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Alameda County In-Home Caretakers Seek $20 Wage, More Accessible Health Care

According to Lupe Martinez, who is SEIU 2015’s chief negotiator, many caretakers work well over 80 hours a month, but don’t receive healthcare, because much of those hours are off the books. As a result, many caretakers are effectively working a full-time job with no healthcare benefits. To help with this problem, SEIU 2015 wants a contract that would lower the minimum hours caretakers would need to work per month to qualify for such benefits.

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Alameda County IHSS caretaker Allen Whitfield (left) sits next to his mother, Charlene Smith, who is also his caretaking client, in her apartment complex in Union City. Whitfield and other caretakers in the SEIU 2015 union are preparing to ask for a $20 wage and expanded access to health care in their new contract. Photo by Zack Haber on December 13.
Alameda County IHSS caretaker Allen Whitfield (left) sits next to his mother, Charlene Smith, who is also his caretaking client, in her apartment complex in Union City. Whitfield and other caretakers in the SEIU 2015 union are preparing to ask for a $20 wage and expanded access to health care in their new contract. Photo by Zack Haber on December 13.

By Zack Haber

SEIU 2015, the union that represents more than 21,000 caretakers who work for Alameda County’s In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS), will be starting negotiations for a new contract early next year that they hope will ensure a $20-an-hour wage and improved access to health care for its members.

“Alameda is one of the most expensive places to live in the Bay Area,” said Lupe Martinez, who is SEIU 2015’s chief negotiator. “In order to provide their essential services, our members need to be able to have the proper wages to live here.”

SEIU 2015 sees their proposed wage increase as a way of reducing the wage gap across gender and racial lines. Across California, 81% of IHSS caretakers are women and 74% are people of color.

IHSS caretakers support those who are disabled or over 65 years old, and who are also unable to live at home safely without help. Typical duties include cooking, cleaning, giving out medications, helping with grocery shopping and bathing, and taking clients to doctor’s appointments.

“People do in-home care work because they love the people,” said Allen Whitfield, a lifelong Oakland resident who’s now in his 60s and works as a caretaker for two clients. “It’s definitely not for the pay.

Currently, Alameda County IHSS caretakers make an hourly wage of $15.75. Starting next year, their wage will increase to $16.75. The union plans to ask for a contract that allows all its members to make at least $20 an hour by 2024, and they’ve been circulating a petition calling for all California caretakers to get this wage increase.

Whitfield likes his job and says he’s “all for being there for people who need help, especially the underdog.” With the current rate of pay though, he can’t afford to rent his own apartment. Even renting a room in a house with roommates is so expensive that he often has to do odd jobs over the weekend to pay his bills. He regularly gets opportunities for steady work in other places for a higher salary, but he doesn’t take the work for one key reason.

“The only reason I don’t take other work,” Whitfield said. “Is that it would get in the way of taking care of my mom.”

Like many, but not all, IHSS caretakers, Whitfield’s clients are family members. In addition to caring for his mother, one of his distant relatives is also a client. Although on paper Whitfield works a little under 30 hours a week, he says he spends well over 40 hours a week caring for his mother and his distant relative.

According to Lupe Martinez, Whitfield’s experience is common among IHSS workers. She says that many clients’ need for care often far exceeds the number of hours that the county allots them to hire a paid caretaker. As a result, many caretakers, and not just those who work for family members, work extra hours off the books because they want to be there for their clients who often have no one else to turn to.

“If you see someone badly in need of care services,” she said. “You’re going to want to help them.”

“It’s an endless job because most of the time [clients] need more care than the hours provided,” said Whitfield.

The extra, unpaid work sometimes makes the job unsustainable. In the mid-2010s, Whitfield had another client who was blind and needed a lot of extra care. But Whitfield couldn’t get enough on-the-book hours to afford to be able to keep him as a client. The blind man has a new caretaker now, and he keeps in touch with Whitfield as a friend by calling him occasionally. While looking back on the forced separation, Whitfield described it as “kind of heartbreaking.”

Partly due to the reality that caretakers work off-the-book hours, SEIU 2015 wants to change how the county provides them health care. The county currently requires that all IHSS caretakers have at least 80 on-the-book hours per month to qualify for health care benefits.

According to Martinez, many caretakers work well over 80 hours a month, but don’t receive healthcare, because much of those hours are off the books. As a result, many caretakers are effectively working a full-time job with no healthcare benefits. To help with this problem, SEIU 2015 wants a contract that would lower the minimum hours caretakers would need to work per month to qualify for such benefits.

The Oakland Post called the Alameda County’s administration office and e-mailed that office detailed questions about how IHSS hours are allocated to clients and if the county plans to expand health care coverage and/or provide a $20 wage in the new contract but was met with no response.

Although Whitfield is committed to taking care of his clients, he feels the wage he makes from the county as a caretaker as well as the lack of appropriate hours is unfair and that the low pay “keeps people in poverty.”

“We just don’t get paid enough for the job that we do and the care that’s needed,” he said. “I don’t think we’re valued at all.”

