Excellacare Care Provider Sarah Sutherlin gets her phone ready for her client Carmela Palamara, 92, of Brownstown to sign her name to clock Sutherlin out after finishing coloring together at Palamara s home in Brownstown on Wednesday, April 14, 2021. Sutherlin has done in home personal care and homemaking to help her live independently three days-a-week for the last three years.
Credit Ryan Garza/Detroit Free Press
Advocates say they re still confident that a $2.25 pay increase for direct care workers will be included in next year s budget.
That s even though the state House Appropriations Committee did not approve an amendment for the pay increase on Wednesday.
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Permanent wage increase essential for Michigan DCWs (Image Credit (Resch Strategies/Media Image))
After an important amendment to fully fund Michigan s Direct Care workforce wage increase was struck down in the state s House Appropriations Committee this morning, advocates and families are again calling for a permanent fix to support caregivers over the long term.
State Rep. Felicia Brabec (D-Pittsfield Twp.) offered today s amendment with the support of several other Democrat committee members. We are incredibly grateful to Rep. Brabec and her colleagues for their initiative and urge the full chamber to support this amendment when the budget reaches the House floor, said Robert Stein, general counsel for the Michigan Assisted Living Association. If not for the temporary increases passed to adequately compensate Direct Care Workers during the past year, tens of thousands of our state s families would be facing tremendous hardship today. And if today s temporary increase
Gov. Whitmer signs supplemental funding to support COVID-19 recovery plan, additional work now needed to fully utilize federal aid
Funding secured for wage increase for direct care workers, schools, emergency rental assistance, vaccine administration, and testing.
LANSING, Mich. Today Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed legislation that supports the COVID-19 recovery plan she sent to the legislature in January. It includes key provisions of the governor’s MI COVID Recovery Plan, including a $2.25/hour wage increase for direct care workers, $283 million in federal emergency rental assistance to help ensure people can stay in their homes, up to $110 million in federal funding for vaccine administration, and up to $555 million in federal funding for testing and tracing.
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$135 million to extend the $2.00/hour wage increase for direct care workers assisting the elderly and other vulnerable individuals during this especially difficult time. (Image Credit (Media Image))
Today s budget announcement from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer followed up on her State of the State message by introducing a plan to make permanent a $2.00/hour wage increase for Direct Care Workers.
Residential and vocational Direct Care Workers provide much-needed personal care, training, emotional support and respite to people with developmental disabilities and mental illness. Currently, the temporary $2.00/hour wage increase is set to expire Feb. 28. The Governor s actions on this issue are tremendously important, said Todd Culver, CEO of Incompass Michigan. We hope this is an early indication of state policymakers willingness to extend the temporary increase beyond the end of this month. If Mar. 1 arrives without a solution in place, the state s Direct Care Workers will t
LANSING Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Thursday proposed a $67 billion state budget for fiscal year 2022 she says would “keep Michigan on the road to recovery” from a global pandemic that led to unprecedented health, economic and educational challenges.
The Republican-led Legislature is sure to reject or modify some of the spending initiatives, but the proposal stands as a statement of priorities for the Democratic governor. She claimed it would help Michigan “build back better,” referencing a campaign pledge by President Joe Biden.
The Michigan plan would continue a pandemic pay increase for direct care workers, expand a college tuition program for frontline workers, help replace or repair local bridges, boost K-12 school spending and give districts more money to address learning losses associated with remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.