At least two nonprofit social service agencies that serve developmentally disabled people on behalf of the state began relocating hundreds of clients Thursday in anticipation of a caregivers strike on Friday.
Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration said talks with the state’s largest health care workers’ union remain positive, while nonprofit group home operators braced for a work stoppage.
The Hartford-based Oak Hill School, Connecticut’s largest nonprofit social service agency with 70 group homes around the state for residents with developmental and intellectual disabilities, had moved 77 clients to nursing homes by 7:45 p.m. and the count was expected to reach about 150 later in the evening, according to President and CEO Barry Simon.
Another 50 Oak Hill residents were moved earlier in the day.
Unable to secure any replacement workers, Oak Hill will continue to operate a handful of group homes with a non-union skeleton staff. Simon said about 50 more clients were shifted from homes scheduled to be closed to those remaining open.
The Hartford-based nonprofit is one of six facing a strike deadline Friday, along with Journey Found Inc.; Mosaic in Cromwell; Whole Life Inc. of Stratford; Sunrise Northeast of Hartford; and Network Inc. of Andover.
It was unclear Thursday how many other facilities might be relocating residents. But according to the CT Community Nonprofit Alliance, the state’s largest coalition of nonprofit agencies, Mosaic transferred 46 clients to nursing homes Thursday and Journey Found has begun moving 22 group home residents to stay, temporarily, with their families.
About 2,000 human services aides belonging to SEIU District 1199 New England are prepared to stop work Friday unless wages, benefits and staffing levels are improved.
Union members, who say they have faced years of low pay and poor benefits — and then risked illness and death working during the first year of the pandemic — insist conditions must improve.
The industry, which delivers the bulk of state-sponsored social services, is pressing Lamont and the General Assembly to reverse more than a decade of underfunding. And while the legislature’s Appropriations Committee has crafted a comprehensive seven-year plan to close that gap, it’s unclear whether state officials will approve a new budget before the work stoppage happens.
The regular 2021 legislative session is set to adjourn at midnight June 9.
Lamont and his fellow Democrats in the legislature’s majority hit a snag in talks Wednesday on a new, two-year budget. The sticking point, according to sources familiar with the talks, involves legislative proposals to launch a 10-year, $2 billion investment in Connecticut’s urban centers, to be financed with bonding.
The administration and legislators also bumped heads on an Appropriations Committee proposal to move more than $300 million in proposed annual spending outside of the statutory cap on appropriations.
Simon, who has been advocating for years for enhanced social services funding, was frustrated Thursday that Lamont, legislators and the union had carried the labor issue to the brink of a strike.
“It’s because the people we serve are not a priority,” Simon said. “Unless you’re impacted by this directly, you don’t know about it.”
But relatives and friends of the developmentally disabled know full well the extreme anxiety these group home residents face starting Thursday, he said.
Many of these residents are very limited in their ability to communicate and rely on highly skilled staff who’ve become familiar over time with their clients’ needs.
Simon said the relocations are almost certainly expected to produce anxiety attacks severe enough to hospitalize some of his clients.
“There’s a lot of emotional costs,” Simon added. “There’s a lot of wasted time and effort.”
Lamont expressed optimism Wednesday that his administration would reach a deal with the union in time to avert the relocation of any disabled residents. The governor noted his administration reached a last-minute agreement with District 1199 last month to avert a potential strike at 26 nursing homes.
Officials from both sides continued to negotiate Thursday evening. Union spokesman Pedro Zayas said a strike still is planned for Friday but did not comment further.
“Talks remain constructive with industry and labor and plans are in place, in accordance with state law, to ensure those being moved continue to receive the care and services they need,” said Max Reiss, the governor’s communications director.
