Great leaders use their power for good, for the benefit of the people they serve and – perhaps most importantly – to speak on behalf of the voiceless in our society. I have been fortunate enough to have met and worked alongside many great leaders in the San Antonio community, many of whom I consider heroes.
However, there are some true Texas heroes who don’t get a plaque at the Alamo, don’t have buildings named after them and don’t even get paid what they deserve to take on the tremendous responsibility of caring for some of the most vulnerable Texans among us.
These heroes are the direct support professionals who care for Texans with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Direct support professionals take on a seemingly insurmountable list of tasks including nursing tasks, administering medications, tube feeding, skin care and hygiene, and managing seizures, incontinence and maladaptive behaviors – sometimes at risk to their own personal safety.
They do all this and more for an average starting salary of just $10.60 per hour, less than the average fast food employee. Meanwhile, employees staffing the State Supported Living Centers providing the exact same services are paid a starting wage of at least $17.50 per hour.
With service providers across Texas reporting roughly a third of their staff positions vacant, two thirds struggling to deliver quality care, and nearly half reporting they are being forced to turn away referrals, we are seeing a full-blown crisis that needs to be addressed immediately to ensure Texans with disabilities who need this specialized care are not left behind.
State leaders can start by giving direct support professionals a raise.
I had the honor of touring a local nonprofit organization that provides residential, day activity services and vocational programs for children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Part of the tour included a program that cared for severely disabled individuals during the day. I learned that the organization was paid only $16 from the state of Texas’ Day Activity and Health Services (DAHS) program for a full day of care for each individual.
It enraged me to see this injustice, and it is no less enraging today to see that such critical members of our state’s workforce do so much for so many, all for such little pay. In fact, over the last 13 years, wages for community-based direct support professionals in Texas have increased by less than 9%. Meanwhile, inflation has increased by more than 37% over that same time period.
You don’t have to be an economist to understand that this is an unsustainable trend, and it’s the most vulnerable Texans who stand to suffer the most.
It’s time for Texas to demonstrate the leadership we are known for and deliver emergency funding now to stem the crisis impacting the direct support professional workforce by raising the average starting salary to at least $15 per hour. This is a more than reasonable step, given Texas is anticipated to have a more than $18 billion surplus in the next biennial budget, not including the current balance in the State “Rainy Day Fund” which currently stands at over $23 billion.
It is incumbent upon our state leaders to recognize the heroes in our midst who are doing such important work for such little pay and take steps to deliver them ongoing, sustainable support to prevent more closures of group homes that care for Texans with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
