AUSTIN, Texas — Group homes for the disabled and elderly are key in securing services for those with limited income and nowhere to go.
For many – like Christopher Botello, who has lived in a group home for 50 years – these facilities play a vital part in their residents' lives and independence.
But according to advocates and group home workers, caregiving is a job that doesn't pay enough and leaves group homes with a revolving door of employees.
Botello lives within the Mary Lee Foundation, an Austin nonprofit that offers affordable housing within its community, along with a variety of programs for those with Intellectual or Developmental Disabilities (IDD).
Botello has cerebral palsy, but to him, it's simply a condition he lives with. He has become what some may call the "captain of the ship" at Mary Lee.
”I train a lot of the people, a lot of the residents here, to ride with buses and staff and learn how to ride buses, so that way, they can go to where they want to go," Botello said.
It's an opportunity he found and was able to establish through the foundation – along with people he considers family.
"Being here as long as I have makes you feel like you're one of the most important people here, which is good because if you get that feeling in your system, then nothing can put you down," Botello said.
Botello is just one example why some employees haven't left their post.
Mary Lee offers $13.50 as a starting wage. Overtime is offered, but Interim Director Carroll Rabalais said she is painfully aware that it isn't sustainable.
"It’s really difficult to ask that of someone and say, 'You get $10.60 an hour.' You know, Dairy Queen is going to offer you $15, or any other any other restaurant down the street is going to offer you more," Rabalais said.
According to an IDD group home provider report, on average, caregivers work about 60 hours per week. Others average out 100 hours or more.
In 2023, Texas lawmakers slightly increased the base wage for group home workers from $8.11 to $10.60. Earlier this year, a newly formed coalition called Save Texas Caregivers Now sent a letter to Gov. Greg Abbott and legislators, urging them to raise the minimum wage for community-based direct-support professionals from $10.60 to $15 an hour.
Rabalais said she and other advocates have taken their stance to the Legislature themselves, but they have found themselves at a crossroads when it comes to achieving a better base wage.
“It really has not been an area that [state lawmakers are] interested in supporting," Rabalai said. "This is what we need. This is how we sustain the care and the quality of life for our clients."
Mary Lee is short 14 full-time direct-care professionals and has five fewer employees today than it did three years ago, according to Rabalais.
Judy Kegg's stepdaughter also lives at Mary Lee. She explained how she wouldn't be able to fully provide the services the foundation offers.
Kegg is aware of the staffing crisis and worries about the outcome should the facility close its doors.
"We really, really rely on caretakers," Kegg said.
According to Texas Human and Health Services (HHS), Travis County has 152 group homes open. In 2023, 15 opened and two shut down.