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Steven Dawson

Steven Dawson is planning to step down from his role as founding president of PHI on September 1, 2012, after 20 years of shaping the strategic direction of the organization.

Dawson will continue to serve on the PHI staff in the newly created position of strategic advisor.

Under his leadership, PHI has grown into a multi-million dollar organization with a nationally recognized staff, working to secure quality care through quality jobs for our nation’s direct-care workforce.

“Over the years, Steven has built a strong organization with an unprecedented team that has helped to establish national awareness of the essential role played by direct-care workers in the lives of elders and people with disabilities,” said PHI Board Chair Rick Surpin, founder and president of Independence Care System.

Throughout his career, Dawson has been recognized as an innovative thinker in the field of workforce development. He has been a leader in sectoral workforce development strategies, and recently published “Improving Jobs and Care: A National Sector Strategy,” drawing lessons from PHI’s experience.

Dawson has also served in recent years as co-convener of the Eldercare Workforce Alliance, which has advocated for stronger policies to support the health care workforce needed to care for an aging population.

Jodi Sturgeon

The PHI Board of Directors has selected Jodi Sturgeon to take the helm as the new PHI president, when Dawson steps down.

Sturgeon, who over the past seven years was PHI’s chief operating and financial officer before becoming vice president, works closely with Dawson to guide the organization in its growth, impact, and sustainability. She is a highly skilled administrator and strategist who has worked in nonprofit executive positions for a decade before joining the PHI staff.

“We on the PHI Board are enormously fortunate that Jodi has agreed to take the reins of the organization,” Surpin said.

“The PHI Board is seeking to implement a careful, thoughtful leadership transition plan — naming Jodi as our new president with sufficient advance notice to inform our key stakeholders, and to prepare our staff leadership for the next phase of our development — while still ensuring that Steven’s expertise and strategic thinking will remain a key asset to PHI.”

PHI’s executive team is supported by a robust and highly stable program leadership team.

“The organizational experience and expertise of these leaders are unmatched. They will ensure that PHI continues to have profound impact at the intersection of low-income workforce development and eldercare/disability services,” Surpin said.

– by Deane Beebe

The thriving home care industry brought in roughly $84 billion in revenue in 2009, the last year for which data is available, according to a new PHI fact sheet.

Faced with a proposed federal rule that would require home care companies to pay workers a minimum wage and overtime pay, many home care companies have argued that they could not possibly comply without passing along costs to consumers.

But the PHI fact sheet, Value the Care No. 5 (pdf), demonstrates that these claims are unfounded. The home care industry has flourished in recent years, growing steadily even during the recession.

Total revenue climbed at a yearly rate of about 9 percent between 2001 and 2009, while the number of home care providers increased by 20 percent each year from 2001 to 2010.

Low Wages Persist

Despite their tremendous success, many home care companies continue to pay their workers poverty-level wages.

The median hourly wage for home care workers was just $9.40 in 2010. Nearly half had to rely on public assistance, such as food stamps to supplement their low wages and Medicaid for health care coverage.

Currently, the companionship exemption to the Fair Labor Standards Act allows home care companies to legally pay their workers less than minimum wage and deny them time-and-a-half overtime pay.

In December, however, President Obama announced a plan to revise the companionship exemption regulations so that the vast majority of home care workers would receive wage and hour protections under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

The public is invited to comment on the proposed rule. The comment period ends February 27.

– by Matthew Ozga

Separate court proceedings in California and Louisiana last week upheld the right of elders and people with disabilities to receive care in their homes under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

In California, federal judge Claudia Wilken issued a preliminary injunction on Jan. 19 blocking the state from enacting a 20 percent cut to the In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program, which provides care to nearly 450,000 elders and people with disabilities who have Medicaid.

The cuts were initially scheduled to take place on Jan. 1, but were temporarily halted by Wilken last December due to concerns that they violated the ADA. Wilken reiterated those concerns in her latest injunction.

If ever enacted, the IHSS budget cut would cause 372,000 IHSS consumers to see reductions in home care services, possibly forcing them into nursing homes or other institutions — a violation of the ADA. In 1999, the Supreme Court ruled that the ADA gives seniors and people with disabilities the right to live at home if their care needs can be reasonably met there.

