SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Two major labor unions representing home care workers are defending California’s In-Home Supportive Services program after the state attorney general announced fraud charges against more than 100 people.
According to the Service Employees International Union Local 2015, SEIU California and UDW/AFSCME Local 3930, the IHSS program serves more than 900,000 children, seniors and people with disabilities across California. The program allows people to live with dignity and independence in their own homes while saving taxpayers billions of dollars compared to institutional care.
The unions thanked Attorney General Rob Bonta, the California Department of Justice and the Department of Health Care Services for their work to ensure the program’s integrity. The organizations said there is no room for fraud in California’s long-term care system.
“Hundreds of thousands of dedicated IHSS providers show up every day to care for California’s most vulnerable residents,” said Arnulfo De La Cruz, president of SEIU California and SEIU Local 2015, and Doug Moore, executive director of the United Domestic Workers of America.
The union leaders said the fraud cases announced represent a tiny fraction of the total IHSS caseload. They argued the cases do not justify the federal government withholding nearly $4 billion in funding to California.
The unions said deferring these funds causes real harm to those who rely on the care delivered through IHSS every day.