15-03-2025
Disability rights advocates urge to raise wages for attendants
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) – Hours before the Texas Legislature reaches its March 14 deadline to file any bills for the 89th legislative session, advocates for the disabled community rallied to call on the state to increase wages for personal care attendants, who people with disabilities depend on for their everyday needs.
'Personal care attendants and people with disabilities demand their fare share of the pie!'
That was the rallying cry from advocates who used Pi Day – celebrated on March 14 – as a parody to voice their concerns.
Members of the Volar Center, The Personal Attendant Coalition of Texas, and the El Paso Desert ADAPT – a disabled rights advocacy group – demanded that the Texas Legislature increase the minimum wage for personal care attendants from $10.60/hour to $20/hour, to help alleviate a shortage and high turnover in the workforce.
'Right now, these individuals don't get anything. They don't get benefits, they don't get time off, they don't get holidays. We work 365 days a year for $10.60 an hour. Sometimes, these clients don't have enough hours. And so, you're going from one side of the city to the other side of the city just trying to make ends meet,' Roberto Oporto, the purchasing coordinator for the Volar Center for Independent Living, said.
Oporto has been a personal care attendant for decades and said he went into the workforce to care for his mother, who became handicapped due to an accident.
'Right now, attendants don't have livable wages and that's why there is a big turnover or a big issue with the recruitment and retention of the attendance workers. Not only can they get better wages at other places like working at restaurants, they also get benefits. They also get vacation time. They also get sick leave and things that our attendants don't obtain right now,' Josue Rodriguez, an organizer with El Paso Desert ADAPT, said.
'I've never had so much trouble trying to recruit an attendant to assist me. Sadly, the base wage for attendants in Texas is not nearly enough at $10.60 per hour. We've got to have $20 per hour to adequately compensate attendants for the vital work they perform daily,' Luis Enrique Chew, Executive Director for the Volar Center, said.
Advocates also shared concerns that many people with disabilities are struggling to find accessible and affordable housing.
'You can't go down the street any day without seeing a number of people with disabilities in need of housing,' Rodriguez said.
Advocates also spoke on the federal government's attempt to cut Medicaid funding and programs that the disabled community heavily depends on, even as funding remains scarce.
'We are very concerned (at) the lack of understanding from the Department of Government Efficiency. There's about 600 centers for Independent Living across the nation. We provide five core services: Independent living skills training, advocacy, nursing home relocation, transition services, and sensitivity training with the ADA,' Chew said. 'We provide a lot of independent living skills so people with disabilities can live out in the community instead of institutions such as nursing homes…people with disabilities deserve to live their life like anybody else.'
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