Good morning. My name is Michael Gunther. I have been a member of the Self-Advocacy Association for eight years and a member of the board of the Self-Advocacy Association for six. I am also a member of In My Shoes, a group of consumers who provide training for staff. I live in a supported apartment and work at F.E.G.S.

I think it is important that agencies get a trend because costs keep going up. I know how important it is because I get a COLA for my SSD every year. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be able to keep up with rising costs.

When agencies don’t get increases, they can’t give staff raises. If everything goes up and the salary stays the same, that’s not fair. You can’t run an agency without raises. Some agencies are even laying people off.

For us consumers, it’s real bad when someone leaves. When you get to work with someone who you really love who leaves, it’s upsetting because you get used to the routine. And the new staff member might not be as good. Good staff take their time to work with you. You treat them with respect, they’ll treat you with respect, but you can’t expect them to work without getting paid a decent amount.

If we don’t have the money to get the right staff or the right number of staff, it could impact people’s independence. In order to live independently you need good staff or you might take the wrong medicine, hurt yourself, get the wrong stuff at the supermarket or burn your kitchen down. And staff help people travel. If there are not enough staff, people might be stuck at home.

For all of these reasons I think agencies should get a trend from OMRDD.

Thank you.