The Direct Care News 
For direct care workers and their allies July 31, 2012
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DCA Announces Credential Scholarships for Home Care Workers
|  Thanks to the generous support of the Ford Foundation, DCA's Personal Care and Support Credential will be offered free of charge to 400 home care workers nationwide. This innovative program helps consumers, family caregivers, and home care agencies identify skilled home care workers. DCA will award scholarships through participating organizations throughout the country to home care workers who meet employment, training and other eligibility requirements.
The Personal Care and Support Credential tests for critical job skills such as decision-making, problem solving, and communication in addition to content knowledge. All direct care workers need those so-called "soft" skills, but they may be of particular importance to home care workers, who do the lion's share of their work in their clients' homes. Read more. |
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Direct from Washington, DC
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Congress introduces legislation to increase the federal minimum wage: The U.S. House of Representatives and Senate introduced the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2012. The companion bills (H.R.6211 and S.3453) are sponsored by Representative George Miller (D-CA) and Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) and seek to raise the federal minimum wage from its current rate of $7.25 an hour to $9.80 an hour by 2014. The Act also calls for yearly increases to the minimum wage rate to account for the increasing cost of living. July 24th was the National Day of Action to raise the minimum wage, in which thousands of workers and other supporters held events across the country advocating for an increase in the minimum wage, job creation and efforts related to growing economic inequality. Raising the federal minimum wage would benefit many low-wage workers - except home care workers - throughout the country. Learn more.
Senate votes to extend tax cuts for all but wealthy Americans: On July 25th, the U.S. Senate voted 51 to 48 to extend the current tax rates for all households whose income is less than $250,000 a year. The bill,which is supported by President Obama, is moving for a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives, where it is not expected to pass. Direct care workers will benefit from an extension of tax cuts, as median annual earnings for direct care workers were $17,000 in 2010. Also on the 25th, the Senate voted 45 to 54 against a Republican proposal to extend tax cuts not just for middle- and low-income Americans but also for the 2% of the population who earn more than $250,000 a year.
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Remind the Obama Administration of Its Commitment to Home Care Workers
|  Last December, when President Obama announced the proposed rule to extend minimum wage and overtime protections to home care workers, his words were thrillingly direct. "You can wake up at 5 in the morning, care for somebody every minute of the day, take the late bus home at night, and still make less than the minimum wage," he said. "This means that many home care workers are forced to rely on things like food stamps just to make ends meet. That's just wrong."
But the rule has yet to be enacted.
That's why DCA and our allies are gathering signatures on a petition to remind the Obama administration of its commitment to this issue. If you have not already signed our petition, please sign it NOW. If you have already signed it, forward this to a friend or two and invite them to join you.
As the president said in a December 15 White House press release: "The nearly 2 million in-home care workers across the country should not have to wait a moment longer for a fair wage. They work hard and play by the rules and they should see that work and responsibility rewarded."
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