Cross-ideological framing guides, embeddable data visualizations, and campaign strategy resources for organizations building support for home care worker protections — from disability rights groups to fiscal conservative allies.
Home care worker protections have natural allies across the political spectrum. The challenge is framing. The data on this site supports both a fiscal conservative argument and a disability rights/aging advocacy argument — because both are true simultaneously.
Home care investment isn't worker benefit expansion — it's the cheapest way to keep people out of nursing homes. $48,000 per year for HCBS vs. $128,000 for institutional care. The FLSA companionship exemption saves $500–700 million (0.2% of system costs) while generating workforce instability that threatens the other 99.8%. Nevada's SB 511 raised reimbursement to $25/hr and dropped turnover from ~50% to 4% — a fiscal investment with measurable returns. Designed for: Republican legislators, chambers of commerce, taxpayer advocacy groups, budget committees.
Nursing home care is a mandatory Medicaid benefit. Home & community-based care is optional. This means the cheaper, preferred option has weaker legal footing than the expensive institutional alternative. 8.4 million Americans depend on a workforce earning a median of $14.98/hr — a workforce that is 85% female and 67% people of color, demographics that trace directly to the New Deal–era FLSA exclusion of domestic workers. Designed for: Survival Coalition–type organizations, AARP chapters, disability rights networks, aging advocacy groups.
These numbers work because they reframe the debate. This isn't about whether workers deserve more — it's about whether the long-term care system can survive paying less. The workforce crisis isn't a labor story; it's a fiscal sustainability story with labor at its center.
Each state profile below tells a different part of the story. Use the one that fits your audience and your state's political context.
SB 511 raised Medicaid home care reimbursement to $25/hr. Turnover dropped from ~50% to 4%. The clearest available natural experiment in what workforce investment produces.
→ State profile27.8% caregiver vacancy rate — more openings than job seekers. $48K vs $128K cost comparison. IRIS program with 50%+ familial caregiver rate. The site's primary data validation state.
→ State profileNation's first Domestic Worker Bill of Rights (2013). Largest home care workforce. IHSS self-directed program covers 700K+ recipients. The precedent for state-level action.
→ State profile72% Medicaid wage pass-through ensures rate increases reach workers. Strong PCA program and union infrastructure. A model for ensuring legislative investment isn't absorbed by overhead.
→ State profile90+ metric template pre-populated with WI and MN data. Add your state's data for localized talking points and grant application support.
↓ Download .xlsxReal stories from caregivers, care recipients, and families. Anonymized and published alongside the metrics they illustrate. Powerful testimony for coalition meetings.
→ StoriesFiscal impact data, model legislation frameworks, and committee testimony resources. Share with allied legislators in your state.
→ Legislator resources16 state profiles with 89 metrics each. Compare your state to others, identify local data gaps, and build your evidence base.
→ Browse state data