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Activism

Racially Motivated Violence Against Black Teen Prompts $10 Million Claim Against LAUSD 

In December, a second altercation, on a video shared with news media, showed 4 to 6 boys attacking a Black student and using racial slurs. The video also shows a person in a safety vest trying to stop the fight and telling them to “handle it after school.” Then, the video ends.  

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(Left to right) Civil Rights Attorney Caree Harper comforts the victim’s mother as she becomes emotional when describing the attacks on her son while her attorney Bradley C. Gage listens. Verdugo Hills High School on Thursday, Dec. 20, 2024, in Tujunga, CA. (Solomon O. Smith /for California Black Media)
(Left to right) Civil Rights Attorney Caree Harper comforts the victim’s mother as she becomes emotional when describing the attacks on her son while her attorney Bradley C. Gage listens. Verdugo Hills High School on Thursday, Dec. 20, 2024, in Tujunga, CA. (Solomon O. Smith /for California Black Media)

By Solomon O. Smith, California Black Media  

A distraught mother and her legal team announced a $10 million lawsuit against the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) on Dec. 16, alleging that her son was the target of bullying because of his race.

“CS DOE is a 14-year-old African American student at Verdugo High School. He is a Ninth Grader,” reads a statement the plaintiff’s attorneys shared with California Black Media (CBM).

“Almost from the first day of class (in August 2024), CS DOE was targeted by Latino students who called him racial slurs, physically attacked him and threatened to stab him.”

The family’s identity has not yet been released to the public due to safety concerns, according to their attorneys Bradley C. Gage and Caree Harper. The student’s mother is identified only as A.O. in the complaint.

The first video, filmed in August, showed several non-Black students punching and kicking a Black student in a bathroom on campus while yelling racial slurs. The mother claims that the students who attacked her son were not punished, and the administration asked her to move her son to another school for his safety.

“They wanted him to leave the school without giving any disciplinary action towards those students,” said the student’s mother. “He’s not going anywhere. He’s going to finish. I wanted him to at least stay until the December winter break, and then I was going to transfer schools for him.”

Before she could enroll her son in a different school the attacks escalated.

In December, a second altercation, on a video shared with news media, showed 4 to 6 boys attacking a Black student and using racial slurs. The video also shows a person in a safety vest trying to stop the fight and telling them to “handle it after school.” Then, the video ends.

CS DOE, a 14-year-old freshman, left the school but was followed by a car, according to Gage. Several individuals exited the vehicle, one with a “large butcher knife.” A fight ensued and two people were stabbed. The Black student was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon but was later released into his mother’s custody.

The high school freshmen is scheduled to appear in juvenile court on Feb. 1, but Harper says she will reach out to the District Attorney and make the case against charging the young man.

“His mama had to go find him because he was hiding and fleeing for his very life,” said Harper.

According to the boy’s mother, the young student is still traumatized and has not been able to return to the area because it remains unsafe. Racial slurs have also been spray painted on their home.

“I’m sad. I’m devastated, you know,” said the mother. “I still feel like they’re after him. I still feel like they can kill him, possibly.”

The LAUSD and principal of Verdugo High School did not respond to CBM’s requests for comment.

If you are – or someone you know is – has experienced a hate crime or hate incident, please visit CAvsHate.org for more information and to find out what you can do about it. 

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Activism

2024 In Review: 7 Questions for the California Association of Black School Educators 

CABSE members represent governmental agencies, charter schools and charter school organizations, public school districts, traditional public schools, and community colleges. The organization’s primary goal is to expand PK-14 educational opportunities for all students in California, with an emphasis on under-represented and under-served Black students. 

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CABSE members represent governmental agencies, charter schools and charter school organizations, public school districts, traditional public schools, and community colleges. The organization’s primary goal is to expand PK-14 educational opportunities for all students in California, with an emphasis on under-represented and under-served Black students. 
CABSE President Satra Zurita and Conference Chair Micah Ali.

By Edward Henderson, California Black Media  

The California Association of Black School Educators (CABSE) is an organization consisting of elected and appointed school officials, administrators and instructors from across California who are committed to advancing equity for Black students.

CABSE members represent governmental agencies, charter schools and charter school organizations, public school districts, traditional public schools, and community colleges.

The organization’s primary goal is to expand PK-14 educational opportunities for all students in California, with an emphasis on under-represented and under-served Black students.

California Black Media (CBM) spoke with CABSE President Satra Zurita and Conference Chair Micah Ali about this year’s successes, disappointments, and plans for the organization coming into the new year.

Looking back at 2024, what stands out to you as your most important achievement and why?

Ali: I would have to say that two highlights have been the ongoing support of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Engie, and other sponsors that have enabled us to bring together like-minded education leaders twice a year to collectively advance innovative and meaningful strategies to achieve change on behalf of Black students across our state.

How did your leadership and investments contribute to improving the lives of Black Californians? 

Zurita: CABSE’s leadership and investment in improving the education system for Black students in our great state has resulted in a long-standing focus on transforming public education and its response to Black students. By pulling from the very wisdom of those educators and leaders who care deeply about Black students and who are showing great promise through their efforts.

