Marin increases ‘living wage,’ but home caregivers press for more

Marin supervisors have approved an increase in the county’s “living wage” rate, but that didn’t satisfy a throng of people calling for a much larger pay hike for workers in the In-Home Supportive Services program.

The supervisors, meeting Tuesday, authorized an increase in the living wage from its present rate of $16.80 an hour to $18 an hour effective Jan. 1. The state’s minimum hourly wage, which is $15.50, is slated to rise to $16.00 in January.

But Pat Langley, a founding member of the Marin Organizing Committee, said, “We are here to encourage you to direct the county’s bargaining team to find resources to increase salaries on a path towards a truer living wage of $26 an hour for our In-Home Supportive Services workers.”

Several organizing committee members, IHSS clients and other supporters echoed Langley’s call during the public comment period of the meeting.

County managers said a new contract will soon be negotiated with the supportive services workers and that their wages are likely to rise further then.

Talia Smith, a county administrative analyst, said Marin’s living wage is not a minimum wage for the county. Established in 2002, Marin’s living wage applies to county contractors and subcontractors doing business with the county for a value of $25,000 or more during a fiscal year.

“Historically the largest group that is affected by the living wage rate are the IHSS providers,” Smith said.

The IHSS program provides home care services to Medi-Cal-eligible aged, blind or otherwise disabled people to allow them to remain in their homes.

As a result of the increase in the living wage, IHSS workers in Marin will see their hourly wage increase from $16.95 an hour to $18. The increase, however, will be phased in over two steps. It will rise to $17.45 an hour on Jan. 1 and then to $18 an hour on Feb. 1.

The two-step process is necessary to take full advantage of state contributions to cover the costs. The federal government pays half of the cost of IHSS workers’ salaries. The other half is split between the state and counties.

Even with the full state contribution, the increase in the living wage will result in an additional $300,000 in ongoing costs for the county.

Langley urged supervisors not to wait to give IHSS workers a more significant raise.

“We need to take this opportunity to make us competitive in the labor market, even if we have to absorb some of the state contribution for a short time,” Langley said.

A number of counties — Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and San Mateo — all pay their IHSS workers more than Marin.

“Workers in San Francisco already make $20.25 an hour and will go up to $25.50 an hour by January 2027,” Langley said. “As the county’s oldest population in the Bay Area, we are in need of all the assistance we can get to attract good people to care for our seniors and disabled.”

Karen Petterson of San Anselmo, also a organizing committee member, said she volunteers at St. Vincent de Paul Society’s homelessness prevention desk and has spoken with seniors there who are on the waiting list for an IHSS caregiver.

“At St. Vincent de Paul we get referrals from adult protective services for people who are at risk of losing their housing,” Petterson said, “especially low-income renters because of situations like hoarding or failure to pay rent.”

“A reliable and professional IHSS caregiver is a critical part of the care system that can intervene and help prevent these people from falling into homelessness,” she said.

Rhea Brown of San Rafael, also an organizing committee member and a member of the county’s Commission on Aging, said, “We’ve learned that people want to remain in their homes as they age. And for many, this means outside caregivers will need to be brought in, but Marin has a shortage of available caregivers due to the high cost of living here.”

Shannon Griffin of San Rafael, also an organizing committee member, said another problem is that the state won’t authorize paying IHSS workers for the number of hours necessary to meet clients’ basic needs.

For example, Griffin said a friend of hers with Parkinson’s disease, who can’t walk or feed herself, is allotted seven hours a week for meal preparation, one hour a week for laundry and 12 minutes a week for transportation to and from medical appointments.

“Clearly IHSS dictates inadequate hours for the approved tasks,” Griffin said. “Combined with caregivers being paid poverty level wages, it’s no wonder that it is so difficult to attract caregivers.

“The county can’t change the allowed time,” she added, “but you can make significant strides towards raising the hourly wages to a living wage.”