Op-Ed: Home health workers deserve the ability to provide for themselves and their families
Kyanite Partners is proud to be supporting the MIT Community Innovators Lab (CoLab) and the Mel King Community Fellows Program to learn and explore how to advance economic democracy in cities and regions. The current Mel King Fellows Program, Centering Equity in Long-Term Care Class of 2022-2023, is focused on envisioning and actualizing a Long Term Support System that builds wealth for care workers and preserves wealth for those who need care and their families. This Op-Ed highlights the vision and critical demands of current fellow Adria Powell, President and CEO of Cooperative Home Care Associates.
By Adria Powell | September 26, 2022
https://www.crainsnewyork.com/op-ed/home-health-workers-deserve-ability-provide-themselves-and-their-families
Every morning, thousands of home care workers in New York City begin long and complex workdays. Many journey on public transit and endure some of the worst commutes in the city. Their first task: assist their clients, likely older adults and people with disabilities, to begin their day. This requires lifting their clients from bed, bathing them, dressing them, and preparing meals. They remind their clients to take their medication, take them to appointments, and run errands. Upon leaving their client’s home, a home care worker may see others, but schedules are often unpredictable. The work is taxing, but it allows their clients to live with dignity and independence in the communities where they are known and loved.
As the President and CEO of Cooperative Home Care Associates (CHCA) in the Bronx, New York, I have spent decades of my life with home care workers. CHCA is one of the largest and oldest worker-owned cooperatives nationwide. It’s clear to everyone within the industry that these duties are not easy to perform, and require expertise, in addition to dedication and compassion.
The need has never been greater: demand for these services will double between 2000 and 2050, while turnover rates averaging around 60 percent nationally exacerbate the shortage. In New York State, the average wage is only $14.86 an hour. Consequently, around 57 percent of New York’s home care workers rely on public benefits, and nearly half lack affordable housing. There are clear racial and gender justice implications: more than 80 percent of home care workers are people of color, and 92 percent are women. Though home care workers are a substantial part of a larger healthcare system, they are not treated as such: unpredictable schedules, a lack of training, and a sense of deep isolation are common.
At CHCA, which employs over 1,700 workers, workers have a stake in ownership, which allows them to earn dividends, and participate in governance. They receive training, mentorship and fair schedules. We acknowledge the value of these workers’ labor. With reduced turnover, workers are able to provide higher quality care.
We know that workers deserve jobs with fair wages, benefits and advancement opportunities. However, systemwide change is required. Long-term care work is largely funded by Medicaid, which fails to provide adequate reimbursements to agencies, stymying wages. CHCA is part of the NY Caring Majority, a coalition of advocates, providers, labor and social justice organizations working towards a future where care provision is universal, and workers are provided good jobs. Through the Fair Pay for Home Care Campaign, we're fighting to increase home care worker wages to $22.50 per hour and to increase reimbursements so providers can meet this standard. While Governor Hochul and the New York State Legislature ended up passing the 2023 budget that included a $3 per hour wage increase over two years in the, this increase does not go far enough, and does not provide for a corresponding increase in reimbursement rates for providers placing CHCA and many others on the brink of disaster.
It’s obvious to me that these workers - largely women of color in the fastest growing sector of health care - deserve nothing less than the ability to provide for themselves and their families, dignity and respect, and large-scale investment is vital now more than ever.