Closing the Care Gap for Families in the 21st Century
In early July, Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) will introduce a novel policy proposal that could be life changing for the millions of Americans who quietly worry and wonder who they can call on for help and steady companionship when a loved one becomes ill, disabled, or very old.
The Caregiver Corps Act of 2014 is designed to train and organize volunteers of all ages in communities across the country. It would charter local Caregiver Corps to harness the power and passion of volunteers who want to make a difference in the lives of their neighbors and community members. Corps members would provide companionship, as well as nonmedical assistance, such as delivering food or making a minor repair. They can also offer homebound people a way to connect with the larger world.
To ensure consistency and to provide guidance and support for local programs, the bill establishes a national Caregiver Corps program to support local initiatives. It will develop a core training and operational toolkit for communities to use, helping them avoid or solve problems as they launch. Local Corps would then form or existing organizations would qualify and affiliate. Corps could be sponsored by private- or public-sector organizations or perhaps by a community coalition.
Requirements for local Corps would be simple and straightforward. They would
- Conduct screening and criminal history background checks of volunteers;
- Provide in-person orientation and core training, along with any supplemental training a community might wish to offer;
- Administer a system to match volunteers with adults in the community and a system for tracking outcomes of volunteer assistance; and
- Establish ways to appropriately recognize volunteers, time, and commitment through mechanisms such as time banking, modest stipends, tuition credits, discounts, or debt forgiveness.
The need to create Caregiver Corps programs in communities across the country has never been clearer. The shrinking pool of family caregivers and the economic realities of working families mean that elders will have fewer people on whom to rely. At the same time, the demand for home and community-based services will escalate, but it is not clear that the workforce of personal and home care aides — whose salaries and benefits are low, and whose prospects for advancement are poor — will grow rapidly enough to meet the need for in-home assistance.
Most aged people will, at some point, need the assistance of working-age adults who are willing to help a neighbor to do the small tasks that are essential to living in the community and to alleviate the loneliness of living with disabilities in old age.
Local Caregiver Corps could fill the looming care gap, supplementing the work of family caregivers, and providing the kinds of nonmedical quality-of-life supports that personal and home care aides generally cannot perform. These could range from helping an elder navigate computers and learn other supportive technologies, to accompanying an individual to a cultural outing, to sharing knowledge about topics and activities of mutual interest. They could provide a break for family caregivers or help with mowing the lawn or replacing a light bulb. While volunteers would offer enthusiasm, compassion, and insight, they would also learn essential skills for improving day-to-day life for older adults and their families, both by interacting with these individuals and by supporting programs that serve them.
As we embark on our collective age wave journey, we have no shared cultural experience of living with so many old people all at one time. Transforming personal experience into volunteer experience at the community level in a way that serves a collective good is central to forging a future that we can all live with happily and comfortably. Finding ways to engage and support people of all generations who have the skills, resources, and motivation to help is in everyone’s self-interest. The challenge before us is how we can accomplish this goal, and the Caregiver Corps Act of 2014 is an important part of the answer.
As soon as the bill is introduced or the Senator’s office posts the summary or the bill, we will put a link here. Make a note to check back in a few days! Sen. Casey announced the bill at a Senate Special Committee field hearing in Pittsburgh on June 30, 2014. Titled “Sandwich Generation Squeeze: Confronting the Middle-Class Struggle to Raise Kids, Care for Aging Parents, and Scrape Together Enough for Retirement in Today’s Economy,” the hearing was held from 1 to 3 p.m. in the Allegheny County Courthouse.
Want to learn more?
Sen. Casey press release on the Caregiver Corps concept:
http://www.casey.senate.gov/newsroom/releases/casey-hearing-examines-challenges-that-regions-sandwich-generation-faces-caring-for-older-parents-raising-children-and-preparing-for-retirement
U. S. Senator Robert P. Casey (D-PA):
http://www.casey.senate.gov
Keywords: Caregiver Corps, Senator Casey, Caregiver Corps Act of 2014, caregivers, volunteers, family caregiving
