Final arguments on Proposal 4

Proposal 4 would amend the state constitution to create the Michigan Quality Home Care Council, and allow home health-care workers limited collective-bargaining rights. For full Bridge coverage of Proposal 4 — and the other statewide ballot proposals this year — visit our Ballot Mania page. For an analysis of the proposal by the nonpartisan Citizens Research Council of Michigan, click here. Advocates were asked to make their case on how to vote on Proposal 4:

No: Prop 4 is ‘greedy’ ploy by union By Robert and Patricia Haynes For almost any family, it’s a nightmare.  A loved one – a parent, a spouse or child – gets very sick or injured in an accident.  They spend time in the hospital and heal enough to go home, where rather than being able to return to work, or school, or life as they knew it, they require regular care and treatment for what could be the rest of their life. Life is never the same. For thousands of families in communities across Michigan like ours, this nightmare scenario is not something they can wake up from with a sigh of relief. It is reality. For nearly 40,000 fellow Michigan neighbors, health problems or injuries have turned moms and dads, husbands and wives, and children into home-based caregivers for the people they love.  They would never have chosen this reality for their family. At the same time, it is a responsibility they would never turn their back on. Taking care of one another is what family members do, after all. Which is why Proposal 4 on this November’s ballot is such an offensive and greedy ploy.  Voters should all vote No on Proposal 4. Here is why: Approximately 40,000 Michiganders are “home help providers” — private citizens who provide basic personal care to disabled adults in their own homes. A majority of these home help providers are family members; often, they are parents caring for children or adult children caring for their aging parents. To help with the financial cost of providing this in-home care, these families are eligible for support through the Home Help program. Both the federal and state government understand that supporting family members who care for family members is better and less expensive than paying for institutional care. So, more than 30 years ago, the Home Help program was started to do just that. In 2005, the Service Employees International Union (the union of government workers) joined with the Granholm administration to force home help providers in Michigan to join their union.  Get a check from the state, even if it’s for caring for your disabled child, and you’re a government worker that belongs in our union – or so they think. In other words, the SEIU sees thousands of Michigan residents who are sacrificing to care for their loved ones as a gravy train of $6 million in annual union dues. What do these people get for their union dues? Apparently, nothing. Many don’t even get their call returned when they contact the union. And while they’re “state employees” for purposes of paying union dues, they enjoy none of the civil service protections normally accorded state employees. Still, this is not enough for the SEIU. Rightly, the Legislature has passed two laws to undo this money grab from private residents across Michigan. So now, the SEIU is trying to get voters to lock their insidious plan into the Michigan Constitution. That is what Proposal 4 does. It enshrines theft into our Constitution. The TV ads will not tell you that. If they did, no one would vote for Proposal 4. Proposal 4 shamelessly victimizes family members for stepping up to do the exact thing most people go to bed each night praying they will never have to do: provide continuous care for a sick child or parent in our homes. It’s greedy. It’s deceptive. It’s wrong. Vote “no” on Proposal 4. Robert and Patricia Haynes live in Macomb County where, as home-based care-givers, they provide around-the-clock care for their two adult children.

Yes: Prop 4
will protect
aged, disabled

By Dohn Hoyle/Citizens for Affordable Quality Home Care

Those who are aging or have a disability tell us that they want to stay in their own home instead of going to a nursing home or other institution. If that’s their choice, our priority is to ensure that they are safe and healthy in their own homes.

On Election Day, voters across Michigan have an opportunity to help seniors and people with disabilities get safe, quality care in their own homes, by voting yes on Proposal 4.

Also known as Keep Home Care a Safe Choice, Proposal 4 ensures our loved ones can direct their own care while remaining independent and healthy in their own homes.

Proposal 4 will help persons who need assistance to remain in their home, get assistance from screened home care workers who help perform many tasks, from getting dressed to taking their medication. Proposal 4 establishes a registry that requires home care workers on it to undergo strict background checks, an important safeguard to prevent neglect and abuse.

Proposal 4 directly impacts the care and safety of countless Michiganders, especially our most vulnerable citizens.

Those of us who work directly with seniors and people with disabilities know firsthand what a real difference quality home care makes. When seniors and people with disabilities choose home care, they are happier and healthier. Home care allows our loved ones to live in familiar, comfortable surroundings near family, friends and their communities. By staying in their own homes, seniors and people with disabilities also avoid costly alternative settings, including nursing homes.

Proposal 4 contains many important safeguards to protect seniors and people with disabilities.

First, it establishes the Michigan Quality Home Care Council, which would oversee a registry that links home care recipients with pre-screened home care providers in their area.

Second, it requires home care providers on the registry undergo strict criminal background checks to ensure safety for seniors and people with disabilities.

Third, it connects home care providers to critical job training so they can better care for seniors and persons with disabilities.

Furthermore, Proposal 4 will save taxpayer dollars in avoided institutional costs, since home care is significantly less expensive to taxpayers than nursing homes, according to non-partisan studies by the AARP and the conservative Anderson Economic Group.

In addition to promoting quality care, Proposal 4 and the registry it creates will also help keep our loved ones safe. By better screening home care workers, we can prevent abuses as well as exploitation, neglect and abandonment of seniors and people with disabilities. According to estimates by the Michigan Department of Human Services, about 14,000 elder abuse cases are reported on average each year.

That’s why a diverse coalition of groups endorses Proposal 4 and urges Michigan citizens to vote yes.

Michigan’s leading senior and disability rights groups, such as the Michigan Disability Rights Coalition, the Area Agencies on Aging Association of Michigan, Michigan Paralyzed Veterans of America, the Arc Michigan, and many more have endorsed Proposal 4. Faith leaders, veterans groups and many others also urge a YES vote on Proposal 4.

And, law enforcement leaders, local police chiefs and prosecutors across Michigan agree that Proposal 4 will promote better care and safety for loved ones.

Proposal 4 promotes greater security, it gives those who need assistance more choices and it saves money for them and for taxpayers.

Vote “yes” on Proposal 4 for the health, safety and peace of mind of those we care about.