New Case for Inclusion Data Snapshot Illustrates Link Between Workforce Crisis, Access to Community Services

Today, ANCOR joined with its partners at United Cerebral Palsy to publish the inaugural Case for Inclusion Data Snapshot. This new publication details the ongoing severity of the direct support workforce crisis and where disability service providers have been able to make gains in improving wages and reducing turnover.

Highlighted within each Data Snapshot are key findings selected from the nearly 80 measures that comprise the Case for Inclusion’s seven issue areas: Addressing a Workforce in Crisis, Promoting Independence, Promoting Productivity, Reaching Those in Need, Serving at a Reasonable Cost, Keeping Families Together, and Tracking Health, Safety & Quality of Life. This and subsequent Data Snapshots are supplemented by our annual Policy Blueprint, typically released in the first quarter of the year to offer recommendations for policies that empower more sustainable services.

This inaugural Case for Inclusion Data Snapshot highlights that:

• Average hourly wages for direct support professionals (DSPs) increased from $14.41 in 2021 to $15.79 in 2022.
• Nationally in 2022, the average turnover ratio was 40.9%, while average vacancy rates for DSPs were 15.3% and 17.9% for full- and part-time positions, respectively.
• Nearly a half-million people in the US were on their state’s waiting list for IDD services in 2023. However, until recently that number did not include the number of people on states’ interest lists, giving us a more complete picture of unmet need. States that used the term interest list for people with IDD waiting for home- and community-based services included Michigan, Missouri, Texas and Wisconsin.
• On average, people with IDD spent 50 months waiting to receive services in 2023. This was the longest average wait time compared to other populations.

Discover these insights and more by browsing the new Data Snapshot at caseforinclusion.org.

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