U.S. Sen. Bob Casey said he believes direct care workers such as home care aides and nursing assistants often do not get the pay and respect they deserve for the work they do.Casey plans to introduce legislation in the Senate aimed at ensuring home care workers receive the federal minimum wage and overtime protections under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
The legislation, called the Direct Care Workforce Empowerment Act, would establish a grant program to help states improve recruitment, retention and training for direct care workers who typically receive less than minimum wage for working long hours.
"The direct care workforce provides most of the care for our loved ones. They help every day of the week," Casey said. "It is our responsibility to make sure these jobs are personally rewarding and provide an opportunity for advancement."
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Casey Calls for Fair Pay for Home Care Workers
Government also needs to provide more monitoring and oversight.
ReplyDeleteOversight is important, descent pay is another and federally regulated standards. Home Health aides in NJ are not required to graduate HS and they are paid terribly.
ReplyDeleteThe certification process is not regulated and the schools are not all held to the same standards. People would be surprised how easy it is to get certified and really not be qualified. I don't blame the workers I blame the state and the board of nursing. They know what is going on and choose to look the other way.
The people who own the Home Healthcare agencies win and the families who hire them lose the majority of the time. Hiring an aide through an agency does not guarantee anything. These people are unsupervised and many times untrained to work in people's homes. I have one book that states if someone is having a seizure you can put a tongue depressor or belt in the person's mouth. This is dangerous and wrong ........
Glad to see Casey wants fair wages BUT, we have seniors being abused, neglected and exploited by the very system that is designed to protect them. This targeted grant money would be better spent on "legitimate & real" government monitoring and oversight. Guardian abuse is increasing at an alarming rate and these criminals are protected by our current legal system!! Please FIX that!!!
ReplyDeleteRight, Thelma. But at the same time, it's beyond time for recognition for home care workers and especially families who take care of their loved ones at home.
ReplyDeleteIt needs to be easier and less costly to have your loved on at home vs a facility. And if that happens, the nursing home industry will do its own cleaning up in order to get the business back.
U.S Sen.Bob Casey should be bombarded with letters and pictures of what our family members have or have had to endure at the hands of these workers.Most of which either abuse those who can't protect themselves, or choose to look the other way when abuse is going on. Sen.Bob Casey should best ask for a grant program that could provide family member a stipen if they are the wards' caregivers at home... there has to be a group of interested people who are given the power to have judges, proffesional cour appointed guardians and their attorney's investigated if there is any questions about what they are doing... this would prevent finantial explotation,spend down the "wards" $ to the point of having to institutionalized then for life,now with mediciad, for which expenses need to be subsidized by us, the tax payer,which would have been unnecessary if they would have never been placed under guardianship!
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