People with disabilities endure caregiver shortage effects
In the past couple of years, we have all seen various aspects of devastation that the COVID 19 pandemic has unearthed throughout the nation. So many businesses want to badly go back to pre-pandemic times but realizing some of the effects are here to stay and so we must adapt to new ways of accomplishing goals and dealing with shortcomings.
Staffing shortages are undoubtably continuing to be a crisis in all industries, but especially within healthcare. Frontline workers gradually became more fearful of contracting COVID, therefore resignations elevated. Limited pay increases have been distributed to healthcare workers, making it tougher to attract new employees.
Sadly, group homes, nursing care, and developmental disability facilities were hurting for employees before the pandemic, and now the severity of these open jobs are becoming life threatening.
Some of these facilities are losing staff so rigorously that they are forced to shut their doors forcing their inhabitants to find other care solutions. U.S News reports the shortage is at an “epic level,” said Elizabeth Priaulx, a legal specialist with the National Disability Rights Network.
“People with disabilities who have been approved by state Medicaid programs to receive 40 hours a week in caregiver services now often get just 20 hours,” Priaulx added. “If family members can’t help offset the gap, a person may be forced into a nursing home,” she said.
The disability community is feeling these staffing shortage effects pretty harshly. Disability Scoop says that “Adults with cerebral palsy, autism and other disabilities — who took pride in living independently — are being forced to move back home with their parents or into larger, congregate-care settings where their daily choices are often carefully controlled. Many with intense medical needs feel abandoned and neglected, as their social media feeds are filled with relatives and friends returning to normal lives.”
Caleb George-Guidry was born with a rare disorder that affects his physical and cognitive development. He was attending a day support center where he enjoyed a wide range of activities, from painting to yoga, designed for adults like him with significant disabilities. But unfortunately, he was forced to move out of his group home of the past 12 years and into a new house with strangers due to staffing limitations. Then, George-Guidry’s day center in St. Paul abruptly suspended his services after nine years, leaving him isolated and depressed, reports Disability Scoop.
Family members of those with loved ones with disabilities are genuinely concerned about the sustainability of care facilities and healthcare services if the national worker shortage is not resolved soon.
Various states across the U.S are creating task forces to get to the bottom of the labor shortage problem. South Carolina, for example, launches a new task force of 13 individuals by the State Department of Employment and Workforce (DEW) with the goal “to solve South Carolina’s labor force participation, which they say is one of the lowest in the country.” Low labor force participation means there’s a low number of people seeking work compared to a high number of jobs available across the state, says News 19.
Contact Lowery Law Group at info@lowerylegal.com or call (843) 991-0733. There is no fee for a free consultation regarding your claim. Lowery Law Group is experienced in handling cases in South Carolina as well as Georgia.