From Deseret News archives:
State tackles shortage of direct-care workers
The shortage has become so serious that Utah sent experts from three state government departments the first such governor's cabinet level partnership anyone can remember and workers from at least 40 Utah provider groups to three roundtable discussions in three days in Provo, Ogden and Salt Lake.
Also attending was the country's leading expert on recruitment and retention of workers who look after the most vulnerable Americans. In Utah, those workers only make about $8 an hour, or about what the federal minimum wage will be starting July 2009.
"Utah simply isn't doing what it needs to do," Amy Hewitt, a professor at the University of Minnesota Institute on Community Integration, where she directs several federal and state research and care worker evaluation projects. She made her comments to the Deseret Morning News Friday during a break at the roundtable discussion in West Valley.
The roundtables are a joint recognition and a joint effort to increase quality as well as interest in doing a very difficult job, said Chuck Bruder, roundtable coordinator and program administrator for the state Division of Services for People With Disabilities.
State lawmakers appropriated $1.1 million to increase care during the upcoming fiscal year. It was half of what care providers, the state Department of Human Services and the governor requested and will reduce by about 100 a waiting list of about 1,850 Utahns who are without services of any kind.
"We saw this coming and we've been working on this for a few years now," Bruder said. Utah has a unique set of problems, including the lowest unemployment rate in the country less than 3 percent "and much appreciated but continuously inadequate" funding from the Legislature, he said.
"That combined with a robust economy you have McDonald's offering between $10.50 and $12.50 to start in some parts of the state we've got some pretty tough recruitment and retention issues," Bruder said. "Most people who care for the disabled are doing from the heart already and do their jobs very well. This is a step toward getting professional help and establishing professional development so a care provider is viewed more like a professional and less like a servant."
Comments
- Cougars beat Utes in overtime 1:11 a.m.
- UVU beats SUU; USU wins big 12:57 a.m.
- BYU spikers end season with a loss 12:55 a.m.
- Iverson may be headed to 76ers 12:34 a.m.
- Credit Coug defense for win 12:33 a.m.
- Aggies blow away T-birds 12:32 a.m.
- Mo steals show in Cavaliers' victory 12:31 a.m.
- Editorial: Facilitate Big Brother? 12:22 a.m.
- Mom befriends wife of PTSD vet 12:21 a.m.
- Political clash over U.S. debt 12:21 a.m.
- Cave to be sealed with body inside
- Hall mouths off about hate of Utah
- Predicting the unpredictable: BYU wins
- Cougars beat Utes in overtime
- BYU is champion of the state
- Vegas, Poinsettia bowls or bust
- Man trapped in Nutty Putty cave dies
- BYU football: 5 keys to victory
- Glover gives Utes last-second upset
- Idaho woman dies after fall
- Cougars beat Utes in overtime
396 - Hall mouths off about hate of Utah
150 - Thunder rolls by Jazz
136 - Cave to be sealed with body inside
115 - Man trapped in Nutty Putty cave dies
115 - Editorial: Poor welcome for Palin
113 - Rivalry Week is highly profane
88 - Hall's legacy measured today
75 - Y. focused on 10-win season
73 - Letters: C02 causes warming
70
I wanted to tell them not to go. I dropped subtle hints. "My money is on...
When I was a kid, I worshipped my grandpa. He was undoubtedly my hero....
watch out for next year for sure, the negatives are just closet (and...
And something else, I generally follow players from the state schools when...
I could care less that Max Hall said what he did. The feeling is mutual BYU...
Dear Max, probably could have done without that comment. Probably would've...
As a Utah fan, let me first say congratulations to Max Hall, the Cougars, and...
Geno's and Pat's are good.. but, they are mostly for tourists, the real...
(You even got a middle initial... how's that for 'ya Max) It's nice to see...
Even today, I still cannot get enough of this movie or Charles Gitonga Maina....
...disappointed with Max Hall's comments that he hates everything about UofU....
Over the last few days I read comments of people complaining about tasteless...



You can be the first to comment on this story.