State lawmakers back pay raises for direct caregivers

Senate, Assembly support funding for workers caring for those with developmental disabilities

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The New York state Senate and Assembly agreed on March 13 to pursue a plan to include $45 million in funding in the proposed state budget for direct support professionals who care for those who are developmentally disabled.

The money would go toward salary increases for caregivers who provide services to those with special needs. Former State Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg, a father of a developmentally disabled son, Ricky, said that some caregivers are so poorly paid they have been choosing to work in the fast food industry instead, and that the low salaries have created high turnover rates and staffing shortages at many care facilities throughout the state.

Hundreds of thousands of New York residents and their families rely on the services provided by direct support professionals, Weisenberg said. The budget increases would provide “desperately needed funding” to the workers’ salaries.

“We’re asking for $45 million a year for the next six years to fund a living wage for direct care workers who are mostly women and people of color,” Weisenberg said.

The average salary for these workers is $9 per hour, Weisenberg said, which leads many of them to work two jobs or leave their jobs for better pay.

“Starting April 1, they’ll get $14 an hour,” he said.

Assemblywoman Melissa Miller, a Republican from Atlantic Beach and the parent of a developmentally disabled child, said that she fought for the funding and received a commitment from Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan.

“The commitment I received from Senate Majority Leader Flanagan to myself and the developmentally disabled community was truly humbling and heartwarming,” Miller said in a news release. “Parents of children with developmental disabilities know I’m accessible and know I understand what they’re going through. I live it day-in and day-out with my son, Oliver.”

Miller added that nonprofit service providers who won’t see their Medicaid reimbursement rates rise quickly enough to cover their increased labor costs would be forced to cut services and lay off direct-care workers.

Weisenberg has been a strong leader in the statewide coalition called #bFair2DirectCare, which consists of thousands of people across the state with developmental disabilities such as autism, down syndrome, cerebral palsy, as well as their family members, advocates, non-profit providers and the direct care workforce.

State Sen. Todd Kaminksy, a Democrat from Long Beach, said that he is also working to make sure the funding is included in the final budget, and lauded Weisenberg.

“It looks very likely that direct care workers will finally get the salary increase that they so justly deserve,” Kaminsky said. “None of this would have been possible without the years of vigorous advocacy by [former] Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg.”

Long Beach City Council President Len Torres — who works with the nonprofit organization Sinergia Inc., one of the largest care providers in New York City — worked with Weisenberg to lobby for the budget increases in Albany last month. 

“One of the things that a lot of people were not aware of was that the pay for direct providers was below minimum wage and we were losing people in the various agencies,” Torres said. "We’re very concerned what could happen to this population if we don’t have direct providers."

Weisenberg hopes that the funding will ease the burden on direct care workers.

“I extend my heart-felt appreciation to the leaders of both houses, Senator John Flanagan and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, for putting people ahead of politics,” Weisenberg said. “Government has an obligation to care for those who cannot care for themselves. ... I am so proud of my former colleagues on both sides of the political aisle for coming together in our current climate and sending a united message of hope to everyone in this state who lives with disabilities.”  

Once the Legislature approves the budgets, a discussion will begin between the two houses and Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

“Hopefully, Governor Cuomo will bolster the spirit of bi-partisan goodwill brought to the table by legislative leaders and recognize the situation for the crisis it has become,” Weisenberg said.