In-Home Supportive Services Public Authority of Marin Secures Funding to Launch New Program, Expand Benefits for In-Home Service Caregivers
In-Home Supportive Services Public Authority of Marin secures funding to launch new program and expand benefits for in-home service caregivers (www. pa-marin. org)
San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) September 5, 2006
The In-Home Supportive Services Public Authority of Marin (“Public Authority”), which manages caregiver referral services and administers health benefits for individual caregivers working on behalf of the California’s In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program, has received two new funding allocations from the County of Marin to create a new program to meet the short-term needs of IHSS recipients and to enhance benefits for in-home service caregivers.
The County recently certified $60,000 for provider benefits, which will be matched dollar-for dollar by the Federal government. This $120,000 will help defray the increasing costs of health and dental benefits for in-home caregivers. The Public Authority also was awarded $25,000 to establish the Urgent Backup Care Program to meet the specific needs of IHSS recipients who require a short term or urgent care provider.
“The Public Authority is very pleased that the County has granted us additional funding that will allow us to offer health and dental insurance worth over $4,000 a year per person to IHSS caregivers,” said John Stansbury, Executive Director of the Public Authority. "IHSS workers perform essential and often under-appreciated work for a vulnerable population, and they are certainly deserving of adequate compensation that includes sound health and dental benefits."
The Public Authority is launching the new Urgent Backup Care Program (UBC) to fill a gap, which exists between current County programs. Under the current programs, IHSS recipient needs are not fully met for short term, respite or sudden (and potentially life threatening) provider absences. The UBC program will fill this gap by serving two primary types of recipients: those who have a planned and short term need for a replacement of a regular provider; and those who have an unplanned need and would be at risk of becoming critically ill without a replacement provider.
“The Urgent Back-up Care Program is a vital service that is long-overdue here in Marin,” said Herb Meyer, Chairman of the Public Authority’s Board of Governors. “Other Bay Area counties such as Alameda, Berkeley, Contra Costa, San Francisco, Santa Clara and Sonoma already operate similar programs and have demonstrated their critical importance.”
The UBC program will be administered by the Public Authority, which will contract for direct services with a home health care personnel agency. The program will fulfill routine to urgent (non para-medical) requests; it will operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week; and it will place caregivers within 2 hours of initial request. UBC will assign caregivers who provide domestic services, dressing, transferring, elimination, feeding, hospice care, meal preparation and cleanup, protective supervision, shopping for food, other errands, and transportation.
About the In-Home Supportive Services Public Authority of Marin:
Since 2003, the In-Home Supportive Services Public Authority of Marin has managed caregiver referral services and administered health benefits for the State of California's In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program, which provides funding for low income people who are elderly, blind, or living with a disability, and need personal assistance services to live at home safely and independently. The Public Authority supports the IHSS program by recruiting, screening, training and referring qualified caregivers to IHSS recipients, as well as by administering caregiver benefits. Without this help, many people receiving IHSS would be forced to live in nursing homes. Through the IHSS program, IHSS recipients can remain engaged in family and community life. The Public Authority has a constituency of 2600 IHSS recipients and caregivers. Caregivers currently receive a wage of $10.50 an hour and after working half time for 3 months, are eligible for health and dental benefits. For more information, visit www. pa-marin. org.
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