according to nationaldaycalendar.com it might be:

Past newsletters with pictures are on our website at: www.CLIsupports.com

One of the videos featured at the end of this week's newsletter was put out a few years back by a union representing direct care workers in Ireland. There are people with developmental disabilities all over the world. Every country has a different approach. One thing that seems pretty common in many countries is low pay for the workers who provide the actual personal care. Ohio allocates approximately $4 billion dollars each year to support approximately 100,000 adults with developmental disabilities. That's a lot of money, which works out to be around $40,000 per person served. I'd like to see a breakdown of how much of that money is available in individual budgets. My guess is less than 50%. Somehow we have to figure out how to make a bigger percentage of that pie available to pay direct care staff. I just don't see how the answer should be that we now need $5 billion to support the same number of people. Ohio has to figure out ways to accomplish more with the tax dollars already allocated.

I studied social theories back when I was in school. One of the concepts that has really stuck with me over the past 30 years has been Max Weber's "Iron Cage of Bureaucracy". Max was talking about the tendency for well-intentioned government's rules to become more complex and rigid so that the good, rule-following citizen gets trapped inside. Over the past 30 years I've seen many parallels, whether you are talking building codes or bureaucracies. Somehow we have to redesign the system so that it ensures administrative oversight while investing more of the existing to pay direct care staff. The DD field has a workforce crisis because we continue to underinvest in careers that take care of people. We can do better.

Anyway, that's enough soapboxing for one week. Happy spring! You know that we're going to get at least one more wintery blast before it's completely behind us, but we've almost made it through another Ohio winter and we're all tougher for it! Have a great week. Keep those hands clean.

A: This week! Starting this week, CLI will only require staff & clients to wear masks when in a vehicle with other people. If someone starts having cold or COVID symptoms during the day, we'll ask them to wear a mask until we can help them get back home-- but otherwise starting this week, you don't have to wear a mask EXCEPT for inside a CLI vehicle.

Friday March 25^th from 10-5 you can bring you paper for destruction. The first 500 pounds are free. That is a $125 value. Each pound after that will be .25.

James Johnson james@firelandslocal.com 419-921-6400