In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) is a social service that allows people who need long-term care to receive it in the comfort and safety of their own homes. In Modoc County, nearly 200 IHSS workers provide long-term care services (including household work, personal care services, and paramedical services) to older adults and people with disabilities.
Click here to learn more about the essential long-term care IHSS workers provide.
In our last union contract, we won the first ever pay increase for IHSS workers in Modoc and got the county to invest $1000 a year for personal protective equipment (PPE).
But since then, our current wage has been outpaced by the rising cost of living. Modoc’s home care providers currently earn $17.35 an hour, but the living wage for one adult without children in the county is $21.26. Without IHSS workers, our neighbors who receive services through IHSS would lose access to essential long-term care.
We’re getting ready to start bargaining for a new contract that increases wages and improves benefits for workers and guarantees equitable access to long-term care for all who need it in our community.
Campaign Update 1: February 11, 2025
As the IHSS campaign gets under way, SEIU 2015 members gathered at the Modoc County Board of Supervisors to set the tone for the forthcoming negotiations. Two members of the Modoc bargaining team shared their goals for a fair contract that benefits caregivers, recipients, and the County.
Caregiver Julie Villasana shared that she is a member of the close-knit senior community in Modoc. “I currently take care of two people, both of them elderly and with serious conditions,” she said. “I knew both of my recipients personally before I became their caregiver.”
“I myself am on disability but continue to work in service of this community,” she added. “IHSS plays a big role in these people’s lives and these are important relationships to maintain.”
She explained how a strong contract would ensure that people like her can continue to serve the community. “Caregivers need wages and benefits that will keep up with our basic needs to ensure we can keep quality caregivers in this industry for a long time.”
Bargaining team member Vicki Grilli said she takes care of four members of the Modoc community in addition to working a second job. “I have a lot of empathy for my clients, I try to put myself in their shoes,” she said. “We need compassionate caregivers in Modoc to keep our seniors and folks living with disabilities safe.”
The best way to attract these workers is through strong wages and protections, she said. “Our IHSS caregivers would like to be treated with the same respect that our traveling CNAs, nurses and doctors receive,” she said. “We deserve the pay and benefits necessary to live a fulfilled life and attend to our basic needs without living paycheck to paycheck.”