PHI Offers NYC Council Testimony on Caregiver Bills
The New York City Council held a hearing on April 11 on two proposed caregiver bills, and invited PHI New York Policy Director Carol Rodat to submit testimony (pdf).
The first bill proposes to create and administer a city-wide survey of family caregivers, which will be used to develop goals for the city to better support family caregivers.
Rodat testified that, “while the survey is needed and its goal is laudable, the scope is much too broad and careful planning and funding is essential to ensure meaningful and accurate findings.”
The second bill proposes to establish a Division of Paid Care, within the NYC Office of Labor Standards, which will work as an advocate for home care and child care workers, providing support that includes educating workers about their rights, filing worker complaints, and referring workers to needed resources.
Rodat testified that PHI “strongly supports this proposal and believes recent changes in labor and public law have created a need for an independent advocate on behalf of the workers.
“A Division of Paid Care can focus its attention on hourly workers in direct care and help workers and their employers understand and receive the wages and benefits they have earned,” she said.
The proposed Division of Paid Care closely mirrors PHI’s proposal to create a home care worker advocate or ombudsman, as included in PHI’s Five Steps to Implementing the New Federal Home Care Rule (pdf) and as outlined in more detail in PHI’s new discussion paper.
— by Allison Cook, PHI New York Policy Associate
