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Providers of supported living services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities are asking the Legislature for more funding to increase wages in an increasingly difficult-to-staff field. People with disabilities can sometimes require intensive 24/7 care to help them live as independently as possible. Those who meet certain eligibility guidelines can qualify for in-home or group home care with costs covered by the state. But workers who provide these services, known as direct support professionals, often earn low pay, leading to high turnover, staff shortages and long waitlists. Advocates are asking lawmakers to increase rates for these workers by 9.5% in both 2026 and 2027, which would cost the state roughly $99 million a year. That’s based on recommendations from a 2023 Department of Social and Health Services rate study report that found providers were severely underpaid compared to living wage benchmarks. At the time, the average hourly wage for a direct support professional was $20.12. “Pay is one of the most needed things to stabilize supported living,” said Randy Hauck, executive director at Community Living, a nonprofit that provides supportive living services. Most of the funding for direct care professionals comes from Medicaid. The money flows mostly through the Department of Social and Health Services Developmental Disabilities Administration which determines the rate at which staff get paid based on need and available funding. The Department of Social and Health Services has not submitted a 2025 budget request to Gov. Jay Inslee for the rate increase. Other efforts to secure the funding could run into a roadblock as lawmakers are facing a deficit over the next four years estimated to be in the $10 billion to $12 billion range. Washington has about 14,000 direct care professionals who serve about 4,600 people. But the turnover rate in this field is high, currently around 37%. That can be especially problematic for people with developmental disabilities who rely on consistent relationships. “If you bring in 10 people that you’re training, you look around the room and know three or four of them are going to be gone by the end of the year,” Hauck said. Aaron Pickus, a communications specialist for supported living groups, said there was about a 388-person waitlist with people who were approved for services but can’t get a placement as of October. Most of those – about 185 people – are looking to move out of a family home. Another 54 are in state-run institutions, and another 36 are in a hospital or state-run psychiatric hospital. Once someone is approved for benefits, it can take more than 100 days for them to get placed. The more time someone spends in a state-run institution, the higher the cost can be for the state, Pickus said. “This underscores a need to invest taxpayer dollars as efficiently as possible so that those with intellectual and developmental disabilities are able to find a home that best fits their needs in the community,” Pickus wrote in an email. It may be an expensive request now, but pushing off a pay increase will be more expensive for the state in the long run, Hauck said. The rate study report, which used 2022 data, determined providers were about 10% underfunded. With inflation, that’s now about 18% – hence the 9.5% increases advocates are asking for in each of the next two years. “The state could save lots of money if they put a little bit of money into making sure we have staff,” Hauck said. It’s the second year in a row that care providers and their allies have asked for this funding. Last year’s request resulted in a 2.5% increase – or about a 50-cent-per-hour bump in pay . Lawmakers tend to be inconsistent with funding increases for supported living, Hauck said. Some years, they’ll get a big boost, but then for years afterward, they will only get meager increases like last year’s 2.5% increase. With the multi-billion dollar deficit looming , Hauck acknowledged the request may be difficult to get through. Budget leaders in the governor’s office are already asking agencies to propose cuts in programs and services. Gov. Jay Inslee will release his budget proposal in mid-December. That will be the starting point that lawmakers use to write their budget by the end of the legislative session in April. The Washington State Standard is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news outlet that provides original reporting, analysis and commentary on Washington state government and politics. We seek to keep you informed about Washington’s most pressing issues, the decisions elected leaders are making, how they are spending tax dollars and who is influencing public policy. We’re part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
CAIRO (AP) — Famine is spreading in Sudan due to a war between the military and a notorious paramilitary group that has devastated the country and created the world’s largest displacement crisis, a global hunger-monitoring group said Tuesday. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC, said it detected famine in five areas, including in Sudan’s largest displacement camp, Zamzam, in North Darfur province, where famine was found for the first time in August. “This marks an unprecedented deepening and widening of the food and nutrition crisis, driven by the devastating conflict, which has triggered unprecedented mass displacement, a collapsing economy, the breakdown of essential social services, and severe societal disruptions, and poor humanitarian access,” an IPC report said. It added that in areas of high conflict, hostilities can severely disrupt farming activities, resulting in farmers abandoning their crops, looting, and stock destruction. “Displaced households, especially those living in settlements and public buildings, are unlikely to benefit significantly from the harvest,” it said. As well as in the Zamzam camp, which hosts more than 400,000 people, famine was also detected in two other camps for displaced people, Abu Shouk and al-Salam in North Darfur, and the Western Nuba Mountains, IPC’s report said. Five other areas in North Darfur are projected “with reasonable evidence” to experience famine in the next six months, including el-Fasher, the provincial capital of North Darfur, it said. Seventeen areas in the Nuba Mountains and the northern and southern areas of Darfur are at risk of famine, it added. The report said some areas in Khartoum and the east-central province of Gezira “may be experiencing” famine-like conditions. It said experts were unable to confirm whether famine threshold has been surpassed due to lack of data. Ahead of the IPC’s report, Sudan’s government said it had suspended its participation in the global system, according to a senior United Nations official with knowledge of the move. In a letter dated Dec. 23, Agriculture Minister Abu Baker al-Beshri accused the IPC of “issuing unreliable reports that undermine Sudan’s sovereignty and dignity,” said the UN official, who spoke in condition of anonymity. Sudan has been roiled by a 20-month war that has killed more than than 24,000 people and driven over 14 million people — about 30% of the population — from their homes, according to the United Nations. An estimated 3.2 million Sudanese have crossed into neighboring