A major Houston-area provider of group homes for people with disabilities is shutting down and laying off more than a hundred workers, a harbinger of what advocates say will become more frequent after the state only slightly raised reimbursement rates in the latest legislative session.
“This was not what we wanted to do,” Texana Center CEO Shena Ureste said about the closures. “This was not a choice we wanted to make. The state gave us no other choice.”
The center, which serves people with intellectual and developmental disabilities across six counties west of Houston, is shuttering its 14 group homes over the next several months, displacing roughly 50 clients. The decision comes as the state Legislature hasn’t met advocates’ calls to significantly raise pay for the staff who support the roughly 15,000 people statewide who live in small residential settings supported by a Medicaid waiver program.
State lawmakers agreed to increase the wages from $10.60 to $13 an hour in the session that ended earlier this month. But advocates say it’s still not enough for providers to recruit and retain staff, especially when fast-food restaurants and retail stores are paying significantly more for work that is often less demanding.
