This Juneteenth, PHI Honors Black Direct Care Workers

This Juneteenth, as we mark 160 years since enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, finally learned of their freedom, we honor and celebrate the contributions of Black direct care workers. And at the same time, we know that the legacy of delayed liberation continues to shape the experiences of direct care workers today.

Nearly one in three U.S. direct care workers are Black. PHI honors and celebrates the contributions of these essential caregivers, who have been both indispensable and systematically undervalued throughout our nation’s history.

The exclusion of domestic and care work from past labor protections wasn’t accidental; deliberate policy choices made as landmark workforce legislation was enacted in the 1930s deliberately sought to ensure that jobs where Black women found employment remained underpaid.

Today, structural barriers persist. A total of 37 percent of all direct care workers live in low-income households, and nearly half (49 percent) rely on public assistance programs like Medicaid or SNAP—vital resources that are also being challenged in the current policy climate.

We face a moment when national conversations around structural racism are being proactively discouraged and even restricted. Such conditions threaten critical progress toward racial equity, and bring into sharp focus that addressing the disparities facing direct care workers is not only a moral imperative—it is absolutely essential for protecting and strengthening our nation’s care systems. The families and communities who depend on long-term services and supports cannot afford for us to ignore the structural barriers that undermine this workforce.

PHI calls on policymakers, advocates, and employers to plan and take concrete action. We need to collect workforce data disaggregated by race, implement targeted interventions to improve direct care jobs and working conditions, and enact policies that ensure all direct care workers—regardless of race or immigration status—can earn living wages and build sustainable careers.

The contributions of Black direct care workers have always been vital to our nation’s families and communities. This Juneteenth, please join us in celebrating these essential caregivers, and the care and support they provide for millions of Americans.