00:00 - The following program is sponsored in part by customers

00:04 - bank.

00:15 - Lynn Weidner, executive board member at SEIU

00:19 - healthcare and a home health care worker.

00:22 - Tell us about your union's mission.

00:27 - Thank you. Yes.

00:27 - So our union is really

00:32 - a group of care workers who come together

00:36 - to make changes that we see need to be made in the health care system.

00:41 - And specifically, we, do a lot of advocacy work together,

00:46 - to make changes in legislation and,

00:49 - improve working conditions for home care workers.

00:54 - Tell us about the services that home care workers can do for us, Lynn.

01:00 - So what home care workers in Pennsylvania

01:04 - like what our mission is like, what our job

01:08 - is, is really to keep people safe, comfortable and happy in their homes.

01:14 - As people age,

01:16 - they would prefer to age in place, meaning staying in their homes.

01:20 - People with disabilities would like to be in cluded in their communities,

01:24 - be able to get to work or volunteer or be out in the community.

01:29 - And home care workers make that happen.

01:32 - We make sure that

01:34 - people's lives are

01:36 - continuing in the community that they're healthy and taking care of.

01:40 - Oftentimes, we provide the same level of care that you would

01:42 - in a nursing home, but we do it in a home community setting.

01:47 - Lynn, tell us more about your personal experience

01:50 - and what kind of insight you have as far as being a home care worker is concerned.

01:55 - So I actually started out as a CNA.

01:58 - So in 2002, I got a CNA license and I worked, at Grace Dale.

02:04 - Sorry. What does the CNA tell us that first?

02:07 - So, I was a certified nurse's aide.

02:10 - And I worked in nursing homes and did direct care.

02:15 - And then I also worked in assisted living facilities.

02:19 - And then I started working in group homes

02:22 - and from group homes, I went to home care.

02:26 - And I really found that

02:29 - my passion is taking care of people.

02:31 - I love taking care of people.

02:32 - And I didn't have enough time to provide the one on one level of care

02:39 - and attention that I wanted to in the larger facility settings.

02:44 - So I really, kept working my way down to where the the ratios were less and less

02:50 - until I found home care where I could really have,

02:53 - inclusion in the community.

02:56 - So that's where my heart lies

02:57 - is where my, my favorite thing to do is keep people safe.

03:01 - Now again, Lynn, drawing on your personal experience.

03:04 - Tell me more about the situations and the clients that you had to deal with

03:09 - and some of the things they called on you to perform for them.

03:14 - Sure.

03:14 - So I home care,

03:18 - like I said, provides a nursing home level of care.

03:21 - So I currently take care of a gentleman, who has cerebral palsy.

03:26 - He requires a full lift or a Hoyer lift.

03:31 - Depending on the day.

03:32 - He also needs a full lift into bathing.

03:37 - I cook for him.

03:39 - We do, passive range of motion.

03:42 - So physical therapy stuff.

03:44 - Occupational therapy.

03:46 - I cook for him.

03:47 - I set him up so he can eat. I do his shopping.

03:51 - Basically all the things that you take for granted is what I do for him

03:55 - every day.

03:56 - And I've also done that for several other people as well in my career.

04:00 - So try to describe the typical home care worker a situation for us.

04:06 - In other words, are they typically working for themselves

04:09 - or are they employed by agencies?

04:13 - So there's two models of care.

04:15 - There is participant direction, which is what I, which is the program

04:20 - that I'm in, which means that my employer is the person that I care for.

04:24 - They have a payroll company that helps them, with payroll and stuff,

04:30 - but they are ultimately the employer of record.

04:34 - There are agencies as well that provide care.

04:37 - I've also worked for home care work, agencies,

04:40 - and they would be the ones that would coordinate the scheduling and all that.

04:43 - So you would work for the agency and then take care of people.

04:47 - Well, I often see the distinction between

04:50 - home care workers and direct home care workers.

04:53 - Is that what we're talking about now?

