NC Newsline: “A meeting in Chapel Hill last weekend of a grassroots group called Parent Advocates for Adult Children with I/DD centered on the frustrating shortage of direct care workers.
Direct care work doesn’t pay much. And it is employment without a career path.
“I’ve seen low-paid people who have put their heart and soul in working who can’t pay their bills, who have to get food stamps themselves,” Collman said.
The legislature included in this year’s budget money to help increase wages of direct care workers by $6.50 an hour over the average hourly wage.
Kelly Crosbie, director of the Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Use Services at DHHS, counted as positives in the state budget the money for worker pay, 350 additional waiver slots, and support for people with disabilities who work at jobs with competitive wages.
Additionally, in a change that commenced this year, the federal government is allowing the state to offer a service that provides support for community living to eligible people who use Medicaid.
“This is a new benefit,” Crosbie said. “You do not have to wait for a waiver slot.”
There is no waiting list for this new service, but the worker shortage limits how many people can use it.”