CALL TO ACTION!

THE NYS BUDGET MUST SUPPORT NEW YORKERS WITH DISABILITIES!

The New York State Budget is TWENTY-FOUR Days Late!
We must keep up our fight!

Add your voice to our one-click campaign!
Send a letter to ALL your representatives with just one click here! If you haven’t yet, do it now. If you’ve done it before, do it again!!!

Pick up the phone!
Call your local elected officials and tell them why the I/DD community is depending on an 8.5% COLA increase in this year’s budget. Find your legislators and their phone numbers here.

Shout on Social!
Make some noise on social media! Tag Governor Kathy Hochul, Majority Leader Andrea Stewart Cousins, Speaker Carl Heastie, and your local elected officials in all your posts. Grab these downloadable graphics, or tell your own story!

Help make our collective voice heard in this final push!
The 8.5% COLA must be NON-NEGOTIABLE!

The NYS Senate and Assembly released their one-house budget proposals, which increased the 2.5% cost-of-living-adjustment (COLA) proposed by Governor Hochul to 8.5% for voluntary providers! This could not have been accomplished without your hard work and diligence. Thank you!

But we’re not done yet.

We need your help once again to get there. We need to make sure our legislators know that anything less than 8.5% is non-negotiable and to send a message to Governor Hochul to adopt the 8.5% COLA in the Enacted Budget.

Take Action!

The NYS Senate and Assembly released their one-house budget proposals, which increased the 2.5% cost-of-living-adjustment (COLA) proposed by Governor Hochul to 8.5% for voluntary providers! This is a huge victory and it could not have been accomplished without your hard work and diligence. Thank you!!!

However, we are not yet over the finish line and need your help once again to get there. We need to thank legislators and tell them that anything less than 8.5% is non-negotiable and send a message to Governor Hochul to adopt the 8.5% COLA in the Enacted Budget. Both messages will be sent automatically with one-click.

Take ACTION!

People with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) leverage the services of direct support professionals (DSPs) in order to live and work in their homes and communities. However, low wages due to stagnant reimbursement rates have led to high turnover and vacancy rates in the DSP workforce. The loss of DSPs across the field has left many people without stable access to home- and community-based supports.

Because we need data to understand the scope of the workforce crisis before we can fully solve the problem, the creation of a standard occupational classification (SOC) for DSPs is essential to ensuring people with I/DD have access to critical supports and services. A unique SOC for DSPs would help states and the federal government collect data on demographics and turnover rates. This, in turn, will help inform policies to address the workforce shortage. A DSP SOC will also help states more accurately set rates, which could positively impact DSP wages.

Tell your members of Congress today to support the bipartisan “Recognizing the Role of Direct Support Professionals Act” (H.R. 4779 / S. 1437), which requires the Office of Management and Budget to establish a separate category within the Standard Occupational Classification system for DSPs.

Take Action!

Governor Kathy Hochul released her FY 2024 Executive Budget. In her address she asked us whether her administration were doing the hard things to lift up and support all New Yorkers,  if her administration was committed to providing opportunity for every New Yorker, and if her administration met the moment of making the New York dream a reality for all New Yorkers.

Unfortunately, that answer is no for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD), their families, and the hardworking staff who support people with I/DD every day.

This is our chance to tell the governor and legislators that this is unacceptable and we are a priority!

TAKE ACTION!

In the U.S., support for people with disabilities and older adults who need assistance with everyday activities can be unpredictable, unaffordable, and often unavailable.

Too many families are at a breaking point because of severe underfunding in care programs—and it’s time for a long-overdue investment in these supports and services!

We need:

• Funding for programs that allow people with disabilities to live at home in their communities, without having to wait years to get the supports they need.
• #PaidLeaveForAll so workers don’t have to risk losing their jobs when taking time off to care for a loved one.
• Better pay and benefits for direct care workers, who perform a critical job but do not earn a living wage.
• Access to high-quality and affordable child care and early education for every family.

We can and must do better to support people with disabilities, older adults, family caregivers, and the direct care workforce!

TAKE ACTION!

Direct Support Professionals (DSPs) are essential workers who provide daily care, services and supports to people with intellectual and developmentally disabilities (I/DD) 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Caring for people with complex needs is a rewarding yet challenging job, which requires ongoing training, high-level of responsibility, and skill.  

We are calling on Congress, NYS Legislature, and Governor Hochul to:

• Establish a new Direct Support Wage Enhancement (DSWE) as part of the SFY 2024 New York State budget to help bring direct care workforce compensation closer to what they deserve
• Include the statuary COLA in the NYS Enacted Budget, which stands at 8.5% for FY24
• Ensure that OPWDD commits to an acuity-based rate methodology that fully compensates providers on par with state operated programs.
• Create and fund a permanent joint credential and career ladder program for DSPs, implement a multi-tiered credential program for DSPs tied to increased pay for people completing each tier, and open up career pipelines from high school to the DSP workforce with certification.

With just a few clicks you can directly send our representatives a message by using this online form. You may customize who you are in the first paragraph as you see fit (parent, self-advocate, caretaker, supporter, etc.).

TAKE ACTION!

New York State’s failure to recognize and fully support the specialty care for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) has created a separate and unequal system of health care. NY’s Medicaid policy has led to people with I/DD being denied equitable access to care simply because the cost of care for their complex needs is higher than that for the typical Medicaid population.  People with disabilities require more time, expertise, follow up and care integration, which when provided will save system costs and improve health outcomes.

Urge your legislators to support New Yorkers with disabilities and make health equity a priority in New York state!

Take Action!

Governor Hochul will release her SFY 2023-24 Executive Budget next Wednesday, February 1^st.  NYAPRS is one of 12 statewide advocacy organizations who are working collaboratively to educate the Hochul Administration and Legislature on the need for an 8.5% COLA and $500 million rate adjustment for hard pressed community based mental health and addiction recovery focused services across New York State.

We are calling on all of you to use the link below today, Friday, January 27^th to urge the Governor to include these recommendation in her proposed budget.

We hope you will take a moment out of your busy schedule for this last minute push! Please feel free to forward to your staff, friends and community members.

Thank you in advance for your efforts!

Take ACTION!

For decades, New York state has not made adequate investments to sustain the essential programs and services people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) rely on. This systemic underfunding has driven us into a critical staffing crisis and eroded New York’s system of supports for its citizens with I/DD. The data speaks for itself:

• 38% of providers discontinued or reduced programs and services in 2021 alone
• Average statewide staff turnover rate is 35.5%
• Turnover costs for non-profit providers have risen to more than $100 million annually
• Nearly 20,000 critical Direct Support positions are vacant statewide
• The 18% vacancy rate means New Yorkers with disabilities are missing out on needed care and support

Now we must inform Governor Hochul how she can help address these issues in her 2023-24 Executive Budget. Our goals are twofold:

• Establish a Direct Support Wage Enhancement (DSWE) to make up for years of underinvestment
• Include the statutory 8.5% Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA)

Take Action Now!