Grunko: "Better training, reducing turnover key to quality care"
State House News Service
ADVOCATE: “GOD’S WORK DOESN’T PAY THE RENT”
State House News Service / June 10, 2008
With time for advancing controversial bills dwindling, human service workers said Tuesday that without a new law providing for salary increases and revised rules for state contracts, the 185,000-strong sector would deteriorate, decreasing quality of care for the disabled and mentally ill.
At a State House rally, hundreds of human services providers and supporters, under the banner of the Campaign to Strengthen Human Services, argued that low salaries, stressful jobs and long hours have created a shortage of available workers and significant turnover. In some cases, they said, their rates hadn’t increased in 20 years, adding that the state requires them to bid on contracts that fit state budgetary needs but fail to fully cover the cost of services. A bill that would include many of these reforms, S 65, has been awaiting action in Senate Ways and Means since April.
Noting wryly that human services are often described as doing “God’s work,” Gary Blumenthal, executive director of the Association of Developmental Disabilities Providers of Massachusetts, added, “God’s work doesn’t pay the rent.”
“It isn’t accepted at Visa,” he said. “And it ain’t accepted at MasterCard.”
The Patrick administration has thrown support to the idea of overhauling the so-called purchase-of-service rules that govern pay and contracts for human service workers, but with time for formal sessions running down, many lawmakers have noted that bills not yet on the move face an uphill battle.
According to information distributed by the campaign, the sector employs three times as many workers as the biotechnology sector in Massachusetts and generates $112 million in state and local taxes. Formal legislative sessions end this year on July 31.
Service Employees International Union President Michael Grunko said he supported the aims of human services providers but added that any reforms need to come with increased accountability – “better training and reducing high turnover rates caused by painfully low wages.”
“We encourage the Legislature to amend Senate Bill 65 to reflect these priorities,” he said in a statement.
In a phone interview after the rally, Blumenthal told the News Service that without the passage of a new law, waiting lists for essential services will begin to build up and “people will suffer because of their inability to access services.”
“The pressure has always been on providers to continue to serve more and more people with less and less money,” he said. “In other states, what often happens is, this ends up in the courts.” Blumenthal said human services leaders in Massachusetts hoped to avoid litigation and would prefer “a civil discussion.” He added that a third of the total cost of a rate increase would likely be picked up by the federal government.