What frustrated you the most over the last year? 

Zurita: Continuing to see the deep impact of COVID-19 Pandemic school site closures on students academically and emotionally — especially Black students. This makes our work and our advocacy more vital than ever.

CBM: What inspired you the most over the last year?

Zurita: Seeing our CABSE convenings grow in depth and breadth — our strategies, powerful content and reach.

What is one lesson you learned in 2024 that will inform your decision-making next year?

Ali: Our Blueprint for Education Equity is a crowd-sourced framework of strategies that have shown great promise for improving the education experiences and opportunities for Black students. In 2024, we developed an equity self-assessment tool for districts to use in evaluating their own efforts on behalf of Black students. Strategies are helping Black students.

In one word, what is the biggest challenge Black Californians face?

Zurita: Many Black students across our state are dealing with a host of challenges: homelessness, food insecurity, exposure to violence, not to mention bias remains a pervasive problem. To add to the challenge, educators are worn out, tired, and frustrated. We now need to think about how we can simultaneously inspire and empower students and educators alike. The system needs an overhaul.

What is the goal you want to achieve most in 2025?

Zurita: In 2025, we hope to stand CABSE up as a fully functioning non-profit organization engaged in research and policy design.

Ali: We also aim to deepen the content of our convenings, including adding a Math Track and what we are calling Social Determinants of Education Track to our annual conference and institute, which will address those social contexts that prevent Black students from realizing their potential as students.

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Activism

2024 in Review: 7 Questions for Social Justice Executive Kaci Patterson

Kaci Peterson, the founder and Chief Architect of Social Good Solutions and the Black Equity Collective, has over 18 years of experience in the non-profit and philanthropy sectors. California Black Media (CBM) spoke with Peterson recently. She discussed the organization’s successes, disappointments, and lessons from 2024 as they continue their initiatives into the new year.  

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File photo: Kaci Patterson, founder of Los Angeles-based Black Equity Collective, represented grassroot organizations from across the state that demanded the state invest into a coalition that aims to build a healthy relationship between philanthropy groups and the public sector. May 10, 2023, Sacramento, California. CBM photo by Antonio Ray Harvey.
File photo: Kaci Patterson, founder of Los Angeles-based Black Equity Collective, represented grassroot organizations from across the state that demanded the state invest into a coalition that aims to build a healthy relationship between philanthropy groups and the public sector. May 10, 2023, Sacramento, California. CBM photo by Antonio Ray Harvey.

By Edward Henderson, California Black Media  

The Black Equity Collective (BEC) is a community-focused, public-private partnership with Black equity as its central, driving force.

​Born out of two organizations – the Social Good Solutions Firm and the Black Equity Initiative — BEC’s mission is centered on the belief that progress on Black equity and racial justice must be part of any credible social justice movement in the United States. Additionally, the collective believes equity is only achieved when philanthropic investments, public policies, and institutional practices converge to boldly confront racial injustice.

Kaci Peterson, the founder and Chief Architect of Social Good Solutions and the Black Equity Collective, has over 18 years of experience in the non-profit and philanthropy sectors.

California Black Media (CBM) spoke with Peterson recently. She discussed the organization’s successes, disappointments, and lessons from 2024 as they continue their initiatives into the new year.

Looking back at 2024, what stands out to you as your most important achievement and why? 

This year, we celebrated our 10-year anniversary as a firm. Since the firm’ s inception we are proud to announce that cumulatively we’ve been able to raise and leverage over $55.5 million for Black-led organizations in California.

One of the things that we have accomplished is our expanded membership. We had an initial goal of 30 to 40 organizations. We have a current membership of 54 organizations and a waiting list of over 120.

How did your leadership and investments contribute to improving the lives of Black Californians? 

We launched a survey involving 200 Black-led organizations to study the economic impact of Black-led organizations on California’ s GDP. The results of that survey will be released in early 2025.

What frustrated you the most over the last year?

The decline in philanthropic investment after the height of commitments following the murder of George Floyd, following COVID.

What inspired you the most over the last year?

I am always inspired by the leaders on the ground who just continue to do monumental work. The fact that here in Los Angeles, we’ve been able to stand up a doula hub in response to the policy advocacy work that so many of our leaders, our Black women in particular, really pushed and got state legislation passed a couple of years ago so that doulas can be an approved and reimbursable expense through Medi-Cal.

What is one lesson you learned in 2024 that will inform your decision-making next year?

I started an 11-week sabbatical on Nov. 1. I think oftentimes as Black leaders, we are burning the candle at both ends. And I don’ t think Black people are even aware of the social, emotional, and physical toll that taken on us/ We must rest, retreat and take respite as part of our journey to justice.

In one word, what is the biggest challenge Black Californians face?

Erasure.

We’ve really leaned into a narrative of Black permanence and what it means to preserve our community, our culture, our contributions, our language, our history, our leaders, our institutions.

What is the goal you want to achieve most in 2025?

I really want to start up an endowment for the collective. I think it’s really important to be able to preserve all of the things that the collective has contributed the philanthropic ecosystem so far.

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