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.