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Resolution of the County of Allegheny, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, requesting that the Pennsylvania General Assembly take steps to remedy the wage disparity that has arisen between County and other mental health and mental retardation workers by providing funding for a cost of living adjustment for County mental health caregivers in the Commonwealth's 2005-2006 budget.
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WHEREAS, the Allegheny County Office of Behavioral Health, through approximately 140 community-based agencies, provides, contracts for, and monitors services designed to meet the mental health needs of Allegheny County's citizens, providing services designed to respond effectively to immediate needs and, utilizing the strengths of individuals and families, empower people with mental illness and children/adolescents with serious emotional disturbance to live successfully; and
WHEREAS, communities in Allegheny County rely heavily upon County programs that assist individuals with mental health and developmental needs; mental health services were provided directly or through contracts with other providers to 43,179 individuals in fiscal year 2003-2004, many of whom depend upon such services for assistance that can be the most important or only factor that permits them to lead successful lives in the community; and
WHEREAS, the Allegheny County Office of Mental Retardation/Developmental Disabilities, in its 2005-2006 budget request, noted that wage rates have created difficulties in recruiting and retaining qualified staff members for over a decade, with wages paid by the state to mental health workers exceeding those paid by the County by 70 to 80 percent for comparable positions; and
WHEREAS, Allegheny County Council firmly believes that low pay makes it extremely difficult for the County to recruit, hire, and retain qualified staff, and that the County's comparatively low pay rate is currently jeopardizing care, as County-contracted care providers have already been forced to turn to temporary agencies to fill vacant positions on a short term basis because it has become impossible to find individuals who will work at the proffered wage on a permanent basis, a practice which both endangers the necessary bond of trust between patient and caregiver and ultimately costs the County more than simply paying higher wages to permanent workers would; and
WHEREAS, providers contracting with the County are also experiencing difficulties with recruiting and retaining qualified employees due to low pay, because the number of individuals that they employ and the wages that they pay employees depend upon the funding that they receive from their contracts with the County, and these wages are therefore set at the same levels and adjusted in the same manner as those paid to County workers; and
WHEREAS, as noted by Office of Mental Retardation/Developmental Disabilities, the Commonwealth has recognized the wage imbalance faced by County mental health care workers and began the process of correcting it by allocating $2,938,340 to the Office of Mental Retardation/Developmental Disabilities in fiscal year 2001-2002 specifically for the purpose of addressing workforce recruitment and retention issues, but the Commonwealth has not allocated any additional funds for this purpose; and
WHEREAS, the wage disparity between County and other caregivers has grown even wider since 2001-2002, to the point that the Office of Mental Retardation/Developmental Disabilities took the extraordinary step of requesting an "Enhanced Cost of Living Adjustment" of 8% (a total of $14,567,736) in the County's 2005-2006 budget in an effort to at least slow the rate at which County employees' wages fall behind those of other caregivers; and
WHEREAS, the County is unable to provide the funding necessary for the Enhanced Cost of Living Adjustment without state assistance because the wage disparity has grown to such an extent that the County cannot hope to address it in the current local fiscal environment; and
WHEREAS, Governor Rendell's proposed 2005-2006 budget would actually increase the pace at which the wage disparity grows, because it provides a 2% cost of living adjustment to community direct care mental health and mental retardation workers for the second consecutive year, while marking the fourth consecutive year in which the Commonwealth will not have provided funds for a similar cost of living adjustment to workers performing the same functions in County programs; and
WHEREAS, public comments received by Allegheny County Council on March 1, 2005 amply demonstrate to Council that there is a need for a stable and competent mental health care workforce, but that achieving this goal is probably impossible under current funding constraints, particularly with regard to staff salaries; and
WHEREAS, Allegheny County Council and the Chief Executive recognize the significant contributions made by these workers to the County's residents with mental health needs, and express deep concern with regard to the pay imbalance between County caregivers and those employed by the Commonwealth and in the private sector;
The Council of the County of Allegheny hereby resolves as follows:
SECTION 1.
Allegheny County respectfully requests that the Pennsylvania General Assembly take steps to remedy the wage disparity that has arisen between County and other mental health and mental retardation workers by providing funding for a cost of living adjustment for County mental health caregivers in the Commonwealth's 2005-2006 budget.
SECTION 2.
Be it further resolved that this Resolution be provided to the Governor and members of the General Assembly who represent Allegheny County as an expression of this County's desire to remedy the wage disparity that has arisen between County and other mental health and mental retardation workers.
SECTION 3. If any provision of this Resolution shall be determined to be unlawful, invalid, void or unenforceable, then that provision shall be considered severable from the remaining provisions of this Resolution which shall be in full force and effect.
SECTION 4. Any Resolution or Ordinance or part thereof conflicting with the provisions of this Resolution is hereby repealed so far as the same affects this Resolution.