Advocacy: Disability Services in Georgia

Dear Friends,

At Inspiritus, our Disability & Health Services program offers residential housing to individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) in a host home setting. These homes offer an intimate and person-centered residence with compassionate, well-trained support companions, who collaborate with state and regional agencies to provide a coordinated plan of care and support.

In the state of Georgia, these Support Companions are known as Direct Support Professionals (DSPs), and they make our mission of empowering those we accompany possible. DSPs are central to the health and safety of those living with IDD, as our Support Companions accommodate a number of medical issues, such as seizure disorder, incontinence, speech disorders, hypertension, and diabetes. We could not empower the individuals we accompany without their support.

Sadly, Inspiritus and other IDD providers are currently facing a crisis of epic proportion in our ability to obtain and preserve a skilled workforce of Direct Support Professionals to provide safe and secure services for individuals we accompany. The DSP turnover rate for IDD providers is approaching 50% with the average DSP in Georgia having been on the job for less than one year. Georgia services are funded at a rate that only allows for an hourly DSP wage of $10.64 or $22,131 annually. No one in Georgia can live on that wage. No one can pay rent, buy food, gas, and insurance for that amount.

This is the current reality of the DSP workforce crisis, and it is critical to address it in a meaningful and impactful way as soon as possible. Without a well-trained and stable DSP workforce, individuals with IDD are in peril and are at risk.

The time to act is now, but we cannot do it alone. We need your help to ensure DSPs are paid a living wage so we can further empower the individuals we accompany on their journey from surviving to thriving.

HOW CAN YOU HELP?

Join our call to action in supporting a 5% increase on all waiver services to help address the DSP workforce crisis.

By signing the petitions below, you can advocate for a $6,150,000 increase of funding to be added to the 2022 Fiscal Year Budget, and for a $12.3m to be added to the 2023 budget to annualize this 5% increase.

We invite you to join us in sending an email to your Georgia state legislators asking that they provide funding for increased DSP wages. It is imperative that Georgia's General Assembly include funding in the state budget during the 2022 legislative session to provide an hourly wage for DSPs that will encourage stability, reduce turnover, and demonstrate our state’s belief that Georgians with IDD do deserve high quality support from a stable and skilled workforce.

A template has been created so that all you need to do is enter your information and hit "send". However, you also have the option to personalize the email if you would like to enter a personal story about how this issue is impacting your life. Let them know how important Direct Support Professionals are and ask them to act now to increase DSP wages and address the workforce shortage.

Our success depends on YOUR participation! Sign and circulate the DSP Petition AND use the GCDD tool to communicate your support of a 5% increase to legislators directly.

We invite you to circulate each of these advocacy activities with your families, friends, collogues, and community partners to ensure our voice is heard in the Georgia state legislature.

Thank you for your continued support in empowering those we accompany on their journeys from surviving to thriving!

Sincerely,

Rev. John R. Moeller, Jr.
President & CEO,
Inspiritus