New York State Assembly Member Rebecca Seawright has announced the passage of her legislation in both houses designed to help the growing staffing crisis for people with developmental disabilities. It will soon be delivered to the governor to sign.

The bill would require the Commissioner of the Office for People with Developmental Disabilities to submit a report detailing the number and nature of state-operated residential facilities serving individuals with developmental disabilities, an official record of staff delivering services and the hiring of new staff at these residential facilities.

This report must include the total number of full-time equivalent staff by position or title for OPWDD, the 2022-2023 fiscal year full-time equivalent budgeted staffing level by position or title for the office for people with developmental disabilities, the number of full-time equivalent staff that separated from service between April 1, 2022 and December 1, 2022, the number of staff hired from April 1, 2022 to December 1, 2022, and the number of unfilled and vacant positions as of December 1, 2022 at each state-operated facility.

The report will also include the number of full-time equivalent staff, the steps taken by OPWDD to recruit staff for new and vacant positions, a list of state-operated residential facilities detailing which facilities are owned or leased, and the number of eligible clients with developmental disabilities currently on a waiting list to receive care.

This bill would require that the report be posted for public inspection on OPWDD’s website.

Photo: Assembly Member Rebecca Seawright (center) with Gov. Kathy Hochul (Flickr)