Support home care workers who care for our communities

Our state’s population is aging, but right now there’s only 1 home care worker for every 6 people who need care. The only way to make quality, accessible care a reality for our most vulnerable Pennsylvanians is to invest in our care workforce.

Join our statewide demand for Governor Shapiro and the state legislature to invest in home care and accountability.

Take Action

THE PROBLEM:
We must prioritize care over profits

We cannot meet the overwhelming need for quality home care with a workforce that earns poverty-level wages, has no health insurance, and no time-off. Due to a lack of industry transparency and accountability, a large portion of vital public funding is not spent on the actual care being provided to our seniors and adults with disabilities.

  • Lack of accountability: When Pennsylvania distributed $112 million of CARES Act funding to homecare agencies, it required agencies to report how they spent it. As of today, $22.3 million (almost 25%) of those funds distributed to 469 agencies remain unaccounted for.
  • Private equity profits grow by shrinking critical care: The vast majority of homecare agencies in Pennsylvania are for-profit businesses, and four of the five largest agencies are owned by private equity firms, two of which have a net worth of over $20 billion each.
  • Widespread fraud and wage theft: In the past three years alone, the US Department of Labor has uncovered cases of wage theft involving nearly 5500 workers and has recovered over $30 million in back pay for workers.

WE DEMAND DIGNITY, FAIR WAGES, AND INDEPENDENCE.

Here’s how we solve this crisis:

  • Increase state funding for personal assistance services so that providers can offer competitive wages and meet the increasing demand for services.
  • Require a market-based analysis of rates every three years to ensure rates are adjusted for inflation going forward.
  • Require at least 80% of the total funding to be spent on worker compensation, with annual reporting requirements to document the use of public funds.
  • Create an enhanced rate for mission-driven home care agencies that invest at least 90% of their total reimbursement rate in the care workforce.

TAKE ACTION

United Home Care Workers of PA is a joint project of SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania and District 1199C NUHHCE (AFSCME)

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