Effective laws and regulations can help support the training and advancement of our Direct Care Workforce, directly affecting the quality of life the older and disabled adults we serve. At Spectrum Generations, we believe that advocacy at a state and federal level is imperative to achieving laws and regulations that support our community’s seniors and their desires for aging well. By providing direct-care workers with a fair wage, we not only help to ease the burden for those who provide support to those who are homebound or live with disabilities, but also guarantee a consistent level of care by highly trained individuals. To that end, we support:
- Funding at adequate levels in order to support the 23% of Maine’s population age 65+, 30% of whom live alone and nearly 20% of whom have a cognitive impairment.
- A MaineCare policy of increasing reimbursement rates now and a plan for future growth, consistent with other increases structured in a way to ensure permanent, minimum floors, not one-time “pass-throughs.”
- Recognition that Direct Care Workers number nearly 4.3 million in the United States today, making them one of the largest cluster occupations in the county.
- A wage rate for direct care workers that demonstrates caregiving is “not a minimum wage job” but rather, an important part of supporting and strengthening Maine families and communities.