2D ❚ FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 2020 ❚ USA TODAY NEWS
released; and across New Jersey, hun-
dreds of prisoners were expected to exit
county jails this week under an order is-
sued by Supreme Court Chief Justice
Stuart Rabner.
The ACLU estimated that the New
Jersey releases could reach 1,000.
Outlining the unprecedented action,
a somber state Attorney General Gurbir
Grewal, a former prosecutor, said he
took “no pleasure” in the announce-
ment and cautioned the newly liberated
that authorities would be watching.
Authorities across the country may
be watching, but they also have begun to
distance themselves, in many cases,
from suspects as they seek to protect
themselves from infection.
“This is forcing us to take action that
we wouldn’t consider during normal
times,” Grewal said. “We have to take
bold and drastic steps because when
this pandemic is over, I need to be able
to look my daughters in their eyes to say
that we took every step possible to help
all the residents of this state – including
those serving jail sentences.”
Indeed, the policies come with high-
stakes risks all their own as authorities
seek to balance public health needs and
the safety of their communities.
“Everyone feels the weight of these
decisions,” said Hall, who for nearly 20
years has served as sheriff of Davidson
County, Tennessee. “The real crisis right
now in criminal justice is in the jails, and
we have to address it.”
The action comes as a bipartisan co-
alition of lawmakers and civil rights ad-
vocates are calling on the federal Bureau
of Prisons, the nation’s largest deten-
tion system, to follow the local lead.
In a letter earlier this week to Attor-
ney General William Barr and BOP Di-
rector Michael Carvajal, the group of
senators led by Charles Grassley,
R-Iowa, and Richard Durbin, D-Ill.,
urged the government to begin moving
the elderly and terminally ill from the
175,000 in custody.
“Conditions of confinement do not
afford individuals the opportunity to
take proactive steps to protect them-
selves, and prisons often create the ide-
al environment for the transmission of
contagious disease,” the senators wrote.
Describing the risk of a prison out-
break to “a fire in a dry barn,” some con-
servative groups, including the Ameri-
can Conservative Union, called on
President Donald Trump to intervene.
The groups urged the president to issue
an executive order allowing the elderly
and non-violent offenders who have
served two-thirds of their sentences to
complete their terms at home.
Trump said Sunday that the admini-
stration was considering such a move.
So far, six federal inmates and four
staffers have tested positive for the vi-
rus. Federal prison officials, who earlier
this month halted all visitation, said
Tuesday that they will now quarantine
all new prisoners for 14 days.‘Dire straits’In many local communities, however,
early-release decisions began emerging
weeks ago.
Brendan Sheehan, the presiding
judge of Cuyahoga County’s Common
Pleas Court in Cleveland, said he met
with fellow judges March 11 to discuss
their options amid the rapidly evolving
health crisis and how it could upend op-
erations at the overcrowded jail.
At that time, the jail population stood
at 1,978; the facility is designed for a
maximum 1,700 prisoners.
In short order, Sheehan said prosecu-
tors, defense lawyers and judges began
work on a plan that has resulted in the
release of more than 700 prisoners.
Some serving state sentences were
moved to Ohio prisons; others serving
time or awaiting trial for non-violent of-
fenses were approved for release.
Within 10 days, Sheehan said, the jail
population had been reduced by 500 in-
mates. And more have been moved out
since then.
“At first people probably thought we
were nuts,” the judge said. “But then the
NBA cancels its season, and you say,
‘wait a minute.’ Everyone understood
the dire straits that we were in.”Sweeping policy in South CarolinaChad McBride wasn’t totally opposed
to releasing dozens of prisoners from
the Anderson County, South Carolina,
jail as a precaution against a potential
outbreak of the feared coronavirus.
As the local sheriff who oversees all
detention operations, McBride knew
that there were aging, ill and low-level
prisoners who probably could be cutloose with little or no risk while reducing
persistent overcrowding.
McBride’s beef is that he wasn’t per-
sonally consulted before more than 40
offenders were released, largely on their
own promises to appear for future court
hearings.
“Half of these guys are going to be
back in jail in weeks,” the sheriff said,
describing the releases as a “knee-jerk
reaction.”
But the actions appeared to meet a
sweeping standard set by Supreme
Court Chief Justice Donald Beatty, who
in a March 16 memo to local magistrates
and municipal judges called for the pre-
trial release of “any person charged with
a non-capital crime” on personal recog-
nizance bonds unless suspects repre-
sented an unreasonable danger or an
extreme flight risk.
“I do get that this is an emergency,”
McBride said. “I’m not saying that the so-
licitor (local prosecutor) and the public
defenders are making unwise decisions.
