CLIFTON PARK — A staffing crisis that is crippling care programs for individuals with disabilities is forcing Saratoga County’s largest nonprofit human services agency to temporarily “pause” a day habilitation program in Clifton Park.
For some of the roughly two dozen families affected, the looming decisions include whether a parent might have to quit their job to care for their loved one during the day.
“At that particular site we felt that it’s not safe to do the day program with as many individuals, with the staffing shortages that we have,” said Jane Mastaitis, chief executive officer at Saratoga Bridges, one of 36 chapters of The Arc New York, the state’s largest nonprofit organization serving people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. “We’re just so short of staff; it’s just a decision that we made as as team … for the safety of the individuals.”
DAD Note: It is happening all over the country including here impacting some of our deaf patients too. It is not known yet how the states or governments will fix this as it also impacts an Olmstead Supreme Court ruling.