By LAUREN LEONE-CROSS
GateHouse Media Illinois ; May 15, 2013
SPRINGFIELD — As the developmentally disabled are moved from state institutions to community-based care, the largest state employee union urged lawmakers Wednesday to approve more money for caregivers’ wages.
Gov. Pat Quinn’s initiative to transition individuals from state institutions like the now-shuttered Jacksonville Developmental Center to community-based care puts a much-needed spotlight on the low wages earned by the workers now taking care of these individuals, said Janet Stover, president of the Illinois Association of Rehabilitation Facilities.
Senate Bill 1368 calls for a $1-per-hour wage rate increase for community-based caregivers. Their starting wages average $9.35 per hour - 21 percent below the federal poverty level of $11.32 for a family of four, according to a survey conducted by the association, and the last time lawmakers approved a starting wage increase for these workers was in 2007.
“It’s a job that doesn’t pay what it should,” said Stover, who was joined by parents of the developmentally disabled, caregivers and mental health advocates during a hearing Wednesday in the Senate Human Services Committee.
The starting salary for caregivers in Illinois state institutions is about $35,000 per year, which works out to about $17 per hour, said Anders Lindall, spokesman for American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31.
The increase in wages would cost $68.2 million, according to estimates from the Department of Human Services. The money would be federally matched through Medicaid.
Wednesday’s lobbying effort led by AFSCME comes as the House Appropriations Human Services Committee is looking to cut $770 million from Quinn’s proposed fiscal 2014 budget for the departments of Human Services, Children and Family Services, Veterans Affairs and Aging.
The goal is to raise starting wages to $13 per hour by 2015, said Art Dykstra, president and executive director of Trinity Services Inc., a nonprofit that serves children and adults with developmental disabilities.
John Porter, 72, of Springfield testified on behalf of his son with developmental disabilities now living in a community-based group home in Springfield. John Porter Jr., 43, lived five years as a resident of the now-shuttered Howe Developmental Center in Tinley Park.
The elder Porter said low starting wages and a demanding work environment often go hand in hand with high turnover rates.
http://www.pjstar.com/news/x83392608/Union-asks-for-higher-caregiver-wages
GateHouse Media Illinois ; May 15, 2013
SPRINGFIELD — As the developmentally disabled are moved from state institutions to community-based care, the largest state employee union urged lawmakers Wednesday to approve more money for caregivers’ wages.
Gov. Pat Quinn’s initiative to transition individuals from state institutions like the now-shuttered Jacksonville Developmental Center to community-based care puts a much-needed spotlight on the low wages earned by the workers now taking care of these individuals, said Janet Stover, president of the Illinois Association of Rehabilitation Facilities.
Senate Bill 1368 calls for a $1-per-hour wage rate increase for community-based caregivers. Their starting wages average $9.35 per hour - 21 percent below the federal poverty level of $11.32 for a family of four, according to a survey conducted by the association, and the last time lawmakers approved a starting wage increase for these workers was in 2007.
“It’s a job that doesn’t pay what it should,” said Stover, who was joined by parents of the developmentally disabled, caregivers and mental health advocates during a hearing Wednesday in the Senate Human Services Committee.
The starting salary for caregivers in Illinois state institutions is about $35,000 per year, which works out to about $17 per hour, said Anders Lindall, spokesman for American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31.
The increase in wages would cost $68.2 million, according to estimates from the Department of Human Services. The money would be federally matched through Medicaid.
Wednesday’s lobbying effort led by AFSCME comes as the House Appropriations Human Services Committee is looking to cut $770 million from Quinn’s proposed fiscal 2014 budget for the departments of Human Services, Children and Family Services, Veterans Affairs and Aging.
The goal is to raise starting wages to $13 per hour by 2015, said Art Dykstra, president and executive director of Trinity Services Inc., a nonprofit that serves children and adults with developmental disabilities.
John Porter, 72, of Springfield testified on behalf of his son with developmental disabilities now living in a community-based group home in Springfield. John Porter Jr., 43, lived five years as a resident of the now-shuttered Howe Developmental Center in Tinley Park.
The elder Porter said low starting wages and a demanding work environment often go hand in hand with high turnover rates.
http://www.pjstar.com/news/x83392608/Union-asks-for-higher-caregiver-wages
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