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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (April 28, 1999)
Page A8 April 28, 1999 Hearing Reveals Human (The ilortlanh(O bserver fl Services Damaged Low Wages Root of High Turnover, Poor Quality Care abled, the homeless and abused. n a hearing room filled w ith di M allory Pratt, president o f O r rect care workers and their sup egon Action, led o ff testim ony with p o rters, M u ltn o m ah C o u n ty Com m issioners heard in story after excerpts from theN orthw est JobG ap Study, w hich pegs a living w age for story that these employees, their fami a single person in Oregon at over $ 10 lies and their clients are dam aged by per hour and for a family o f three at low wages and poor benefits. Fifteen over $ 16. The average w age for con care givers, em ployees ol non-profit tracted mental health and develop agencies on contract with the County, mental disability w orkers was only testified to their own poverty, in $7.17 per hour in 1998, according to debtedness, ill health, poor housing a recent Direct Care Staffing Report and overwork. Several clients and o f O regon's D epartm ent o f H uman client advocates, including two quad Resources (DHR) W hile above the riplegics. testified to the deteriorated minimum w age($6.50), the w age for quality o f care w ith the high turnover non-profit contract workers is more o f care givers, caused by low wages. than $2 below the market w age rate Three non-profit agency heads agreed for the same or sim ilar work, accord that low wages w ere a serious and ing to Oregon Employm ent Services. growing problem in the industry. Joan Booth union president at In this first step o f an unusual col CODA, a non-profit drug and alcohol laboration by County government, treatment center, testified that 25% ot Jobs with Justice and the Living Wage the workers she represents are eligible Campaign, including labor unions, for the OregonHealth Plan, foodstamps community and taith-based organiza and public housing assistance, 29% tions, the hearing kicked o ff an effort have second jobs, 11% have a third to move the state legislature to appro job, 18% are without medical insur priately value the labor o f human ser ance for their children, and 54° o are vice workers. These workers serve seeking employment elsewhere. children, the elderly, the sick and dis I Tim Craw l, Executive D irectorof the Oregon R ehabilitation A ssocia tion. unveiled the results o f a study showing a 91% per year turnover statewide (up from 72% in 1996) among w orkers in non-profit agen cies serv ing the m entally ill and de- velopmentally disabled. He noted that the turnover is as high as 200% at some local agencies. A ccording to DHR, 8% o f positions are continu ally vacant, causing short staffing, reduced client service and major overtim e expenses. 14% o f positions are "in transition" at any one time, seriously im pacting stable client re lations Home bound clients testified that the difficulty in retaining home care w orkers could force them into costly institutions. Turnover in O regon’s state oper ated hum an service program s is only 19%, with direct care sta ff (state em ployees) paid a first-year wage, on average, o f $9.44 per hour. The County Public A ffairs Coor dinator, G ina M attioda, reported that the G overnor’s Proposed Budget al locates a tw o-percent CO LA (cost o f living adjustm ent) for direct care workers. O ther m easures before the legislature that affect low-wage work ers are SB 1114 w hich increases wages for hom e care w orkers and SB 1169 w hich allow s hom e care w ork ers to form a union and bargain for better wages w ith a H om e Care Pro viders Com m ission. County commissioners reaffirmed their com m itm ent to act in accord with their historic Living W age reso lution passed last O ctober, which recognized that "em ployees o f non profit social and human service agen cies continue to experience low wages and a lack o f benefits. The county’s ability to affect those w ages is lim ited because the O regon Legislature c o n tro ls th e fu n d in g fo r th o se co n tracts.. M ultnom ah County will seek the support and cooperation o f the living w age advocates and to gether with them will bring a strong request to the 1999 O regon Legisla ture for a substantial increase in wages and benefits for the em ployees o f contractors that provide social and human services." Following Philadelphia’s Example B y M arias W right E delman I’ve written in this space before about Freedom Schools, an educa tional enrichment program o f the Black Com m unity Crusade forC hil- dren (BCCC) that offers summ er options to children ages 5-18 who m ay otherw ise be idle, intellectually underchallenged, unsupervised, un safe, or unfed. I want