What is Washington offering home caregivers for 2027-29?

As of Sept. 26, 2026, the state's latest proposal to the Consumer Directed Employer Rate Setting Board keeps the hourly labor rate at $37.42 in fiscal 2028 and sets about $38.15 in fiscal 2029. The second-year increase comes from health benefit funding, not wages.

Washington offers pay freeze to 80,000 caregivers

Q: What is SEIU 775 asking for?

Its third proposal, dated Aug. 25, 2026, asks for a labor rate of $38.40 in fiscal 2028 and $40.64 in fiscal 2029, at a state cost of about $221 million over two years. The union first sought 6% raises in each year.

Q: What happens if the board cannot agree?

The Washington State Standard reported that board chair Cheryl Strange would decide, and that the deadline to get a rate into the governor's budget proposal is Oct. 1. The Legislature then has to fund the rate. The board's next meeting is Sept. 28.

Washington has proposed holding the $37.42 hourly labor rate for about 80,000 consumer-directed caregivers flat in fiscal 2028, as of Sept. 26, 2026. SEIU 775 seeks $38.40; the deadline is Oct. 1.

Washington · Caregiver wages · SEIU 775 · Self-direction · Rates · Workforce

Direct Support News desk · August 17, 2026 · Updated September 26, 2026 · 4 min read

Washington has offered no wage increase in the next two-year rate for about 80,000 caregivers paid through its consumer-directed home care program. As of Sept. 26, 2026, the state's latest proposal keeps the hourly labor rate at $37.42 in fiscal 2028, while SEIU 775's latest asks for $38.40.

The Washington State Standard first reported the standoff on Aug. 17, 2026. The proposals themselves are public, in meeting materials of the Consumer Directed Employer Rate Setting Board, which is run by the state Department of Social and Health Services.

How the rate is set

Most of the workers are hired by the older adults and people with disabilities they care for at home. Their legal employer is Consumer Direct Care Network Washington, the state's consumer directed employer. The rate setting board negotiates the labor rate the state pays for their hours. SEIU 775 then bargains over wages with the employer, within that rate. The Standard reported that most of the workers are union-represented and earn roughly $22 to $25 an hour. The labor rate is higher because it also covers health care and other costs.

The board used the same process in 2022 and 2024 and reached agreement both times without the chair having to decide, the Standard reported. This year the board is chaired by Cheryl Strange, a former secretary of the Department of Social and Health Services and of the Department of Corrections. The Standard reported that if the board cannot agree, the chair decides, and that the deadline to get a rate into the governor's budget proposal is Oct. 1. The Legislature still has to fund the result in its 2027 session.

The state's offer

The state's first proposal, dated Aug. 5, kept the labor rate at $37.42 in fiscal 2027, $37.39 in fiscal 2028 and $38.13 in fiscal 2029. The only increase came from health benefits. The rate's health care component rises from $5.57 to $6.32 in fiscal 2029, a 75-cent adjustment. The proposal also paid to build testing into caregiver training, updated mileage to the current IRS rate, and moved protective equipment funding from the labor rate to the administrative rate.

At the Aug. 24 meeting, the state presented a second proposal that board minutes describe as "similar to the first one, no wage increase." It keeps the labor rate at $37.42 in fiscal 2028 and sets about $38.15 for fiscal 2029, and adds money for the CareBack Cash program. A state staff memo to the board says the new money in the offer, about 13 cents an hour for mileage, testing and CareBack Cash, costs about $6 million in state funds. It is offset in the labor rate by moving protective equipment costs to the administrative rate. The board's comparison puts the second offer's state general fund cost at about $49.1 million over two years.

The union's proposals

SEIU 775 first asked for raises of 6% in each year, a package the Standard said would cost about $367 million. Its second proposal cut that to 3% and 5%, about $224 million in state funds. On Aug. 25, secretary-treasurer Adam Glickman sent a third proposal responding to what he called the state's "three-cent increase": a labor rate of $38.40 in fiscal 2028 and $40.64 in fiscal 2029, at a state cost of about $221 million over two years.

At the Aug. 24 meeting, Glickman argued that shifting even 2% of in-home clients to nursing facilities would cost the state more than a raise. State staff replied that the argument is compelling but that the state cannot build a budget on costs it expects to avoid. Caregivers told the board in public comment that a freeze would push workers into second jobs or out of the field.

Agencies' rates too

Home care agencies, whose rates are tied to the same decision, asked the board to reconsider the state's 0% increase for their vendor rate, lowering their request from 4% to 2%, according to the Aug. 24 minutes.

Where things stand

The board met again on Aug. 31. A Sept. 10 meeting was cancelled. The next meeting is set for Sept. 28, with an agenda that lists only public comment and rate discussion. As of Sept. 26, no final rate had been posted.

Why this matters for providers and DSPs

The decision sets the pay pool for about 80,000 home caregivers for July 2027 through June 2029, and it drives rates for home care agencies too. A freeze would leave caregivers' wages where they are for another budget cycle, while health benefit funding still rises in the second year. Agencies, families and caregivers should watch the Sept. 28 meeting and the Oct. 1 deadline. Whatever the board sets still needs money from the Legislature next year.