"A workforce shortage of crisis proportions" impacting loved ones at New York group homes
NORTH SYRACUSE, N.Y. — In New York group homes - staffing has reached a "crisis" point, leading to heartbreaking situations statewide.
According to the state's Office of People with Developmental Disabilities, state-run group homes have lost a combined 259 staff members in Central New York since April 2020. In the past three months alone, the state has temporarily suspended 9 homes in CNY.
The agency provided a statement to CNY Central, which reads in part: "OPWDD and our provider agencies, as well as most human services organizations across the country, are facing a workforce shortage of crisis proportions. The Hochul Administration is working on multiple strategies to confront this crisis and improve the staffing situation, one of which was announced recently in the $1.5 billion workforce incentive package."
According to a spokesperson, the agency is doing everything in its power to support and retain staff.
"In order to manage a large footprint of group homes that support tens of thousands of people across the state, OPWDD has been exploring a variety of options, including temporary consolidation of group homes, to maintain quality care and workplace conditions," the statement said.
That strategy has led to difficult realities for families across the state. In the Fingerlakes, the Garrison family says OPWDD moved their son's belongings out of his home on Thanksgiving without ample warning. Torrie Garrison said this will cause major problems for her son's mental health, who has autism and is demanding action.
"He doesn't do very well, he doesn't handle change well at all," said Garrison, "I want them to bring his belongings back here, and I want them to do it the right way."
The primary source of this crisis is wages, according to AccessCNY Executive Director Paul Joslyn. The nonprofit oversees 25 group homes, and Joslyn said none have had to close, but it's taken significant effort to keep them open. That includes the agency investing $1 million to try to increase wages and retain staff.
Joslyn said staffing was a problem before the pandemic, but COVID-19 has made things worse, doubling the number of job openings.
"When Governor Cuomo increased the statewide minimum wage many years ago, the state failed to provide funding to providers of homes for people with developmental disabilities - and other services for that matter - so we can increase the wages of our staff proportionally, that's really been the biggest driver of the crisis for us," said Joslyn.
He said the agency has had to move staff around, temporarily suspend auxiliary programs and move high-level staff into direct care positions to keep things running, now operating with a staffing vacancy of 30 percent.
According to Joslyn, both state and federal funding needs to improve - hoping President Biden's Build Back Better plan passes, which includes $150 billion nationwide of in-home care.
Joslyn said AccessCNY is also partnering with Onondaga County Community College to assist people in getting the education they need to enter the home care field.