you to know- more about them and tell you what is planned for this summer. Last year, F reedom S chools op erated at 32 sites across the co u n try serving m ore than 2100 ch il dren. T his sum m er, w e ex p ect 43 sites w ill serve ov er 3000 c h il dren. T h ro u g h an ac tiv ity -b a se d reading cu rricu lu m and a superb collection o fb o o k s, children spend sum m er h o u rs w ith p o sitiv e im ages and role m o d els, gain a sense o f th e ir ow n histo ry and culture, and d isc o v er and d ev elo p their in d iv id u al id e n tities and talents. T h e C h i ld r e n ’s D e fe n se F und (C D F ) an d th e B C C C p ro v id e train in g and su p p o rt to s ta ff on su p e rv isio n an d m anagem ent, the reading cu rricu lu m , child d ev el opm ent, c o n flic t reso lu tio n , and le ad ersh ip d evelopm ent. T he F reedom S chool program m odel is unique in that it serves two generations o f young people - the students enrolled in the program and the co lleg e-ag ed adults o r ‘ser vant-leaders' who staff the program. T hrou g h o u t the sum m er, college- aged ad u lts act as teachers, role m odels, and m entors and are re sponsib le for the d ay -to -d ay care o f the children. E xperienced adults and seaso n ed v eteran s serve as sponsors and ad m in istrato rs to the in d iv id u a l p ro g ra m s, p ro v id in g guidance, leadership, and support to the serv an t-lead ers throughout the sum m er. In a new ex p an sio n o f one c ity 's F reedom S um m er 1999, the School D istrict o f P h iladelphia w ill o per ate eight F reedom Schools sites throughout the city serving 700 chil dren. D avid H ornbeck, S uperinten dent o f P h ilad e lp h ia’s S chools, has appoin ted K enneth H oldsm an, D i rector o f S ervice L earning for the S chool D istrict, to organize and provid e o v ersig h t for this new co l laborative. U sing the highly suc cessful F reedom School m odel as a foundation, the S chool D istrict is c o o rd in a tin g a city -w id e y o u th leadership d evelopm ent initiative that w ill em ploy 140 high school students as ‘ju n io rse rv a n t-le a d e rs’ w orking alongside 70 college-aged servan t-lead ers to p rovide assis tance w ith d aily activ ities, p la n ning, and classroom m anagem ent. A certified teacher w ill be assigned to each site to provide instruction and p ro ject assessm ent. C hildren w ho are enrolled in the program and successfully com plete the sum m er w ill receive S chool D istrict academ ic credit. The ju n io r and co lleg e-ag ed servant-leaders se rv ing the sites w ill receive a stipend for th eir participation. P h ila d e lp h ia ’s c o lle g e -a g e d ad u lts w ill jo in o th ers from across the co u n try at the 1999 Ella B aker C h ild P o licy T ra in in g In stitu te co n v en ed at the form er A lex H aley F arm in C lin to n , T en n essee and th e U n iv e r s ity o f T e n n e s s e e - K n o x v ille, June 13-20, 1999. A se p arate train in g sessio n w ill be co n d u c te d for th e ju n io r servant- lead ers M ay 13-16, 1999 at the fo rm er A lex H aley Farm . A co m p reh e n siv e train in g h as b een d e sig n e d to en su re that the ju n io r se rv a n t-lea d ers w ill h av e an u n d erstan d in g o f the F reedom School c o n c ep t an d vision. This collaborative effort will en sure that three generations o f chil dren - school-aged, high school, and college-aged - will be safe this sum mer. They will have a high quality sum m er experience, and 210 new servant-leaders com m itted to their co m m u n ity and each other w ill e m erg e u n d e r th e P h ila d e lp h ia S chool D istric t's leadership and guidance. This Freedom School and High School Youth Leadership Initiative is a city-wide partnership including the M ayor’s Children and Families Cabi net, the Department o f Human Ser vices, the Private Industry Council, and the School District o f Philadel phia. 1 would love to see more cities across the country follow this model. For m ore inform ation about this effo rt or startin g a F reedom School in y o u r co m m u n ity , p le ase call K arm en Pinkney, BCCC P rogram A ssociate, 202-662-3501. For m ore inform ation about the B C C C , co n tact B arbara K elley D uncan, N a tional D irector, B C C C , at 202-662- 3522. A lso, anyone in terested in purchasing the Freedom School cur riculum guides and any o r all o f the w onderful co llectio n o f ch ild re n ’s books available to the young people w ho attend each sum m er can call CD F publications at 202-662-3652 Legacy Health System Announces First Programs Local children will benefit from the first round o f donations through Legacy Health S ystem ’s $ 10 million C om m unity H ealth Fund, which was e stab lish ed last y ear as part o f L egacy’s m ission to