Short on Staff to Aid Disabled
CSEA: Group Homes Neglected

By REUVEN BLAU

The state's largest public-employee union released a report Sept. 26 charging that Long Island residential homes designated to care for the developmentally disabled have been dangerously short-staffed, underfunded, and generally neglected.

CSEA photo by Rachel Langert 'NEED TO BE HEARD': Nick LaMorte, the Civil Service Employees' Association Long Island Region president, speaks to reporters Sept. 26 about a report the union issued detailing alleged lapses in the quality of care for the developmentally disabled in the region. The CSEA is calling for the state to investigate the more-than 100 residential facilities and to allow the healthcare workers to unionize.

Many of the more-than 100 area facilities, which are chiefly funded by the state's Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, have roach and rat problems, the report contended.

'They Want a Voice'

It also noted that the Civil Service Employees' Association has begun an organizing campaign to unionize the approximately 2,200 health-care workers in Nassau County and 1,200 in Suffolk County. "They want a voice on the job," said Nick LaMorte, CSEA Long Island Region president, standing in front of the Nassau County Supreme Court building.

The direct-care workers gathered at the morning press conference also charged that they have been forced to postpone doctor's appointments and physical activities for numerous developmentally disabled individuals due to lack of staff.

Mr. LaMorte - who was joined by dozens of health-care workers, several state legislators, and community activists - called on the state to immediately inspect the homes and to discontinue the current process of internal reviews. "These internal complaints are not being adjudicated properly," Mr. LaMorte contended. "People are being fired, people are being harassed. They are not allowed to give a voice."

The report was delivered to the state the day before the press conference, union leaders said. State officials did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

'Detrimental Conditions'

Several care-givers employed by the Association for the Help of Retarded Children (AHRC) said they were also concerned by the lack of communication between staff and management. "We need to be able to be heard, especially when there are conditions in the house that may be detrimental to their health as well as ours," said Renee Brooks, a care worker based in Westbury.

The starting salary of $9.50 an hour and lack of job protection have also led to a high turnover rate, Ms. Brooks added. "Our guys are always open to loss," she remarked. "After a while you have a relationship with the guys. They are like family." Ms. Brooks said she used to work in a facility which had no manager or assistant manager. The staff, she added, was constantly forced to work overtime. "It's supposed to be illegal to do three shifts [consecutively]," she noted. "They were doing three and four shifts together."

'Roaches Major Problem'

Lordlyn Lewis said that her Baldwin-based facility is always short of staff, which has led to medication errors for the nine individuals in the home. "We had roaches," she added. "That's a major problem in the houses."

Staffers aren't able to give the individuals in the facilities enough attention because they are often bogged down with basic duties such as cooking and cleaning, she continued.

Charnell Midgley-Maurose alleged that AHRC has just begun allowing one staff member to care for an entire home. "I think it's ridiculous," she asserted. "You can't have one staff for six people."

According to Ms. Midgley-Maurose, that arrangement has forced her and her colleagues to reschedule medical appointments and important activities because there was no health-care worker available to travel with the patients in the home to different events. "It's impossible to take them all if there are two or three appointments in a day," she remarked. "Some people go to the gym, yoga, computer classes and school. They have a lot of activities."

The CSEA's organizing efforts are part of the union's broader plan to earn the right to represent the state's approximately 65,000 private-sector health care workers.

Mr. LaMorte said he is hoping that AHRC will soon allow its Long Island employees to vote on joining the union via a "card check" system. "We do believe it's in the best interest of both the consumers and the workers to do a simple card-check and let's get on with business," he commented.

Also present at the press conference were State Assemblymen Rob Walker, Chuck Lavine, and Bob Barra; James McAsey, executive director of Jobs with Justice; John Durso, president of the Long Island Federation of Labor; and Father Henry Benack.