Shortage of paid caregivers keeps family members up at night
Tracy Samilton, Michigan Radio
View Comments
View Comments
Misty Evans stands in her client Ric’s living room in Midland, helping him pick out a record to play on the turntable.
“Which one do you want?” she asks. Ric loves popular music from the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s. “Boy oh boy oh boy,” answers Ric.
Music selection is just one of the many tasks Misty helps Ric with during her shifts as a direct care worker. Ric, whose last name we’re withholding at the request of his parents, is 58. He has cystic fibrosis and lives in his own, subsidized apartment. He has profound intellectual and physical disabilities and needs care around the clock. Sometimes he hits himself. Sometimes he hits his caregivers.
Evans helps Ric with just about everything: using the toilet, showering, getting into and out of his wheelchair.
Evans is one of roughly 60,000 direct care workers in the state who take care of elderly people or people with disabilities who live in their own homes.
“You can start at Target at $15 an hour. We start at $10.50. You can’t compete with that.”
Besides cleaning, cooking and personal care for [...]