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Stella Cain is a direct support professional who works in Bangor and is a member of the Direct Care and Support Professional Advisory Council.
As Maine prepares another two-year budget, it’s disheartening and disappointing to see the governor’s proposal ask for even more sacrifice from those already undervalued and unpaid. For the people who provide care and support to your older and disabled family members, the governor’s budget is a huge let down.
It’s well known that Maine is facing a serious direct care crisis. If you’ve sought this kind of care for a loved one, you know there aren’t enough caregivers for all the care that’s needed. It also should be obvious that paying direct care professionals a fair wage is the best tool to attract and retain us.
Instead, the governor’s proposal takes away our cost-of-living increases, which essentially means we’re being asked to take a $1,700 a year pay cut. Before lawmakers make their final budget decisions, I hope they will take the time to learn about the work that direct care professionals do and decide for themselves how it should be valued.
I’ve been working with adults who have intellectual or developmental disabilities in their own homes since 2020. During the pandemic, my job involved managing uncertainty, combating loneliness, calming fears, and finding ways to give life meaning inside four walls. I helped the people I support learn to use technology to stay connected to their loved ones and buy groceries online. I learned to play the guitar and the djembe with them. I helped host a virtual Christmas party.
Now that we’re on the other side of the pandemic, my role is to teach people I support the skills they need to live the life they want — skills many of us take for granted. Where is it safe to walk? Who are safe people to ask for help? What information is private? How do you take a bus or call a taxi? What kinds of topics are inappropriate for sharing at work?
It also involves sitting in grief with older individuals whose friends are dying. And managing anxiety around losing mobility and bladder control. It means advocating for someone who needs a ramp installed so they can safely come and go from their home. Or helping someone learn to read at the age of 70.
During my orientation back in 2020 I was told, “if you chose this career to pay the bills, you chose wrong.” That remark seems truer now than ever. Because wages for direct care workers haven’t kept pace with the rising cost of living, a new challenge is now a regular part of my work: convincing new direct care staff to stay in the profession even though they can make more money at an easier and more predictable job.
In my five years, we’ve only added one new person to our team. The rest quit after just a few days. In the last year, our agency hired 80 people and lost 83. Not only does this make the workload far more intense for those of us who remain, it’s also extremely upsetting for the people we support to be introduced to exciting new people, only to have them leave.
Direct care professionals do whatever it takes to help the people they support live their very best lives. I started at one of the hardest times someone could start in this field, and I stayed because of all the moments when I can see the people I support step a little more into themselves. I know this has value to them and their family members. I hope lawmakers see the value, too.
