Senator Jim Abeler (R-Anoka), chair of the Senate Committee on Human Services Reform Finance and Policy, today called on Governor Tim Walz to deploy National Guard members to aid in the staffing shortage crisis in the state’s group homes.

Across Minnesota, long-term care and nursing facilities are unable to find the staff needed to serve its residents, with a recent statewide survey by the Long-Term Care Imperative showing Minnesota care facilities are estimated at being 23,000 staffers short. To help address this issue, National Guard members have been deployed to aid these facilities. 

However, a less commonly discussed area being impacted by the care facility shortages — and one not currently receiving the assistance of the National Guard —   are Minnesota group homes. This can be seen clearly through the dire situation at the Mount Olivet Rolling Acres – a 50-year-old nonprofit committed to providing services to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Due to staffing shortages, residents in over 30 group homes are having to choose to either move back home or into a different group home temporarily.

Tracy Murphy, president at Mount Olivet Rolling Acres, noted the following in her testimony before the committee today. 

“We are no longer in a crisis. We are in an emergency. We are in a dire situation,” Murphy said. “I currently have 80 open positions. I am operating at 50% of my shifts open at any time.”

“With some of our group homes on the verge of collapse, it is long overdue for Governor Walz to call on the National Guard and provide critically needed assistance to these facilities,” Abeler said. “This is a people-focused issue, not a political issue, and serves to ensure our loved ones have a place to receive the necessary care.”   

With the 2022 legislative session set to begin at the end of January, Abeler along with other members of the Senate Committee on Human Services Reform Finance and Policy will continue to work to address the needs of Minnesota’s most vulnerable people.