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September 20, 2006
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In This Issue:
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Court Says Home Care "Companions" are Entitled to Minimum Wage, OT
Late last month, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
ruled that a federal regulation exempting home care agencies from
Fair Labor Standard Act (FLSA) requirements when their employees are
"companions" was invalid. The "companionship exemption," in place
since 1975, relieved third-party employers of the minimum wage and
overtime compensation requirements that otherwise would have applied.
The outcome of this case,
Evelyn Coke v. Long Island Care at Home, Ltd., and Maryann Osborne,
is still uncertain, as another petition for a hearing by the U.S.
Supreme Court is expected.
Click here
for the rest of the story.
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Dear Friend
The news in this issue of Quality Jobs/Quality Care is
almost entirely about articles that ran in other publications. All
are about the quality jobs-quality care link, and nearly all were
published in widely read newspapers.
Could the general public be starting to really clue into how
important it is to train and support direct-care workers properly and
provide them with appropriate wages and benefits? One crop of cogent
articles isn't a trend - but it is a hopeful sign.
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Newsletter Focuses on Direct-Care Worker Challenges, Successes
The summer 2006 issue of BJBC Insights, the newsletter for the
Better Jobs Better Care research and demonstration project, includes
several articles of interest about direct-care workers.
Regulated Assisted Living
describes the changing landscape of assisted living regulations
affecting direct-care workers, most of which are aimed at
safeguarding resident safety and assuring competent care.
"Specialized training for medication aides is also receiving
increased attention," the article notes.
BJBC Grantees Celebrate Successes, Look to the Future
outlines how the groups formed in each of the five BJBC states -
Oregon, Iowa, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Vermont - plan to
continue their focus on improving job and care quality in long-term
care.
And
BJBC Provider Profile
describes a successful multi-pronged effort by the Visiting Nurse
Association and its sister organization, VNA Extended Home Care, in
Indiana, Pennsylvania, to slow down turnover among direct-care
workers.
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City Council Supports Workers' Request for Improved Care, Staffing
A group of direct-care workers in California gained the support of
their city council this month when council members passed a
resolution calling on the owners of their nursing home to improve the
quality of resident care and work to increase staffing.
The workers, all employees of Fidelity Healthcare in El Monte,
California, had been complaining about care quality and short
staffing. Their September 5 meeting with the council was arranged by
the Service Employees International Union, which some of the workers
voted to join earlier this summer.
According to a
report
in the September 10 issue of the Pasadena Star News, a
spokeswoman for the workers testified: "These workers come to work
ill because they are not paid for sick time and patients are
catheterized longer than need be because of the shortage in staff."
They got a sympathetic hearing from the council members,
including one who cares for her ailing mother. "I know what you go
through, and I commend you for the work you do every day," she told
the workers. "We can't allow for our elderly, and the people who care
for them, to be treated this way."
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Direct CareGiver Association Moves into New Training Center
An August 28
feature in the
Arizona Daily Star highlighted the work being done by the
state's Direct CareGiver Association, which is working to improve
screening and training methods for direct-care workers in order to
ensure a quality workforce.
The article outlines the factors that can make recruitment and
retention difficult, as well as describing steps the association is
taking to counteract some of those factors. It also quotes Executive
Director Judith Clinco, who talks about the need for higher wages,
better support systems, and better pre-employment training. "I think
we're training a higher-quality individual who's not just looking for
a job, but who's looking for a career in health care," Clinco says.
The association just moved into a permanent home, which includes
two classrooms, a skills lab with beds, and a demonstration kitchen.
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Maine Needs More, and Better Paid, Home Care Workers
An article in the
Kennebec Journal
about the growing demand for home care in Maine discusses the need
for more - and better-paid - home-based direct-care workers.
The September 3 feature quotes Lisa Pohlmann, associate director
for the Maine Center for Economic Policy, who says the number of home
health aides, personal and home care attendants in the state has
nearly tripled since 1996, from 3,010 to 8,590 -- yet even these
increases are not meeting the demand for care. "Right now, there are
waiting lists, and sometimes, even if you're not on the waiting list,
you are unable to get the care you should have," says Pohlmann.
In addition, she notes, Medicaid funding is stretched too thin by
the increased demand, which forces workers to accept "artificially
low" salaries.
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Unions Mobilize Publicly Paid Caregivers
Two recent newspaper stories look at the growing trend in
unionization among home care aides and other workers whose wages are
paid by federal, state, or local government.
An
article
in the September 11 Boston Globe describes 1199SEIU's efforts
to organize Massachusetts' 21,000 Medicaid-funded personal care
attendants.
The union is exercising an option written into a law the state
legislature approved this summer (
Click here
for details). The law allows personal care attendants to be
recognized by the state as a collective bargaining unit for the
purposes of setting wages and benefits, though they would remain
independent contractors in every other regard, hired, supervised, and
fired (if necessary) by the consumers they work for.
Meanwhile, a September 4
article
in a Spokane, Washington, paper examines the growth in unionization
rates among state workers, calling it ''a trend that both opponents
and supporters of unions say is troubling.''
Click here
for the rest of the story.
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More Families Set Up Formal Caregiving Contracts
A
feature article
in the September 10 Naples Daily News describes another
growing phenomenon: caregiver contracts.
These formal agreements, which are set up by lawyers, arrange for
a family member who is caring for a relative to be paid a modest
salary for his or her assistance. "These arrangements, which are
also called personal-service or personal-care agreements, can help
reduce the size of a parent's estate and thereby improve their
chances of becoming eligible for long-term-care coverage under
Medicaid. They can also minimize battles between siblings and other
family members," the article explains.
The feature goes into detail about what must be included in a
contract and lists resources to assist people interested in creating
one of their own.
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October 3, 2006
Florida Association of Nurse Associations Convention, Winter Haven, FL
October 4-5, 2006
National Association of Geriatric Nursing Assistants CNA conference,
Joplin, MI
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