MINNEAPOLIS — Alan Fletcher's daughter, Amy, was born with Down syndrome in 1971, leading his family on a "journey of finding good care."
Amy, now 51, lives in a Twin Cities group home run by the provider ACR Homes, where she has recently developed early-onset Alzheimer's.
"We became aware of how valuable it was that she's in ACR Homes, because essentially, staff went back to school to learn how to work with Alzheimer's," Alan Fletcher said. "There's a lot of special handling."
However, as staffing shortages continue to plague providers serving adults with disabilities, Fletcher worries constantly about his daughter's future. According to the Association of Residential Resources in Minnesota (ARRM), a provider trade group, the industry has a 30-percent job vacancy rate right now, totaling about 9,000 open positions. Since last year, 173 group homes have closed, ARRM says, including 33 in the past few months alone.
"We are fortunate that [Amy's] particular home in ACR hasn't been threatened for closure yet. But that doesn't mean that will continue," Fletcher said. "There have been a number of other homes in the ACR company that have been closed in the last six months."
Sue Schettle, the CEO of ARRM, said staffing is the "worst it's ever been," with the pandemic exacerbating existing challenges in the workforce.
"When that happened, we had people that had to stay home with their children, people that were sick, people that weren't getting reimbursed enough for the hazard they were working in," Schettle said. "COVID really made it that much worse."
For that reason, Schettle is among the many advocates urging Gov. Tim Walz to call a special session, so that the legislature can approve funding to fix the staffing woes and prevent more group home closures. In fact, family members of adults with disabilities rallied at the governor's mansion last week to draw attention to the problem.
During the regular session that ended in May, the DFL-led House and Republican-led Senate failed to come to an agreement on a number of issues, including health and human services funding.
"The governor has got to call back the legislature to get this done," Schettle said. "They're failing us. They're failing people with disabilities. They're failing families, failing providers."
Sen. Jim Abeler (R-Anoka) authored a bill this spring to spend a $1 billion of surplus money on funding for group homes and long-term care facilities, the latter of which are also facing significant workforce issues. Abeler's proposal would have raised the state reimbursement rates to help, in turn, raise wages for workers, thus encouraging more recruitment and retainment of staff.
"We have to get to an agreement where the governor believes they actually need the money. And Governor, they need the money," Abeler said in an interview with KARE 11. "These companies are taking their reserves, trying to keep staff. We, in the Senate, in a bipartisan way, have been trying to fund this in a much better way."
A spokesperson for Gov. Walz told KARE 11 in a text message that "the governor has talked on many occasions about his frustration that the legislature didn't get all the work done" during the regular session. Walz has frequently blamed Republicans for "walking away" from the negotiating table on a variety of topics. Earlier this year, on the specific issue of long-term care and group home funding, the Walz administration did authorize $83 million in emergency funding to address workforce shortages.
The Minnesota Department of Human Services, meanwhile, provided a statement to KARE 11 saying: "Minnesotans with disabilities should be able to live in community settings that support their independence, health and dignity. The workforce shortage is creating huge challenges for individuals, families and providers to continue services. We will keep working with our partners to explore every option to help."
The department offered somewhat different numbers on group home closures -- explaining that 93 "Community Residential Settings" have had license closures since October 2021, compared to 86 openings. "However, these numbers may not give a full picture of what's happening in the community. Providers may reduce capacity or stop services without closing their license or notifying DHS," according to the department.
Sue Schettle, the head of the trade group ARRM that lists 173 group home closures since last year, said that "hundreds of people" are affected because each facility typically houses four people.
"Some newer homes have opened, but still, the people that are being affected by the closures," she said, "it's life-changing for them."
The family of Amy Fletcher, though satisfied with their current care from ACR Homes, can only hope her facility and its staff stay afloat.
To avoid that fate, Alan Fletcher is also calling on the governor and state legislature to pass funding as soon as possible.
"We're sort of shocked that the parties can't make it work," Fletcher said, "and can't get together enough to find the middle ground."
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