By Dave Ranney
KHI News Service
Kathy Lobb, a member of the Self-Advocate Coalition of Kansas, addresses a Big Tent Coalition press conference calling attenion the the group’s legislative priorities for the 2008 legislative session. (Dave Ranney/KHI)
TOPEKA, Nov. 15
A coalition of advocacy groups on Thursday urged state lawmakers to put social services at the top of the priority list.
“Our needs are as important as any of the others facing the 2008 Legislature and should be prioritized accordingly,” said Tom Laing, who presided over the Statehouse press conference called by the Big Tent Coalition.
The coalition represents agencies that provide services for the mentally ill, the physically and developmentally disabled, and the elderly.
Included in the group”s priorities:
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More support for mental health services aimed at senior citizens;
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Increased base budgets for existing programs;
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Eliminating waiting lists for services for people with developmental disabilities;
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A study of ways to increase attendant care worker pay and provide them access to state-employee health insurance.
“We should not have to accept budgets that force us to hire people who are not fit for their jobs,” said Kathy Lobb, a member of the Lawrence-based Self-Advocate Coalition of Kansas.
On average, attendant care workers
those who help people with disabilities live at home
earn between $8.50 and $9 an hour.
“That”s not enough,” Lobb said. “They work harder than that.”
Mike Oxford, executive director of the Topeka Independent Living Resource Center, noted that attendant care workers for the frail elderly often earn $14 an hour while those caring for the developmentally disabled earn considerably less.
“There”s no rhyme or reason to it,” Oxford said. “It”s the same work.”
The least the Legislature could do, he said, would be to raise wages for the lower-paid workers.
Laing, executive director at Interhab, a state association representing programs for the developmentally disabled, said 1,300 adults and children are on waiting lists.
Legislators last year proposed
but did not approve
a three-year, $35 million plan for eliminating the waiting list.
Last month, the Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services proposed creating an additional 244 slots in programs for the developmentally disabled. The expansion would cost $4 million in state funds; $10 million all funds.
Whether Gov. Kathleen Sebelius includes the expansion in her fiscal year 2009 budget remains to be seen.
“If we could eliminate the waiting lists that would be absolutely huge,” said Rocky Nichols, executive director at the Disability Rights Center of Kansas.
Sebelius is expected to release her budget recommendations in early January.
“Gov. Sebelius and both the Senate president and the Speaker of the House are probably as open-minded on these as any set of leaders we”ve had for some time,” Laing said.
“The money is there,” he said. “The question is whether they”re willing to prioritize this budget over others.”
Earlier, Rick Cagan, executive director of the
National Alliance on Mental Illness-Kansas, agreed to serve as Big Tent Coalition convener.
-Dave Ranney is a staff writer for KHI News Service, which specializes in coverage of health issues facing Kansans. He can be reached at
dranney@khi.org
or at 785-233-5443, ext. 128.