With threats from all sides, our strength lies in our unified advocacy
A Message from Our Executive Director Tom Baffuto
Dear Families,
At The Arc of New Jersey, we are grateful to have you in our corner and we know and appreciate the tremendous commitment you make when you join our grassroots team. You are not only advocates for your own child or loved one; you are advocates for the system as a whole - working toward improvements for the entire developmental disability community. It is our collective voice that creates change and I write to you today because we need you now more than ever.
Unfortunately, we are in the midst of two very big battles and the stakes are very high. The first is our ongoing fight on the
State level
to increase wages for our direct support professionals. This is an issue the affects you and your loved one on a day to day to basis. You feel it when you encounter high-turnover rates at the programs your loved one attends or when your self-direct services wages are so low you can't find someone to hire. You feel it when a beloved long-time staff member leaves for a higher paying job. You feel it and so does your loved one. As the Chair of the DSP Coalition for a Living Wage, we are fighting to increase salaries for our DSPs so that we have a strong and dependable workforce to deliver the services you and your loved one depend on.
We are also pushing back with all our power against proposed changes to Medicaid on the
Federal level
that will reduce the quality and availability of long term supports and services. Included in the repeal of the Affordable Care Act (AKA ObamaCare), are cuts that would decimate Medicaid as we know it. The language would fundamentally alter the fabric of the program, and the supports and services that people with I/DD require to live in the community would be in jeopardy. It would be a major step backward for those we care about it and should it pass, it would be near impossible to undo.
These are uncertain times and the lives of people with I/DD hang in the balance. We need you to stand strong with us. We will be calling on you more and more in the coming weeks but please know we don't take your help for granted. We are all in this together. These are critical times, but I am confident that with your backing we can tackle what lies ahead.
Thank you for all your support.
