Liz Westrom
Volunteers of America
In 2015, disability service providers across the state reported more than 8,700 unfilled positions. As some of the largest employers in Greater Minnesota, this workforce shortage disproportionately harms rural communities and our most vulnerable members.
Take the organization I work for, Volunteers of America – Minnesota. We provide 11 homes in Central Minnesota for people with developmental disabilities. We recently hired a talented young man at our Foley home, who was only on the job for two weeks before he left for an hourly, entry-level position paying nearly 40 percent more than we could afford, because of state-set rates for our services.
Statewide our community-based services for people with disabilities care for about 73,000 Minnesotans who rely on us for critical medical, behavioral, emotional and social supports where they live and work. Our state has failed to adequately address the financial burdens providers face.
The problem stems from a perfect storm of increased need, a shrinking pool of workers, and not nearly enough support from the state to make wages more competitive in an increasingly competitive job market. With over 95 percent of the funding for these services coming from the state and federal government, the legislature needs to take dramatic action this session to address the issue.
Any business owner would conclude that these are unsustainable conditions. Jobs for professional direct care workers are demanding and require a complex set of skills. The wage rate supported by state funding in my part of the state is as low as $11.25 per hour – not even close to being competitive with other jobs demanding significantly less.
The Governor’s proposed budget does not include any funding to increase staff wages for providers of services to people with disabilities. The State Legislature must take action this session to pass a significant wage and benefit increase for workers, like the proposal from Best Life Alliance, a statewide coalition of providers, workers, families, and advocates.
Not only is this a critical step to ensure Minnesota meets its commitments to people with disabilities, but it will improve the strength of communities like Foley and dozens of others in Central and Greater Minnesota.
– Liz Westrom, an Isanti County resident, is the Associate Director for Volunteers of America–Minnesota, Services for People with Special Needs – providing adult foster homes and in-home support for vulnerable people in Central Minnesota and in the Twin Cities. Westrom is a family advocate for her brother with physical and intellectual disabilities and mother or a son with Asperger’s Syndrome.