Treatment programs face shutdown because of minimum wage increase

[TexasTowelie]

Kate Noll, 29, was isolated and depressed when she first moved to Arizona with her family, before her mother discovered her lifeline, east Mesa’s Marc Community Resources.

Cheryl Noll said developmentally disabled people like Kate thrive on structure and a sense of purpose. Kate had neither during her first three months in the East Valley. She became irrational. Her eating and sleeping habits changed.

That’s why Noll and other parents of developmentally disabled children, who are now adults, are worried about whether an increase in the Arizona minimum wage will have the unintended consequence of shutting down or curtailing the day treatment programs that developmentally disabled people need.

“If I had Kate at home all day, I would be at home,” Cheryl Noll said, forcing her to give up her job. “We would lose our (health) insurance, we would lose our home.

Read more: http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/arizona/treatment-programs-face-shutdown-because-of-minimum-wage-increase/article_0a6edcac-05e7-11e7-b7dc-03c51d634f09.html

[PdxSean]

1. Min wage is the red herring.

From the article, the underlying problem is the fact that the legislature won't provide the gap funding needed to cover the wage increase. The staff caring for these vulnerable people need a living wage and the patients need care. Any suggestion that it's either-or is a fallacy.