04:54 - In other words, a direct home care worker, is their own boss.

04:59 - Not necessarily.

05:01 - Direct care worker is just another term for a home care worker.

05:07 - The participant directed program means that the consumer,

05:10 - the person who has the disability or the person who is elderly or needs

05:15 - assistance, they are the employer of record

05:17 - and they can hire and fire whoever they like, including members

05:21 - of their family or, community members, neighbors, friends.

05:26 - Then can you tell us approximately how many Pennsylvanians

05:29 - need the services we're talking about today?

05:34 - You know, I don't I couldn't give you an exact number,

05:36 - but I can tell you that it's on the rise.

05:39 - Especially as the the baby boomer generation ages

05:43 - more and more,

05:44 - we see that they're not interested in going into these nursing facilities,

05:48 - and they would prefer to stay in their homes and age in place.

05:53 - Well, then let's consider the other side of the equation, Lynn.

05:55 - And not so much the, patients.

05:58 - But let's consider the workforce itself.

06:01 - About how big would you say is Pennsylvania's workforce for home

06:05 - care workers?

06:07 - So our home care workforce is ever changing.

06:12 - And people coming in and out of home care work frequently.

06:17 - Sometimes that's because their family member ages and passes away.

06:22 - More frequently, it's because home care

06:25 - does not provide, living wages and does not provide any benefits.

06:29 - So generally speaking, it can be very difficult

06:33 - unless you have a passion for home care

06:37 - or you have a friend or family member

06:40 - that, needs care that you're caring for.

06:43 - It can be really hard to stay in as a career.

06:45 - Well, now that you bring up living wages, can we say about how much money.

06:50 - Pennsylvania's home care workers are earning on the average?

06:55 - So I would say that this

06:58 - year we did win a raise in participant directed home care.

07:02 - So, the average has gone up.

07:06 - I can't tell you the exact number.

07:07 - At the moment, I currently make $16 an hour.

07:12 - Last year I was making 14, so it's, it was a significant raise.

07:17 - But of course, we all know that prices and everything are going up as well.

07:21 - Can the pay be different from client to client?

07:25 - In other words, different clients

07:27 - have access to different resources.

07:32 - Yes. So the wage varies

07:36 - based upon, taxes, unemployment

07:40 - insurance based on the region of the state that they live in.

07:44 - So Philadelphia has higher rates than somewhere in the middle of the state.

07:49 - And this year also, they have changed the wages some.

07:54 - So it varies depending on the managed care organization which the participant uses.

08:00 - Which is managed care

08:01 - is basically the insurance company that handles the Medicaid program.

08:06 - And then can you say again, based on your own personal experience about, well,

08:10 - what kinds of hours to home care workers have to keep in order to make ends meet?

08:18 - So for

08:18 - me personally, I work 80 hours a week.

08:22 - And that gets me paycheck to paycheck.

08:24 - That is what my my participants, level of need.

08:30 - And I would say that the hours vary greatly depending on,

08:34 - the level of need for that particular participant.

08:37 - Frequently, home care workers have more than one job.

08:41 - Multiple jobs.

08:42 - What does the average day look for you?

08:45 - In other words, do you see several clients in one day?

08:49 - Not currently.

08:51 - Currently, I only have the one client.

08:53 - I have worked several clients.

08:56 - Before, which was basically going

08:59 - driving from one to the next to the next until from 7 a.m.

09:03 - to 7 p.m., basically.

09:04 - Currently, I only take care of one gentleman.

09:08 - And I take care of my mom, which is not paid,

09:11 - but she has Alzheimer's, so I take care of her as well.

09:14 - And we all live together.

09:16 - Now that you mention those specific circumstances, Lynn,

09:20 - I'm sure it's apparent to our viewers that this kind of work can take an emotional

09:24 - and mental strain and just take a toll on you.

09:28 - Again, drawing in your on your personal experience.

09:31 - Tell me about that.

