Wini Schiff speaks up for change that helps both providers and the people they support
Winifred Schiff
For more than 130,000 New Yorkers with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD), nonprofit provider agencies are lifelines, delivering the essential supports that make living a full life possible. This National Nonprofit Day, Sunday, August 17th, we must celebrate the impact of all nonprofits, including those within the I/DD community, and recognize that without them, thousands of New Yorkers with disabilities would be without the care and support they need.
New York’s nonprofit provider agencies provide a wide range of vital supports for people with disabilities, including daily care, housing, transportation, employment support, medical services, and more. These supports make it possible for people with I/DD to maintain independence and live full lives. For families, these agencies offer peace of mind that their loved ones are supported and relief from a lifelong caregiving responsibility. Nonprofit providers enable parents to keep their jobs, people with disabilities to pursue their goals, and stabilize families in the face of complex challenges.
Beyond the direct impact on people with disabilities and their families, provider agencies play a powerful economic role across the state. Nonprofit agencies generate $14.3 billion in economic output, support nearly 195,000 full-time jobs, and contribute $2.2 billion in tax revenue annually. Nonprofit provider agencies reinvest everything back into their communities. All funding goes directly to services, staff, infrastructure, and supporting a care system that reaches every zip code statewide.
The reality is that nonprofit provider agencies are operating under significant pressure because funding levels have not kept pace with the true costs of care. According to Bankrate, US inflation has risen 24.3% since February 2020. During that period, targeted inflationary increases for disability providers did not keep up with the inflation level, leaving providers unable to keep pace with skyrocketing costs. For organizations whose sole funding source is Medicaid, inadequate rate increases are, in effect, funding cuts.
Underfunding has created another challenge –– a workforce crisis that is threatening the stability of the care system. Provider agencies are struggling with an average statewide staff vacancy rate of 14.3% and average statewide turnover rate of 32.4%, according to New York Disability Advocates. The workforce shortage and financial strain make it difficult for providers to deliver consistent, quality care to New Yorkers with disabilities. Every vacancy means longer waitlists, and sometimes, sudden loss of support, leaving families to fill the gaps often at significant personal or financial costs. Some families wait months to find a residential placement for their loved one and/or are forced to quit their jobs to become full-time caregivers for their loved ones.
Even under pressure, nonprofit provider agencies continue to show up to deliver essential services, stabilize families, create jobs, and support their local communities. However, they cannot continue without meaningful investment and support from New York State. New York must commit to real, sustained funding that reflects the true cost of care to ensure provider agencies can stay afloat, the workforce is valued for the life-affirming and sustaining work they do, and families never have to wonder what will happen if these agencies can’t hold on.
This National Nonprofit Day, we must do more than express appreciation for the nonprofits supporting New Yorkers with I/DD. We must call on the state to invest in them. The disability community deserves better. The people who dedicate their lives to this work deserve better. And the nonprofits at the heart of the system deserve our gratitude and sustained support.
Winifred Schiff is the Chief Executive Officer of the InterAgency Council of Developmental Disabilities Agencies, Inc. (IAC).