As California grows older than ever, the demand for caregivers is growing too.
Caregivers statewide have through the end of August to earn up to $6,000 to learn and use caregiving skills through CalGrows. The program, run by the California Department of Aging, offers free online and in-person classes through September 30, but unlicensed caregivers, home health aides and certified nursing assistants have until August 31 to enroll to get paid for the training.
CalGrows
By 2030, over 10.8 million Californians — a quarter of the state’s population — will be over the age of 60.
California is already facing a shortage of up to 3.2 million caregivers, with serious consequences like long wait times and social isolation for older adults who are most in need of care.
Despite this great demand for care, “The program is tied to state funding that is expiring, so jump on this opportunity now,” said Connie Nakano, assistant director of the CDA Office of Communications. “Time is of the essence … You’re not only advancing your career, but also positively impact the lives of countless people in your community.”
The program has over 600 courses in nine languages, varying in lengths from five minute units to five hour series; varying in formats from in-person, online, live and self-paced; and varying in topics including CPR, dementia care, older adult nutrition and older adult mental health.
About 14,000 caregivers statewide have already taken a collective 89,000 courses, and been paid about $7 million.
The program is uniquely lucrative for an often undercompensated part of the health care sector. Direct care workers in California earn an average annual salary of $20,000, with one in four workers falling below the federal poverty line.
California’s nearly five million caregivers spend about four billion collective hours helping their family and friends each year. This time is valued at $63 billion annually.
“Caregiving isn’t one-dimensional, it isn’t just in a nursing facility or in-home. There’s care for all aspects of how people choose to age,” said Nakano. “That’s the purpose of CalGrows, to have a trained support system for everyone to choose how they’d like to age in place.”
Caregiver experiences
“CalGrows taught me, medically, what’s happening inside the seniors that cross my path, and how it affects their needs in daily life,” said Lidia Mawalu, a Fijiian CalGrows graduate working as a live-in caregiver for Corrina Rucka, an older adult in Monterey County.
“It helped me with practical, physical preventive care at home — for example, nutrition, not falling, preparing blood pressure medication and cleaning catheters,” she continued. “I understood what I need to do to help the person’s life enjoyable, which is different with each person, even each day.”
“Back in Fiji, we grow up in extended families, so we fit caregiving into our school days and weekends. It’s an inbuilt thing in us, that as our population ages, we bring home to them, because the time given to them is so precious until the end of life,” Mawalu explained.
“My previous client used to tell me, ‘Do not grow old.’ and I’d say ‘Is there any other way out of old age?’ It was her funny way of telling me, ‘Let’s keep going in a positive way.’ And these courses have made me love the work of doing that for our elderly people,” she added. “’Bula’ in our language means ‘life’, and in the mornings Corrina and I call to each other, ‘bula,’ ‘bula’ — ‘life,’ ‘life.’”
“’If I didn’t have Lydia there in the mornings, It would be very difficult, because as soon as I wake up, she’s there, and she’s asking me if I need anything, and she’s excellent. She’s very aware of my needs,” said Rucka. “She’ll ask and gauge how I’m feeling, and suggest things to do that day depending on that.”
“I put myself in her shoes,” added Mawalu. “We remind each other, ‘Have you drunk your water?’ Care is a mutual relationship, helping each other through life. We do it together.”
“Often, patients — especially those new to the illnesses they experience, or who don’t understand the doctors’ language — just need someone to be there and explain, step by step, everything they need to have the best quality of life that they can,” said Carmen Contreras, a CalGrows Home Health Aide (HHA) graduate caring for her father in Ventura County.
“My father recently suffered a stroke, and with all the care and joy our family has given him, he’s about 90% recovered,” she continued. “Going through it together, our relationship of care changed. Now he depends on me a little more versus me always depending on him to move forward … With graduating, I feel more prepared to help him now.”
CalGrows graduates can receive a HHA or Certified Nurse Assistant (CNA) certificate to renew with continuing education.
This professional advancement is crucial given that caregiver retention in California remains low. Over 21% of caregivers leave the field each year, with 40% transitioning out of the workforce and around 22% being unemployed when they leave.
As a certificate graduate, Contreras explained, “Now you can work in a hospital, maybe as a radiologist or phlebotomist, or as the requirement for Licensed Vocational Nurse or Registered Nurse programs. It opens up so many life-changing career paths to touch so many lives.”
“Working in a community setting, one class that really stuck with me was about symptoms in the process of aging, because not everyone ages the same or has the same needs in their life stages,” said Sean Hidalgo, classes manager at ACC Senior Services, a CalGrows course host grantee in Sacramento.
He said that as the CalGrows program approaches its end, the past few weeks at ACC have seen “a huge influx of people signing up for classes, whereas before I was the one registering everybody. We’ve been doing outreach to boost numbers, mainly with in-person presentations at other community centers and distributing flyers throughout the city in different languages.”
“What stands out to me the most is how flexible and accessible classes are, given the amount of skills you can learn for free and the money you can earn for it, and the fact that you’re able to better serve your loved ones as a result,” he added.
Caregivers can sign up for the program online at CalGROWS.org, by phone at (888) 991-7234 or by email at help@calgrows.org.
