Making our government more efficient and effective often means innovating ways to more closely align bureaucratic processes with best practice solutions. Pennsylvania’s method of compensating our invaluable Direct Support Professionals (DSPs) is one such opportunity. Over 58,000 Pennsylvanians with intellectual disabilities and autism need some assistance during the day to reach their highest level of independence and opportunity. These people and their families rely upon our committed DSPs to support some of the most personal tasks and make sure they live safely while engaging in the community. Often, our DSPs become like family to their clients.
 
Sadly, if you looked at the pay DSPs receive in Pennsylvania you would not know how critical they are to those who need their services. Despite best efforts, too many great staff leave the profession due to necessity in order to support themselves and their families. This often leads to a very high staff turnover rate even amongst our best providers, which has a negative effect on their clients.
 
Regulation requires a three-year refresh of market-based data in order to adopt a fee schedule, but there is no requirement for Pennsylvania to change rates at all - no matter what happens to inflation. Under this process, rates are already a year behind by the time they become effective. Last year’s rate increase was 3-4% below actual inflation, without any guarantee of correction for at least 3 years. For many providers, annual increases to health insurance, worker’s compensation, liability and other factors far exceed the available funds.
 
To help stabilize this workforce and provide better care for individuals with intellectual disabilities and autism, Representative Jason Ortitay and I will be introducing legislation to require that the Department of Human Services (DHS) update rates annually. Under our proposal, in the years between market-based rate revisions, DHS would update rates for DSPs based on the percentage change in the Consumer Price Index.
 
Increasing rates annually will provide stability to wages and will support the hard-working DSPs that are essential to the delivery of services for Pennsylvanians with intellectual disabilities and autism.
 
We hope you will join us in cosponsoring this important legislation for DSPs and the Pennsylvanians that they serve.