Sacramento -  Following today's announcement press conference of the Sacramento County IHSS Task Force, Sacramento County home care worker John Campbell released the following statement:  
 
“No one is more committed to the safety of home care consumers and the integrity of the home care program than those of us who have dedicated our lives and careers to serving seniors and people with disabilities as home care providers.  

“Home care workers have led efforts to strengthen the quality of home care by advocating for background checks for providers, training standards, lower caseloads for the social workers who oversee home care cases, increased home visits, and more funding for Adult Protective Services.

“Home care is a lifeline for hundreds of thousands of Californians, and it saves a huge amount of money for taxpayers, since otherwise many home care consumers would require nursing home care, which can cost up to five times more than home care on average.

“We will continue to work with local authorities to strengthen the integrity of this crucial program and to ensure access to reliable home care services on which 400,000 Californians depend.”

Home care workers in California are represented by three of SEIU’s locals: SEIU – United Health Care Workers West (SEIU-UHW); SEIU – United Long-Term Care Workers, ULTCW; and SEIU Local 521.

# # #

SEIU California is a coalition of over 700,000 janitors, social workers, security officers, home care workers, school and university employees, healthcare workers, and city, county and state employees represented by SEIU local unions throughout California. We come together to build a better California by fighting to pass policies and elect candidates that benefit working families and advance the issues we care about: affordable healthcare, good wages, retirement security for all, a healthy environment, good schools and universities, and stronger communities. We believe that by working together we can build a California where working families can thrive again.