Update 5 / 17 / 00

Governor Increases State Funds to Keep Seniors, Persons with Disabilities Living in Their Own Homes

After Decades of State Neglect, Governor Davis Proposes Funding for Raises and Health Benefits for Homecare Workers

Seniors, persons with disabilities and the homecare workers who provide assistance to them are delighted that the revised budget released today by Governor Gray Davis includes substantial funding to increase homecare workers' pay and to provide health benefits.

"This gives hope for seniors and people with disabilities who are fighting to maintain independent lives in their communities," said Frances Gracechild, Executive Director of Resources for Independent Living, a Sacramento non-profit agency. She continued, "A severe shortage of homecare workers, caused primarily by low pay and lack of benefits, has plagued the system for years. Now, homecare consumers may finally be able to live without the constant threat of forced institutionalization because they can't find and retain a worker."

Most of the 200,000 workers who provide homecare to California's seniors and persons with disabilities through the publicly funded In-Home Supportive Services Program (IHSS) are paid barely above the minimum wage with no health care benefits. Under the Davis proposal, state matching funds would be available to allow homecare workers' wages to increase from $6.25/hr to $7.50/hr with an additional $.60/hour for health benefits this year. By 2005, the Davis proposal would increase state matching funds up to $11.50/hour plus health benefits as long as state revenues hold up as expected.

For homecare workers like Maria Rodriguez, the news could not come sooner. "It is very tough to survive on the wages they pay us and if I get sick there is no health insurance," said Rodriguez. She has been providing homecare in Los Angeles County for over fifteen years with no health benefits, no sick days, and no pension.

Homecare is hard work and the workers deserve the dignity of decent pay and health insurance," said Mark Beckwith, a homecare recipient in Alameda county. "To know that low wages won't force homecare workers to take another job means I'll be able to rely on continuous support for living independently at home."

"Governor Davis has backed his "Aging with Dignity" initiative for homecare with a budget substantial enough to make a real difference," said Bill Powers, Legislative Director, Congress of California Seniors, adding, "We look forward to working with the Governor as we now focus our efforts at the county level."

Counties will also need to contribute to the IHSS program so that the matching funds now available from the State and Federal government can be tapped to help pay for homecare workers' raises and benefits.

Homecare consumers have suffered through two eight-year administrations in Sacramento who turned their backs on us. This is a big victory for consumers and workers alike," said John Wilkins of Fresno, a homecare consumer and founder the Central Valley IHSS Coalition. Mr. Wilkins' group is one of nearly 100 statewide and community organizations that joined together with organized labor and hundreds of individuals to campaign for the increase in homecare expenditures. Known as the Quality Homecare 2000 Coalition

For Alameda county homecare worker, Carmela Brambila, this is a giant step forward. "For so long it's been only minimum wages and to think that soon it could be enough to support my family…this is a very happy day for me," said Brambila.

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Update - 5 / 4 / 00

San Bernardino County IHSS Coalition Formed

On May 4, 2000, members of SEIU Local 434B, San Bernardino, met with local community members for their first IHSS Coalition meeting. The meeting, which took place at Loma Linda University, was attended by 50 people. Participants included representatives from the disability and senior communities, homecare workers and staff from SEIU Local 434B, the Department of Aging and Adult Services and a representative from County Supervisor Jon Mikels office. Many disabled activists from Rolling Start (the local Independent Living Center) also attended the lunchtime meeting.

The main topic of discussion was the formation of an IHSS Public Authority as the employer of record in San Bernardino County. Evan LeVang, of the statewide Quality Homecare Coalition, gave a presentation on the statewide campaign to "Endorse the Right Budget for Quality Homecare." Nearly everyone in attendance signed endorsement cards for both the Public Authority and the Budget Campaign.

The coalition plans on meeting monthly and will participate in activities
with the statewide coalition. For information on coalition activities, call
Gwen Conner at (909) 885-1597.

