Caregiver Training: Eureka Class is Next to Try to Boost Numbers
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he government reports unpaid family caregivers will likely continue to be the largest source of long-term care services in the nation, but too few county residents are aware that a free 42-hour training course offered locally can better equip them to care for a loved one. It can also open the door to a spot on the caregiver registry and a job as a private caregiver. “Family caregivers and unpaid nonfamily caregivers get a registration fee waiver,” said Jeanie Ren, program manager for Caregiver Services and Information & Assistance. “Everyone else pays only $20, and that doesn’t even cover the photocopies and materials we hand out.” Ren coordinates six training sessions a year for Area 1 Agency on Aging. The next one is slated to begin in Eureka on Oct. 16. The class runs Tuesday and Thursdays from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. through Nov. 13 and requires 27 hours in a classroom and 15 hours of homework. The same class concluded last week in McKinleyville and will run again in Fortuna Feb. 19 through March 19. In addition to cooking meals, cleaning houses and shopping for groceries, caregivers assist with medications and bathe, dress, lift and transport those who need help. “Most caregivers are spouses or children and the rest are paid em-
ployees who can be awfully hard to find,” Ren said. “These classes are the key to providing quality care and to meeting what has proven to be a growing need in our community.” More than 1,800 people have completed the training since the classes started in 2000, with an all-time high of 237 finishing in 2010. But the number fell to 82 in 2011. “The county was unable to continue our contract to provide training in the aftermath of state budget cuts to In-Home Support Services,” Ren said. The county manages IHSS, a cadre of caregivers who serve the community’s most frail and needy residents, yet make $8 an hour compared to the $10 to $16 Ren said private caregivers command and the $21 to $26 rate paid through a caregiving agency. By supporting training to the tune of $144,000, the county improved the skills of its IHSS workforce at the same time it expanded the pool of caregivers. “We encourage people in our training to take on an IHSS client because they are usually the people with the greatest need,” Ren said. “IHSS clients find it really hard to find caregivers at $8 an hour.” “It’s another of the challenges our community faces: how to afford to continued on page 7 SPECIAL INSERT TO THE NORTH COAST JOURNAL • THURSDAY, SEP. 27, 2012
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