Posted by Vera Salter on August 16th, 2010 at 10:21 am | 1 Comment »
Noel Mendes & Margaret Beringer at the workshop
On Saturday, July 17, the Direct Care Alliance held a Voices Institute Leadership Training Workshop in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, which I led with Brenda Nachtway. Eight direct care workers attended the workshop that included leadership self-assessment and modules on personal power, membership recruitment and building relationships with allies. The attendees were especially inspired to hear that the Direct Care Empowerment Act was about to be introduced into the U.S. House of Representatives and they practiced visiting with allies to gain support for the bill. On completion of the workshop, five participants – Clara Glenn, Margaret Beringer, Rolanda Crawley, Soon Hong and Noel Mendes – formed a Leadership Circle and are working together to build a chapter of the Pennsylvania Direct Care Workers Association in the Philadelphia region. Continue reading »
Posted by Vera Salter on August 3rd, 2010 at 9:39 am | 2 Comments »
Dr. Vera Salter, Direct Care Alliance; Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA)
Yesterday, Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) hosted a Senate Special Committee on Aging Hearing in Wilkes-Barre, where he announced his intention to introduce the Direct Care Workforce Empowerment Act (House version introduced last week by Rep. Linda Sanchez).
The hearing – Taking care of Mom and Dad: Why We Need a Quality Workforce to Serve Our Older Americans – addressed the growing need for quality medical personnel to take care of a growing aging population. I was invited to deliver testimony, along with Continue reading »
Posted by Connie Kreider on August 2nd, 2010 at 10:14 am | No Comments »
Connie Kreider
As we all enjoy the last few weeks of summer it is hard to remember the very beginning of this year. Think back: what were we all looking forward too? Warmer weather, right? Well we all got what we wanted…hot, muggy warmer weather! Are we all happy now? No – now we are to hot and are looking forward to cooler weather again. I’m looking forward to the fall for more than just cooler temperatures – it’s time for the Pennsylvania Direct Care Workers Association conference! It’s time to get out your favorite sweater, plan a day trip to Valley Forge and treat yourself to an exciting and inspiring conference that will reinvigorate your passion for direct care work.
On September 16, 2010, The Sky’s The Limit at the National Christian Conference Center – a beautiful, peaceful and restful location that will have you feeling like you have stepped back in time. Continue reading »
Posted by Tracy Dudzinski on June 28th, 2010 at 11:54 am | 1 Comment »
Tracy Dudzinski
On June 15, 2010, I was fortunate to be able to travel to Capitol Hill again. I was part of a delegation from Wisconsin who visited with Senator Herb Kohl’s office. There were six of us (see photo below), including myself, Susan Rosa (a family caregiver), Tracy Schroepfer (a geriatric social worker), Sharon Roth Maguire (a geriatric nurse practitioner), and Dr. Paul Drinka and Dr. Michael Malone (geriatricians). We were brought together by the Eldercare Workforce Alliance (EWA), founded by Leonila Vega of the Direct Care Alliance and others.
During the visit with Senator Kohl, I explained the importance of the direct care worker training program that was established as part of health care reform and asked that he fight to get money appropriated. I also advocated for training programs for workers. As a supportive home care agency, we have a hard time finding qualified workers. We actually hired a certified nursing assistant who had never given a bath – which we didn’t know before hiring her. We need better training because the specialized needs of consumers are increasing as people live longer.
Senator Kohl seemed surprised to learn that dog groomers and hair stylists have more training than direct care workers. I think that is unacceptable when we are dealing with people’s lives. Continue reading »
Posted by Lindsay Short on May 6th, 2010 at 12:02 pm | No Comments »
Lindsay Short
The Direct Support Professional Association of Minnesota (DSPAM) has become an important part in the fight for the professionalism and respect for direct support professionals. Since joining DSPAM 3 years ago, I have witnessed the growth and movement that this organization has done and how dedicated each person involved is to the direct care workers of Minnesota.
Over the last year DSPAM has pushed full force to be involved with advocacy, leadership, and taking care of direct support professionals. Our most proud and biggest accomplishment was our event held last September to pamper Minnesota DSPs and to allow them to have a day where the roles were reversed. Providing free haircuts and manicures, thanks to Spa Blu, over 200 DSPs attended receiving the pampering and care they so deserve. Through this event we were able to increase our membership to reach our first membership goal of 250. All of us are so thankful to our sponsors, donators, volunteers, and partners that helped make this event possible. Continue reading »
Posted by Elise Nakhnikian on February 15th, 2010 at 1:13 am | No Comments »
The New Mexico Direct Caregivers Coalition is seeking its first executive director. The organization, which was founded last year, is headed by a 10-member board of directors all of whom are direct care workers.
To apply, send a cover letter and resume to nmexchange@aol.com by March 3.
Job description (PDF)
Posted by Helen Hanson on February 11th, 2010 at 4:45 pm | 3 Comments »
Helen Hanson
Well, our report is complete, but it has not yet been presented to the Legislature.
As you know if you’ve been reading this blog, I am part of a team that was appointed by the state of Maine to recommend ways that the Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee could streamline long-term care service delivery, address equalities in the services provided, and hopefully gain some cost savings, which can be passed on to workers in the form of livable wages and benefits such as paid time off and health care coverage. We finished our work in early January, and the report was supposed to be released later that month.
But I just learned that the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has put it on the back burner instead. Continue reading »
Posted by Judy Clinco on January 29th, 2010 at 3:49 pm | 1 Comment »
Judy Clinco
It’s not easy to start up a direct care worker association, but with the right members and allies, you’d be surprised how much you can get done.
Our association, the Arizona Direct Care Worker Association (ADCWA), started last year. We are still in the process of building up our membership, but we already have some really powerful advocates for their profession. And we have a plan for the year, which we’re all working hard to implement.
After the DCA’s Vera Salter did a Power Me workshop for us last summer, we invited all the association members who attended the workshop to become part of a leadership circle. Six of them did, and they’ve gotten a lot done in the last six months. Continue reading »
Posted by Elise Nakhnikian on January 15th, 2010 at 7:30 pm | 2 Comments »
Theresa Laws
“I have recommended this field to others and will continue to do so. I feel as though this can be a very rewarding field — as long as you measure it by the happiness of the people you serve,” says Theresa Laws.
Laws is the latest direct support professional to be profiled by the College of Direct Support in its DSP Chronicles. (PDF)
A Health Support Specialist/Direct Support Professional for the Rensselaer County ARC in Troy, New York, where she helps support six women in a group home, she is also an advocate for her professional. Law is a founding member of the Direct Support Professional Alliance of New York State, and she has testified before the New York State Senate Finance and Assembly Ways and Means Committee about te need for better DSP benefits and salaries.
“It was exhilarating and a little nerve-wracking to say the least to testify but I was honored to be asked to do it and it’s such an important set of issues for DSPs, for those we support and for their families,” she says.
Posted by Tracy Dudzinski on January 7th, 2010 at 3:58 pm | No Comments »
Application form and details
This spring, the DCA’s Voices Institute will introduce a state-level training program for people who want to improve the lives of direct support workers and the people they support. If you’re a direct support worker or a long-term care recipient in Wisconsin who has a passion for that cause, we’d love to see you there!
Advocacy Voices Together is sponsored by the Direct Care Alliance, the Wisconsin Board for People with Developmental Disabilities (WBPDD), and the Wisconsin Direct Caregiver Alliance (WIDCA). The program teams direct support workers with people who receive long-term care services. Together, they will learn how to build support for better direct care worker wages, benefits and working conditions. Continue reading »
