360.956.3322 or 360.280.6429
Chair:
Alan Petersen
360.377.7231
apetersen@communitas.org | 