countries, including Chad, Egypt and South Sudan. The war began in April 2023, when long-simmering tensions between its military and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces exploded into open fighting in the capital, Khartoum, before spreading to other urban areas and the western Darfur region. The conflict has been marked by atrocities, including ethnically motivated killing and rape, according to to the UN and rights groups. The International Criminal Court is investigating alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. There is widespread hunger, with food in markets now scarce and prices have spiked. Aid groups also say they’re struggling to reach the most vulnerable as warring parties limit access, especially in North Darfur province. Dervla Cleary, a senior emergency and rehabilitation officer at the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization, said 638,000 people are experiencing famine. “The situation in Sudan is just awful. It is unacceptable in a world like today,” she said. “We need the violence to stop so people can access food, water, health, nutrition and agriculture.” According to the IPC report, a total of 24.6 million Sudanese — half of the population — faces high levels of acute food insecurity. Sudan is the third country where famine was declared in the past 15 years, along with South Sudan and Somalia, where a 2011 major famine was estimated to have killed a quarter of a million people – half of them children under 5 years old. The IPC comprises more than a dozen U.N. agencies, aid groups, and governments that use its monitoring as a global reference for analysis of food and nutrition crises. The organization has also warned that large parts of Gaza’s Palestinian population face the threat of famine.AP Top 25: Alabama, Mississippi out of top 10 and Miami, SMU are in; Oregon remains unanimous No. 1Bethlehem marks a second subdued Christmas during the war in Gaza
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Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles’ most senior staffer has launched legal action against him and the Prime Minister’s chief-of-staff Tim Gartrell for allegedly ousting her out of the job after she complained of workplace bullying. Jo Tarnawsky, chief-of-staff to Marles, made her allegations public six weeks ago, and on Monday morning, announced she would be taking her complaint to the Federal Court of Australia. “It has now been over 200 days since I raised concerns privately with the Deputy Prime Minister about bullying behaviour in his office,” Tarnawsky in a press conference at Parliament House on Monday. “I was then exiled as a result. My workplace situation remains unresolved. Today, after untenable delays and inaction from the government, I am launching legal proceedings in the Federal Court of Australia.” Tarnawsky’s lawsuit involves Marles, Gartrell and the Commonwealth as respondents. The parties are yet to respond to the allegations, and a defence to Tarnawsky’s claim has not yet been filed to the court. Here’s what you need to know. What happened? Jo Tarnawsky began her role as the chief-of-staff to Deputy Prime Minister in June 2022. It is the most senior staffer role in a minister’s office, with a salary of $270,000. According to court documents, staff in the Deputy Prime Minister’s office began bullying Tarnawsky in May 2023. She claims she was gradually iced out in an “abrasive, hostile and exclusionary manner”. In early 2024, Tarnawsky said she could hear staff gossipping about her, and they allegedly refused to engage with her about team outings and trips, including a trip to Ukraine. On April 30, Tarnawsky made a private complaint to her boss about the workplace bullying, which then sparked further deliberate exclusion of her from the rest of the staff. According to her claim, Tarnawsky stopped receiving team emails, she had a restricted view of Marles’ diary, and an image of her pet was removed from the staff’s shared pet wall. What is her claim to the Federal Court of Australia? Tarnawsky’s claim does not accuse Marles nor Gartrell of workplace bullying. Rather, Tarnawsky alleges they mishandled the situation, and iced her out of the job. After Tarnawsky returned from a period of leave in May, she was informed by another government employee that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s chief-of-staff, Tim Gartrell, worked with Marles to oust her from the job. According to the claim, she was refused entry to her old office without receiving 24 hours’ notice. Tarnawsky, she claims, was allowed back into Parliament House during the May Budget week, allegedly to network, to find another job outside of Marles’ ministerial office, and to have “agency” in her “story about leaving”, as allegedly described by Gartrell. Following the budget, on May 16, Marles and Gartrell reportedly told Tarnawsky to take six months’ leave “off the books”. In October this year, Tarnawsky made her allegations public and spoke out about how Marles and Gartrell allegedly handled the situation. Now, she is taking her claim to the courts. “As far as I know, there has been no investigation into the behaviours I reported, nor regarding the actions taken by the deputy prime minister against me,” she said in the press conference on Monday. “Not a single member of the government has reached out to check on my wellbeing.” What happens next? Tarnawsky told reporters on Monday that she had written to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, asking him to “intervene and to hold the Deputy Prime Minister to account for the way that I had been treated”. Tarnawsky said the Prime Minister is yet to respond. “Instead, my complaint has been passed around – first to the Parliamentary Workplace Support Service, more recently to Comcover – both claim to be independent agencies, but both chose to engage lawyers, the same lawyers from the same law firm, who were also clearly taking instructions from the Deputy Prime Minister,” she said. “They have not been able to assure me that my private information and psychological safety will be protected, and they cannot deal with the most important issue I have raised – that is, for those who did this to me to be held accountable, and to ensure that nobody else in this place is ever treated this way again.” Ahead of the 2022 election, the Labor government pledged to “set the standard” of workplace safety, and whilst in government, they have proposed parliamentary workplace reforms to do so. Tarnawsky said she feels “let down” by the “inaction” of the government and the contradictory behaviour from senior leaders in Parliament House. “If the government won’t hold its own poor behaviour to account, then I will ask the courts to do that,” Tarnawsky said. A defence to her claim is yet to be filed to the Federal Court of Australia. “To my fellow staffers,” Tarnawsky said at the press conference, “we give countless hours of our lives to these jobs, in support of the ministers and MPs we serve. In return, we should not be tossed aside abruptly, after such loyal service. “Good exits are possible. It should not be unreasonable for any of us to expect to depart our roles with dignity, to walk away better from our time working in this building, rather than carrying lifelong trauma from the poor treatment we have endured here.”