Alberta government to increase funding for people who work with disabled

Leah McRorie and her daughter Taisa. (Supplied/Leah McRorie)

Several years ago Leah McRorie was forced to quit her job to become a full-time caregiver to her daughter Taisa.

“She’s not capable of accessing this world on her own,” said McRorie.

“It’s incredibly challenging. My mental health has suffered a great deal and if I’m not OK,my daughter’s not OK. We’re struggling everyday,” she said.

Taisa, now 28, was born with cerebral palsy and requires round-the-clock support.

“So she would need help basically from the time she wakes up to the time she goes to bed with everything she does in her day. Her days look like yours and mine, she just needs help doing everything to get there,” McRorie said.

At one time Taisa had as many as 13 support staff.

Taisa McRorie was born with cerebral palsy and requires 24/7 support. (Supplied/Leah McRorie)

“We have staff that come and go and they often have different hours and so some staff are just personal care staff if you will, so somebody will come for a three-hour shift where they will accompany Taisa to have a bath, get changed and ready for bed,” said McRorie.

“And support staff are a shadow of them, they just support them to do the things in which they choose to do in their daily lives that they need help for, that we do and take for granted every day,” she added.

Over the years McRorie says fewer and fewer support staff were available to help people with disabilities like her daughter.

“They’re leaving our sector,” she said. “We have a staffing shortage because people don’t want to work in a field where they’re devalued and underpaid anymore.”

According to Alberta Council Disability Services, there’s a 23 per cent turnover rate in the profession which hasn’t seen a raise since 2014.

“The pay is just not there, it’s not attractive and so we’re concerned about the future for our sector,” said Dale Cena, a program coordinator with the Calgary SCOPE Society.

“We are a workforce right now that is in a crisis because individuals are leaving the sector. They’re unable to pay the bills anymore because of the low wages and that’s affecting the vulnerable Albertans,” said Cena.

For those still in the profession, there’s now hope. In a mandate letter sent by Alberta’s new premier to her cabinet this week, Danielle Smith clearly outlined the need for funding in this sector.

“The government’s listening,” said Jeremy Nixon, Alberta’s minister for Seniors, Community and Social Services. “We understand the challenges that families are facing right now and we want to make sure that we are working with these absolutely amazing service providers to increase the supports that are available to families.”

A group of workers started a petition asking the government for a 25 per cent wage increase. “We need a wage increase that’s liveable,” said Cena, one of the workers behind the petition.

The minister said his department is looking at salaries in other social service sectors which are higher than the disability sectors to help come up with a number.

“We want to make sure that it is a competitive rate, a good rate, that rewards the amazing work that they do,” Nixon said.

“It’s not just a wage challenge these organizations are facing, it’s also an administrative challenge because we haven’t seen an increase in funding for them for eight years so we know inflation has increased over eight years, we also saw the minimum wage increase during that time which has created additional challenges,” he added.

“I’m thrilled that there’s an increase coming for them,” said McRorie, who wept when she heard the government’s promise for disability workers her daughter desperately needs.

“They care for us. They care for the people we love with a disability and it is so incredibly difficult that so many people don’t understand the value that they bring.”

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Jessica Robb