The November 19 Utah Legislature Fiscal Highlights Bulletin contained a report about the privatization of DSPD, Division of Services for People with Disabilities.
The DSPD is responsible for providing residential, day services,
family support services, and attendant care for people
with severe mental retardation and other related conditions,
including brain injury and physical disabilities.
The services provided range from limited family support
to a full array of 24‐hour services both in the community
and at the Utah State Developmental Center (USDC).
As a result of state budget cuts affecting personnel budgets at DSPD, the organization decided to restructure its operations.
DSPD leadership met with a variety of stakeholders prior
to implementing the reorganization. As a result of the
implementation strategy, DSPD eliminated 66 positions,
mostly by transition from public employees to private
support coordinators. Eight offices were closed, regions
collapsed, and leases not renewed.
The document goes on further to state:
Transitioning from public to private caseworkers has been a significant change for DSPD. DSPD management has stated “our expected outcomes include, but are not limited to: 1) protecting the people we serve and direct services; 2) significant, on‐going cost savings; 3) greater choice of support
coordinators; 4) competition among private support coordinators driving higher quality; 5) greater uniformity
since we are eliminating the regions; and 6) enhanced
objectivity as state‐employee support coordinators will
no longer act as advocates for the people they serve.”
This picture is not as rosy for people needing services as the article makes it appear to be. I met with a representative of another agency which also provides services to people with disabilities, as part of my job working with public school children with disabilities. I was told that with the restructuring of DSPD, there is now a 3-5 year waiting list for people needing DSPD services. Not only that, but there is virtually no chance of anyone needing DSPD services ever receiving services, no matter how urgent the need.
Privatization of services for the health and well-being of citizens is really, really bad. Not only are people in need being denied services but with privatization comes its perks (for the business owners) like not having to be mandated to pay those pesky retirement plans for employees and not having to be tied to employee tenure (being able to fire and hire at will). Slashing funds to government organizations to essentially shut them down hurts people.
When will our legislators stop hurting Utah’s citizens?
Filed under: Human rights, Utah Legislature, budget, health care
I am currently a co-owner of a privatized support coordination company. We have been in business for nearly a year. Those individuals under our company are served well. Our employees have ensured that their needs are met and quality supports are given.
Privatization has created a great sense of competition among businesses. Everyone wants to keep their cases; therefore, they need to ensure their work is of quality and that they are meeting the needs of their family. Families also are able to drive who their support coordinator is by choosing among the several different businesses.
There was a large waiting list for DSPD services before privatization. And there probably always be a waiting list for services. The wait to get into services is different for everyone as it goes off of need…this hasn’t changed due to privatization.
Privatization of DSPD does not just help owners of businesses…it actually has been a lot of work! As a business we are offering medical insurance and are currently looking into 401K options.
I think one thing the state struggled with was having a hard time firing employees. It was nearly impossible to fire an employee who worked for the state for over a year. Whereas now if a worker isn’t doing a good job they will be let go. But….as a business we hold expectations for our employees and those wellare clear. If they meet those expectations and provide services to their families then they don’t have to worry about losing their job.
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