09:33 - Yeah, absolutely.

09:34 - I and

09:36 - I get paid for 80 hours of work a week,

09:39 - but I actually am working around the clock 24 over seven.

09:42 - I'm always on call.

09:43 - So it can be really hard to take time for myself.

09:46 - I do have, you know, I have outlets.

09:50 - I have, you know, friends that I can talk to in the union and other home

09:54 - care workers that I can speak with, and that really helps, a lot.

09:58 - And I also have, my health insurance, which allows me to have a therapist.

10:03 - And that really helps to prevent caregiver burnout

10:06 - and gives me an outlet because I do have,

10:10 - you know, 24 over seven,

10:12 - people who need me 24 over seven.

10:16 - Oh, let's, look into the,

10:17 - funding considerations of home care workers.

10:21 - As far as the state budget is concerned, is there anything down the road

10:26 - you see that would benefit home care workers?

10:28 - Maybe Governor Shapiro is proposing something in his new budget.

10:31 - What have you seen on the radar?

10:34 - Yeah, absolutely.

10:35 - So, our funding is

10:39 - based upon the state budget every year.

10:42 - So in order for me to get a raise, there has to be an increase, for home

10:47 - and community based services on a state budget level

10:51 - that is also draws down, federal match

10:55 - money from, Medicaid services.

10:57 - And so in order for us to get any raises, we need to to advocate

11:03 - and talk to legislators, make sure it gets in the budget.

11:07 - Last year, there was a $21 million investment into the participant

11:12 - directed, home care world, and we were able to get that raise.

11:18 - This year there was no increase.

11:20 - So we will not get a raise next year.

11:22 - And we will have to keep advocating,

11:25 - to get more raises and to get benefits because we don't currently have benefits.

11:29 - What can state government do to grow the home care worker workforce?

11:36 - There's a lot and I would say wages is probably the biggest because

11:39 - like I said, it is even with the raise, it's still near poverty wages.

11:44 - And the ability to provide health insurance for health care workers.

11:50 - I said we put our bodies on the line every day for other people.

11:54 - It can be very taxing.

11:56 - And we don't currently have insurance.

11:58 - I get my insurance through the Affordable Care Act, and my subsidy expired.

12:03 - So my raise basically went to my increased health insurance.

12:08 - I my insurance increased by $300 a month.

12:11 - So if you want to get more caregivers into the field,

12:15 - you need to give them the ability to take care of themselves,

12:17 - provide benefits, and provide a better living wage.

12:21 - Putting the governor's budget proposal aside,

12:24 - are you aware of any legislative plans that are out there that could benefit

12:28 - your workforce?

12:30 - There is a bill that's

12:33 - that was put out, a couple of years ago now, but it has not really gone anywhere

12:39 - that would increase wages for home care workers.

12:43 - There's some, you know, back and forth about it

12:46 - because of agency versus participant directed

12:51 - and the different systems and how those raises would be handed out.

12:56 - So there's nothing that I know of currently that is

13:01 - likely to go through.

13:03 - Now, the governor has been supporting a raise to minimum

13:06 - wage for the past several years.

13:07 - He wants to raise it from the current 725 an hour to $15 an hour.

13:12 - How does this affect your workforce, if at all?

13:17 - So as of this year, we still have,

13:21 - a portion of home care workers with one of the particular

13:25 - managed care organizations that have not yet reached $15 an hour.

13:30 - So for them, it would be impactful.

13:32 - And for the rest of us, I mean,

13:37 - what there's what

13:38 - is the quote like, if you are a rising tide raises all the ships, you know,

13:43 - the wages go up and it would, very much assist all of us in general.

13:48 - A lot of us, like I said, have second jobs as well.

13:51 - And a lot of those jobs pay you know,

13:54 - not exactly wonderful living wages as well.

13:59 - Lynn, if you were able to make a wish list right now, and let's

14:02 - just assume that Governor Shapiro could be listening to this right now.

