PHInational.org

Direct-care workers in training

The Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) was awarded a $2.2 million Personal and Home Care Aide State Training Program (PHCAST) demonstration grant to develop and pilot a training and credentialing model for direct-care workers.

The three-year grant, which was awarded by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, will be targeted to one urban and one rural region in the state.

Direct-care professionals who participate in the project will work in a variety of settings and provide services and support to Iowa’s elders and people living with disabilities.

“The focus of the project is to develop a direct-care training and credentialing system that can be replicated nationwide,” said Erin Drinnin of the IDPH Bureau of Health Care Access.

“The goal is to provide responsive and flexible training, promote the highest quality of care, and develop career pathways to professionalize the direct care workforce in Iowa,” Drinnin said.

One Step Closer to Professionalization

The funded project is based on the recommendations of the Iowa Direct Care Worker Advisory Council, which was established by the Iowa Legislature in 2008. The Advisory Council was previously known as the Iowa Direct-Care Worker Task Force, which was established in 2005.

“With the grant, Iowa will move one step further toward the establishment of a Board of Direct-Care Workers, which was legislated in 2010,” said Iowa Caregivers Association Executive Director Di Findley, who is a member of the Advisory Council. “Through the grant we will be able to pilot the recommendations of the Advisory Council that will ultimately credential, promote, and support the professionalization of this vital workforce.”

“Finally, direct-care workers will receive the professional status they deserve,” Findley continued. “We appreciate the Iowa Department of Public Health’s leadership in securing this grant to advance the work of Iowa’s governor-appointed Direct-Care Worker Advisory Council.”

Iowa is one of six states to receive a PHCAST demonstration grant. The five other states are California, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, and North Carolina.

– by Deane Beebe

Iowa’s direct-care workers still lack adequate wages and benefits, according to an Iowa CareGivers Association survey that is set to be released in the coming days.

The survey, conducted by the Child & Family Policy Center, is the third — and so far, most comprehensive — overview of Iowa’s direct-care workforce published over the past decade. The last survey was released in 2004.

Like the rest of the country, Iowa is facing a shortage of direct-care workers just when the demand for their services is peaking. The aging of the baby-boomer generation will create a need for an additional 10,000 new direct-care workers in Iowa alone over the next 10 years.

In that context, the need for high-quality direct-care jobs is more urgent than ever.

“The needs of persons with disabilities and aging Iowans will go unmet if we continue to ignore and undervalue this incredibly important workforce,” said Di Findley, the executive director of the Iowa CareGivers Association.

“We can no longer, as a society, get by thinking that we can compensate people poorly simply because they are nice, caring people,” she continued.

Specific Survey Findings

Among the findings in the 2010 Iowa survey:

• Iowa’s direct-care workers are among the lowest-paid in the state, earning an average of $11.50 an hour, compared with the median hourly wage of $14.40 for all Iowa workers.
• A majority of direct-care workers in Iowa work full-time hours — but nearly half (49.9%) report household incomes that fall below 200% of the federal poverty level. Nearly one out of five direct-care workers in Iowa (18.2%) are below the federal poverty line entirely. Many rely on public benefit programs such as food stamps and child care assistance to make ends meet.
• Across the board, direct-care workers are less likely to be covered by health insurance than non-elderly workers throughout Iowa.
• More than one-fifth of all direct-care workers in Iowa say they are actively trying to leave the field, mostly due to low pay and poor benefits.

The survey suggests that some of the financial difficulties faced by Iowa’s hard-working direct-care workers could be offset by expanding public services, such as Medicaid eligibility and earned income tax credits, to more Iowans.

It also recommends that the Iowa government use its position of as a primary purchaser of direct-care services (under Medicaid) to raise wages and provide more benefits.

– by Matthew Ozga

Paul Rhoads

Iowa State University Football Coach Paul Rhoads stars in a public service announcement (PSA) asking viewers to join him in giving thanks “today and every day” for the “valuable and demanding work” that direct-care workers do.

Coach Rhoads compares direct-care workers to the linemen on his team — both work “in the trenches” and “rarely get the credit they deserve.” He produced the PSA for the Iowa Caregivers Association (ICA).

“What is special about Paul Rhoads’ public service announcement is the messenger!” said ICA Executive Director Di Findley.

“It is the contrast between a tough game like football and caregiving or nurturing that grabs one’s attention. It is a powerful message that compares direct-care workers to football linemen and sends the message that the value of these unsung heroes knows no boundaries,” Findley said.

The PSA will be aired on Iowa’s local cable stations and television networks.

ICA is also trying to secure paid sponsorship for the announcement in an effort to get it more air time. Already, Iowa Health Des Moines plans to sponsor the spot during some of its “Medical Minute” segments.

– by Deane Beebe

John Hale, Iowa Caregivers Association

A guest column in the Des Moines Register by John Hale, a public policy consultant for the Iowa Caregivers Association (ICA), debunks the myth that home health care aides and other direct-care workers are low-skilled workers.

In “Care Workers with Low Skills? Hardly,” Hale refutes an Associated Press article published over Labor Day weekend that refers to a direct-care worker job as being a “lower skill and lower-paying job.”

He writes that the authors got this “half right” and explains the difference between having skills and having a formal education that results in academic degrees.

Hale describes the plethora of skills required to be a direct-care worker and emphatically makes the point that having an advanced degree does not mean that you have the skills to provide services and supports to older adults or people with disabilities.

Appreciated But Not Compensated

He laments that artists and athletes are valued for the gifts they have been “blessed with” and are paid “handsomely,” but society has yet to compensate (pdf) direct-care workers for the gifts that they possess. Many people may value the work of these paid caregivers, he writes, “yet [they] remain comfortable with them living in near poverty status.”

Hale tells readers that they should ask candidates who are “asking for your vote this fall” what they plan to do for direct-care workers and then “vote accordingly.”

‘Come Care With Me’ in Iowa

Hale has informed PHI that “the Iowa Caregivers Association has received expressions of interest from the two leading candidates for Iowa Governor to participate in Come Care With Me events,” and “dates and locations for the events are now being discussed with the campaigns.”

Come Care With Me events are designed to better inform elected officials about the work performed by direct care workers in a variety of care settings.

“ICA is also working with several key leaders in the Iowa legislature to schedule Come Care With Me events with them,” Hale added.

– by Deane Beebe

By Colleen Jolly, ICA Board of Directors Read the full story

Iowa state capitol building

Iowa legislators have passed five bills that will favorably impact direct-care workers. Read the full story