A shortage of nurses at three of the state's five centers for people with severe developmental disabilities has disrupted residents' care and hurt morale, parents of residents at one of the centers told legislators on Tuesday.

Carole Sherman, president of Arkadelphia Human Development Center Family and Friends Association, blamed the vacancies on the human development centers' inability to offer competitive salaries. To fill the gaps, the centers have hired more costly contract nurses, she said.

"While contract nurses are qualified as LPNs and RNs, they are only working temporarily at the HDCs and they do not know the unique needs and characteristics of HDC residents, many of whom are non-verbal and may have severe behavioral issues," Sherman, who is also chair of the public affairs committee for Families and Friends of Care Facility Residents and the mother of a resident at the Arkadelphia center, wrote in a document presented to the state House and Senate Public Health, Welfare and Labor committees during a joint meeting Tuesday.

She said hiring contract nurses also "causes a morale problem" at the centers.

"An HDC nurse working beside a contract nurse is doing the same work, but that contract nurse is earning much more," Sherman told lawmakers.

Melissa Weatherton, the director of specialty Medicaid services at the state Department of Human Services, told lawmakers the department has been working for months on a proposal to increase nurse salaries for current and new nurses.

"This is not unique to us at DHS, it is also happening at DHS, at our State Hospital, at our health centers and [the departments of] Veterans Affairs and Corrections, and so we've been working for several months with Veterans Affairs and the Arkansas Department of Health to come up with a proposal that we felt like we could all absorb within our budgets," Weatherton said.

She said DHS officials plan to present the proposal to lawmakers in June.

According to Sherman's handout, the Conway Human Development Center has the largest number of vacancies: eight for registered nurses and 15 for licensed practical nurses.

The other two centers she listed as having a "severe shortage of nurses" are the Arkadelphia center, which was listed as having seven each for registered nurses and licensed practical nurses, and the Jonesboro Human Development Center, which was listed as having one vacancy for registered nurses and five for licensed practical nurses.

The handout also listed the Warren Human Development Center as having two vacancies for registered nurses and the Booneville Human Development Center as having one licensed practical nurse vacancy.

The hourly base pay for licensed practical nurses at the human development centers is about $19 an hour, which Sherman compared advertised positions for licensed practical nurses ranging from $24.40 per hour at a nursing home in Prescott to $42 per hour for a 13-week contract in the Conway area with a staffing company.

For registered nurses, the approximate base pay at the human development centers is $30 an hour, compared with about $40 an hour at other employers, according to Sherman's handout.

According to statistics provided by the parents, 48% of the 841 residents across the human development centers are at a profound level of intellectual disability, meaning they have an IQ below 20.

Kimberly Dodd, vice president of the Arkadelphia Human Development Center Family and Friends Association and secretary of Families and Friends of Care Facility Residents, said the centers provide residents with a sense of community and care that they could not otherwise experience.

Dodd's son, 28, is also a resident in the Arkadelphia center.

"He has a job. He's making friends, and these positive experiences have filled Matthew with a sense of accomplishment," Dodd said. "He's more confident, and he's proud of himself. These are all improvements for him."

"When you are making decisions that involve people with severe disabilities, please consider those who cannot participate in moments like this by listening to their advocates and their guardians" Dodd added.

State Rep. Lee Johnson, R-Greenwood, chair of the House public health committee, said he would support increasing the nurses' pay.

"This is 841 individuals -- this is not going to break the bank of Arkansas," Johnson said. "We should do the right thing and do the best we can to take care of these folks since it's a very limited and small group of people that really need this kind of intensive care."

My Ly is a Report for America Corps member.