Best Life Alliance

Best Life Alliance

Best Life AllianceLSS is a strong supporter of the Best Life Alliance, a Minnesota coalition advocating for Home & Community-Based Services (HCBS) that support 73,000 people with disabilities and employ 80,000 direct care workers statewide. Supporters include more than a hundred Minnesota service providers, direct care workers, people with disabilities, family members and community partners.  We are part of a statewide movement toward fully person-centered and community-integrated services for people with disabilities.

Services for people with disabilities increase independence, allow people to work, promote health and safety, foster skill development, provide job coaching, and meet complex medical needs.  When these services are based in the community, they are more cost effective than long-term care alternatives.

Minnesota’s community-based direct care workers who assist people with disabilities have demanding, highly-skilled, professional jobs and earn an average of $12.32/hour. Their pay and provider rates are directly tied to state reimbursement rates set by lawmakers. Over the past decade, this funding has not kept up with rising costs. As a result, more than 8,700 unfilled HCBS caregiver and staff jobs exist in Minnesota today. This has created a workforce shortage and instability in our state’s Home & Community-Based Services.

As a Best Life Alliance supporting organization, LSS advocates for solutions to address the existing workforce challenges and ensure high quality services for people with disabilities.

 

Learn More

  • View the Best Life Alliance webpage for news, upcoming events, recent media stories and resources including messaging and handouts.
  • Subscribe to the coalition’s email list for news, event and action alerts.
  • Join the conversation on social media where the latest updates and additional ways to get involved are posted. Share the coalition’s posts to spread the word: Twitter  |  Facebook | Pinterest  |  YouTube.

 

How You Can Take Action

  • Contact your legislators.  Let your legislators know why Home & Community- Based services matter to you and ask them to support the Best Life Alliance. Find out who represents you and how to contact them.
  • Write a Letter to the Editor of your local paper.