Judith B. Clinco is a registered nurse, chairwoman of the board of the Arizona Direct Care Worker Association and founder of the Direct CareGiver Association.

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On April 30, the Arizona Daily Star published an Associated Press article headlined "Costs of long-term care rise for fifth straight year." The article noted that with the nation's aging demographics, 200,000 direct-care workers will need to be recruited and trained every year to keep pace with the needs of nursing homes, adult-care facilities and those who prefer help at home.

This is a conservative estimate of the need for these valuable, professional workers. These dedicated individuals provide 80 percent of the paid hands-on care to our loved ones who are aging, disabled, or are chronically ill.

The Direct CareGiver Association, a Tucson-based nonprofit organization, has been addressing this need for seven years. So far, 418 economically disadvantaged people who desperately needed jobs better than dead-end, minimum-wage work have graduated and entered this work force. With government, foundation and individual financial support from our community, 200 additional graduates will enter the Tucson long-term care industry this year.

The need for 200,000 workers per year is a low number because of the chronic high turnover of employees. Nationwide, depending on the work environment, between 40 and 150 percent of workers leave their jobs yearly.

According to the Department of Labor, direct care is the fourth-fastest-growing job category in the nation but is noted as one of the "10 worst jobs in America," next to those who clean portable restrooms.

Most direct-care workers receive inadequate training, inadequate wages, minimal or no benefits, no health-care coverage and face unrealistic job demands. These compassionate, caring workers are simply not honored or valued or respected.

The increase in the cost of long-term care, related to direct-care-worker wages, is still insufficient. In order to stabilize the work force, wages will need to rise to a level appropriate to their skills and responsibilities.

If this increase in cost is simply passed to the consumer, many fewer consumers will be able to purchase long-term care. If state governments increase subsidies to direct-care workers, the number of hours of care for each client will have to be rationed, and not everyone who needs care will get it.

The solution is for the federal government to subsidize wages and benefits for this work force so that regardless of age, illness or economic status, everyone who needs long-term care will have it. A starting wage of $15 per hour is not excessive. But today, neither nonprofit nor for-profit companies can afford this.

Six months ago, the newly formed Arizona Direct Care Worker Association received funding from the national Direct Care Alliance to build a professional direct-care-worker association that would provide benefits, continuing education, and public education and awareness of the direct-care crisis.

Our goal is bring together employers, consumers and the direct-care workers to foster advocacy for improved policies and systems for long-term care, for improving the quality of the job and to provide a significant positive impact on the quality of long-term care in every setting, today and into the future.

The time to act is now. The first baby boomer turned 65 last year, and there are 77,000,000 more following. The need for direct-care workers is an issue that will personally touch every person in this country, whether in our families, our businesses or ourselves. Each one of us is a heartbeat away from needing long-term care.