Oakland County news

PAY LOW, STRESS HIGH: Small wage boost might not slow turnover among direct-care workers, experts say

August 27, 2003

BY LAURA POTTS
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

On any given day, Edyce Craggette is a chef, nurse, chauffeur, gardener, event planner, house cleaner, teacher, cheerleader, travel agent and friend.

Like approximately 3,500 others in Oakland County caring for people with developmental and physical disabilities and mental illness, Craggette could probably earn more money and have less responsibility working nearly anywhere else. On average, direct-care workers make $8-$8.50 an hour, according to the Michigan Assisted Living Association.

So when the Oakland County Community Mental Health, or CMH, authority announced it would be giving some direct-care workers raises -- for the first time in a number of years -- the news was gladly met. But with details still sketchy, workers and those who run assisted-living homes are wondering who the pay increase will help -- and how much.

"We should have been recognized, honestly, a long time ago for what we do," said Craggette, who for eight years has worked in a Waterford home where four women with developmental disabilities and mental illness live.

Bill Allen, executive director of the Oakland County CMH authority, agrees. He said increasing pay is a top priority. Now that the authority has a balanced budget, it's allocating $3 million to wage increases.

"This doesn't meet all the needs of people but . . . it's a way of saying, 'Thank you. We recognize you do good work and it's hard work and it's helping your fellow citizens,' " Allen said.

But some fear the salary increase will pit the newest, lowest-paid direct-care workers against veteran home managers who, while they may make as much as double the starting salaries, have dedicated many years to the work.

Allen said the salary increase may be capped for people making more than about $11 an hour, so workers in the lowest-paid positions get the benefit. He said authority officials are still figuring out how to allocate the money, but said the raises will be about 30-45 cents an hour starting in October.

"The easiest way and fairest way is to cap it, because that gives more to more lower-paid workers," Allen said.

But that approach isn't fair to the system's most loyal workers, who have resisted the lure of more lucrative, less-stressful jobs, said John Williams, executive director of Progressive Lifestyles, Inc. The nonprofit provides support services for people with disabilities and mental illness.

"The longevity and performance are what I want to see rewarded," Williams said.

It's difficult to keep direct-care workers when "we compete with fast-food restaurants in terms of our wage scale," Williams said.

According to the Michigan Assisted Living Association, the annual job turnover rate for direct-care workers is as high as 60 percent. That instability is harmful for people with disabilities, said Bob Stein, general counsel of the Livonia-based association, which represents residential, assisted and vocational services providers.

"It's difficult for persons with disabilities when there is a lot of change in the staffing," Stein said.

Craggette loves her job at the Waterford home. She sometimes works 18-hour shifts that can include cooking, taking the women to medical appointments and helping them bathe and dress. Craggette sometimes takes the women to her own home, which she shares with her husband and two children.

"This is like our extended family here," she said, helping a resident sort through pictures of her recent camping trip. "I love the girls. I feel like if it wasn't for us, they wouldn't be where they are today."

Still, she said it's hard to get by on the wages, and she often works overtime shifts for the extra money. It's something her fellow workers said they do, too.

Direct-care workers' wages come from public funds, and the last wage increase approved by the Legislature was in 1999, Allen and Stein said. That raised workers' pay by about 75-cents an hour.

While Oakland County's wage increase is a good first step, Stein said pay is an issue that's "clearly beyond the Oakland County CMH." State and federal officials need to direct more funding to people with disabilities and mental illness -- and those who care for them -- he said.

"They are in need of a far more substantial increase," he said.

Contact LAURA POTTS at 248-586-2621 or potts@....