“Judge Wilken has consistently recognized how crucial IHSS is for people with disabilities in California,” said Donna Calame, the executive director of the San Francisco IHSS Public Authority and a PHI board member.

“Her ruling was terrific for both technical legal reasons and because it continues, for the time being, the current level of service hours to people who live in borderline poverty situations — both consumers and the workers who assist them,” Calame added.

The state plans to appeal Wilken’s decision to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Last month the Ninth Circuit ruled that Washington State had violated the ADA by cutting its Medicaid in-home care program by 10 percent.

Louisiana Lawsuit Settled

Meanwhile, in Louisiana, advocates for elders and people with disabilities reached a settlement with the state over a reduction in-home care services there.

Advocacy Center and AARP Foundation Litigation advocates had filed a class action lawsuit in September 2010, arguing that the state was violating the ADA by imposing a 32-hour weekly cap on consumers enrolled in the state’s Medicaid in-home services program.

As part of the settlement (pdf), state officials will request 200 waivers from the federal government allowing Louisiana residents who receive Medicaid to qualify for long-term personal care services.

The waivers will be awarded to consumers who can demonstrate that the 32-hour cap would force them to transfer into a nursing home.

Ken Zeller, a senior AARP attorney, told the Associated Press that the settlement is “win-win” because it “allows people to age in the place they know and love and at the same time saves the state money in more costly nursing home placements.”

– by Matthew Ozga

The 60-day public comment period on the U.S. Department of Labor‘s (DOL) proposed rule to revise the “companionship exemption” has hit the midpoint.

Since the DOL launched the comment period in late December, critics of the proposed regulations have made numerous assertions regarding the negative impact of providing minimum wage and time-and-a-half pay for overtime for home care aides.

Concerned that these assertions exaggerate the costs associated with the rule change, PHI has released “Fixing the Companionship Exemption: Myths and Facts” (pdf), the fourth fact sheet in the Value the Care series on how narrowing the companionship exemption would affect home care workers, consumers, and employers.

Setting it Straight

The fact sheet sets straight an array of misconceptions, including how revising the companionship exemption would affect workers’ hours, costs for consumers and employers, and quality of care.

For example, the fact sheet tackles the myth that home come workers’ hours will be reduced because employers will limit work weeks to 40 hours rather than pay a worker time and a half.

In fact, less than 10 percent of aides regularly work more than 40 hours a week. Nearly half of home care workers work only part time, and 40 percent of these aides would like to work more hours. Though some aides who are working very long hours may be affected by the change, the good news is that more aides may be able to increase their hours.

FAQs

Additionally, to help address commonly asked questions about the companionship exemption, the National Employment Law Project (NELP) updated its Frequently Asked Questions (pdf) after the proposed regulations were released.

The new FAQ clarifies, for example, what group of workers would be affected by the proposed changes, the DOL’s proposed changes to the definition of companionship services, and how the proposed changes would improve conditions in the industry.

To submit an official comment to the DOL before the comment period ends on February 27, read sample comments, and see other resources, including the Value the Care series, visit the PHI Campaign for Fair Pay website.

– by Deane Beebe

To inform stakeholders of urgent, direct-care workforce advocacy issues, PHI PolicyWorks has introduced the PHI Action Alert.

This new alert email will be sent to subscribers when timely action is needed on direct-care workforce issues, such as Medicaid coverage, the Older Americans Act, the companionship exemption, the CLASS Act, and more.

Click here to subscribe to the PHI Action Alert.

– by Deane Beebe

One strategy identified in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services‘ (HHS) draft taskforce plan to meet the Obama Administration’s goal of developing effective ways to treat and prevent Alzheimer’s disease by 2025 is to “Build a Workforce with the Skills to Provide High-Quality Care.”

The plan recognizes direct-care workers as long-term care providers who care for people with Alzheimer’s disease and recommends expanding and enhancing direct-care workers’ “dementia-specific capabilities” to “Enhance Care Quality and Efficiency,” one of the taskforce’s five general goals.

HHS and other experts met on January 17 and 18 to finalize the Draft Framework for a National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s Disease (pdf), according to a USA Today article.

HHS is seeking emailed input on the plan through February 8, 2012. A final report is due to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius in early February.

– by Deane Beebe