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 »
Archive for ‘wages and benefits’
Personal Care: A Job Led By the Heart
Posted by Leonila Vega on August 9th, 2010 at 3:11 pm | No Comments »Celebrating the Americans with Disabilities Act & Supporting Workforce Empowerment
Posted by Dennis Fitzgibbons on August 9th, 2010 at 1:18 pm | 1 Comment »
Dennis Fitzgibbons
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 »
Sen. Casey to Introduce Direct Care Workforce Empowerment Act in Senate
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 »
Your Voices Have Been Heard! Introduction of Direct Care Legislation Marks Historic Day for Workers
Posted by Leonila Vega on July 29th, 2010 at 9:28 am | 2 Comments »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 »
Evelyn Coke: An American Hero
Posted by Leonila Vega on July 9th, 2010 at 11:13 am | 10 Comments »This month, we join direct care workers and their allies across the country in remembering Evelyn Coke, the heroic woman who has inspired the Direct Care Alliance’s advocacy efforts on behalf of direct care workers struggling to make ends meet and support themselves and their families.
Artist rendering of Long Island Care at Home, Ltd. v. Evelyn Coke, Supreme Court. Courtesy of Art Lien.
Evelyn Coke – a courageous Jamaican immigrant from Queens – passed away a year ago at the age of 74. For over twenty years she provided care to dozens of people and assisted them with tasks like getting in and out of bed, dressing and undressing, cooking and eating, toileting and bathing. At times, Evelyn worked three consecutive 24-hour periods, providing essential care to the elderly but receiving a mere $7 an hour – with no health benefits or overtime pay. Her situation is emblematic of the plight of home care workers. But her passion and drive to gain respect, dignity, and fair pay and benefits lives on in the Direct Care Alliance and in the direct care workers who are making their voices heard in the fight for change. Continue reading »
Paid Sick Days are Crucial for Direct Care Workers
Posted by David Ward on July 9th, 2010 at 9:28 am | No Comments »This is a guest post from Vicki Shabo, Director of Work & Family Programs for the National Partnership for Women & Families.
Every day in the United States, more workers than many of us imagine face an impossible choice: go to work sick, or forgo a paycheck and risk job loss or workplace discipline. More than 40 million private sector workers in this country do not have access to even a single paid sick day. And when it comes to personal care workers—those who tend to the elderly and care for small children—more than half (52%) lack paid sick days.
The need for paid sick days for direct care workers could not be more critical. With pay rates that average about $10 per hour, every cent earned is crucial to direct care workers’ financial stability and the economic security of their families. On the other hand, when direct care workers go to work sick, they risk the fragile health of those they care for—people who are ill, elderly, or medically needy and who are entrusted to their care. Continue reading »
The Obama Administration Should Move Beyond the Poverty Line and Adopt an Economic Security Standard
Posted by David Ward on June 28th, 2010 at 12:03 pm | No Comments »This post was written by Shawn Fremstad, Director of the Inclusive and Sustainable Economy Initiative at the Center for Economic and Policy Research.
Earlier this year, the Obama administration unveiled plans to develop a “supplemental” poverty measure (SPM) based on recommendations made by the National Academy of Sciences in 1995. The SPM makes important technical improvements on the current outdated poverty measure (although, unfortunately, the current measure would remain the “official” one). However, it doesn’t take the much more important step of providing an accurate measure of what it takes to “make ends meet” and be economically secure in today’s economy.
The official poverty line for a family of four is currently a mere $22,000. We don’t know yet for sure where the supplemental poverty line will fall, but previous Census estimates suggest that it will only be a few thousand dollars higher, at best, than the current poverty line. By comparison, the Economic Policy Institute estimates that a four-person family needs just under $50,000 a year, on average nationwide, to make ends meet at a “modest, but safe” level. Similarly, the Commerce Department recently estimated that a four-person family needed at least $51,000 a year to achieve a minimum “middle-class family budget.”
The pay and benefits of direct care work should be judged primarily by whether it is possible for direct care workers, at a minimum, to live, not just above an extremely low “poverty” line, but at a middle-class level that allows them to be economically secure. Continue reading »
More than a Companion: My visit to the Department of Labor
Posted by Helen Hanson on June 7th, 2010 at 12:47 pm | 4 Comments »
Helen Hanson in front of the U.S. Capitol buidling
On May 28, I was with the Direct Care Alliance in Washington, DC, again bringing direct care worker issues to the attention of decision-makers. This time, at the U.S. Department of Labor.
We’re all so excited about the FLSA extension issue being added to the regulatory agenda, and we met with two representatives from the Wage and Hour Division to explain why minimum wage and overtime protections are essential to creating a strong direct care workforce. The representatives were very open and honest, which I greatly appreciated. They met with us to learn more about what direct care workers do on a day-to-day basis and to understand more about our work. At one point they used the word “companion” to identify home care workers and I cringed. But I was easily able to explain to them the differences between companion and home care worker, which they appreciated.
I explained that I am more than a companion and I took them on a journey through my typical work day with my consumer – a quadriplegic woman who is totally dependent on direct care workers each day. Continue reading »
[Not] Raising a Child on Direct Care Wages: How I reunited with my son after 20 years
Posted by Vicki Erickson on June 1st, 2010 at 11:56 am | 16 Comments »
Vicki Erickson
It was 1989 when I found out I was pregnant. As a direct care worker in the eighties, I made even less than most DCWs make these days. I knew I couldn’t raise a baby on the wages I was making – a mere $250 every two weeks. As so many of my colleagues have learned, it is nearly impossible to raise a family on direct care wages despite the fact that so many are dependent on our care.
I had been adopted as a baby, and I knew quite well the consequences of giving a child up. But my parents told me they would not help with raising my son and I didn’t want to be known as a “Welfare Mom”. So when I gave birth to my son in November, I signed away my rights and gave him up for adoption. His name was Brian, and he was adopted in January. Continue reading »
Putting Yourself First (at least some of the time!)
Posted by Aaron Pickering on May 3rd, 2010 at 5:14 pm | No Comments »This post was submitted by an anonymous direct care worker.
After completing STNA training, I was sure of a few things I would not put up with on a job: lack of human concern, a rushed working environment, and the smell from bodily fluids inadequately cleaned. A friend of mine suggested home health care since it would allow me to avoid those things, be more focused and take care of people in their own homes. Well, here I am.
Currently, I provide care for a man who requires 24-hour assistance. At first when I visited him in the morning, I would often find him laying in a large puddle of urine. Of course, I would clean him, change the bedding and wash the laundry – but since I am not the kind to keep quiet for long, I soon began suggesting improvements for my consumer’s way of life by working with his other caregivers.
Now, he gets up 2 to 4 times a night to use the bathroom and has not had a pad on his bed for 2 weeks. Without working with the other caregivers and speaking out on his behalf, who knows how long he would have continued suffering? To me, direct care is all about quality of service, but it was frustrating trying to provide the best quality care when I was working anywhere from 50 to 80 hours a week, raising a family and running another business. Not only did I discover that I wasn’t getting paid overtime, but I also wasn’t receiving the extra dollar-per-hour reimbursement for travel I was promised.
I knew I had to put myself first, for sanity’s sake and in order to provide the best quality care. I’ve reduced my hours to about 36 per week, although that can change if the other caregivers are unable to work their shifts. Long hours mean that I don’t have extra time to spend with my son, who is on short leave from Kuwait. I’ve quit jobs for less that interfere with my son, but in this economy I’m doing my best to make it work. My advice: one day at a time. And don’t forget to put yourself first, and speak up if you are not being treated fairly.
