Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the IHSS topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Caregivers press Shasta County supervisors for livable IHSS wages; closed session yields no reportable IHSS action
Summary
Multiple IHSS caregivers and an organizer told the board that 4,200 caregivers support roughly 4,500 recipients and urged higher wages and investment; the board moved the IHSS item up, heard testimony, recessed to closed session and returned with no reportable action.
Shasta County caregivers urged the Board of Supervisors on March 11 to increase pay and invest in the county's In‑Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program, saying higher wages would help retain providers who care for seniors and people with disabilities.
"For the past 17 years, I've had the privilege of being Tina's IHSS caregiver and friend," said Susan McMains, who read a statement on behalf of a client and asked the board to invest in IHSS wages. "Invest in IHSS, raise wages for workers to help ensure what Tina went through never happens to another one of your constituents again."
Madeline, who identified herself as an organizer representing roughly 4,200 IHSS workers in Shasta County and said those workers provide care to about 4,500 people locally, thanked the board for recent movement in negotiations and urged continued bargaining in good faith.
Earlier the chair moved to advance the IHSS agenda item from later in the schedule; the motion to move the IHSS item up passed unanimously (5-0). After hearing several caregivers' accounts the board recessed to closed session for the IHSS agenda. Upon return County Counsel reported no reportable action from that IHSS closed session.
Speakers tied the plea for higher wages to broader county priorities such as reducing institutionalization, lowering long-term facility costs, and supporting home-based care as a fiscally responsible approach. Organizers emphasized that IHSS workers live and spend locally, arguing wage increases would benefit the county economy in addition to improving care continuity.
The board did not announce any immediate wage increases during the meeting. Supervisors and staff indicated negotiations and follow-up work would continue in subsequent sessions and that certain bargaining and legal matters would proceed in closed session when required by labor and personnel law.
