The hardest work often gets the least respect.

Care work can be backbreaking.

We’re talking about direct service professionals in group homes that families rely on to look after their loved ones with developmental disabilities, who are responsible for the health, safety and happiness of eight clients under one roof.

Or home health aides who spend 24/7 watching over an elder — making every meal, helping them to the bathroom, lifting them into bed at night.

Or independent living counselors who work with young people who are in foster care or supportive housing to help prepare them for adult life on their own.

As providers who represent this workforce and run some of the largest social service organizations in the state, we’ve formed an anti-poverty campaign, BUMP-NY, to do right these hardworking professionals.

Our goal is to solve this problem once and for all. We can permanently reset worker wages to a level that lets hardworking people afford to live in this state, raise a family,........

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