GOVERNOR TO THE RESCUE
Hochul frees up $1.5 billion in funding for group homes working with developmentally disabled New Yorkers
BY BILL PARRY
Relief is on the way for
organizations that provide
support and services for individuals
with disabilities and
their families across the five
boroughs.
Governor Kathy Hochul
announced that the New York
Office for People with Developmental
Disabilities will
provide more than $1.5 billion
in one-time American Rescue
Plan Act funding to support
recruitment efforts, retention
incentives and vaccination
bonuses for Direct Support
(DSPs) to address chronic staffing
shortages at group homes
that became dire during the
coronavirus emergency.
“We are very happy to finally
receive much-needed
financial resources to better
compensate direct support
professionals who work
so hard each and every day.
Sadly we have only seen funding
reductions over the past 10
plus years,” said Janet Koch,
CRO of Life’s WORC, which
provides comprehensive services
and support to people
with intellectual disabilities
and autism and their families
in Queens, Manhattan and
Nassau counties.
“We have renewed hope
that Gov. Hochul and OPWDD’s
new Commissioner
Kerri Neifeld recognize the
workforce crisis that has
only been exacerbated by the
COVID-19 pandemic,” Koch
added. “Our staff showed up
every day putting themselves
and their families at risk to
care for so many of New York’s
most vulnerable people.”
The funding will establish
a “Heroes Fund” which will
provide incentive payments
to those DSPs who worked
during the pandemic with additional
payments for those
who received the COVID vaccine.
Retention and longevity
bonuses will make additional
investments in the workforce
by rewarding longevity and
providing additional bonuses
to staff who remain in the DSP
workforce.
TIMESLEDGER | Q 10 NS.COM | NOV. 26 - DEC. 2, 2021
“Direct Support Professionals
provided essential
support to people with developmental
disabilities throughout
the pandemic when we
needed them most, in spite
of the risk to themselves and
their own families,” Hochul
said. “We owe these workers
a debt of gratitude and the
American Rescue Plan funding
paves the way for bonuses,
incentives and one-time pay
raises to help keep these hardworking,
loyal and devoted
workers doing what they love
most, supporting people with
developmental disabilities.”
Long-term recruitment and
retention strategies will be developed
and tested with funding
for projects that address
the long-term stability of the
workforce. Funding will be
made available to incentivize
credentialing and other strategies
that build skills and competency
of the DSP workforce
and frontline supervisors.
“Direct support professionals
provide essential services
to people with developmental
disabilities so they can lead
rich and rewarding lives of
their choosing,” Neifeld said.
“They are the backbone of
our system and they bravely
showed up to work throughout
the pandemic to care for
and support some of the most
vulnerable New Yorkers. Although
the work is emotionally
taxing, direct support is a
labor of love for the people who
choose this career.”
During his visit with the
Life’s WORC team at the organization’s
original group home
in Little Neck, Mayor-elect
Eric Adams learned about
the challenges they face, particularly
relating to workforce
shortages. Adams offered to
set up an advisory committee
to help address some of these
challenges at the city level.
“If we could put together a
group like this, a cross-section
… and just say, ‘Eric, here are
the low hanging fruits that
we can do now, here are some
of the things that we can do
later,’ and just start putting
us on a pathway,” Adams said.
“We need to be pouring our
resources into those who have
barriers.”
Read more on QNS.com.
BY BEN VERDE
Gov. Kathy Hochul on
Nov. 18 announced that New
York state will provide over
a billion dollars in funding
for organizations that assist
people with developmental
disabilities, in an effort to attract
new recruits and fight
staffing shortages at those
organizations.
The governor will earmark
$1.5 billion from the American
Rescue Plan to fund recruitment,
retention and vaccine
incentive programs for direct
support professionals working
with people with developmental
disabilities, her office announced
on Nov. 18.
“Direct Support Professionals
provided essential
support to people with developmental
disabilities throughout
the pandemic when we
needed them most, in spite
of the risk to themselves and
their own families,” Hochul
said. “We owe these workers
a debt of gratitude and the
American Rescue Plan funding
paves the way for bonuses,
incentives and one-time pay
raises to help keep these hardworking,
loyal and devoted
workers doing what they love
most: supporting people with
developmental disabilities.”
The added funding aims
to increase retention in three
ways: by setting up a “heroes
fund” for direct support professionals
working during
the pandemic with additional
incentives for those who get
vaccinated; by adding the possibility
of longevity bonuses
for staff who remain in the
workforce; and by incentivizing
workers to earn further
qualifications and credentials
to build the skilled workforce.
The funding bump comes
after years of brutal budget
cuts and austerity measures
toward nonprofits that work
with the developmentally disabled,
which have left most
workers doing the difficult
work of the industry making
little more than minimum
wage.
Low wages make it hard for
agencies to fill staffing gaps,
leading to dangerous staffing
levels and grueling shifts for
workers.
“Our staffing levels are at
such critical lows that it’s really
at a tipping point now,”
said Joe Riley, the director
of the Guild for Exceptional
Children, a Brooklyn-based
nonprofit that offers schooling
and other services to children
and adults with developmental
disabilities.
The pandemic has seen a
significant portion of Riley’s
staff take medical leave or
seek better paying work elsewhere,
leaving his staff depleted.
A low pay rate makes
it hard to attract new hires,
especially given the challenging
nature of the job, made
more dangerous during the
COVID-19 pandemic.
“You’re up close and personal,
you’re taking care of
all the needs of these individuals,”
Riley said. “It’s a complex
job that requires specialized
training.”
Riley believes the government
should permanently increase
funding for nonprofits
to allow for better pay for their
workers.
“They should be making
more than $15 an hour,” Riley
said. “Then we’re not competing
with fast-food restaurants
and other industries for the
same staff.”
A direct support professional works with a student.
HeartShare Human Services
While Life’s WORC cut the ribbon to its 44th group home in April,
chronic workforce shortages continue to pose a problem. Governor
Kathy Hochul announced $1.5 billion will address recruitment and
retention efforts. Photo by Gabriele Holtermann
Life’s WORC celebrates additional
American Rescue Plan Act funding
/NS.COM
/QNS.com
