In-Home Care Workers
* I am writing because I am concerned about the In-Home Supportive Services program in Ventura County.
IHSS is extremely important--it provides in-home care to thousands of elderly and disabled people in our community. Unfortunately, in our booming economy, the people who provide this care are seeking better-paying jobs at fast food restaurants. IHSS workers get paid minimum wage with no benefits, sick leave or vacation time.
Many of these workers have quit their jobs to take care of sick or aging parents to keep them out of nursing homes. It is a shame that people who provide valuable health care to others have no access to these services themselves.
The county could raise wages by 85 cents per hour if it formed a public authority so that workers could have one employer instead of many individual employers.
We need to support quality home care in our community. This is the program that will provide us and our loved ones with the dignity of living in our own homes when we are unable to care for ourselves, so we can continue to be active, vital members of our community.
ANNA SPLITTER
Ventura
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