FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 5, 2016
Sacramento – The 2016 UDW/AFSCME Local 3930 (UDW) Legislative Scorecard is now available. This year, state legislators and Governor Brown were scored on their support for policies that impact the nearly 98,000 In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) caregivers represented by UDW and the estimated 118,000 home care recipients who receive their care. This year’s scorecard also includes the overall career scores of the legislature and the governor dating back to 2009, when UDW began publishing legislative scorecards.
“This year, your votes supported policies that will keep people with disabilities safer in our communities, provide a path to retirement security for working families, increase the state’s minimum wage, and shed light on the inequality faced by more than 90,000 family caregivers who are not eligible for Social Security and other basic safety net benefits,” said UDW Executive Director Doug Moore.
This year, legislators and the governor were scored on home care related bills, including:
- SB 1330: A bill that will update the current Be On the Lookout law to include individuals who are cognitively impaired or developmentally disabled in the definition for “at-risk,” so that if they are missing, law enforcement is in a better position to bring them home safely.
- AB 1930: This bill would have taken the first step towards extending unemployment pay and Social Security benefits to IHSS caregivers whose home care clients are their spouse or child.
UDW thanks the dozens of Assemblymembers and Senators who voted with UDW 100 percent of the time this year, and looks forward to building on those victories and protecting home care together in the coming year.
Read the full UDW 2016 Legislative Scorecard here: http://www.udwa.org/2016/12/2016-legislative-scorecard.
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United Domestic Workers of America (UDW)/AFSCME Local 3930 is a home care union made up of over 97,800 in-home caregivers across the state of California. UDW caregivers provide care through the state’s In-Home Supportive Services program (IHSS), which allows over half a million California seniors and people with disabilities to stay safe and healthy at home.
For Immediate Release
September 23, 2016
Contact: Margitte Kristjansson, 619-548-4304
Senate Bill 1330 updates law enforcement’s “Be On the Lookout” bulletin to include people with developmental disabilities
Sacramento – Today Governor Brown signed Senate Bill 1330 into law. The bill, which was sponsored by the United Domestic Workers/AFSCME Local 3930 (UDW) and authored by Senator Cathleen Galgiani (D-Stockton), updates the “Be On the Lookout” bulletin to include individuals who are cognitively impaired or developmentally disabled.
The “Be On the Lookout” alert is a tool used by California law enforcement to quickly search for and locate a missing person who is at-risk. Previously, legislation limited the scope of “at-risk” to a person who is mentally impaired. A small update to the law now ensures that the estimated 250,000 Californians who live with developmental disabilities are covered as well.
“We’re thankful to Senator Galgiani for her leadership on SB 1330,” said UDW Executive Director Doug Moore. “The bill made a small but critical update to a policy that affects many families in California. Every minute a loved one is missing is terrifying, and every moment counts. By updating the law’s language to include those who are cognitively impaired and people with developmental disabilities, we can give more peace of mind to thousands of families in our state.”
Half of the parents surveyed by the National Institutes of Health reported that their children with autism spectrum disorder wandered away from home or their families, and a quarter of those who wandered were missing long enough to be considered in danger.
“My son is getting older and is prone to wander. Signing SB 1330 into law means that law enforcement will know he is a person with developmental disabilities and therefore at higher risk,” said UDW Vice President Astrid Zuniga, who helped champion the bill. Astrid’s son Manuel lives with severe autism, and she works as his in-home care provider in Stanislaus County. “This bill could save lives by giving police officers a better understanding of who they are looking for.”
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United Domestic Workers of America (UDW)/AFSCME Local 3930 is a home care union made up of nearly 94,000 in-home caregivers across the state of California. UDW caregivers provide care through the state’s In-Home Supportive Services program (IHSS), which allows over half a million California seniors and people with disabilities to stay safe and healthy at home.
For Immediate Release
Thursday, August 25, 2016
Contact: Margitte Kristjansson, 619-548-4304
California home care providers who care for their spouse or child are ineligible for Social Security, Medicare, and unemployment benefits.
Sacramento – Today In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) home care workers met at the Capitol to deliver petitions to Governor Brown signed by over 3,500 Californians. The petitions call on the governor to sign Assembly Bill 1930, a bill sponsored by the United Domestic Workers/AFSCME Local 3930, and authored by Assemblymember Tom Lackey (R – Palmdale) with coauthors Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez (D – San Diego) and Senator Mike McGuire (D – Healdsburg).
If a home care provider’s client is their spouse or child, they are excluded from making contributions to FICA and State Unemployment Insurance – leaving them ineligible for Medicare, Social Security, and unemployment pay. AB 1930 begins to address this injustice by convening a committee to study the economic impact exclusion from these benefits has on home care workers and their families.
“All caregivers work hard for their clients, and all caregivers deserve these very basic benefits,” said UDW Executive Director Doug Moore. “Today, we call on Governor Brown to help us in our work to fix this issue by signing AB 1930.”
“In-home care workers who care for their families are entitled to the same employment benefits that every other worker in the same program receives,” added Assemblymember Lackey.
Cathyleen Williams from Barstow worked as her son Caleb’s IHSS home care provider for nine and a half years until he passed away in March. When Cathyleen applied for unemployment insurance, she was denied because Caleb – her home care client – was her son. “No one should have to endure the death of their young child,” said Cathyleen. “But to grieve while also scrambling to make sure your bills are paid and you don’t end up homeless? I wouldn’t wish this nightmare on my greatest enemy.”
William Reed, a home care provider for his 39-year-old son with autism in Placer County worries about not only his own retirement plans, but those of his fellow spouse and parent caregivers as well. “We deal with high levels of stress, work without real respite time, or paid leave, and to add insult to injury, we can’t even count on Social Security or Medicare when we retire,” he said.
AB 1930 was passed unanimously by both the Senate and the Assembly. Caregivers are calling on Governor Brown to look at the human impact that life without access to unemployment benefits, Social Security, and Medicare has on caregivers, and sign AB 1930.
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United Domestic Workers of America (UDW)/AFSCME Local 3930 is a home care union made up of nearly 94,000 in-home caregivers across the state of California. UDW caregivers provide care through the state’s In-Home Supportive Services program (IHSS), which allows over half a million California seniors and people with disabilities to stay safe and healthy at home.
