People who rely on personal assistance services (PAS) to live independently report barriers such as difficulties getting enough hours of service, finding and training reliable PAS workers, finding backup when a regular PAS worker is not available, and obtaining PAS for work when a job is part of independent living. PAS workers typically earn low wages, receive few if any benefits, have little or no opportunity for skills enhancement or advancement, experience high job turnover, and, without proper training, may be subject to on-the-job injuries. PAS cooperatives, which began in the 1980s, provide a model for PAS service delivery that has the potential to benefit both PAS consumers and PAS workers. A cooperative is an “organization that is owned and controlled by the people who use its products, supplies and/or services” (International Cooperative Alliance, 2006). Cooperatives have both a social and an economic mandate, existing to improve the lives of member-owners as well as compete cost-effectively in the marketplace. This session will present the results of in-depth interviews with representatives of consumer-run and worker-run cooperatives, as well as those in which both consumers and workers are member-owners. The presentation will focus primarily on examples of successful PAS cooperatives and funding mechanisms, and will include discussion of lessons learned from cooperatives that were not successful. Public policy recommendations related to PAS cooperatives will also be presented.


4) Kraus, L.E. (2007, November). New promising practices in workplace personal assistance services. Poster presented at the 135th meeting of the American Public Health Association, Washington D.C.

For many working-age people with a disability, the most important aspect of living independently is being able to work. But their right to work can be stymied by barriers that prevent working or returning to work, such as the need for personal assistance services (PAS) at work. Workplace PAS include task-related assistance, such as readers, interpreters, help with lifting or reaching, re-assignment of non-essential duties to co-workers, and other help related to performing work tasks and personal care-related assistance such as helping someone with toileting, eating, or drinking while at work.
Organizations, as well as PAS users, prevent the implementation of PAS in the workplace through:

• Lack of clear policies for workplace PAS
• Lack of preparation for employees with disabilities to use PAS in the workplace
• Concern about cost to employee or employer
• Concern about liability, especially for personal care
• Negative or hostile attitudes of co-workers or supervisors
• Extensive waiting times for accommodations
• Lack of a clear definition of what constitutes PAS