Good morning! My name is Jenna Shankman, and I am with Family Caregiver Alliance, one of California’s 11 Caregiver Resource Centers, and I am also a coordinator for the CA Coalition on Family Caregiving.
The California Coalition on Family Caregiving is a coalition comprised of family caregivers and non-profits with a mission to advocate for California policies and services that support diverse unpaid family caregivers and their care recipient(s).
Since our inception in 2022, I’m very excited to share that several of our priority bills have passed, making a difference in access to paid family leave and sick days, and allowing caregivers to stay with their care recipient in the hospital outside of standard visiting hours. I have listed some of our specific wins on this slide.
- FOR EXAMPLE: Thanks to AB 1041 caregivers can take job protected leave to care for chosen and extended family, and thanks to SB 590, starting in 2028, they will also be able to take paid family leave to care for those relationships as well. Importantly, thanks to SB 951, the wage replacement rate for Paid Family Leave is between 70-90% (up from 60-70%).
While we are thrilled about these positive shifts, family caregivers still face many challenges. Family caregivers in California provide complex medical care, often for many years. One of the biggest impacts this has is financial—(impacting things like a caregiver’s own retirement savings and number of work hours) and it can negatively impact a caregiver’s own physical and mental health. The Caregiver Resource Centers with support from UC Davis collects this data on the caregivers we serve every year (highlight some statistics).
One of the things we are focusing on this year is how California caregivers can verify their caregiver status in the least administratively burdensome way, so they can retain their own Medi-Cal benefits if they are not working because of the demands of their care responsibilities. As you can see, 73% of our clients provide care for over 40 hours and week and most care for people who can never be left alone. Caregivers are fortunately exempt from work requirements, but it is up to the state to determine the details of what proving caregiver status looks like. We look forward to partnering with you on this task.
To view the presentation, go to 33:24 in the video below.
PowerPoint Slides: CCoA Aging and Disability for Leg Staff 1.15.26