Venture President & CEO Mike Hyland was recently interviewed as part of a news story that aired on GBH News that highlighted the lost access to day programs for many with disabilities.

Listen to the GBH News story here:

https://bit.ly/3LCdZu6

The state sets those rates, which are currently about $16 an hour for people working in these day programs.

“And that’s not enough to live well in Massachusetts,” said Mike Hyland, president and CEO of Venture Community Services, which runs group homes and day programs for people with developmental disabilities. “I would say the majority of our people, in fact, end up working multiple jobs in multiple different agencies just to make ends meet.”

Hyland said he has 60 full-time positions and about 80 part-time jobs currently open. But it’s hard to compete with fast food chains and other jobs that are paying similar rates.

Because of the staffing shortage, Hyland said, day programs now have waitlists to get in.

“And I don’t know of an agency, certainly of our size, that doesn’t have that same kind of waiting list,” he said.

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