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The Schuylkill County Direct Care Workers Association newsletter has resumed publication as of this month, to serve workers in eastern Pennsylvania. The current issue includes reports about an award-winning elder abuse prevention program; last year’s direct-care worker forum with U.S. Senator Robert Casey, which was organized by direct-care Brenda Nachtway; two direct-care worker conferences attended [...]

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Virginia’s media have been covering the need for better direct-care wages more than usual lately, mostly because of a proposed budget amendment that would increase wages for personal care attendants (PCAs) by 10 percent. At hearings across the state last week, PCAs and the people they assist testified in favor of the amendment – and [...]

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Members of the U.S House of Representatives were urged to support H.R. 1279, the Direct Support Professionals Fairness and Security Act, at a January 16 hearing on Capitol Hill. The bill calls for improving the wages and benefits of direct support professionals. The hearing was held by the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on [...]

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“The biggest difference between Green Houses and traditional nursing homes are [the direct-care workers], specially trained and empowered staff who assist the residents in everything from eating to toileting,” said a PBS report on the Green House model of long-term care. The workers are called shahbazim, the plural of shahbaz, a Persian word meaning “royal [...]

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A new publication from Dr. Charlene Harrington of the University of California San Francisco lists the state staffing standards for nursing homes in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Laid out in chart form, Nursing Home Staffing Standards in State Statutes and Regulations (pdf) summarizes the requirements for direct-care staff, as well as [...]

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