“The vast majority are employed by agencies that contract with people who need in-home support. Unlike those employed directly by the person they care for, this segment of the direct care workforce won’t get a pay bump from Medicaid, even though they also face chronically low wages.
A February DHS report estimated that an additional $809 million from the state is needed to bring all direct care agency workers up to $14.58 per hour. The starting wage for an agency worker in 2023, the year analyzed in the report, was $13.53.”