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Update - 5 / 3 / 00

April 26th Action in Sacramento Biggest Ever
529 Coalition Members Visit the Capitol

By Mark Beckwith

The April 26th action in Sacramento was great! Everyone at the Capitol knew we were there. The Assembly budget sub-committee hearing was moved to the big hearing room but it was still packed, as was the hallway outside with consumers and workers. There were over 500 of us from all over the state. Some people who couldn't get into the hearing made legislative visits.

Actions taken by the Assembly budget sub-committee all went our way. Motions by Dion Aroner, including increasing state participation up $7.50/hr. this year, all passed unanamously.(including Republican Tom Campbell) Healthcare benefits for attendants was put on hold because they haven't came up with the numbers yet.

The ADAPT press conference never materialized, mainly because the press never materialized. (I guess they thought other stuff, like a large group of doctors asking for Medical rate increases, was more newsworthy.)

The meeting with the governor's staff was half an hour late, but went very well and was very encouraging. Richard Figueroa, the governor's aid that deals with legislative social services issues and Bill Loyd, the top level staff person handling labor issues met with a group of about 13 consumers and consumer advocates. The meeting was at such short notice, I didn't have have much time to assemble consumer representatives. Everyone attending the meeting was very articulate and did an excellent job speaking for our
community. Those attending included Francis Gracechild, director of RIL in Sacramento, Aniece Taylor of In-Spirit, Bill Powers of the California Congress of Seniors, Betty Perry of the Older Women's League, Mark Hendricks, Benefits Counselor at CIL in Berkeley, Mia Rodolfo of the Berkeley Commission on Disability, Vernon Cox, ETL from Marin, Hale Zuks of WID, and Blane Beckwith of ADAPT.

Mr. Loyd acknowledged that this was a human and civil rights issue, not just a labor issue. Referring to homecare wages he said that "people will not work for slave wages without chains and hooks." He was adamant that we "will not be disappointed" when the revised budget figures are released on May 10th. I hope he is right.

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Update - 4 / 3 / 00

Attendants For Disabled Hard to Find
Few want low-pay jobs during boom economy

By Debra Levi Holtz, Chronicle Staff Writer

(From San Francisco Chronicle, 4/3/00)

EAST BAY -- Like teachers and child care workers, personal attendants for severely disabled people are the latest workers in short supply because of the Bay Area's booming economy.

In past years, students, artists and moonlighting musicians were willing to work for $6 an hour in the difficult job as attendants for the disabled.

But no longer. The available pool of personal care assistants continues to shrink, particularly since many can find jobs at video stores or copy centers where the work is less demanding and the pay is comparable.

"The economic good times have had a definite impact," said Simi Litvak, a senior researcher at the World Institute on Disability in Oakland. ``People can get jobs in places that pay better, and students aren't as poor as they used to be.''

Some disabled people say they are forced to hire people with drug and alcohol problems or criminal histories just so they can get help dressing in the morning and going to bed at night.

"I've hired anyone who's been willing to walk through my door," said Michael Pachovas, a disabled rights activist in Berkeley.

Pachovas said he can afford to pay only $7 an hour. As a result, he said, several of his recent attendants have been alcoholics, while others have not shown up for work after their training was over. He said qualified people often stay only a few weeks before finding other jobs.

"There's a real dearth of available workers for people," said Ray Aguilera, the personal assistant services coordinator for the Center for Independent Living in Berkeley and Oakland, where the demand for attendants is high.

Aguilera said he worked as an attendant when he was a student at the University of California at Berkeley in 1993, but these days, few students are willing to do the work.

"The whole dot-com thing has really changed the shape of the economy locally, and now it's trickling down," said Aguilera. "People are finding higher-paying jobs."

An exception to the trend is in San Francisco, where publicly funded attendants are paid $9 an hour plus health and dental benefits -- the highest rate of any county in California. By comparison, other Bay Area counties pay $7 an hour or less, with no benefits.

