Following a federal court order by Judge Claudia Wilken halting the implementation of severe cuts to home care for 130,000 Californians, new information presented during a Capitol hearing yesterday demonstrates that the Schwarzenegger Administration is unprepared to meet its own Nov. 1 deadline to implement new restrictions on In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program providers.

At least seven California counties have said that the Administration has provided confusing orders and failed to provide funds and materials promised to counties and at yesterday's legislative hearing, counties and stakeholders described how home care providers, and the seniors and people with disabilities who rely on home care have been thrown into a state of confusion due to the lack of preparedness. "It is troubling that with just four days until new job requirements go into effect, the State still has not given us clear information on what these changes mean for our jobs and for the people we serve," said Raul Rivera, a home care worker represented by SEIU 521 in Santa Clara County.

Who's going to be the most affected by Gov. Schwarzenegger's failure to provide adequate time to implement changes and consistent, clear guidelines: the state's approximately 450,000 elderly and disabled care recipients, as well as close to 380,000 providers statewide. What is the Schwarzenegger Administrations' reaction to CA counties' warnings of the chaos and panic likely to ensue, should these cuts go forward on Nov. 1 as planned? Tough luck! (and that's phrasing it nicely). Officials said today that they intend to go forward with the scheduled November 1st implementation date.

More about the specific concerns and obstacles preventing county governments from implementing the changes the Schwarzenegger administration ordered at the SEIU California State Council website and California Progress.

Home care providers, seniors, and people with disabilities prevailed in federal court yesterday, securing a preliminary injunction to stop cuts to essential home care for 130,000 Californians. We've been following this fight for several months now, and it's such amazing news for home care workers and those they care for that this ruling will put a stop to these devastating cuts.

Watch SEIU's Deb Roth recap the ruling from Judge Wilkins:

The planned budget cuts of $82.1 million in services were scheduled to take place November 1, and would've resulted in 40,000 people losing IHSS services entirely and an additional 90,000 having their services slashed.

A U.S. District Court judge issued a preliminary injunction last week ordering the state of California to halt pay cuts of nearly 20 percent -- from $12.10 an hour down to $9.50 -- for the state's 400,000 home care workers. This ruling is big news for home care workers and those they care for, as it will temporarily stop the cuts that were to go into effect July 1st in those counties at risk.

There's a war being waged against home care, and Governor Schwarzenegger is leading the call. We can celebrate this initial victory, but this injunction will not stop the Governor from trying to cut home care again. CA State Department of Finance spokesman H.D. Palmer has made this much clear, saying that the Schwarzenegger administration "can't imagine a legal interpretation that would prevent the state from moving forward to implement [the proposed cuts to home care]."

It's up to us to keep the pressure on. Now that a court has ruled against the Governor and his cuts, we need to ask him to reverse course on these short-sighted cuts.
Please call the Governor now and tell him: "Home care not only saves money, it saves lives. We need a common sense budget that protects home care:"

HUGE news for home care workers and those they care for. In response to SEIU lawsuit, a U.S. District Court judge issued an injunction Thursday afternoon ordering the state of California to halt a proposed $2 cut in wages for the state's 400,000 home care workers.

The injunction has the effect of stopping pay cuts in all California counties that were planning on passing the state cut through to their home care workers.

The injunction, issued by federal judge Claudia Wilken, was in response to a lawsuit filed by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which has 250,000 home care members in California. The lawsuit alleges the wage cut violates the federal Medicaid Law, Americans with Disabilities Act, and Rehabilitation Act.

"This ruling is bringing hope to hundreds of thousands of home care consumers and workers all across the state," said Mary Harms, a home care worker in Contra Costa County. "We had no choice but to ask the court to help us after the governor and legislature let everyone down and put so many people in danger."

The enjoined state budget cuts would have slashed homecare workers' wages to as low as $9.50 an hour. The wage cuts would have forced thousands of homecare providers to leave their employment to seek living-wage jobs, forcing frail seniors and people with disabilities to enter nursing homes or other residential institutions.