Critics say the removal of proposed wage increases for direct care workers serving as caregivers for the elderly and children with disabilities from the state budget, part of a $93 million cut from DPHHS funding, will make it tough to provide needed services.
“While we will continue to provide services to the best of our ability within these funding and staffing constraints, we fear further restrictions will mean we cannot continue to provide the level or amount of nursing services required by children with disabilities in our state,” said Bill Woody, owner of Consumer Direct Care Network.
According to Kelly Jepson, Policy Analyst for the network, funds for the wage increase were cut from the senior long term care budget February 17 by the Joint Health and Human Services Subcommittee on Appropriations. Wage increases previously included in the 2015-16 and 2016-17 budgets totaling over $3.8 million were removed, said Jepson. A motion to fund the direct care worker wage increase through a separate appropriation also failed.
Heather O’Loughlin, Montana Budget and Policy Center Co-director, said severe budget cuts in the Department of Public Health and Human Services will harm “seniors, families, students, and our most vulnerable families.” Cuts of more than $90 million in the DPHHS budget are unacceptable because “these cuts will hurt our families and our communities,” said O’Loughlin. Both Woody and O’Loughlin have submitted letters urging Montanans to contact legislators to protest the cuts.