14:07 - What would you want him to work on?

14:10 - Health care.

14:11 - Health care is the biggest one.

14:12 - We need health insurance for caregivers.

14:15 - Like I said, caregivers are.

14:17 - We actually have shorter lifespans than our consumers

14:21 - because we have the mental load and the physical load.

14:26 - And it's a lot.

14:27 - We we are sometimes seen as the bottom rung of health care.

14:31 - But I like to see it as we're the first line of defense

14:34 - where, you know, we see things before they become a major issue.

14:38 - We're saving the state thousands of dollars,

14:42 - millions maybe, of, you know, E.R.

14:44 - fees.

14:45 - And we're part of we're a central part of the care team.

14:48 - If we cannot care for ourselves, if we can't afford our own insurance

14:53 - so that we can get, you know, our issues addressed, and it's either

14:57 - even simple things like glasses or,

15:00 - you know, hearing aids for some of us or,

15:04 - dental getting our, our teeth fixed.

15:08 - Very simple things that can really affect the way that we're able to provide care.

15:13 - We need to be taken care of.

15:14 - So that we can continue to take care of our communities now, important

15:19 - as they are, let's put aside insurance and raising wages just for a moment.

15:24 - Is there anything else you can think of that might entice

15:27 - young people to enter this field of work?

15:33 - Paid time off.

15:35 - We don't have paid time off. That would be great.

15:37 - The ability to have, a vacation time or.

15:42 - Yeah, it's it's it's hard work.

15:44 - I won't say it's easy, so, but it is very rewarding.

15:48 - It is very rewarding work.

15:51 - The last thing I want to talk to you about, Lynn,

15:54 - concerns a raise for home care workers.

15:57 - And something that allows them to get access to more funds.

16:02 - Now, we're recording this interview on May the 8th.

16:04 - And today,

16:05 - in fact, is the deadline for home care workers to receive these extra funds.

16:10 - So give us the basic details of what they have to do.

16:15 - Absolutely.

16:15 - So, workers in the participant direction program

16:21 - right now, today have the ability

16:23 - to have their consumer raise their wage,

16:28 - and receive back pay as of January 1st so that all hours that they work

16:34 - from January 1st until the raise goes into effect would be paid at the higher rate.

16:39 - That's because the budget was late last year.

16:41 - And our raises were supposed to start January 1st, but today is the cutoff.

16:46 - So if their paperwork isn't in by today, they will not be able

16:50 - to receive the back pay.

16:51 - They will only get the raise going forward.

16:54 - And who is eligible to sign up for these extra funds?

16:58 - Any worker in the

17:00 - participant direction program, their participant, their consumer

17:04 - has the ability to raise their wage right now.

17:08 - And, about how much money can the average home care worker

17:11 - expect to get from this additional pot of money we're talking about?

17:15 - That has to be applied for by the end of May the 8th.

17:19 - So the very smallest

17:22 - raise that we've seen is $1.70 an hour.

17:25 - But that varies greatly by the area of the state.

17:29 - And it can be as much as $5 an hour.

17:32 - Lynn, this is going to be my last question.

17:34 - I want you to tell me why you think this kind of work is rewarding

17:39 - to you, in spite of some of the obstacles we've discussed today.

17:43 - Why do you stick with it?

17:47 - I have always been a caregiver.

17:50 - My mom was an RNN, and she worked in group homes

17:53 - with children with special needs, and I volunteered there growing up.

17:57 - And so it's just a part of who I am.

18:00 - I find nothing more rewarding than making sure

18:04 - that people are taken care of and included in their communities.

18:08 - So for me, it's worth the struggle.

18:12 - And it's worth the lower wage to see the happiness in other people's faces

18:17 - and to see that they're comfortable and happy and cared for.

18:20 - Lynn Weidner, executive board member at SEIU

18:24 - health Care and a home care worker herself.

18:28 - Thank you very much for your time.

18:30 - Thank you.