These people deserve a very high wage. People with all sorts of disabilities require all sorts of assistance, and people on IHSS always seem to pay really low. In 1994 the wage for an IHSS worker was $7/hr, and I, and many other people, have fought very hard to get it to $10.50/hr. This includes many trips to Sacramento to be with legislators. We have sat through hours, and hours of rallies, and it's come back to this.
(Found on the Bay Area Special Needs Yahoo Group:)
I just wanted to share what is written in the most recent SEIU newsletter with regards to proposed budget cuts:
Return to minimum wage: decrease from 11.50 per hour to 8.00, a significant difference in pay.
Loss of hours: domestic-related services would be eliminated for functional index 1-3 (preparing food, feeding, cleaning, shopping) This could mean up to 20% reductions for consumers.
Changes to functional index scores: These determine level of need: a Functional Index Score of 1 means "can perform task independently" and a score of 5 means "cannot function without assistance". The proposal is to eliminate those with an average 1-3 score.
There are rallies coming up and we as parents to the consumers can have a strong voice in this area. It should not be surprising to most of us that the majority of support workers are underemployed, less educated, often of immigrant worker status and may not have the same privileges that many of us enjoy, so their need for a voice is very important and we can fulfill that role. While the workers have union representation through SEIU, they may not be aware of their rights.
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