Virtual workforce rally today, 11 a.m.
Join the virtual workforce crisis rally today at 11 a.m. to discuss the state’s workforce crisis of Direct Support Professionals (DSPs) that is impairing the quality of care for New York’s I/DD community.
We will be joined by:
- Senator John Mannion
- Assemblywoman Pamela Hunter
- Assemblyman Al Stirpe
- Kevin Cobb, Self-Advocate
- Cynthia Horton, Staff Member, Arc of Onondaga
- Christine Evans, Staff Member, The Arc Madison Cortland
- Toan Nguyen, Self-Advocate
- Dru Nordmark, Family Advocate
- Audrey Rich, Family Advocates
- Ellen Weinstein, Family Advocate
New York State has failed to invest in sustaining essential support and services for New Yorkers with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD). Without adequate funding, I/DD providers are unable to offer competitive wages to recruit or retain the skilled direct support staff that provide critical life altering care for more than 140,000 New Yorkers with I/DD.
This Thursday a virtual rally event will held by members of New York Disability Advocates, Access CNY, the Cerebral Palsy Associations of New York, and the Arc Chapters of New York, Onondaga, Oneida-Lewis and Madison Cortland. They will be joined by Senator John Mannion, Assemblyman Al Stirpe, Assemblywoman Pamela Hunter, Direct Support Professionals, self-advocates, and family members who will rally to raise awareness regarding the workforce crisis the I/DD sector is facing and to discuss solutions.
The results of a recent survey conducted by New York Disability Advocates found that nearly 74% of DSP provider agencies experienced a higher vacancy rate than before the pandemic. Nearly half of surveyed agencies reported that they had to close programs or reduce operations due to staffing shortages. Unfortunately, without adequate funding provider agencies cannot provide wages competitive with sectors such as food service and retail to entice new workers.
