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Committee on Aging Meeting Minutes Friday, September 27, 2019 Page 3 • Currently, many home -care workers, while employed, are either living under the poverty line or barely making it. B. Almost everyone in the room has been a caregiver or has had experience trying to get help for a semi -dependent family member. It's an issue that affects us all! C. What are some of the obstacles to developing this workforce? Why is there a shortage? How does it look from the workers' point of view? • Kara D'Avella, Island CPR said that they tried to start a CNA class in Honoka'a where these services are much needed; even with financial assis- tance only 2 people showed up. While financial aid helps, it is also im- portant that the students pay something; without "skin in the game" they don't take it seriously and may never work in the field. She noted that many don't want to work in an institution, but there are no good alternatives. • Certification renewal is also a problem. It costs $280 and requires 24 -hours of in-service; it's expensive and it is not easy to find places to do the in-service hours. • Cionie Patricio, Nurse Aide Training School said that CNA's are being snapped up by hospitals (especially in Honolulu) which pay $18.00 an hour and up, and home service providers unable to compete with those wages. Hospitals call them "clinical assistants" and they are in huge demand - but still, too few are finding these occupations attractive. • Some of the health aides are being hired privately at $25.00 an hour. For a kupuna who can afford this, that might be ok, but many cannot. • The work itself is stressful. The in-home worker has TWO bosses. One from the agency, and the other one is the kupuna they are caring for. • Steve Ono noted that because of the shortages, existing workers are over burdened. Rather than put someone on the waitlist, a case worker is given yet another person to care for. We do not want people to wait - often they really CAN'T wait - but how much can we put on the existing workforce? Overwork is another reason workers leave the field. • Many who are CNA's would like a career ladder; their goal is to eventually become RN's.