Please, contact your member of Congress today to ask them to co-sponsor the Direct Support Professionals Fairness and Security Act of 2007. It’s a new year and ANCOR and United Cerebral Palsy have made a renewed commitment to advocating for people with disabilities and the workers who support them. We need YOU to join the effort. Last year we asked you to advocate for legislation intended to help stabilize the workforce providing critical daily supports to the millions of Americans with disabilities who live and work in the community. Thousands of people like YOU answered the call to action and we were able to win support for our bill from 86 members of the United States House of Representatives. This was no small achievement and we all share in the success. Last year’s efforts have put important goals within our reach in the new Congress. It all begins with the reintroduction of our workforce legislation in the United States House of Representatives and we are pleased to announce that Representatives Lois Capps (D-CA) and Lee Terry (R-NE) have just introduced the Direct Support Professionals Fairness and Security Act of 2007 (H.R. 1279). This bill, like our bill from the last Congress, gives states a much-needed option to secure additional federal dollars for the direct support workforce. These dollars are critical to stabilizing a workforce with turnover rates as high as 86%...turnover that jeopardizes the quality of life for people with disabilities. Please contact your member of Congress today to ask them to co-sponsor H.R. 1279. We need your action to both get our existing supporters re-signed on the new bill and to secure new champions in the House of Representatives. Please act now, and write to your member of Congress below. We thank you for sharing in our commitment to people with disabilities and the workers who support them. Instructions: Click here to take action on this issue. Send a letter to the following decision maker or makers: your U.S. representative your U.S. senators

The letter that will be sent is included below:

Message Subject: Support People with Disabilities: Please Co-Sponsor H.R. 1279 Dear [Decision Maker], I am writing to ask you to co-sponsor H.R. 1279, the Direct Support Professionals Fairness and Security Act of 2007. This legislation, reintroduced by Representatives Lois Capps (D-CA) and Lee Terry (R-NE) on March 1, 2007 won bipartisan support from 86 of your colleagues in the 109th Congress and is critical to helping curb a workforce crisis that jeopardizes the quality of life for millions of people with disabilities and elderly who live and work in the community. Currently, more than 50% of all direct support positions, often known as caregivers, personal assistants or homecare aides, turnover every year. Turnover in residential and vocational settings are even more alarming, reaching rates as high as 86%! The high turnover results in vacancies, puts unfair demands on remaining workers and, most important, negatively impacts the quality and consistency of supports to people with disabilities and the elderly. Poor wages and heavy job demands have caused this crisis. The median wage for these workers is around $9 per hour - well below the median wage for all U.S. workers and comparable workers in the public sector. Even pet groomers and fast food workers frequently earn more and get much steadier raises than the workers supporting our most vulnerable citizens. H.R. 1279 will help. It gives each state the option to work collaboratively with the stakeholders in their disability community to develop a long-term plan for addressing the wage issue while providing a short-term boost in federal support. Everyone -- the Supreme Court (Olmstead decision), President Bush's New Freedom Initiative, Congress, Governors, people with disabilities, families and health care providers -- agrees that people with disabilities and the elderly should have access to the supports that allow them to live and work in the communities of their choice. Please co-sponsor H.R. 1279 to help ensure that we have the quality, consistent workforce in place to realize this shared goal. Sincerely, Your First Name Your Last Name Your Street Address Your City, Your State Your Zip Code