A study of human service workforce in Massachusetts, Stretched to Capacity, highlights the vulnerability of human service organizations to immigration cutbacks. The human services workforce is about 150,000.  These workers staff assistance to families, disabled, aged, homeless, limited functioning, impaired, residential program clients, and other populations.They comprise about a quarter of the state’s entire healthcare sector workforce.

Those workers in direct daily care earn $20-$30 an hour. Many work part time. Some services are dependent on Haitian Temporary Protected Status workers.

It appears that a quarter of these workers are foreign-born.   The study did not differentiate among long time legal residents, TPS  / Humanitarian Parole workers, and unauthorized workers.

Excerpts:

“The reliance on Haitian TPS workers varies significantly across the human services system; providers offering residential supports, personal care, or in-home services tend to employ larger numbers of TPS workers, while others may rely on them far less.”

“A large human services organization in Massachusetts recently experienced significant disruption as changes in federal immigration and work-authorization policies led to the loss of 50 employees whose legal status could no longer be maintained. As policies shifted and automatic work authorization extensions were eliminated, the organization found itself confronting sudden and substantial staffing losses that threatened the stability of its programs and services. Furthermore, the organization anticipates losing up to 25 additional staff if the TPS is rescinded.”