Domestic workers have always been on the frontlines, COVID-19 just made it clear

As an In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) provider who cares for seniors and people with disabilities, I am a caregiver on the frontlines of this pandemic.

I am also on call for various IHSS clients who do not have enough food, medicine and other necessities and who do not have a live-in caregiver to provide these essential items.

Those caring for these IHSS clients, like me, are mostly women (79%) and people of color (63%).

We still do not have all of the state and federal labor protections afforded to other workers, and now we have been thrust to the frontline of this pandemic with little to no protection or support from the counties that run the IHSS program.

At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, IHSS caregivers like me were not given any PPE in most counties.