Coalition Of Human Services Organizations Call For A Living Wage For Human Service Workers

Cosette Ayele, Director of Advocacy and Workforce Initiatives at Illinois Partners, during the Living Wages, Thriving Communities Campaign’s Fair Pay Rally in Springfield. Photo by Aaron Cynic.
Cosette Ayele, Director of Advocacy and Workforce Initiatives at Illinois Partners, during the Living Wages, Thriving Communities Campaign’s Fair Pay Rally in Springfield. Photo by Aaron Cynic.

Coalition Of Human Services Organizations Call For A Living Wage For Human Service Workers

By Tia Carol Jones

More than 100 people gathered in Springfield on Wednesday, Feb. 26th, to call for legislators to support resolutions and legislation that would provide a livable wage for those who provide human services to people in communities throughout Illinois.

The Illinois Partners for Human Services has a coalition of more than 850 organizations across the State of Illinois that provide human services directly to people across communities in the state. The Illinois Partners for Human Services started the Living Wages, Thriving Communities Campaign with the goal of increasing state investment in community-based human services organizations.

Cosette Ayele, Director of Advocacy and Workforce Initiatives, and the Illinois Partners for Human Services, said for the last 20 years, those organizations have been saying that they have been consistently underfunded. Because of that lack of funding from the State, they have been unable to pay their workers a living wage. Ayele said with the Living Wages, Thriving Communities Campaign, those organizations hope that those human services workers can receive better pay.

Human services workers include therapists, disability advocates, childcare workers, afterschool care workers, health navigators and substance use counselors. Ayele said these workers play vital roles in supporting individuals and families, yet they still remain underpaid.

The Illinois Partners for Human Services is asking legislators to co-sponsor and support the Living Wages, Thriving Communities Resolution. The Resolution, HR151, SR123, which would ensure the State of Illinois prioritizes people who provide humans services in the budget. 

“For the past 27 years, we have been underfunded and we want that to be increased. Part of the first step of that is passing a resolution that calls for the state to care and to really put their money where their values are,” Ayele said.

There are two other bills that are part of the campaign,  HB 1588, SB 1306, which would seek continued investment in the Human Services Professional Loan Repayment Program and HB2695, The Human Services Equitable Pay Act.  The Illinois Partners for Human Services was able to secure $5.25 million for Fiscal Year 2025, which would support more than 500 workers who provide human services in the state with a loan repayment of up to $25,000.

Ayele said that is only for one year and continued investment in the program is essential. She said she would like to see even greater investment in the program, so Illinois Partners for Human Services is asking for a minimum of $7.5 million, which would allow the organization to reach more than 750 people across the state and provide low wage workers with student loan repayment.

“This is a highly educated workforce, with jobs that require bachelor’s degrees, master’s degrees and advanced certificates and they are not seeing a return on investment due to their low wages. I feel like the least we could do is make sure they’re not burdened by student loans,” Ayele said.

The Human Services Equitable Pay Act would bring pay parity between people at community-based organizations and people who work at the Illinois Department of Human Services. Ayele said that in talking to coalition partners and community providers the coalition has found that what they are able to pay a case worker is often 50% to 100% lower than what the state pays workers at state agencies that do similar work. Ayele said the coalition wants legislators to support and co-sponsor these pieces of legislation so that it can pass in the State.

“We know that when community-based organizations are underfunded, that directly impacts Black and brown communities because people who live in these communities care more about going to their community providers. We want to make sure people who are providing direct services in their community are also able to make a wage that is comparable to those who work in state agencies,” Ayele said. She also wants to see legislators vote yes on the passage of these pieces of legislation.

Ayele said there is an immediate need to pass this legislation. She said in the wake of community-based human services organizations having their funding threatened, the coalition felt something needed to be done at the state level to ensure the state knows the direct impact of those organizations losing their funding from the federal government, as well as the historical underfunding they have experienced locally for more than 20 years.

For more information about the Living Wage, Thriving Communities Campaign, visit livingwageil.org. Human services workers can also share their stories on the website.


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