Direct care industry facing hiring crunch locally, statewide

Without pay increases for staff, providers across the state who serve individuals with disabilities are facing a hiring crisis.

"The people we serve need continuous support throughout the day. Whether it is with daily living skills, social or behavior support, it is given all day, every day by our employees," said Katie Neegaard, executive director of Waseca's Jobs Plus, which provides employment and day services to people with physical and mental disabilities. "Without this support, our consumers would not be as independent as they are today."

Providing that support, however, has become more difficult after rate cuts, says Neegaard.

"We've had to do more with less," she said. "With an increase in minimum wage, we have to pay our clients out in the community $9.50 an hour and our starting wage here is $10 an hour. Our funding is dependent on our rate we get from the state, and we keep getting cuts.

"It's pretty bad when our clients are making 50 cents an hour less than our staff who are supposed to be providing the care," she added.

This, Neegaard says, makes it hard to hire new staff members.

"We have to maintain a staff-client ratio, and that's very difficult to do because no one wants to work for $10 an hour, especially in this field," she said.

The other challenge is the high rate of employee turnover rate. Neegaard says that while some make careers out of the work, it is often a job for college students wishing to go on to get degrees in social work.

Direct care staff at Jobs Plus helps clients with a variety of things, from assisting them with eating to helping them with work and interviewing skills so they can find jobs in the community.

"That involves trying to get them a job that fits for them, but they also need supervision," Neegaard said. "Our staff has to be out there supervising and trying to keep them on task."

Jobs Plus typically has a staff-client ratio of 1-to-5 or 1-to-6. Neegaard says she wants to see the ratio at around 1-to-4.

"That's just because of the care that is needed to assist people," she said. "We take them out of wheelchairs, we lay them in bed and do a range of motions. Sometimes it takes two staff members to help transport people."

Impacts

With rate cuts and a difficulty finding new staff members, the onus is on the existing staff to take on more work.

"With not having people applying in the field, the staff here is having to do more but hardly getting an increase in pay because that's dependent on the per diem we get from the state," she said. "A lot of the new people coming on board live paycheck to paycheck. Getting a $400 paycheck every other week isn't enough to live on."

Neegaard says nursing homes find themselves in a similar dilemma, something Lakeshore Inn Administrator Mike Corchran confirmed.

"It's an industry-wide thing," he said. "It's demanding work, there's a lot to be done in a short amount of time and it doesn't pay extremely well."

The Waseca facility went through what Corchran calls "a really rough stretch" finding staff last fall but is now doing better. Another nursing home he's involved in Fairmont, though, "struggles mightily" and Janesville Nursing Home is also having a difficult time.

"When McDonald's is able to pay you the same amount as what you get paid in a nursing home ? most people, given their druthers, would probably take the McDonald's job over a job with us," Corchran said.

In Waseca, Corchran says there is the added problem of a lack of people to fill jobs.

Le Sueur County Developmental Services' Doug Scharfe has also seen the effect of the problem.

"We've had more staff turnover than usual in the past two years," Scharfe said. "It gets to be a critical problem at times ? We haven't kept up with the cost of living."

Neegaard says she tries to be hopeful that the situation can change. Scharfe shares this hope.

"I remain cautiously optimistic that something will be done to make sure people have quality services," he said. "I'm hoping, more than anything else, that financial assistance from the state will come. We continue to try to provide the best services we can provide, with the idea that that backing will happen. But finances obviously drive everything. If we don't have the finances to hire or keep staff, that makes it very difficult to plan for the future."

He is doubtful of the sustainability of the situation if no change is in the offing.

"It's very questionable," he said. "It's a critical issue. We've gone several years with no increase at all from the state. That's cost of living you'll never make up."

The Minnesota Organization for Habilitation and Rehabilitation, a statewide organization representing care providers like Jobs Plus, and Best Life Alliance, a Minnesota coalition, are asking state legislators for a 4 percent wage increase this year.

"That's something that our organization has been working on for some time," Scharfe said. "It would sure be helpful. I don't think it would completely solve the issue, but it's a start."

In the meantime, Neegaard says current employees are doing the best they can, but that she can tell they are wearing out.

"They all work very hard and they do their best, but I know there are days they feel defeated because they had to help cover somebody else's group, so they didn't get to spend much time with the people they're responsible for," she said. "But they have hung on, they continue to do their best and I feel they provide good services."