FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM NOVEMBER 25, 2021 • THE QUEENS COURIER 23
Groups serving developmentally disabled NYers receive $1.5 billion in funding
BY BEN VERDE
editorial@qns.com
@QNS
Gov. Kathy Hochul last week announced
that New York state will provide over a
billion dollars in funding for organizations
Life’s WORC celebrates new American Rescue Plan Act funding
BY BILL PARRY
bparry@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Relief is on the way for organizations
that provide support and
services for individuals with disabilities
and their families across
the fi ve boroughs.
Governor Kathy Hochul
announced that the New
York Offi ce for People with
Developmental Disabilities will
provide more than $1.5 billion in
one-time American Rescue Plan
Act funding to support recruitment
eff orts, retention incentives
and vaccination bonuses for
Direct Support (DSPs) to address
chronic staffi ng shortages at
group homes that became dire
during the coronavirus emergency
. “We are very happy to fi nally
receive much-needed fi nancial
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.”
Th e 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.
“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 longterm
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. “Th ey 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 off ered 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.”
While the governor communicated
how the $1.5 billion in federal
funding will be utilized it is
all one-time incentives. Th e fi ght
to see increases in the state budget
for a long-term remedy to
the chronic group home staffi ng
shortfall remains ahead.
“We seek a competitive wage
as we once had to ensure quality
care for our people, and because
the people caring for them
deserve that,” Koch said. “Th is is
a step in the right direction.”
that assist people with developmental
disabilities, in an eff ort to attract new
recruits and fi ght staffi ng shortages at
those organizations.
Th e 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 offi ce
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.”
Th e 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 qualifi cations and credentials
to build the skilled workforce.
Th e funding bump comes aft er years of
brutal budget cuts and austerity measures
toward nonprofi ts that work with the
developmentally disabled, which have
left most workers doing the diffi cult
work of the industry making little
more than minimum wage.
Low wages make it hard for
agencies to fi ll staffi ng gaps,
leading to dangerous staffi ng
levels and grueling shift s 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
B r o o k l y n -
based nonprofit
that
off ers schooling and other services to
children and adults with developmental
disabilities.
Th e pandemic has seen a signifi cant
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
nonprofi ts to allow for better pay for
their workers.
“Th ey should be making more than
$15 an hour,” Riley said. “Th en we’re
not competing with fast-food restaurants
and other industries for the same
staff .”
Photo by Gabriele Holtermann
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.
File photo
/WWW.QNS.COM
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