[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Con. Res. 151 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
107th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. CON. RES. 151
Expressing the sense of Congress that the Federal Government and the
States should make it a priority to ensure a stable, quality direct
support workforce that provides services and supports for individuals
with mental retardation and other developmental disabilities.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
October 9, 2002
Mr. Hutchinson submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was
referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
_______________________________________________________________________
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of Congress that the Federal Government and the
States should make it a priority to ensure a stable, quality direct
support workforce that provides services and supports for individuals
with mental retardation and other developmental disabilities.
Whereas there are more than 8,000,000 Americans who have mental retardation or
other developmental disabilities;
Whereas individuals with developmental disabilities include those with mental
retardation, autism, cerebral palsy, Down's syndrome, epilepsy, and
other related conditions;
Whereas individuals with mental retardation or other developmental disabilities
have a continuous need for individually planned and coordinated services
due to substantial limitations on their functional capacities, including
limitations in at least 2 of the areas of self-care, receptive and
expressive language, learning, mobility, self-direction, independent
living, and economic self-sufficiency;
Whereas for the past 2 decades individuals with mental retardation or other
developmental disabilities and their families have increasingly
expressed a desire to live and work in their communities and to join the
mainstream of American life;
Whereas the Supreme Court, in Olmstead v. L.C., 527 U.S. 581 (1999), affirmed
the right of individuals with mental retardation or other developmental
disabilities to receive community-based services as an alternative to
institutional care;
Whereas the demand for community supports and services is rapidly growing, as
States comply with Olmstead and continue to move more individuals from
institutions into the community;
Whereas the demand for community supports and services will also continue to
grow as family caregivers age, waiting lists grow, individuals with
mental retardation or other developmental disabilities live longer, and
services for such individuals expand;
Whereas our Nation's long-term care delivery system is dependent upon a
disparate array of public and private funding sources, and is not a
conventional industry, but rather is financed primarily through third-
party insurers;
Whereas Medicaid financing of supports and services to individuals with mental
retardation or other developmental disabilities varies considerably from
State to State, causing significant disparities across geographic
regions, among differing groups of consumers, and between community and
institutional supports;
Whereas aside from families, private providers that employ direct support
professionals deliver the majority of supports and services for
individuals with mental retardation or other developmental disabilities
in the community;
Whereas direct support professionals provide a wide range of supportive services
to individuals with mental retardation or other developmental
disabilities on a day-to-day basis, including habilitation, health care,
personal care and hygiene, employment, transportation, recreation,
housekeeping, and other home management-related supports and services
that enable these individuals to live and work in their communities;
Whereas direct support professionals generally assist individuals with mental
retardation or other developmental disabilities to lead a self-directed
family, community, and social life;
Whereas private providers and the individuals for whom they provide supports and
services are in jeopardy as a result of the growing crisis in recruiting
and retaining a direct support workforce;
Whereas providers of supports and services to individuals with mental
retardation or other developmental disabilities typically draw from a
labor market that competes with other entry-level jobs that provide less
physically and emotionally demanding work as well as higher pay and
other benefits, and therefore these direct support jobs are not
currently competitive in today's labor market;
Whereas annual turnover rates of direct support workers range from 40 to 75
percent;
Whereas high rates of employee vacancies and turnover threaten the ability of
providers to achieve their core mission, which is the provision of safe
and high-quality supports to individuals with mental retardation or
other developmental disabilities;
Whereas direct support staff turnover is emotionally difficult for the
individuals being served;
Whereas many parents are becoming increasingly afraid that there will be no one
available to take care of their sons and daughters with mental
retardation or other developmental disabilities who are living in the
community; and
Whereas this workforce shortage is the most significant barrier to implementing
the Olmstead decision, undermines the expansion of community integration
as called for by President George W. Bush's New Freedom Initiative, and
places the community support infrastructure at risk: Now, therefore, be
it
Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring),
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This resolution may be cited as the ``Direct Support Professional
Recognition Resolution''.
SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING SERVICES OF DIRECT SUPPORT
PROFESSIONALS TO INDIVIDUALS WITH DEVELOPMENTAL
DISABILITIES.
It is the sense of Congress that the Federal Government and the
States should work to advance our Nation's commitment to community
integration for individuals with mental retardation or other
developmental disabilities and to advance personal security for such
individuals and their families by making it a priority to ensure a
stable, quality direct support workforce that provides services and
supports for such individuals.
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