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Dear Friends and Allies,
We’re taught that care is a family responsibility, and that our institutions don’t have a role to play. But when our institutions and leaders fail to support and demonstrate care, they fail us altogether — from restricting women’s care choices to the horrific situation continuing at the border.
This month we’re sharing some critical and concrete ways we’re working to create an alternative path forward that lifts us all up. Our bold vision for Universal Family Care is now out in the world, thanks to the support of so many of you. This week, our sisters at the National Domestic Workers Alliance are introducing a federal bill of rights, paving the way for safety and dignity for all workers. And we know each of you is playing a role in the collective work it will take to truly care for one another — our squad is indeed big, and it is caring!
- Antonia and all of us at Caring Across
Universal Family Care Report Launch
On June 24th, we co-hosted an event at the Press Club in DC with the National Academy of Social Insurance to introduce and discuss its new report, Designing Universal Family Care. We are grateful to the 29 experts, who are leaders in their respective fields, for coming together in producing this milestone report over the past year — with a special shout out to our own research director, Ben Veghte. Read more for highlights from inside and outside the room here, and select press coverage below.
Bonus: Check out NYT Opinion’s Instagram Stories to hear from caregivers themselves on how UFC would change their lives. And stay tuned for the release of Workforce Matters, a report outlining PHI’s recommendations for strengthening the direct care workforce as social insurance programs take shape, at the end of the month.
Comedy Writers' Room
Late last month, in partnership with The Center for Media and Social Impact, we pulled together a weeklong writer’s room at Comedy Central in NYC to turn care stories into comedy. Writers from the Tonight Show to Pod Save America to High Maintenance — who all have care stories themselves — came up with some truly inspired pitches using experiences from our members and insights from our narrative and audience research. Some of our faves: “Dead Talks” — think TED Talks, but for older celebs looking to impart their wisdom (and some dark humor), and “Help Me Help Them,” a Queer Eye-inspired fixer-upper show to help people prep for caregiving. Up next: pitching studios — and if you want to help us get these in front of an audience, please reach out!
In the Field
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California: The Golden State is one step closer to the passage of a bill to address aging Californians’ LTSS needs: SB 512, which would create a roadmap for LTSS in the state, won $1 million for an actuarial study in the state’s budget, just signed by Governor Newsom. Plus, the bill is moving right along in the statehouse: it was voted off the Senate floor, passed out of the Aging & LTC Committee and has now been referred to the Assembly Committee on Human Services.
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Maine: Our partners in Maine saw their hard work pay off when Governor Mills signed into law an earned income tax credit for family caregivers. This allows low- and moderate- income working families to keep more of what they earn, accounting in part for the huge out-of-pocket costs that family caregivers face.
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Oregon: Our partners at Family Forward Oregon helped drive the passage of the most expansive paid leave law in the nation, signed into law on June 20th, which gives 12 weeks of paid leave to new parents, caregivers for relatives, and victims of domestic violence. It’s also the only bill in the country to offer low-wage workers 100% of their paychecks when they’re off, recognizing how important paid leave is for those living paycheck-to-paycheck.
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Washington: In May, Governor Jay Inslee signed the state’s Long-term Care Trust Act into law, giving the wide-ranging coalition of Washingtonians who fought for this bill the win they deserve, and securing the futures of caregivers in the state for decades to come.
On The Hill
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In June, we co-led the #SummerCare week of action along with the Center for American Progress, MomsRising, and a number of other groups advocating for the Child Care for Working Families Act, to highlight the fact that, just because school is out, that doesn’t mean families’ care needs hit pause. The #SummerCare call-in day and twitter storm led to three new cosponsors for the bill, and Senator Kamala Harris blogged about it.
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The House has re-launched the Task Force on Aging and Families, and their first order of business is to introduce a Seniors’ Bill of Rights, as a result of asks that we and several other aging organizations have made of them over the past several years. And now we have a chance to help shape what’s in it! Let our policy team know if you have ideas to contribute.
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Also on our radar: The Older Americans Act (OAA), including the National Family Caregiver Support Program, is due to expire in September of this year. We have signed onto a letter, put forth by the Leadership Council of Aging organizations, to reauthorize and improve the OAA to support seniors and caregivers.
Around Town
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Today, our research director, Ben, will be featured on a panel at the Bipartisan Policy Center in DC to discuss how members of the Sandwich Generation, especially millennials, are balancing family with finances, and how a program like UFC could support this growing demographic.
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In Late May, Sarita gave a keynote at the Code for America Summit, highlighting our work with IDEO to inform and present on Universal Family Care as delivery-driven, human-centered policy.
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And in June, Ai-jen spoke at the London School of Economics on the Future of the Global Care Economy, and highlighted inequities facing our care workforce and steps for moving forward, including UFC.
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Also in June, our policy director, Josie, gave a keynote at LeadingAge Ohio’s Leadership Summit on how poverty and caregiving intersect. And at the National Council on Aging Age + Action Conference, she spoke about how we can promote equity in aging for women, people of color, the LGBTQ+ community, and immigrant and rural communities.
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Finally, on June 13th, Heather Boldon, one of our caregiver leaders, was featured on a panel at the Generations United Conference in Portland, Oregon, about the devastating impact the lack of caregiving supports can have on working women. She spoke movingly about how UFC could have helped her keep her job, her home, and be there more fully for her adopted son.
ICYMI: In the News
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Our organizer and New York Caring Majority Campaign Director Rachel McCullough spoke with the Washington Monthly, also featured in The Atlantic, making the case for why long-term care should be a major political priority in the 2020 elections: “If their goal in the face of Trump and Trumpism is to speak to and unite the vast majority of Americans, with a focus on women—this is the issue.”
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Rachel also co-authored this essay with our communications director, Janet, in Stria about why intersectionality matters when it comes to aging — a topic that she also addressed on the Laura Flanders Show.
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Josie was quoted in this Kaiser Health News piece, picked up in papers nationwide, on how Washington and Hawaii’s care policies provide models for the nation to follow to support aging Americans and those who care for them. Josie was also featured in this Governing article on how Trump’s immigration policies are hurting care workers and those they care for.
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And finally, Ai-jen co-wrote this Newsweek piece with Cecile Richards and Alicia Garza on why democratic candidates need to listen to what women want — including UFC!
A Final Shout Out
As many of you have likely heard, after seven years of invaluable leadership, guidance, and service, our co-executive director, Sarita Gupta, is moving on from our campaign, and from Jobs with Justice, to lead the Future of Work(ers) initiative at the Ford Foundation, starting in October. We’re so excited for her to contribute her brilliance, expertise and commitment to working people in this way, leading a team dedicated to shaping the future of work that centers the well-being of all workers. More will be shared soon about how we are transitioning leadership at Caring Across, but in the meantime — please join us in sharing our love, gratitude and well wishes to Sarita — you will be missed!
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