![]() ![]() ![]() Laura Styczynski, whose 30-year-old son attends Saratoga Bridge's day habilitation program, said she also may be forced to take a leave from her job at a school in order to care for him during the closure. He's not alone: Families across the state - and nationwide - are facing similar crises as group homes and facilities that serve disabled individuals are facing closure due to an unprecedented staffing crisis brought on, in part, by low wages and other factors impacting the industry. I’m really struggling and I don’t know what to do anymore." I’m a single dad trying to do this on my own for the last 13 years. He wears a diaper and doesn’t communicate. "He is mobile, but for how much longer I don’t know. "My son has a seizure disorder from birth and he’s totally disabled," Pisacane said. During the pandemic, he said, he had to leave his job for more than a year because of the lack of services available for his son, a situation exacerbated by COVID-19 shutdowns. Joseph Pisacane, 61, a Waterford resident who is the sole caretaker of his 31-year-old son, said the temporary closure of the Clifton Park program is likely to force him to quit his job. But the average wage for care workers in that sector is still under $15 an hour. Although New York increased the wages it pays workers in state-run facilities, the private sector - especially non-profit organizations - account for about 80 percent of the services provided to intellectually and developmentally disabled individuals. ![]() It is among dozens of closures of similar residential and day habilitation programs by state-run and non-profit agencies that have been unfolding across the state. 15 at the facility on Clifton Park Center Road. Mastaitis said the temporary closure is scheduled to begin Aug. ![]()
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