Workers who assist people with disabilities would receive about a $5-per-hour salary increase if decision-makers heed the recommendations packed into an ongoing wage review.
The increase would cost the state about $91 million and lift the hourly wage of caregivers to $15.18, up from $10.63, according to cost estimates released Thursday by the state Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities.
Commissioner Kevin Tanner argues that implementing the rate study is essential to shoring up the safety net in Georgia and providing services to more people with disabilities. He told reporters this week that he sees it as “the first step in several to correct the workforce issue.”
His staff outlined the study’s recommendations to the agency’s advisory board Thursday.
“I will tell you that if we don’t implement the rate increases, we’re not going to have providers to provide the services,” Tanner told the board.
But service providers, who have wrestled with staffing shortages that predate the pandemic, say such an increase – while appreciated – would fall short of what is needed to address the crisis at a time of rising costs.
“We can’t hire anyone at $15. There’s no one in the state that can hire someone at $15 an hour. Our concern is that if we don’t get that right now, we could potentially live with that $15.18 for another decade or more,” said Diane Wilush, president and CEO of United Cerebral Palsy of Georgia.
“We can all talk about how important our (workers)...
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