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Our Policy Priority: Close the gap.IACP relentlessly advocates for community providers to build healthy communities so one day, all Iowans will live, learn and work in their community of choice. Learn more about IACP's #RelentlessAdvocacy for community providers and their 130,000 clients in 2022. As the pandemic lingers and all facets of life and business have been changed, there is an even greater need for IACP to continue relentless advocacy on behalf of Iowa's most vulnerable citizens. Click here to view our DSP Workforce Crisis one-pager.What is a community provider?We are providers of mental health and disability support services in all 99 counties. Supports include residential, employment, mental health, transportation, and a multitude of other services helping individuals live in and thrive in communities throughout the state. Who is a DSP?Direct Support Professionals (DSPs) are the lifeblood of Iowa's community providers. They provide mental health and disability support and services, including assistance with daily tasks, obtaining and maintaining employment, making friends, and enabling people to not just live, but thrive in their own communities. Because of their efforts, 160,000 Iowans are living, learning and working in their community of choice, and not in State institutions. What is the crisis?DSPs provide essential services to vulnerable Iowans, but wages paid based on Medicaid reimbursement rates and the current employment environment make it extremely difficult to recruit and retain quality employees. Our top priority: DSP WagesThank you for the 4.25% rate increase for HCBS and Habilitation (effective July 1, 2022). We are grateful for your commitment to addressing our workforce crisis. Unfortunately, the cost of living for families with children has gone up 10.6% and up 6.4% for single households. Additional State financial support is needed to close the wage gap between DSPs and other entry-level jobs in order to attract and maintain quality DSPs. Without such funding, important services will be cut, and community providers will continue to consolidate or close. The fate of vulnerable Iowans is literally hanging in the balance.
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