Differences Between Home Health and Home Care-I just need Home CareToday, I started hiring a Home Care Aide through an agency, Golden Years, to help me with light housekeeping and minor transportation services. After 2 weeks of questions from four local agencies recommended by Agingcare.com and requesting for a Filipino-American Aide, I was able to find a 76-year Filipino-American home care aide. The agency has over 100 aides but only one Filipino-American. She is 76 years old but still strong to do vacuuming and light housekeeping. Moreover, she can drive me to my medical appointments, haircut and once a month to the bank. She can drive me to the grocery store, but since, I purchased my groceries on-line ( Doordash, Caviar, Grubhub, Shef.com) this will not be needed. She comes on Monday and Wednesday from 9:00AM to 3:00PM. I pay the agency $35 per hour, but the aide is getting paid 40% of that* (verified by the aide). The major house cleaning is done by my two cleaning ladies every month. During the official hiring process the manager of Golden Years and I talk about the crises and current status of the home health care business here in California. Thus this blog.
"In California, millions of older adults and people with disabilities
get help at home with bathing, eating and cleaning, allowing them to
stay in a familiar setting. Demand for these services is expected to
only surge over the next decade, as the youngest of the baby boomers
enter their 60s and 70s.
But the home care industry’s status quo is untenable, according to a new report by the UCLA Labor Center.
Home care is prohibitively costly for many families who need the
services. At the same time, the industry, which employs an estimated
700,000-plus workers, is underpaying many of them — leading to high
rates of turnover and labor shortages.
Many caregivers —
predominantly women of color — are not earning a living wage or
receiving medical benefits, let alone able to accrue any savings.
UCLA’s
survey of 500 caregivers found the median hourly rate was $14.50, while
those paid a flat rate earned a median of $9.17 an hour. In one of the
state’s worst-ever wage theft cases, ( see bottom of page) many members of a mostly Filipino work force at a “board and care” chain were making as little as $2.40 an hour.
Tess Sattar, who organizes with the Pilipino Workers Center,
said home care workers such as herself are used to being “discriminated
against, violated and exploited because of being immigrants and women
of color.”
“When we get sick, we have to stay home,” Sattar said.
“No work, no pay — but we have no choice. In my case, I need a job to
support myself and my family.”
Researchers also surveyed more than
100 employers, including families who hire caregivers for loved ones.
Lian Hurst Mann's mother needs round-the-clock care, but Mann can only
afford to pay for 40 hours a week.
Mann said she and her daughter
are “exhausted” providing care the rest of the time and would like to
add more home care hours. But Mann said she is committed to paying the
home care worker a living wage, overtime, sick leave and bonuses, under
guidelines she’s following from The Hand in Hand Domestic Employers Network.
“That
is a lot for us,” Mann said. “Yet for [the home care worker], it’s her
entire livelihood. Like most private employers, we wish we could pay
more to her — even more.”
One idea that employers such as Mann are
lining up behind: a publicly-funded, long-term care program that would
serve households across income brackets. Of the employers surveyed by
UCLA, 85% said they would support a 1% income tax to finance the
program.
“A program like this will dramatically change the
landscape of home care in this state,” said Lucero Herrera, a senior
research analyst with the UCLA Labor Center.
Help For Long-Term Care Is Limited
Currently,
California’s only publicly supported long-term care program is
restricted to residents with very low incomes. But long-term care
advocates are hopeful the state will model a program after one in
Washington state, which uses a .58% payroll tax, but has been slow to get off the ground. State Assembly member Eloise Gómez Reyes (D-Colton) has introduced a bill that would create a board to oversee and manage funds generated by a similar tax.
Aside from a payroll tax, UCLA researchers are recommending that more
be done to connect those who need home care with caregivers, home care
agencies, and board-and-care facilities, also known as residential care
facilities for the elderly.
“The lack of infrastructure leaves
consumers struggling to find workers and manage a work relationship with
them,” Herrera said. “And it makes it hard for workers to access and
know their rights.”
The report also recommends that the government
set higher standards for agencies and facilities with regard to wages
and worker protections; investing in home care worker co-ops that will
prioritize the treatment of its members; and providing education for
employers so they can understand their obligations to staff, as well as
for workers so they become familiar with labor laws.
Assembly member
Adrin Nazarian (D-North Hollywood), who chairs the Assembly’s Aging and
Long Term Care Committee, said he has asked for tens of millions of
dollars in the upcoming budget year for initiatives such as providing
education to more caregivers of patients with Alzheimer's and dementia,
and expanding training programs for home health aides".
https://laist.com/news/health/millions-of-californians-need-home-care-industry-in-crisis-ucla-labor-center-report
*Wage Theft Is A Problem In Elder ‘Board & Care’ Homes — And Caregivers Of Color Are Bearing The Brunt
Published Jan 7, 2022 2:57 PM
https://laist.com/news/health/wage-theft-elder-board-and-care-homes-caregivers-filipino
Meanwhile enjoy this photo from my collection;
