Archive for ‘Massachusetts’

Protecting the Social Safety Net

Posted by on November 8th, 2011 at 10:32 am | 1 Comment »

CNA and DCA member Kelly Gessner testifying at a Senate briefing last week.

UPDATE: Help us fight to preserve these crucial programs by emailing your elected representatives. Our action alert makes it easy to send them a letter.

Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security are under attack. Over the past several months, these social safety programs have become the focus of a political battle over what our government needs to do to create jobs and stimulate our struggling economy. This is alarming because these programs are fundamental to the already shaky economic security of our seniors, people with disabilities, and low-income families—a group that includes many direct care workers and their families, as well as most of the people they assist.

Unfortunately, the debate about whether to cut social safety net programs is being driven by politics, not the realities that millions of low-income families and individuals face every day. The Direct Care Alliance and many of our allies are waging campaigns to preserve these crucial programs. Continue reading »

Study Finds Lessons in Massachusetts Health Reform on How to Cover DCWs

Posted by on November 11th, 2009 at 4:42 pm | No Comments »

PHI MA study cover with borderDespite the overall success of Massachusetts’ health care reform, too many of the state’s direct care workers still cannot afford employer-sponsored health insurance, according to a new study from PHI and the Department of Public Health and Community Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine.

According to Coverage for Caregivers: Lessons from Massachusetts Health Reform, (PDF) only one in every five direct care workers in the state have enrolled in an employer’s health care plan. Statewide, nearly three-quarters (71 percent) of working-age adults are covered through their employers.

Direct care workers often opt out of their employers’ plans because the premiums and copays are too costly. Instead, many work part-time in order to qualify for the state’s insurance plan, which costs less than most employer plans.“This disincentive to work undermines state efforts to build a quality, stable direct-care workforce,” said PHI Massachusetts Policy Director Amy Robins. Continue reading »

Direct Care Workers in the News

Posted by on October 27th, 2009 at 1:58 pm | No Comments »
Daniel Escojido

Daniel Escojido

DSP Chronicles Profiles Daniel Escojido

Daniel Escojido, a 26-year-old direct support professional who is the house manager for a group home is Ponca City, Oklahoma, is profiled in the October issue of The DSP Chronicles. “Is he mature beyond his 26 years? For sure!” says his supervisor in Tom King’s article. “Some people in this field have got it, and some don’t have it. Daniel’s got it.”
He was inspired to join the field by his mother, Maria, who provided in-home supports for the elderly. “I saw and watched and heard how she talked with them, the difference she made in their lives and how she loved them and they loved her and I’ve never forgotten that,” he told the publication.

 

Boston Globe Honors Evelyn Coke, Calls for “Decent Pay” for Home Care Workers

An editorial in Sunday’s Boston Globe pays tribute to Evelyn Coke and warns that “many thousands of Evelyn Cokes” will soon be added to the workforce — and they must be paid “a decent wage.” Continue reading »

What I Learned in a Nursing Home: a CNA’s Work is Never Done

Posted by on October 27th, 2009 at 12:29 am | 4 Comments »
Victoria Johnson during her stay in the nursing home

Victoria Johnson during her stay in the nursing home

It was the last week of this May and just starting to warm up when I checked myself into the Highlands Nursing Home in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. I am a 29-year-old medical student at the University Of New England College Of Osteopathic Medicine, and I was taking part in the Learning by Living Project, where medical students are admitted to nursing homes as residents for two weeks to gain insight into how it feels to be an elder in a nursing home.

My day-to-day care and well-being rested solely in the hands of my certified nursing assistants (CNAs). They would wake me in the morning, clean me, dress me, and make sure I ate. I would turn to them if I needed to use the bathroom, wasn’t feeling well, or wanted to go back to my room.

Right off the bat it was easy to see that these CNAs were not caring for the elderly for fame and glory, but because they wanted to help. They wanted their work to make a difference, and that’s what drove them to do their jobs well.

During my stay I saw many families thanking the staff, but it saddened me to know that they hadn’t had the opportunity to meet all of the amazing people taking care of their family members. Continue reading »

Real Wages Keep Falling for Personal and Home Care Aides

Posted by on September 9th, 2009 at 11:17 am | 1 Comment »

state chartbook coverAs 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

DCA Publishes Fact Sheets for Direct Care Worker Advocates and their Allies

Posted by 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