The following is a guest post from Nancy Hooyman, Co-Principal Investigator for the Council on Social Work Education’s Center for Gerontological Social Work Education and Dean Emeritus and Hooyman Endowed Professor in Gerontology, University of Washington School of Social Work.
Nancy Hooyman
The vitally necessary Direct Care Workforce Empowerment Act is deserving of the support from a wide range of stakeholders – social workers, other eldercare providers, those committed to social justice as well as those focused on the economics of long-term care. Direct care staff are second only to families as the primary providers of long-term care — the “hands, voice, face” and core of the long-term care system. The care they provide is “high-touch” intimate, personal, and physically/emotionally challenging (Harahan and Stone, 2009; Institute of Medicine, 2008). These hands-on providers are expected to be compassionate yet usually do not feel prepared, respected, or appreciated, in part because our society does not value the socially and economically important work of caregiving.
Supporting this Act is also a matter of social justice and congruent with social work’s commitment to improve the lives of historically disadvantaged groups. The intersections of gender, race, and immigration status are reflected in the low status and negative work conditions of direct care workers. Advocates for women’s equity should also support this Act; nine out of ten of direct care staff are women, oftentimes single mothers, with minimal education, frequently holding more than one job but still living in poverty or near-poverty, and increasingly dependent on food stamps and other public benefits to get by. The Act is also an issue of racial justice Continue reading »
On August 1, 2010, the New Mexico Caregiver Coalition hosted a multi-stakeholder meeting with the Direct Care Alliance. Leonila Vega, DCA’s Executive Director, met with employers, advocates, staff and New Mexico Caregiver Coalition members. We learned a lot about national trends, workforce development and policy objectives of DCA.
For us, it was an opportunity to share updates on our local work with DCA, the national advocacy voice for workers in long-term care. We discussed the needs of New Mexicans to reform our long-term care system and address the needs of workers in this state. Trends show that New Mexico has and continues to attract many retirees and that the demand for direct care continues to increase. The New Mexico Caregiver Coalition is the leading voice to develop and support caregivers so our elders have a well-trained, ample, qualified caregiver workforce to meet their needs. Continue reading »
A New York City direct care worker plays a leading role in one of the multimedia stories reported by the News21 program at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism this summer. Led by Paula Span, who teaches at the Journalism School and blogs about aging for the New York Times, 10 newly-graduate journalists spent 10 weeks exploring the challenges facing an aging nation. Their website, Brave Old World, includes a video portrait of the many places and ways older Americans live; the six videos were featured on nytimes.com in August.
The video portraying home care features 85-year-old Manhattanite Stanley Ryback and home care aide Emily Ortiz, employed by People Care/Metropolitan Jewish Health System. Produced by News21 fellows Patrick Egan and Sherisse Pham, with help from Alex Berg, it follows client and assistant through a summer day. Ms. Ortiz explains her role as she shops, cooks and accompanies Mr. Ryback on a walk. And her client is frank in his appreciation. “God came and brought her to me,” he says.
Our deepest appreciation and gratitude to Paula Span, Patrick Egan, Sherisse Pham – and, of course, Emily Ortiz – for their beautiful work. To see more videos and stories, visit http://columbia.news21.com
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 »
I recently visited PACT in Austin, Texas, and sat down for a video interview with Elizabeth Castillo. PACT was created by ADAPT, the national organization that advocates for the right of people living with disabilities to live independently in the community. Our video interview was recorded in Spanish, so I’ve provided a summary below. It was such a pleasure hearing about what inspires Elizabeth to do the work she loves. Continue reading »
I recently joined the Direct Care Alliance in Washington, DC, to advocate on behalf of direct care workers on Capitol Hill.
The congressional visits were to gain support for the Direct Care Workforce Empowerment Act, which was introduced in the House by Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-CA) and in the Senate by Bob Casey (D-PA). These bills would change the classification of home care workers, removing the “companion” language from the Fair Labor Standards Act. It would ensure minimum wage and overtime protections to home care workers; establish data collection and reporting requirements; and improve the recruitment and retention of direct care workers.
I met with Maine’s Congressional Delegation to inform my representatives about the need for the Direct Care Workforce Empowerment Act and ask for their support. I visited with Senator Collins, Congresswoman Pingree, and Congressman Michaud. Both representatives had signed on to the Sanchez/DCA letter from last year, asking the Department of Labor to address the FLSA issue. I thanked both for their support and for their health care reform votes.
It was so exciting to hear that both Reps. Pingree and Michaud became cosponsors of the bill.
The Americans with Disabilities Act celebrated its 20th anniversary on July 26, 2010, and there is much to celebrate. In the 20 years since the ADA was signed into law by President George H. W. Bush, we have witnessed a transformation in how people living with disabilities have been welcomed into society.
We have seen new and old buildings designed, constructed and renovated to accommodate individuals living with physical disabilities, more availability of communication access with sign language interpreters and CART services, and increased access to technology such as computers, cell phones and the internet, to name but a few.
Certainly there is more work to do. Employment for people living with disabilities remains only a dream for most. Likewise, the institutionalization of far too many people living with disabilities continues unnecessarily. Perhaps the biggest achievement of the ADA was the Supreme Court’s Olmstead Decision, in which the Court upheld the rights of people living with disabilities to live in the community rather than an institutional setting if the necessary support services could be delivered as effectively in the community. What could be more basic a right than to be able to decide where you will live and with whom?Continue reading »
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 »
More than 50 percent of people with chronic conditions don’t take their medications properly, which affects their well-being and the ability for direct care workers to provide the highest quality care. To help remedy this problem, the Direct Care Alliance is proud to be a committed partner in the National Consumers League’s Medical Adherence Campaign, an initiative aimed at raising awareness of the importance of good medical adherence. The campaign targets consumers and health care practitioners nationwide, and will be rolled out in early 2011.
On July 20, I joined a committed group of public and private organizations at AARP in support of the campaign. Continue reading »
July 28, 2010, was a remarkable day for direct care workers across the country as Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-CA) announced the introduction of the Direct Care Workforce Empowerment Act.
Rep. Sanchez has been a champion for direct care workers. Last year, she led an effort along with DCA to call on the Department of Labor to fix the companionship exemption in the Fair Labor Standards Act. While we do applaud the Department of Labor for adding this issue to the 2010 regulatory agenda, a legislative change would solidify protections for home care workers in the law, not leaving this issue to the “whims of any one administration.” As someone who has worked for less-than-minimum wage in my lifetime, I can say that this change is long overdue. Too many direct care workers struggle to support themselves and their families, working long hours doing backbreaking labor not because they have to, but because they love helping others. They are professionals and should have the same protections as all other workers in this country. Continue reading »
