Despite the state and city being on stay at home status because of the Coronavirus pandemic, a small band of ADAPT and PACT (Personal Attendant Coalition of Texas) members broke the directives from the state of Texas and city of Austin on April 28th
. Wearing masks and gloves and staying at least 6 feet apart, we marched from the Capitol grounds, across the street to the Governor’s mansion. We had kept the numbers small to ensure our folks safety as much as possible.
The mansion itself is now surrounded by fortifications to keep the public out. However there is a small street on one side that only has stanchions to keep us off the street and of course a 10 ft. spiked metal fence walls for the mansion grounds themselves. We formed up at one end of the street for our press conference for which one station turned out.
We went to the Governor’s mansion to call attention to a problem he and everyone else has been ignoring for months now – many if not most – community attendants are not being supplied with gloves or masks or other PPE. to deliver to Gov Abbott a list of resource needs that Community Attendants require to do their job.
Everyone is focused on nursing homes which, as most ADAPT folks could easily predict would happen, are turning into death traps. They definitely do need attention – for prevention rather than counting the dead – but an equally important issue is those receiving services in the community. Here in Texas approximately 300,000 Community Attendants provide Home and Community Based Services, HCBS, to approximately 200,000 people with disabilities and older Texans.
They are the backbone of the state’s home and community-based services and yet they are not even being given sufficient masks, gloves and other basic equipment to provide for the safety of those they are assisting, let alone for themselves. . There is no paid sick leave for these workers, so they can choose between going to work sick or not getting paid. They get no health care coverage for these jobs yet they are expected to risk their health, if not their lives.
After a month of writing, calling and emailing Governor Abbott and HHSC Executive Commissioner Phil Wilson, among others, ADAPT/PACT has gotten no response.
The COVID-19 emergency has caused a shortage of Community Attendants, on top of the already existing short supply of these critical workers. Those that are staying with the job are often having to work longer hours, yet they are not being paid over time.
“We respected all state and city COVID 19 rules by staying 6ft from each other, wearing masks and gloves” said Julie McConnell PACT member, “ If attendants like me are expected to go to work every day without any protection, this is the least the state of Texas can do.”
“Gov Abbott and HHSC have ignored our multiple communications about the crisis in Recruiting and Retaining Community Attendants” said Cathy Cranston ADAPT/PACT Organizer. “Hopefully he will pay attention now”.
In addition to these issues, we have heard of instances in other states where people were threatened with lose of their own ventilators if they went to the hospital, their personal ventilators being taken from them for other patients. Also there have been stories of people with disabilities being deemed less worthy of being saved because of their disabilities.
“This systemic ableism is completely unacceptable and we do not want practices like this in other states being followed here” said ADAPT member Nicky Boyte. “This ableism is what is causing the crisis in nursing homes and we do not want to see it repeated in the community.”
Folks who drove by honked in support.
After the press conference the group marched through a hole in the stanchions and lined up in front of the Mansion. However, though a state trooper asked if we had a permit, no one would carry our message inside.
Listed below are the Community Attendant needs ADAPT/PACT wants Gov Abbott to support. He can use funding from the CARES Act and/or his Budget Execution authority to use the Rainy Day fund:
- Outreach for more community attendants to fill in the increased shortage because of the COVID-19 emergency.
- Classify community attendants as essential health care workers.
- Make sure community attendants get adequate PPEs like gloves, masks and gowns.
- Increase pay for Community Attendants including time and half for over time.
- Pay for health care and sick leave.
- Ensure you protect vent users, as well as all people with disabilities of any age, from any health care rationing based on their disability and/or age.
- Suspend EVV, Electronic Visit Verification.
- Meet with ADAPT/PACT.
This action was the first in a series of actions ADAPT/PACT will be doing to raise the issue out of the shadows and into the light.
For more information about PACT, click here.