DCA Board Endorses Community Choice Act

Laurie Powers

Read the board’s resolution in favor of the Community Choice Act

Ask your legislator to support the Community Choice Act

As a DCA board member, a person with disability, and a professional working to increase self-determination and community participation by people with disabilities, I can attest to the critical importance of passing this legislation. It’s essential for people with disabilities to finally have the right –just like everyone else – to live in their communities if they so desire, rather than being stuck in institutions simply because they cannot get the care they need anywhere else.

The DCA is committed to that right. Our mission statement and principles call for access to quality long-term care services at home for all direct care consumers, and I am not the only member of our board who advocates for self-determination. Dennis Fitzgibbons, the executive director of Maine’s Center for Independent Living, also sits on our board of directors, Bob Kafka of ADAPT is on our Advocacy Committee, and our executive director, Leonila Vega, was a two-term chair of Wisconsin’s Independent Living Council before coming to the DCA. ”A commitment to the independent living movement is a very central belief of mine, which has motivated much of my advocacy in long-term care,” Leonila says.

The services provided by direct care workers are the backbone of survival for many people with disabilities. The Community Choice Act will enable people with disabilities to hire direct care workers to help them stay healthy, take care of themselves, and participate in life. The DCA is working with its partners make sure the Act includes provisions for adequate pay, benefits, and training for those workers.

There is a shortage of direct care workers, the major reason being the poor pay, lack of benefits and inadequate training they receive. Workers who are shown respect, valued for their skills and contributions, and given a chance to build their skills and make a career of caring will stay on the job.

Everyone will benefit – the person with disability who can live independently and go to work because she gets quality services and the worker who will earn a living wage, can afford to go to the doctor, and receives training to improve her skills. Employers, government agencies and taxpayers will benefit too, since they won’t have to spend endless dollars and time on hiring and training direct care workers who won’t be able to stay log on the job.

The stakes are high for all of us. Let’s work together to tell Congress it must pass the Community Choice Act.

Laurie Powers, Ph.D.
Board member
Direct Care Alliance