The Direct Care News     transparent logo, white type
For direct care workers and their allies
 
June 3, 2014
DCA celebrates CNAs!
June is the month specially designated to recognize and celebrate certified nursing assistants--especially during National Nursing Assistant Week, June 12-19. Please join us in taking a moment to tell a CNA in your life how grateful you are for them and their valuable contributions as a direct care worker.
On a Treadmill Going Backward: Surviving on a Home Care Worker's Wages
The following is an edited excerpt from a journal I kept in October 2004 about life as a home care worker in Augusta, Maine. 

 

Two days ago, I pulled the ligament under my kneecap at a client's home, catching my foot on a plastic rug. Then my car started to make "dentist drill" noises and my mechanics told me I needed to replace the pulleys on the alternator. I squeezed another 12 miles onto the odometer before I felt a change in the power steering, letting me know the alternator wasn't doing its job. Welcome to the home care worker's biggest nightmare: Lack of wheels!  Read the rest of Roberta Record's story.  

Direct from Washington, D.C.
Capitol HIll
Tell DOL "No Delay to Fair Pay" for Home Care Workers! Last September, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) finalized a rule extending basic labor protections under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)--including minimum wage and overtime protections--to home care workers nationwide. However, there is now an effort to delay implementating the rule beyond its January 1, 2015, implementation date. Join DCA and our coalition partners in telling DOL they cannot deny these basic labor protections any longer! Send this quick, easily customizable online letter to DOL Secretary Thomas Perez.  
Why I Loved Direct Care Work, and Why I Quit It
Sonya Huber
Sonya Huber is a former direct care worker and the author of Two Eyes Are Never Enough, an e-book about her experiences in the field.

Direct care work, in one sense, made me feel like a rock star. When a stranger asked me what I did for a living, and I said, "I work in a facility for emotionally troubled teenagers," the response was often: "Wow, that's so great." No other job I've ever done-and I've sampled dozens-has ever netted me such a consistent response.

And the job was great, for all the reasons these strangers guessed. It was important work that pulled my heart and soul and body into the huge effort required each day. It was clear as I started a shift at the residential center that I would be challenged and that I would have the chance to help young people in crisis. Read more from Sonya.
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Direct from the Headlines
Massachusetts is debating whether to give home care workers a much-needed raise.

Watch an excellent program from NJTV's Due Process about why direct care workers and other low-wage workers need paid time off.

Contract workers are a fast-increasing percentage of the workforce, in direct care and elsewhere--and that's a worrisome trend.

Let's not let technology run amok: A reminder that robots can never take the place of human beings in the very personal business of direct care work.

The Library of Congress is funding research on home health care workers by a University of Oregon team.

A heroic direct care worker saved 20 residents after fire broke out in an adult foster care home in Detroit.

The national Home Instead Senior Care franchise is bringing staff training online.
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 or enakhnikian@directcarealliance.org.