CLEARWATER, Fla. — For many people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, having a dedicated and trained caregiver is the only way they can live outside of an institution, but there’s a national shortage of caregivers and we’re feeling the effects right here in the Tampa Bay area.
“You don’t know what you’re walking into when you walk into work. I promise you, my Monday is never like my Tuesday; my Tuesday is never like my Wednesday,” said Alisia Stevens, a Direct Support Professional at the Arc Tampa Bay.
Direct Support Professionals care for those with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Stevens is passionate about the job she does.
“I just feel like it just takes heart. You got to love what you do to do it. You got to love to care about a person,” said Stevens.
Although Stevens excels in her position, the job is far from easy.
“Some of them don’t have no family. So, we are their family. We are the ones who love them."
Without the help of Direct Support Professionals, many people with intellectual and developmental disabilities would be institutionalized, but because of people like Stevens, they’re able to live in the community.
“The relationship with the staff, they are very nice to me. They care,” said Brigit Harold.
“These are some of the group homes that we were talking about. They serve anywhere from six individuals to upwards of 10,” said Brian Siracusa, executive director of the Arc Tampa Bay.
The group provides 16 adult group homes to those with disabilities in Pinellas County. The shortage of caregivers to work those homes forced them to close one down last year. He said because of that; there are currently people with developmental disabilities in psych wards when they shouldn’t have to be.
“It’s sad for us because we’d love to reopen the home. We’d love to be able to provide that service, but without the staff, we can’t do that,” said Siracusa.
The shortage is so severe that in Florida alone, there are more than 10,000 people with disabilities on the waitlist for services, which means they also face being put into a nursing home or psychiatric hospital if they can’t get the care they need at home.
The turnover rate last year at the Arc Tampa Bay was 30%, which is why they’re currently looking to hire and train people to become Direct Professional Support workers.
Some of the reasons for the DSP worker shortage are low pay, stressful work environment and the pandemic.
Shannon McCracken with Ancor, a disabilities advocacy group, said the shortage issue can largely be solved if state and federal governments provide more funding to local service providers that hire DSP workers.
“To believe that it is okay to underfund these programs and that many people think that it’s just good work that people should do because they’re good people,” said McCracken.
For more information on how you can become a DSP worker or on resources for those with intellectual and developmental disabilities, click here.
