emergency. Can I change/cancel my directive? You can always change or cancel your directive. If you chose to cancel your directive, please notify your designated health care agent, family members and your attorney. If you want to make changes, you should consider completing new documents. Pg. 6 Recent Reports Highlight Need for Increased Wages for Direct Support Professionals Community living depends on the work of direct support professionals. Unfortunately, low pay and a lack of benefits make it difficult to recruit and retain people to provide direct support. Recent reports highlight this important issue. In 2016, a report produced by a Michigan Department of Health and Human Services work group, the “Section 1009 Report,” detailed these challenges, concluding: “The Michigan Legislature and Governor need to make additional investments into all the named Medicaid Covered supports and services to assure that direct support staff earn a starting wage of at least $2.00 per hour above the state’s minimum wage.” Although the Legislature responded by adding $.50/hour to the direct care rate, that effort did not fully implement the recommendations in the 1009 report. In March 2018, MARO and the Michigan Assisted Living Association (MALA) conducted a workforce survey to obtain data on wage levels, turnover rates, open positions, and other important issues. One hundred and five (105) organizations representing nearly 14,000 direct care support workers responded to the survey. The respondents noted a starting average wage rate of $10.46/hour, only slightly higher than the state minimum wage. The annual staff turnover rate was over 36%. Over 21% of providers discontinued programs, and over 47% of providers declined additional work or programming; in nearly three-quarters of these cases, the inability to recruit or retain direct care staff was the reason. Several organizations recently issued a position statement on increased wages for direct care workers. The statement made four essential points:
Direct care workers provide crucial personal care services and/or community living supports to people with disabilities. Direct care workers receive wages which are clearly inadequate. As a result of low pay, often coupled with a lack of benefits, a staffing crisis exists. This is both an economic and a moral issue. Low rates of pay also contribute to problems in recruiting and retaining long-term care staff supporting older adults. The Legislature authorized a study of long-term care challenges in the 2018-2019 budget act. The study will look at challenges faced by the direct care work force and issue recommendations for long-term services and supports. This issue will continue to be at the forefront of discussions about providing crucial supports that enable people with disabilities to work and live in their communities. For more information, please contact MPAS. Sixth Circuit Issues Landmark Special Education Decision From the Council of Parent Advocates and Attorneys (COPAA) On August 20, the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals found that a Tennessee school district violated federal special education law when it demanded that a second-grade student with Down syndrome be removed from his general education classroom in his neighborhood school to a segregated special education classroom in another school. The case, L.H. v. Hamilton County Department of Education, was described as “arguably the most important special education case heard by the Sixth Circuit in the past 35 years.” The Court found that the “least restrictive environment” is a “separate and different” measure than that of “substantive educational benefits.” “A child need not master the general-education curriculum for mainstreaming to remain a viable option,” the Court wrote. “Rather, the appropriate yardstick is whether the child, with appropriate supplemental aids and services, can make progress toward the IEP’s goals in the regular education setting.” To read the entire decision, go to the COPAA website at .