June 19, 2023
Dignity Alliance MA supports increasing the payment for PCA’s to at least $25 per hour. 45 individuals and organizations have endorsed the following letter to Governor Healey, asking her to implement this increase immediately.
Letter to Governor Healey
Dear Governor Healey,
On behalf of the membership of the Dignity Alliance of Massachusetts, the state’s only organization representing the voices of people with disabilities and elders together toward the shared goal of community living, independence, and dignity, we share your concern, as you stated during the 2022 campaign, about the importance of stabilizing and growing the Personal Care Assistance program by increasing the rate of payment for PCA’s to at least $25 per hour effective immediately.
As you are well aware, there is a rapidly growing workforce crisis in the human services and medical fields in general. Additionally, the 48,000 people with significant disabilities that rely on the PCA program to live independently in the community are particularly vulnerable and face the very real prospect of going into nursing homes because they can’t find PCAs who will work for the current rate of $18 per hour.
PCAs are the backbone of the program and are primarily women of color with children living in poverty from paycheck to paycheck. Not only is increasing the wage for this workforce an economic issue but also one of social justice. PCAs are living in the margins of the Commonwealth and are facing racial and ethnic disparity every day of their lives. We implore you to do the right thing and instruct the Secretary of the Executive Office of Health and Human Services to negotiate a rate of $25 per hour to ensure the viability of the program and address head on the workforce crisis.
This letter has been endorsed by forty-five individual and organizational members of Dignity Alliance Massachusetts including those listed on the attached page.
We look forward to an opportunity to meet with you or others in the Administration to further discuss this critical survival matter.
Very truly yours,
Paul J. Lanzikos, Coordinator, Dignity Alliance Massachusetts
Copy:
- Sarah Sabshon, Associate Chief of Staff for Policy & Cabinet Affairs
- Secretary Kate Walsh, Executive Office of Health and Human Services
Individual and Organizational Members of Dignity Alliance Massachusetts who have endorsed the correspondence to Governor Healey regarding compensation for personal care assistants
- Boston Center for Independent Living
- Dennis Brett
- Rachel Broudy MD
- Charles Carr, Methuen
- Center for Living & Working Inc., Worcester
- COP Amputee Association-COPAA, Wenham
- Dementia Friendly MA
- Marianne DiBlasi, Disability Visibility
- Disability Policy Consortium, Boston
- Arlene Germain, co-founder Dignity Alliance Massachusetts and Massachusetts Advocates for Nursing Home Reform, Medford
- Lachlan Forrow, MD, Newton
- Wynn Gerhard, Plymouth
- Jerry Halberstadt, Stop Bullying Coalition
- Anne Johansen
- Julie A. Katz, MSW
- Lisa Iezzoni, MD, Newton
- Paul J. Lanzikos, Beverly
- Jeanne Leydon, Lynn
- James A. Lomastro PhD, Conway
- Long Term Care Ombudsman Program, Springwell Elder Services, Watertown
- Former Senate President Pro Tem Richard T. Moore, Uxbridge
- MA Coalition for the Homeless
- Jane Mann
- Sandy Novack, MBA, MSW, Brookline
- Priscilla O’Reilly, Brookline
- Andrea Powers, Southbridge
- Sue Rorke, Medway
- Karen Schneiderman, Jamaica Plain
- Second Thoughts Massachusetts
- Brian Shea
- Francine Stieglitz
- Sandra Thompson, Winchester
- Cindy Wentz, Watertown
- Diana Vieira, New Bedford
- Brianna Zimmerman, South Hadley