President Obama's State of the Union address last week laid out a broad national agenda, and, as expected, placed tremendous emphasis on strengthening America's economy and growing the middle class. The surprise, however, is that mention of direct care jobs was sorely missing from the conversation. While this was disappointing to Direct Care Alliance and the thousands of individual and organizational allies who advocate on direct care workforce issues, there are many ways in which DCA's direct care jobs agenda fit into the narrative set by President Obama. It is clear that now, more than ever, our advocacy is imperative.

Automatic spending cuts to take effect March 1: The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 which was signed into law last month, includes a two-month delay on the automatic "sequester" spending cuts that were scheduled to take effect at the start of this year. Policymakers are currently working to create legislation to prevent the cuts from happening. The ongoing debate includes discussion about cuts to programs like Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and others that provide important support and assistance to low-wage workers and their families - like direct care workers. Learn more about the sequester.

Food assistance benefits cuts slated for November: If Congress does not take action soon, millions of households receiving benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as Food Stamps) will see a reduction in their benefits later this year. These benefit cuts will take place because the 2009 Recovery Act's temporary increase to SNAP benefits ends November 1, 2013. SNAP is an important program that offers nutrition assistance to millions of low income individuals -like direct care workers- and their families, and provides economic benefits to communities. Read more.

Karla Lawrence

We are thrilled to announce that Karla Lawrence, David Moreau and Abigail Solomon have joined DCA's board of directors. Each of them are committed to improving direct care jobs and bring fresh perspectives that will help us continue to grow our movement.

 

Karla Lawrence is a direct care worker for 20 years, a DCA member and one of the participants in our National Day of Action last September. Karla first encountered DCA when she was nominated for its Voices Institute leadership training at the Bronx, New York, nursing home where she works. She is also a certified home health aide and certified in CPR.

 

Read more about Karla, David and Abby.

• Join DCA 
• Donate to DCA 
• Learn about the home care rule 
• Our personal care and support credential 
• Past issues of this newsletter 
• Visit our Voices blog 
• Our search for a new executive director 

The Direct Care Alliance is the national advocacy voice of direct care workers in long-term care. We empower workers to speak out for better wages, benefits, respect, and working conditions, so more people can commit to direct care as a career. We also convene powerful allies nationwide to build consensus for change. 

If you have comments on this issue of The Direct Care News or ideas for future issues, please contact Elise Nakhnikian at 646-823-7434, enakhnikian@directcarealliance.org.