Some caregivers blindsided by Arizona Autism layoffs

Caregivers with Arizona Autism say they were blindsided when the company announced it was laying off nearly 2,800 employees at the end of the year.

Few details have emerged on the company’s plans to transition impacted staff to contract workers — and how that will impact services for Arizonans with developmental disabilities.

Last week, Arizona Autism employees received an email with a link to a video of co-owner Ryker Martin announcing the organization’s restructuring plans.

"Here’s what’s important: your client isn’t changing, your schedule isn’t changing, and you have the opportunity to continue to work with us — just under a new structure that offers you more independence and flexibility," Martin said in the video.

Cathy Humphrey works for Arizona Autism as a part-time caregiver. She said the video was short on details for employees being let go.

Cathy Humphrey

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“I understand they're trying to put a positive spin on it, but when you have a big change like this you have to gingerly, tenderly, slowing walk into it, tell people what’s happening, tell them what it means, tell them the good and the bad, not just saying, ‘it’s going to be so great for you,'" Humphrey said.

She criticized the company’s announcement, made via a video on YouTube, and the lack of details on what comes next.

“And to this day I have gotten nothing else from them. We’ve gotten no more information. Nothing," Humphrey said.

It’s unclear how many caregivers Arizona Autism plans to bring back as contractors. In a statement, the company said it would send “individualized invitations” to "eligible providers" about the transition.

Full statement from Vice President Nate Jensen:

Arizona Autism recently completed a strategic review of its operations in light of evolving market conditions and industry practices and, following that review, determined that targeted organizational adjustments are necessary to align our service model. Within the coming week, all eligible providers will receive individualized invitations that outline future scope of services to enable them to provide support to existing clients and identify new clients while giving them the flexibility to provide services on their own schedule as an independent contractor. We are confident that these new changes will offer providers greater scheduling flexibility, the ability to serve a broader range of clients, and opportunities to collaborate with multiple providers while positioning our organization to sustain and strengthen high‑quality services. We remain fully committed to Arizona families and do not anticipate material disruption to our services and will provide timely updates to families, employees, and partners throughout this transition.