Care Campaign delivers strong message to Quinn

These postcards were among more than 15,000 delivered to Gov. Quinn calling on him to include funding for increased direct support provider wages in his fiscal 2015 budget.

The effort to lift direct support employee wages beyond poverty level took a major step forward last week, sending Gov. Pat Quinn a clear message that it’s time to include funding for increased wages in his upcoming budget.

That message was delivered more than 15,000 times in the form of postcards the Care Campaign dropped off at Quinn’s state Capitol office on Feb. 4. The postcards urge Quinn to include funding to direct support providers in his fiscal 2015 budget that would allow those agencies to increase direct support provider (DSP) wages by $1 an hour.

The Care Campaign includes frontline DSPs represented by AFSCME as well as agency CEO’s, disability advocates and family members.

Direct support personnel assist adults and children with developmental disabilities, allowing them to carry out basic tasks and achieve greater independence. They also provide essential peace of mind to the families of these individuals.

AFSCME members from Milestone (Rockford), Easter Seals/UCP Will County, Arc of Rock Island, Ray Graham (Suburban Chicago), and Hope School (Springfield) braved cold and snow to travel to Springfield, but were warmly received by the media at a press conference kicking off the card delivery.

The press conference also featured two legislators—Senator Heather Steans and Representative Robyn Gabel—who are the chief sponsors of the Care Campaign legislation (SB 2604/HB 3698) that would establish a $13/hr. minimum wage for DSPs over the next three years.

After the press conference, AFSCME members, along with agency directors, advocates, trade associations and family representatives, carried boxes of Care Campaign postcards to the governor’s office.

Since last Tuesday’s action, the fight to raise DSP wages – which currently average $9.35 an hour – has received positive coverage from TV stations, radio and newspapers. In a Springfield Journal-Register editorial published Friday, the paper called DSP wages “shockingly low,” noting that they lead to high turnover and added stress on workers who already have difficult jobs.

“The plight of Illinois’ 31,000 direct support workers and the families they support — both at work and at their own homes — is too important to continue overlooking,” the editorial noted. “They deserve a decent living wage.”

Despite the campaign’s success so far, the key question is still unanswered: Will Governor Quinn show he respects the work of DSPs by including a raise for DSPs in his budget for the coming fiscal year?

The governor will present his budget on March 26 – in the meantime, the Care Campaign will continue to urge him to provide the funding these agencies and their employees desperately need.