im prove the health o f the com m unity. A fter extensive interviews with com m unity advocates over the past nine m onths to determ ine com m u nity need. Legacy chose children as the prim ary focus for donations. Spe cific areas o f focus include: violence prevention, ed u catio n literacy, and early childhood em otional and be havioral developm ent. Funds are tar geted for five projects, totaling close to $300,000 this year alone. In a unique approach to making dona tions, each o f the organizations will actually becom e partners with Legacy H ealth System. "L egacy has chosen to take the unusual approach o f partnering with organizations rather than ju st pro viding cash because we believe that is how w e can really m ake an impact in the com m unity," says The Very Rev. A nthony C. Thurston. Legacy Board M em ber and Chair o f the Com munity Health C ommittee. "W e spent a lot o f tim e establishing criteria and then carefully choosing com m unity projects that will help children grow, learn and be healthy." In two o f the selected program s. Legacy em ployees will work with existing literacy programs by becom ing tutors and mentors to school-age children. Legacy will also supple m ent an existing program o f Project N etw ork by providing m ental health services for young children o f women with substance abuse issues. Another donation w ill support a feasibility study for developm ent o f a center for behavioral and em otional develop m ental services for young children. Legacy is also considering ways to augm ent affordable child care ser vices in the com m unity. "So much o fo u r em ployees’clini cal expertisecentersaroundchildren’s health. We are excited about giving our employees the opportunity to work in the com munity and further dem on strate our com m itm ent to children." says Sonja Steves, Vice President, M arketingandCommunity Relations. “ It is rare for a healthcare organiza tion to allow its employees to volun teer during the work day.” Legacy announced establishment o f the C om m unity Health Fund in June 1998 follow ing an extensive strategic planning process w hich em phasized the importance o f focus ing on L egacy’s m ission to improve the health o f the com munity. The fund, an unusual com m itm ent from a not-for-profit organizations, is a per m anent and stable source o f funds. It is inaddition to L egacy’s long-stand ing practice o f making sm aller com m unity donations and sponsorships through the use o f operating funds. All C om m unity Health Fund allo cations, up to $500,000 peryear, will be determ ined by the Com m unity H ealth Com mittee. Prior to announc ing the first round o f donations, the C om m ittee spent several m onths es tablishing criteria and m ethods o f evaluation. A m ong the key param eters are a com m itm ent to leverage L egacy's clinical expertise, identify opportunities for both prevention and intervention, and build partnerships betw een Legacy and outside organi zations.T heC omm ittee i s c ompri sed o f Legacy Board m em bers, a physi cian, church-appointed representa tive and com m unity members. Legacy H ealth System is an O r egon-based not- for-profit healthcare system w hich includes four hospi tals, a children's hospital, home health agency, full-service research facil ity, prim ary care clinics and occupa tional m edicine clinics. ORS High School Honor Choir to Celebrate Mom with Concert T he O regon R epertory Singers H igh S chool C h o ir w ill perform their annual M o th e r’s D ay C oncert at the A gnes F lanagan C hapel on the L ew is and C lark C ollege cam pus at 2:00 p.m . on M ay 9, 1999. Program w ill feature ten m ove m e n ts o f J o h a n n e s B r a h m ’s Z igeunerlieder and also pieces by P a c h e lb e l, P a s c a n u , M a lc o lm W illiam son, and Jean Belm ont. G eneral adm ission tickets can be p u rch ased at the door or through th e O R S o ffic e a t2 3 0 -0 6 5 2 . Prices are $10 for adults, $5 for all 18 years and under. A bout the O R S H igh School H onor choir. The ensem ble o f 25 vo cally talen ted stu d en ts is ap proaching its fourth season, w hich w ill include a tour o f greater O r e g o n and a p e rfo rm a n c e o f V iv a ld i’s G loria. The choir, under co n d u cto r D w ight U phaus, p er form s a broad range o f repertoire in concert by them selves and w ith O regon R epertory Singers and the O RS C h ild re n ’s Choir. A uditions for the 99-00 season will begin M ay 18, 1999. J TOP TO BOTTOM EASniONATULETICSHOES & CLOTHING We Feature Fubu, Boss, Nike, South Pole, First Down, Fila, Adidas, Lugz T -Shirts 3 /$ lO F reak y C hains ’’Free” COME SEE US and work boots / I n |s iwtil \ li it - S< tl I ( - 71 n i Sm iK- )|ni I l„ m l( ( ÍSI7 i / H S',I . \ | u lin I lillu r Kin | Jr. I k I. ... ’A # ’-',