Join Our Fight to Demand that Supervisors Put Care First in San Benito!
Urge the San Benito County Board of Supervisors to stop leaving millions of federal and state dollars unused at the table. Please join us by lending your voice to our fight. Together, we can deliver the message to the Board of Supervisors that it’s time to Put Care First in San Benito County. Anything less is unacceptable to those who rely on this care and the caregivers who provide it.
Sign the petition below to tell the San Benito Board of Supervisors to Put Care First!
Every day, roughly 700 In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) home care workers provide care to our low-income seniors and people with disabilities living in San Benito County. Because of the work of caregivers, our loved ones are able to live safely at home where they want to be rather than unnecessarily being placed in facilities which costs taxpayers millions of dollars. However, this vital care is in jeopardy due to the low wages county caregivers earn and the lack of access to health care.
It’s time we tell the San Benito County Board of Supervisors to Put Care First by recognizing and investing in the important work of home care providers. We must lift caregivers out of poverty, address the growing care crisis, bring much needed federal and state dollars into San Benito County.
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Put Care First: Lift San Benito County Caregivers Out of Poverty
San Benito County IHSS providers earn $16.30 an hour. Yet, according to MIT, a living wage for a single parent of one child in San Benito County is $39.90. Today, San Benito County home care providers are asking the Board of Supervisors to lift them out of poverty by providing them with essential healthcare and getting them closer to a living wage by placing them on a path to earning $20 an hour over the next three years. Instead, San Benito County is attempting to keep workers in poverty by offering a $0.65 raise and denying them health care.
Put Care First: Address San Benito’s Care Crisis
Because of low caregiver wages, San Benito County is facing a care crisis. Over 34,000 authorized hours of care that our seniors and those with disabilities require are going unmet annually due to the lack of caregivers available to provide care. That means that hours of care that a social worker has deemed necessary for the health and safety of our loved ones are not being delivered because there simply aren’t enough caregivers to do the work. As our senior population continues to age and the demands for care increase, the crisis will only get worse unless we act today.
Put Care First: Bring Millions of Federal and State Dollars to San Benito County
For every $1 increase in wages and benefits given to a caregiver, San Benito County only pays $0.16. The rest is covered by federal and state funds. There is no better investment for a county to make than in the IHSS program as it brings additional state and federal funds into local communities, thereby supporting business, jobs, and increasing tax revenue.
Put Care First: It’s a Win-Win-Win Opportunity for San Benito County
By investing in the wages of San Benito County caregivers, the Board of Supervisors is creating a win-win-win situation in that it 1) lifts workers out of poverty, 2) attracts and retains the workforce required to provide the care needed, and 3) infuses San Benito County with federal and states dollars otherwise left at the table.
San Benito IHSS Workers – Show our solidarity for a Fair Contract by signing on to our symbolic Strike Petition today!
Commit to Strike: San Benito IHSS use this link to sign up now!