“We need a little more money for those who have worked for so long. You get fussed at, hit at, bitten, kicked, scratched, slapped, ” said Ronnie Fisher, Sr., a CNA in Wisconsin for the last 23 years.

The Kenosha County Long Term Care Project is working to help people like Fisher, in a state where the average caregiver earns just over $9 an hour.

The organization is working alongside others to launch a state-wide public awareness campaign, said the Kenosha County LTC Project’s Barb Wisnefski.

The plan is to conduct public hearings and legislative forums to encourage workforce coalitions, regulatory changes, opportunities for specialized training, and increased wages for workers.

Wisnefski said 100 people living in southeast Wisconsin recently attended a public hearing about the crisis. County commissions on aging and disabilities listened as professional caregivers and nurses, employers, family members, and legislators spoke about the frustrations of the state’s high caregiver turnover rate, inadequate reimbursement rates, and budget deficits.

How It All Started

What started with a grant in 1999, turned into the Kenosha County Long Term Care Workforce Alliance with 39 public and private members including individual advocates and all types of long term care providers: nursing homes, home health agencies, home care providers, hospice, adult day cares, assisted living, adult family homes, and disability group homes.

Their mission is to develop and implement community-wide strategies to improve the recognition, retention and recruitment of careworkers in community-based and residential long-term care in a state where the 65 and older population is expected to increase by 86 percent in the next 20 years. At the same time, the population of those who traditionally provide that care, women between the ages of 25 and 54, is projected to decline by 8,000.

Aaron Toleos, Online Communications Director
atoleos@phinational.org