Moore: Home providers support efforts to stop fraud

Two views on caregiver scams

By Doug Moore

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Throughout California, thousands of home care providers in the In Home Supportive Services program give loving care to nearly a half million of our state's most vulnerable people.

Many of these unsung heroes have given up jobs and even careers to give needed support to their own family members who are elderly, blind or disabled. In return for this, they receive less than $10 an hour. Some get health benefits, but providers in 12 counties don't. That's hardly the kind of windfall someone would willingly give up a job or career to get.

Yet, rather than being praised for their dedication and thanked for their efforts, home care providers are now branded as "scam artists" and worse. They and those who represent them have become the target of a clearly ideological statewide campaign designed to convince the public of "widespread" fraud in the program. County supervisors and state legislators, ambitious district attorneys and even some in the media have piled on.

Wyatt: State needs to help counties investigate reports
IN RESPONSE TO ...

Both these articles respond to "Program for seniors, disabled needs better watchdogs," which appeared Monday on Page A-11 and is still available to read at www.modbee.com/opinion under the Our Views label. We also published a letter to the editor, "Editorial insults caregivers," on this subject Wednesday. It, too, is available on modbee.com.

Rather than accepting these breathless reports of pervasive fraud without question, we need to put the issue in its proper perspective. For example, we're pleased that Stanislaus Community Services Agency Director Christine Applegate recognizes that fraud is not rampant in the IHSS program in her county.

Let me be clear: United Domestic Workers strongly believes that funds for IHSS from the federal, state and county governments should be used honestly and effectively and that any fraud and abuse should be eliminated from the program.

Two years ago, UDW sponsored Senate Bill 868, which was signed into law by Gov. Schwarzenegger. This law helps fight fraud and abuse in IHSS. Unfortunately, a number of the legislators who are now complaining so loudly about fraud in the program voted "no."

This year UDW is sponsoring Assembly Bill 378, which would create training standards in the IHSS program.

The state and the counties are free to require and tighten up background checks, institute tougher program standards and reporting requirements, and increase training of home care providers. The current background check process allows for all providers to be screened. UDW supports that and more.

Yes, you can find examples of fraud in the IHSS program, as well as in every other government program and — with Bernie Madoff being just the latest example — in the private sector as well.

But that does not make it right for partisan ideologues to spread unproven allegations of rampant fraud, to smear hundreds of thousands of dedicated home care providers and the clients they serve, and to weaken one of the most cost-effective programs in state government — a program that saves California taxpayers an estimated $200 million a year.

Moore is executive director of the 65,000-member UDW Homecare Providers Union. It represents more than 4,000 IHSS providers in Stanislaus County.