Federal Judge Blocks California In-Home Service Cuts
This cross-post from AFSCME reports the good news that a judge has blocked California’s plans to reduce or drop in-home care services for 130,000 people.
United Domestic Workers Homecare Providers Union (UDW/AFSCME) and its partners in a class-action lawsuit have won a key victory in their battle to prevent as many as 130,000 low-income seniors and people with disabilities from losing critical in-home care services.
U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken in Oakland this week issued a preliminary injunction stopping the state from changing rules in November that would have caused 40,000 people to lose in-home services, such as meal preparation and housekeeping. Services for another 90,000 would have been significantly reduced.
Home Care Workers Protest Budget Cuts That Would Drop 380,000 Patients
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More than 3,000 members of the United Domestic Workers Homecare Providers Union (UDW/AFSCME) joined with other service workers and their allies in Los Angeles to support critical public programs from the budget ax.
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) has proposed budget cuts that UDW says would all but destroy the In Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program, which provides home care for more than 420,000 low-income elderly and Californians with disabilities.
Under the latest Schwarzenegger plan, some 380,000 individuals—nearly 90 percent of all IHSS participants—would be thrown out of the program. This comes on top of an earlier proposal from the governor that would cut the pay for the state’s home care providers back to minimum wage.
