CHARLESTON, WV (WCHS) — Birth to Three practitioners who serve children under the age of three with developmental delays or disabilities across the state have not received a pay increase in 22 years.
During this year’s legislative session, they advocated for a rate increase, and while a bill to do so has stalled, the West Virginia Senate amended the state budget bill on Wednesday to include more funding for rate increases.
Cindy Chamberlin and Michelle Ramey have both worked as physical therapists in Birth to Three for over 20 years without a pay raise, and they walked the halls of the Capitol on Wednesday to speak with lawmakers about their options in the final days.
“I feel like at this stage of my career I deserve to have a job where I can pay my bills and also plan for my retirement,” Chamberlin told CNN. “We have no benefits as contract vendors, which is fine, but the rate in 2003 reflected that, and it no longer does that.”
In that timeframe, their caseload has only increased. Chamberlin stated that Birth to Three currently serves 13% of that age group in the state. Back in 2003, they served 2.4%.
Stagnant pay has made it difficult to retain and recruit therapists, as new graduates can earn three times more at hospitals.
“We’re losing our older PTs without benefits, but we’re not getting new therapists into the field, so a lot of kids are going without services because we can’t cover the whole state with the therapists that we have,” Ramey told the newspaper.
Senate Bill 707 proposed a 25% rate increase, but it has been stalled in House Finance since the Senate passed it at the end of March.
Instead, lawmakers are looking to the budget to increase pay.
On Wednesday, the Senate amended the House’s budget to include nearly a million more for Birth to Three. While advocates argue that an additional $2.2 million in that budget would be required for 25% raises, Senate Finance Chair Jason Barrett, R-Berkeley, claims that what is currently available is sufficient for at least sliding scale increases.
“It’s a little more of a sliding scale raise than I believe Senate Bill 707 which put into code those rates for Birth to Three, but it also makes it a little harder to raise rates in the future so the product that we’re going to end up with is an increase in the budget line item,” Barrett informed the crowd.
The Senate version of the budget includes $17 million for Birth to Three, which serves approximately 7,000 infants and toddlers throughout the state. Birth to Three offers free in-home therapy services, including speech, physical, and occupational therapy. Advocates claimed that without a raise, more children would be left without services.
“I love my job,” Chamberlin stated. “I love my family. I’m good at what I do, but why do I have to look for a new job at 56 because I can’t afford to pay my bills? I have a master’s degree and 31 years of experience.
I don’t understand, but I will say that we have received a great deal of support. It’s simply getting lost on a desk and not progressing through a committee for reasons we don’t understand.”
The $5.3 million budget now moves to the House, where it can be amended and sent back to the upper chamber or approved.