But I was never consulted. I think we
could have provided some useful infor-
mation. A lot of these people (prisoners)are nuisances, and we’re going to have to
deal with these guys again. We’re still go-
ing to have to go after them.”
The sheriff said he had specific con-
cerns about a 20-year-old repeat of-
fender, Stephen W. Kneece, who was
approved for bond based on his promise
to appear at future hearing, though he
was wanted on an attempted murder
charge and other felony offenses in
neighboring Greenville County.
The local prosecutor’s office said the
bond was approved knowing that
Greenville authorities had placed a
“hold” on the suspect, preventing
Kneece from release.
“It is typical for an offender to get
(personal recognizance) bonds on low-
level charges in one county so he can be
transferred to another jurisdiction,
where he faces more serious charges,
which are the priority cases,” the prose-
cutor’s office said.
Greenville County authorities con-
firmed that Kneece was picked up and
taken to the jail there, where he is being
held without bond.
“We do not typically consult the sher-
iff, himself, when setting bonds, and did
not do so in this case,” the prosecutor’s
office stated. “All of this was done and
continues to be done in an effort to re-
duce the jail population and proactively
address the potential damage COVID-19
could do to a group of inmates in our
county.”‘Uncharted waters’In New Jersey, Gov. Phil Murphy
called the county jail releases a “pru-
dent measure.”
Under terms of the court order, sen-
tences for probation violations or muni-
cipal court convictions were either be-
ing suspended or converted to time-
served, resulting in release.
Prosecutors and the attorney gener-
al’s office could halt some releases by
registering individual objections, the at-
torney general said.
“I don’t know that there is another
state that has done this,” Murphy said
this week at a coronavirus-related
briefing.
“We’re doing something because
we’re in uncharted waters.”
Contributing: Frank Fernandez,
Daytona Beach, Florida, News-Journal;
Kirk Brown, Anderson, South Carolina,
Independent Mail; Brad Zinn, Staunton,
Virginia, News-LeaderOver 40 inmates were recently
released from the Anderson County
Detention Center in Anderson, S.C.
KEN RUINARD/USA TODAY NETWORKJails
Continued from Page 1D
“A lot of these people
(prisoners) are nuisances,
and we’re going to have to
deal with these guys again.
We’re still going to have
to go after them.”
Chad McBride
Sheriff who oversees detention operations
in Anderson County, South Carolinachanging hour by hour, day by day.”
Across the home health care sector,
advocates say additional resources are
needed and regulations should be re-
laxed, such as who can be reimbursed as
a home care provider or how much over-
time Medicaid will cover. If measures
aren’t taken, advocates fear vulnerable
adults could be forced into institutional
care, adding pressure to the health care
system.
The $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus
package tentatively agreed on by the
Senate and White House late Wednes-
day includes at least $100 billion for the
health care system, though it was not
immediately clear how much of it would
go to home health services.
‘This is a serious problem’
Nemo Yusuf has nearly 20 years of
experience as a personal care provider
and makes less than $11 an hour. The
mother of four said falling ill would be
financially devastating. The thought of
getting sick carries with it another anxi-
ety: being unable to care for her clients,
whom she considers extended family.
“It’s really scary,” said Yusuf, who
lives in Texas and has worked with one
of her clients since 2000. “I hope that
things just end well.”
The home care workforce – 90% of
which is female and about a third of
which are immigrants – is chronically
low paid. The median hourly rate was
$11.57 per hour in 2018, according to the
Department of Labor. The pay often is
even lower when looking solely at per-
sonal care workers such as Yusuf, who
are not nurses but provide critical ser-
vices such as helping clients get ready,
eat and use the bathroom.
About half of home care workers live
in or near poverty, according to research
by PHI, a national organization that ad-
vocates for the direct care workforce.
“We’re seeing now the consequences
of devaluing nursing assistants and
home care workers,” said Robert Espi-
noza, PHI’s vice president of policy. “It
means that when a calamity of this type
emerges, they’re not prepared or re-
sourced to manage that, and that puts
both workers and clients at risk.”
Espinoza said some home care work-
ers lack the professional training need-
ed for dealing with the pandemic. Reg-
ulations vary by state, and though home
health aides are required to have at least
75 hours of federally mandated training,
there is no such requirement for per-
sonal care workers, he said.
Teri Henning, the chief executive of-
ficer of the Pennsylvania Homecare As-
sociation, said “a significant number” of
her 700 members have expressed con-
cerns about shortages of equipment, in-
cluding masks. Nearly 70% of providers
surveyed by the Homecare Association
of New York State said they did not have
access to adequate gear, the association
said last week.
