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.
People know me as a direct care worker – a C.N.A. working as a personal care assistant in Maine’s home-based care system. But now I want to be known as an elected official. I am running for Maine’s House of Representatives from House District 55. That includes the towns of Albion, Benton (part), China and the unorganized territory of Unity Plantation.
I am running because I want to keep the work on streamlining Maine’s home-based care system moving forward. I am also running because I am a direct care worker who deals with the problems and pitfalls of our work each and every day.
I know what it is like to live off low wages, have no health benefits, have no safety net whatsoever, and support a family. I’m very thankful that my husband has a job that provides our health coverage, has a better wage than mine, and has paid overtime when he works over time. If my husband’s job did not provide those things, I would not be working as a PCA, providing essential care to a lady that is paralyzed and living in her home. I’d be just another of those horrible direct care workforce statistics, a skilled worker who had to leave because she could not make it on her low wages.
How did I get involved in politics, you ask? I trace it back to the Direct Care Alliance, a wonderful national organization that is working hard improve working conditions for direct care workers. Continue reading »
It is with a sad heart that we write these words about Joyce Gagnon, a founder of the Maine Personal Assistance Services Association and one of the most tireless and committed direct care leaders we’ve ever known. Joyce passed away on June 14, 2010, after a long bout with cancer.
Joyce was a strong and tenacious advocate for direct care workers in Maine. She worked tirelessly building the Maine Personal Assistance Services Association (PASA), Maine’s association for direct care workers of all kinds. Joyce worked on PASA’s annual conventions, lobbying at the State House, PASA’s fundraising and membership recruitment. Her hard work and sacrifice made it possible for DCA to develop a powerful model for state-based worker associations and worker-led advocacy.
Just this past year, Joyce was an active member of the Direct Care Worker Taskforce, a group set up through Maine’s Department of Health and Human Services to address many of the problems the workforce faces.
Joyce also had and hand in crafting legislation, twice, trying to bring health insurance to Maine’s direct care workers. She met and talked with many leaders in the Maine Legislature about what it is like to be a caregiver, helping someone maintain their independence in their home, and not have health coverage themselves through their work. Continue reading »
Maine’s state-based Campaign for Better Care kicked off last week in Augusta with the DCA-Maine Chapter as one of its partners. Maine is one of six states sponsoring a campaign focused on more effectively involving consumers in treatment and care choices.
The multi-year initiative focuses on improving health care quality, coordination and communication for vulnerable older patients and those with multiple health problems. The nation-wide effort is lead in Maine by Consumers for Affordable Health Care along with partners including the American Heart Association- Founders Affiliate, City of Portland Minority Health Program, Direct Care Alliance- Maine Chapter, Eastern Area Agency on Aging , Law Office of Alice E. Knapp, Maine Council of Churches, Maine Council of Senior Citizens – Alliance for Retired Americans, Maine Equal Justice Partners, Maine Parent Federation, Maine People’s Resource Center and Maine Women’s Lobby. Continue reading »
I have been working with friends and allies across the state to push the Department of Health and Human Services to present the LEAN Report. After meeting with Senator Mitchell’s office and several others, it finally happened.
On February 24, Diana Scully, the Director of the Office of Elder Services, presented the report. She took the committee through the process we went through as part of the Lean Team and described the many issues workers face on a daily basis. We had reached consensus that the system’s seven programs should be consolidated into just three, and Ms. Scully outlined the changes that would need to take place. She also described the recommendation on rebalancing the funding of Maine’s Long-Term Care System so that home and community-based care receives as much funding as nursing home care. Continue reading »
On a recent trip to Maine, I sat down with Representative Matthew Peterson of District 92 to discuss his work on behalf of direct care workers in the state. He has worked in direct care for years, and is currently an Independent Living Specialist at Alpha One, a center for independent living. As an elected official, Matthew is able to advocate for change in direct care and believes it is an essential and valuable workforce. It is inspiring and encouraging – Matthew has linked his personal passion and commitment to independent living to advocating the need for a well-trained, respected and well-paid direct care workforce. Watch the brief interview I was able to record with Matthew, below.
Imagine if more disability leaders and independent living advocates joined the Direct Care Alliance and made their voices heard on the issues that matter. What if, like Matthew, you could advance change in your community, your state, and eventually, across the country? Continue reading »
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 »
A planning session with (L to R) Vicki Purgavie of Home Care & Hospice Alliance, Diana Scully and Doreen McDaniel from DHHS, me, Leo Delicata of Legal Services for the Elderly, and Louise Olsen from the University of Southern Maine, Muskie School
As I explained in an earlier blog post, Maine is putting four pieces of legislation that would affect the home- and community-based part of Maine’s long-term care system — including its direct care workers – through a LEAN process. The aim of the process is to make service delivery more efficient, address inequalities 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’ve made a lot of progress toward that goal in the last few weeks.
Two direct care workers, Julie Moulton and I, were appointed to the core team that will lead the process of coming up with a plan for a streamlined system. Another direct care worker, Cathy Bouchard, became an alternate, stepping up when Julie was unable to stay on the team. I am also part of a Direct Care Workers’ Task Force that was put together to recommend changes for the issues directly affecting home care workers. This is the first time workers have been involved at this high a level of working on system change in Maine. Continue reading »
Helen Hanson (L) at her graduation with instructor Ida Hall
I gave this speech on December 21 to the other students in my CNA certification class. After years as a home care worker, I got my CNA certification so I’d be eligible for a wider range of direct care jobs. Our instructor asked the group to pick someone to make a speech when we graduated. The class nominated me, and I figured it would help with my public speaking skills. But speaking in front of a group is getting better for me, I must say. I wasn’t at all nervous – it actually felt good!
I want to thank the Veteran’s Administration-Togus and Augusta Adult Education for making this CNA course available. It was a grueling course of 200 hours – 50 hours more than the current state requirement. I’m grateful for the opportunity and challenge this course offered.
I want to thank Lisa Theriault and Ida Hall, our instructors, for their patience, knowledge, and expertise in the field of nursing that they have imparted upon us. Personally, I enjoyed Ida’s “old school” teaching methods and her high expectations of us. One of my high school teachers was the same way, and she’s the one that inspired me to push myself beyond my comfort zones and to do the best that I can with the knowledge I have. She’s the teacher I remember from my high school years – twenty-five-some-odd years ago.
With our graduation this evening, we now have the skills and knowledge to work as CNAs. Through this work, we all have the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of those in our care. Continue reading »
I’m a third-year medical student at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Last summer, I spent two weeks in a nursing home in Maine as part of the Learning by Living Project, where medical students are admitted to nursing homes as residents to gain insight into how it feels to be an elder in a nursing home. The observations that follow are taken from the journal I kept while I was there.
It is really amazing how much the CNAs know about the people they take care of. They are what make the medical system tick. They bring up names and stories and what the residents did that endeared them to the CNAs. They know what each resident’s preferences are. Those they really love become family, and when the resident dies, they shed tears. That is the kind of relationship that I hope I will have one day with my patients.
Yes, sometimes they are spit upon, peed upon, hated upon, but other times they are loved, appreciated, and always needed. They all have favorites. Some even have favorite floors – for many, the dementia floor, it seems. Continue reading »
