SACRAMENTO – Over 250 homecare providers from SEIU Local 6434, the United Long-Term Care Workers’ (ULTCW) union assembled at the state capitol Wednesday to protest a proposed 18 percent cut to the budget of the In-Home Supportive Services program.

Over 800 personal stories from health care consumers and providers from around the state were delivered directly to the governor’s office. Meanwhile, others testified at the Assembly Budget Subcommittee hearings on the future of the program. It was all part of a supreme effort to stave off major budget reductions that could adversely affect the well being of hundreds of thousands of Californians.

“Our members are banding together in Sacramento to stand up against these cuts,” said ULTCW President Tyrone Freeman. “These services are vital. We should not have to bear the burden of the negative impact of the state deficit on the backs of our seniors, people living with disabilities and those who care for them.”

The goal of the IHSS program is to provide homecare services to people while simultaneously maintaining their quality of life by allowing them to remain in their own homes in order to avoid or delay institutionalization. At the core of the program is a philosophy that recognizes the dignity of the consumers by acknowledging their right to choose the caregiver of their choice.

Consumers receive a variety of basic services, including: domestic assistance such as meal preparation, laundry, and shopping; personal care, such as feeding and bathing; transportation; protective supervision; and certain paramedical services ordered by a physician.

“We need a fair balancing of this avoidable deficit crisis with a combination approach that includes raising revenue,” said Frances Gracechild, Co-Chair of the Quality Homecare Coalition and Executive Director of Resources for Independent Living. “These across-the-board cuts are callous. When it comes to valuable programs like IHSS, state officials should stop blaming it on overspending. Increases in IHSS are largely pushed by demographic changes – California is growing and more people are living longer.”

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