Workforce is a justice issue

Workforce, Workforce, Workforce! I sound like a broken record, but workforce recruitment and retention are the greatest challenges in health and human services.

They haven’t yet invented a robot that can care for nursing home residents or foster children, or welcome refugees at the airport. The entire United States is in the worst workforce crisis/emergency in modern history. There are almost twice as many jobs open as there are people to fill them. Health and human services providers are mostly dependent on government funding. None of us want to pay more taxes, but our taxes pay for our parents’ nursing home and that foster child.

LSC used to advocate for a living wage, but we have revised that to a competitive wage. If an order-filler in a distribution center is making $20/hr., a CNA providing loving care 24/7 should be making more!

The Carolinas and the nation really have two issues to address: immigration and adequate funding. Legal immigration is the only way to provide enough workers. And health and human services need adequate funding to pay workers competitively.

Workforce is a justice issue: justice for our elders and children who are receiving less than they deserve, and justice for direct care workers who our society is not treating fairly.

Every one of us can help change that by raising our voices every day, by demanding action from politicians, and by voting. We can change the world.