A quick scan of the police reports from Seattle’s East Precinct reveals an entirely unexpected incident related to Initiative 1029, the measure that would increase training requirements for home health care workers.
According to the police report, a man suffering from Parkinson’s disease hired a new caretaker on October 1 from a health care company he had used in the past. What he did not know, but what appears clear from the report, is that this new caretaker had never been properly trained in not stealing $700 from a sick man. On October 3rd, the caretaker took the victim in her car to run some errands. The first stop was the victim’s bank, where the victim withdrew $735. The victim proceeded to place $700 of his withdrawal into an envelope. Later, after arriving at the post office, the victim re-counted the $700 in front of his caretaker and left it in the car with the caretaker while he did his business at the post office. After the victim’s errands were completed and the caretaker had dropped him off, the victim discovered that his cash envelope was now completely empty.
The caretaker denied both taking the money and knowing its whereabouts. The victim called the health care provider to file a complaint.
Though the police report fails to mention it, it’s safe to assume that the victim also requested that Washington State spend $29 million to ensure that health care workers are trained not to steal, not to allow patients to smoke near an open oxygen tank and to find a quick solution to the current economic crisis gripping our nation by the neck.