Ensuring Quality Home Care
Access to community-based personal care services – day-to-day
assistance with daily living activities like bathing, eating, dressing, and
toileting – is the central goals of many consumers and advocates for people with
physical disabilities.
However, attracting skilled, stable workers to the field has been an ongoing
problem. Most home caregivers typically earn minimum wages and receive no sick
leave, health insurance, or other job-based benefits. As a result, many
consumers struggle with constant caregiver turnover and find they have very
limited opportunities to change the structure of home care programs to address
these employment barriers.
SEIU works in coalition with consumers, advocates, and allies to address
workforce issues, primarily through consumer-run home care councils. These
councils have improved wages and benefits for workers and given them a voice
where they had none before. They also give consumers and advocates an
institutional voice in workforce issues. These councils are an effective tool
for building a stable, professional workforce of personal care attendants.
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