“It’s pretty apparent that the priori-
ties for allocation of the equipment are
hospitals and nursing homes,” said Wil-
liam Dombi, president of the National
Association for Home Care and Hos-
pice. “And home care agencies may be
standing in line to get equipment, but
they’re clearly not in the front of that
line. Or anywhere near it.”
Dombi said he has heard from his
members that tens of thousands of ap-
pointments have been canceled over the
past two weeks by patients fearful of
letting workers into their homes. He
said the industry operates on thin mar-
gins, and if big providers are feeling fi-
nancial pressure, he expects the smaller
agencies are hurting even more.
Akshay Gupta, an occupational ther-
apist in Illinois who works as an inde-
pendent contractor and isn’t paid for
missed appointments, said about 80%
of his in-home clients have canceled on
him. Almost half of the providers who
responded to the Homecare Association
of New York State’s survey said patients
or family members refused to let them
enter a home because of concerns about
the virus.
Paul Kusserow, president and CEO of
Amedisys, the second-largest home
health provider in the country, said his
company is experiencing significant
cancellations. He expects his employ-
ees will soon be in demand for a new use- treating patients with COVID-19 in
their homes.
“The ICUs will fill up. There will be
overflow. People will be sent home,” he
said. “They are going to need care and
monitoring. We’re in the right place to
do it. The home is the right place for this.
But we need to have all the tools we need
to do our job.”
Kusserow said he was looking for the
federal government to help in securing
personal protective equipment so his
employees can do that work safely. Reg-
ulations need to be relaxed, he said, in-
cluding allowing home care companies
to be reimbursed for treating the coro-
navirus. He said Amedisys treats about
50 patients with COVID-19. He and oth-
ers have encouraged relaxed regulations
for telemedicine, so some services can
be provided without in-person contact.
That won’t help workers such as
Shannon Conway, an Indiana resident
whose services largely can’t be provided
remotely. She said some of her clients
have little support beyond her, and
many are on fixed incomes and unable
to stock up on supplies. They rely on
Conway for grocery shopping, house-
keeping, bill paying, cooking and other
daily tasks.
“They’re really scared: ‘What hap-
pens if you can’t come tomorrow? What
happens if they shut everything down?
What happens if I can’t get my medica-
tion?’ “ she said.‘We want to live’Denise DiNoto needed her employees
to understand the seriousness of the sit-
uation. The New York woman, who has
spinal muscular atrophy, manages her
own at-home care rather than using an
agency.One by one, she sat down her em-
ployees and asked what they were doing
outside work. Were they avoiding large
groups? Were they taking precautions?
Would they call her before coming to
work if they had a sore throat, cough,
shortness of breath – anything at all?
“I need you to take this seriously,” she
said, “because I cannot be sick. I most
likely will not survive a hospitalization.”
DiNoto receives 63 hours of care per
week, including assistance getting out
of bed, getting ready, preparing food and
more. She said that interdependency
creates a need for planning.
“When you’ve laid in bed at 7 o’clock
in the morning because your personal
assistant, who was supposed to get
there at 6 a.m. got into a car accident on
the way to your house or called in sick
the last minute, and you’ve had to come
up with a plan for who’s going to get to
your house to get you out of bed, you be-
come really good at thinking about plan
B,” DiNoto said. “We are plan B thinkers.
We are MacGyvers in disguise.”
One week after sheltering in place,
DiNoto has been forced to deploy her
emergency plan. The 46-year-old said
an employee called Saturday to report
that she and her husband were in quar-
antine because her husband had been
exposed to the coronavirus at work.
“I’m good through the next week,” Di-
Noto said. “That’s as far as I can plan
right now.”
Alice Wong, director of the Disability
Visibility Project and a disabled activist
in San Francisco, said the health care
system has discriminated against peo-
ple with disabilities, and she fears it will
happen again.
“I am already aware that I am margin-
alized as a disabled person in society,”
Wong, 45, said. “Right now, I feel even
more like the ‘Other’ with the conversa-
tions about who is most at risk and the
shortages of ventilators and hospital ca-
pacity.”
Wong, who has a neuromuscular dis-
ability, relies on her family members for
care. Those family members are over 65,
she said, so they, too, are at high risk.
She hopes society won’t discount peo-
ple’s desire to live.
“Vulnerable people such as disabled,
older and chronically ill people are not
expendable,” Wong said. “We want to
live and offer a lot to society, too. People
are so ready to write us off as inevitable
collateral damage when they don’t real-
ize how resilient and amazing we are.”Home health
Continued from Page 1D
Home health care worker Nemo Yusuf,
left, with one of her clients, Emily
Wolinsky, in Las Vegas. Yusuf has
worked with Wolinsky for nearly 20
years. EMILY WOLINSKY