"Our consumers had a hard time keeping attendants. Workers would leave and get jobs at the post office or the Gap," said Sergio Alunan, outreach coordinator for In Home Supportive Services in San Francisco. "Now that the wages are going up, people are staying."

But in many cities with a large number of severely disabled residents who live at home, such as Berkeley and Oakland, attendants are demanding wages as high as $15 an hour or more. And even if disabled people come up with the extra money, there are not enough willing workers to go around.

In Berkeley, a unique program financed by taxpayers to provide emergency services for the severely disabled is being forced to take up the slack.

Clients can call an organization called Easy Does It for emergency services when they cannot find their own attendants. Some say the $7 an hour co-payment required of clients, which has not increased since the group began 15 years ago, makes it easier for people to use the emergency service than hire their own help.

A large number of calls by a small number of clients forced the group recently to impose surcharges on people who call for more than 10 visits per month, according to executive director Jesse Townley.

Easy Does It attendants help clients with basic needs such as hygiene, meal preparation and transportation to urgent medical appointments. But some attendants say they are also being asked to do housework, care for pets and perform other routine chores.

Such services were not anticipated in 1998, when Berkeley voters passed Measure E, which provided Easy Does It with $600,000 a year to meet the urgent personal care needs of severely disabled people who would otherwise have to be institutionalized.

To make matters worse, Easy Does It is having difficulty hiring and retaining workers, causing longer waiting times for people in need.

"The going rate for private attendants is anywhere from $12 to $18 an hour," Townley said. "A lot of clients can't afford to pay that, and we can't afford to pay that. That's a big part of the problem."

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Los Angeles County IHSS Crisis Report Posted Online

Of the 200,000 Californians employed as IHSS independent providers in California, over one-third (72,000) of them work in Los Angeles county. Last year their union, SEIU Local 434B, began looking into the feasibility of providing health care coverage for members. Funded by a grant from the California Health Care Foundation, researchers from the University of Southern California recently concluded a study on the health and insurance status of 1,200 IHSS workers in L.A. Their findings and recommendations are summarized in the booklet, "A Crisis for Homecare Workers."

Click here to see the full booklet text

Click here to read LA Times and LA Weekly stories on the crisis

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Update - 3 / 20 / 00

Endorse the Right Budget for Homecare! Campaign Launched

Quality Homecare 2000, the statewide, citizens coalition for IHSS reform, launched a bold, public action campaign today, inviting Californians who want to dramatically improve In-Home Supportive Services can help to make help to make it happen by "ENDORSING THE RIGHT BUDGET for IHSS homecare."

Click here to see the Campaign Plan

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Update - 1 / 5 / 00

Governor Davis Addresses Long Term Care in State of Speech Address

Today, Governor Davis offered his second State of the State speech, covering key issues and projects he plans to focus on this year. The Governor specifically mentioned a commitment to address the challenging issue of long term care.

The number of seniors on long term care will double from 7 to 14 million by 2020.
More people will retire and those retirees will live longer. More people want to live their lives independently in their own homes for as long as possible. This generation is uniquely affected by their parents living longer, and while both spouses typically work, they are sandwiched between caring for their parents as well as their children. Where will they go for help, what will it cost, and how will they pay for it?

An aging population requires more long term care services
As the California population grows older, many more of us face disabilities linked to aging, creating the need for long term care services. Technology and advances in medicine increase the survival rates of many people.

Homecare services are preferred
Homecare saves tax dollars and allows people the dignity of directing their own lives in their own homes. The cornerstone of those long term care services is a state/local program called In- Home Supportive Services (IHSS). IHSS pays for a worker to come into the home of a low income senior or disabled person to help with daily living tasks such as personal care, cooking, dressing, bowel and bladder care, housework or other chores. The alternative, for many, is living in costly and impersonal institutions or skilled nursing facilities.