Posted by Judy Clinco on June 10th, 2010 at 9:27 am | No Comments »
Judy Clinco
A recent article in the Arizona Republic calls attention to the rising demand for direct care services in Arizona. With an additional 1.1 million direct care workers needed across the U.S. in the next ten years, it is more important than ever that our workforce is equipped to meet the challenge. From the article:
Despite all our political differences, there is a universally shared human hope. No matter your race, ethnic background, religion, gender or sexual orientation, everybody wants a sense of self-determination in old age. But as 77 million Baby Boomers move into their golden years, there is a shortage of direct-care workers who can help them retain a sense of independence.
That’s one big problem. For [Direct Care Alliance board member] Judy Clinco, solving it also involves addressing the parallel human need to fill one’s younger years with meaningful work. Let’s start with the challenges of old age. The ability of Boomers to continue to do their own thing will depend largely on the availability of direct-care workers. These workers provide 80 percent of paid, hands-on services for the elderly in their own homes, in assisted-living settings, nursing homes, hospices and hospitals. These workers are in short supply – and that’s nothing new. 10 years ago, [Ms. Clinco] created the CareGiver Training Institute to build a workforce. This month, the non-profit will graduate its 1,000th student.
Read the rest of the article here.
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 September 9th, 2009 at 11:17 am | No Comments »
As every direct care worker advocate knows, personal and home care aides earn far too little for the important work they do. And now an updated version of PHI’s State Chart Book on Wages for Personal and Home Care Aides (PDF) gives advocates a valuable tool, proving that real wages are actually getting worse.
The chart book analyzes data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, adjusting last year’s wages for inflation to see how their earning power compares to average wages in 1999.
Nationwide, these inflation-adjusted rates, which the chartbook calls “real wages,” have decreased by 3 percent over the past nine years, dropping from $7.50 an hour to just $7.31. Real wages increased in more than half the states during that period, but not enough to make up for their decline in the other 21.
Median wages in 2008 ranged from $7.05 an hour in Texas to $12.55 in Alaska in 2008, or real wages of $5.61 to $9.90. “Wages for personal and home care aides are so low,” says PHI Director of Policy Research Dorie Seavey, “that about 20 percent of these workers received a raise on July 24 when the minimum wage increased to $7.25/hour.”
The chartbook also compares wages to federal poverty level wages for a one-person household.
Elise Nakhnikian
Communications Director
Direct Care Alliance
Posted by Elise Nakhnikian on July 9th, 2009 at 12:34 pm | No Comments »
Members of the Arizona Direct Care Worker Association (ADCWA) and other direct care workers and program leaders worked on developing their advocacy skills and their state association at a personal empowerment workshop in Tucson on June 4.
Vera Salter, the chair of the DCA’s board of directors, led the day-long Power Me workshop, following the same general outline she uses on the first day of the Voices Institute’s week-long National Leadership Program.
“The purpose of the workshop was to bring together direct care workers in the community and teach them how to access their own ability, to teach them that they had a voice and how they might best use that to advocate for themselves and for the association,” says ADCWA Program Manager Kathy Wilson.
“It’s very creative in getting them to think about themselves and draw pictures of their experiences – to be able to express themselves and then share that with somebody else. Crayons were involved, so that’s always a fun thing,” she adds.
Continue reading »
Posted by Elise Nakhnikian on June 25th, 2009 at 10:56 am | No Comments »
A full set of DCA Direct Care Fact Sheets, one for each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia, is now available in the Resources section of our website.
The one-page sheets were created as a resource for direct care worker advocates and their allies, legislators, policymakers, members of the media, and others interested in direct care issues. They include key facts such as:
- The number of home health aides, nursing assistants, and personal and home care aides in the state in 2006 and the projected numbers of each in 2016
- The average hourly wage for the state’s direct care workers
- What percentage of direct care workers in that state or region are without health insurance
Elise Nakhnikian
Communications Director
Direct Care Alliance
