Elder Care Homes Rake In Profits As Workers Earn A Pittance

Speaker 1: 00:00 In boarding care homes across California, employees caring for elderly residents are being exploited according to a new investigation by reveal, many workers are being treated like indentured servants making between $2 and $3 and 50 cents an hour working 24 seven the investigation found at least 20 companies providing care are operating illegally after failing to pay employees back wages and penalties and the amount of one point $4 million. Jennifer Gollan who wrote the story as a reporter with reveal and she joins us to talk about this investigation. Jennifer, welcome. Thank you Jane. Now we often hear about nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Can you explain what a board and care home is and how it differs? Sure, so across the US there are about 29,000 residential care communities that care for the elderly and two thirds of them are the small board and care homes and they are typically six to 10 residents. Speaker 1: 01:04 And in California they're often six beds or fewer. And so why are so many of these homes opening up? Well, we all know that the baby boomer population is growing by 2034 for the first time in us history, seniors will outnumber children and we're all looking for a place to put mom and dad and these places provide around the clock care and help with daily tasks like bathing and feeding and dressing. And what are people who work in these homes experiencing? Well, we've talked to dozens of caregivers and they're, these caregivers are often earning just two to three 50 and hour to work around the clock for years on end. And we just found that there is rampant wage theft and exploitation. And why is it so easy for employees to be exploited in this position? Well, many of these caregivers are poor immigrants and some of them are unauthorized to work in the u s they are undocumented and they're afraid they're afraid of being fired. Speaker 1: 02:21 If they complain about low wages, they're afraid of being reported to immigration authorities. And operators have often also threatened to close down the facilities all altogether putting them out of a job. And what about the people who are in these facilities? Are they getting the care and the standard of care that they need? Well, oftentimes they are. But we've also found cases where operators were banned from the assisted living business for life because they are regulators found health and safety violations. Uh, things like, uh, you know, patients who are, um, being neglected or not cared for properly or cared for by caregivers who hadn't passed background checks. And what's the requirement from the state for these board and care homes to get and keep a license to operate? Well, the requirements to get into the business are very low and that's part of the problem. Speaker 1: 03:22 Um, there are many entrepreneurs who are jumping into the real estate end of the business thinking that they can make a big profit. And unfortunately the requirements to become an operator are very weak. And it, you know, you just require 80 hours of training in California and there's an open book exam of a hundred questions and then you can be qualified to open your own residential care facility. And part of the problem is these residential care facilities are nonmedical. So the operators and the caregivers do not need to be nurses or doctors or even nursing assistance to open these facilities. And you know, we know that it's the, the cost of, of taking care of, of our parents is it can be expensive. Um, what is the cost for these facilities? They're typically cheaper than nursing homes, which is why they're so attractive. They, the median cost for residential care facilities across the US is about $4,000 a month. Speaker 1: 04:31 So if you're an operator, you can actually make quite a bit of money. If you have six beds, you can make a quarter of a million dollars a year. Um, and for residents they're really attractive because they are often cheaper than nursing homes. And we all know that nursing homes have had problems with, um, patient care and they've, there have been some bad headlines. So this residential care industry has grown, you know, um, in the shadow of this larger nursing home industry. And you mentioned that the standards are low for these facilities to open up. What about once they're in business? Well, once they're in business, um, there isn't a whole lot of oversight. They are licensed in perpetuity, which means once they have their license, unless the State Department of Social Services, Community Care Licensing Division finds a health or safety violation, they um, have a difficult time revoking a facility's license. They really say they're hands are tied. Speaker 1: 05:41 And we found through our research that there are at least 20 companies that are still operating illegally. Um, many of them are still open and operating under the same names after failing to pay wage theft judgments to workers. And these workers are owed tens of thousands of dollars still. And these companies are still operating. And yet the State Licensing Division tells us that their hands are tied. Is there any recourse for employees who've been exploited? Well, it's a complaint driven system so these workers can go to state or federal labor regulators to complain and file a wage theft complaint. But the process of filing a wage theft complaint is often long. And even if the workers are awarded wage theft judgements, it doesn't mean that they'll receive the money. In many cases they don't. And in at least one case that we found an operator was fined by the federal government for back wages after violating minimum wage and overtime laws. Speaker 1: 06:51 And then they handed the employees a cheque, drove them to the bank and had them cash it in hand, the money all right back to them. And what is the state doing to regulate these companies that operate board and care homes and uh, and have these labor issues? Well, state and federal labor regulators say that they're doing their best and that there is just so much wage theft out there that they can't actually get to all these cases. We've often also talked with local prosecutors who say the same thing, that exploitation in wage theft is rampant in this industry, but there's only so many cases that they can get to. And what type of response have you gotten so far to your reporting? I've been flooded with emails from people with older family members in these facilities and caregivers and other lawyers and observers and regulators. And there's a common theme here. Our longterm care for the elderly is in crisis and they're there. It's up to regulators and up to Congress to provide some relief for the caregivers in this industry and in turn protect the elderly. I've been speaking with Jennifer Gollan, a reporter with reveal. Jennifer, thanks so much for joining us. Thank you, jade. Speaker 2: 08:15 [inaudible].