WELLSVILLE, NY - Allegany Arc’s Chief
Executive Officer Mike Damiano recently attended a Joint Legislative &
Advocacy Event in Albany along with his son, Joe Damiano who is a
Self-Advocate. Mike Damiano said “Direct Support Professionals (DSP) are the
backbone of agencies like Allegany Arc. They deserve higher wages and
people with intellectual and developmental disabilities deserve the highest
quality of support from a dynamic workforce that is passionate about what they
do. We have that now, but our DSPs certainly don’t earn the wages they
richly deserve.”
Across New York State,
agencies like Allegany Arc provide comprehensive and individualized services
and programs that support people with intellectual and developmental
disabilities in all areas of their lives. A decade of under-investment
threatens the future of this system. Over the last decade, non-profits
supporting people with intellectual and developmental disabilities received
only one funding increase of 0.2% while other Medicaid-funded industries
received much more. One third of providers in New York State had to cut
programs or reduce services in the last three years due to funding constraints,
impacting nearly 50,000 New Yorkers with disabilities.
New York Disability Advocates
is a statewide coalition representing more than 300 non-profit organizations
providing vital supports and services to more than 140,000 people with
intellectual and developmental disabilities. Their solution, one we hope
everyone will support is #3for5: An annual 3% funding increase for five
years. This multi-year commitment from the state is crucial for the
continuation of cost-efficient care, as well as investments in the workforce
and much needed technology and facility modernization.
Joe Damiano said of the Joint
Legislative & Advocacy Event, “It was an awesome trip and I was very
blessed to have experienced it.” Joe Damiano continued, “We need to urge
our people in Congress to support the #3for5 so we don’t lose people that work
with us because of higher wages someplace else.”
Allegany Arc’s CEO Mike
Damiano agreed saying, “We have made strides in getting DSPs a better wage but
we have a ways to go. Staff work tirelessly, spending long hours at jobs
they love for people we support. To say I am thankful for our employees’
incredible dedication is such an understatement. We need to do more for
staff. And we need to do more for people with I/DD so they can continue
to depend on the quality services they rely on.”
If you would like more
information on #3for5, please visit www.nyalliance.org. For more information about Allegany Arc and
some of our programs, please visit www.AlleganyArc.org.
