I am Angela Wirt, Executive Director of Child Care Aware of Virginia – a statewide nonprofit serving all localities across the Commonwealth. CHILD CARE has been hit hard by the pandemic – families and child care programs continue to struggle. Many programs remain at risk of closing permanently due to lost revenue. We need to enable PORTABILITY of BACKGROUND CHECKS for substitute staff to assist with critical staffing shortages so that child care can continue to operate and families can get the care they need to continue working. We must pass legislation to allow portability of background checks and enlist the Rap Back program to maintain safe care settings for children. Public schools have substitute pools of screened staff who can step into classrooms when teachers are absent; child care does not. It’s time to change that. We need to ensure SAFE SLEEP PRACTICES for all infants in child care and ask for ALL registered providers to be required to comply with safe sleep recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Voluntarily registered providers are currently not required to follow these practices. We urge the GA to close this loophole and adopt safe sleep legislation for registered providers to prevent the unnecessary deaths of babies in regulated child care. Child Care Resource and Referral offers critical BUSINESS SUPPORT technical assistance and training to the child care workforce statewide. Supplemental funding to support the development and sustainability of child care businesses is needed to strengthen and rebuild the child care community and Virginia’s economy. Families cannot work without child care – businesses cannot operate without a workforce. There is no economic recovery without child care!

REF: State Budget Hearings – 2021 I appreciate the opportunity to provide input into the 2021 budget proceedings. I am Teresa Fontaine, Executive Director of Southern Area Agency on Aging (SAAA). Southern AAA is located in Martinsville; the Agency serves the West Piedmont Planning District that includes the cities of Martinsville and Danville and the surrounding counties. I wish to comment on behalf of the 1.4 million older Virginians and their families who reside in the Commonwealth, as well as my colleague Area Agencies on Aging (AAA) who, like Southern AAA, provide essential services and supports to frail older Virginians. AAA’s meet vulnerable older Virginians where they live—enabling older adults, to continue living in their homes, in their communities, with the necessary supports they need: home-delivered meals, help with their personal care and their primary living space, care and service coordination, emergency home repairs, and transportation to medical care, to name a few. Further, AAA’s plan, coordinate and provide services and activities that help caregivers, we inform, educate and assist older adults concerning resources and important issues and topics, we provide preventative and wellness programs, and we advocate on behalf of older Virginia citizens every day. We understand that the revenue picture is only gradually improving from this pandemic, and that you must therefore, concentrate on those services for those most in need and those services that are known to be successful and provide the most bang for the buck. As we have seen over the vast majority of 2020, older Virginians who are able to stay in their homes have come through this COVID-19 pandemic far better than their peers who reside in congregate settings. Those older Virginians living at home, to a great extent, have been able to rely on AAA’s, with little, or any at all, interruption in the services and supports we’ve provided since day one of the start of the pandemic in the Commonwealth. As the needs of our clients have changed during the pandemic, so too have some of the services provided by Southern AAA have changed, to include partnership building with food banks, home delivery of groceries and other essentials, implementation of checking services , expansion of personal care and respite services to support caregivers, enhancement of transportation options and learning how to connect differently with our clients who are socially isolated. As you consider and tackle the budget challenges ahead, with many expressed wishes, I ask that you help AAA’s continue to maximize our capacity to provide vital services in Virginia’s communities: we are requesting $90,000 for demographic services to support the work of AAA’s, so that we have the timely and detailed data that we need, and that is required, as we make our case when writing proposals and applying for grants. Grantors and funders require that such proposals provide detailed data, if they’re to be successful. In turn, we are maximizing state resources. You have our trust and confidence as you address the difficult issues before you. We give you our support and our offer of assistance as you commence this 2021 Session. Thank you. Teresa C. Fontaine, Executive Director SOUTHERN AREA AGENCY ON AGING 204 Cleveland Avenue Martinsville, VA 24112 (276) 632-6442 Toll Free: (800) 468-4571 Fax: (276) 632-6252

I am in support of two budget amendments that will improve the access and quality of services to Virginians with brain injuries. I support the following two budget amendments: 1. $1.4M Workforce Retention amendment patroned by Del. Bulova and Sen. Ruff. Our organization has experienced significant turnover in trained staff the last two years with no new state funding available to offer more competitive salaries. 2. $1M for Community Supports patroned by Del. Brewer and Sen. Mason. This additional Community Supports funding would allow the virtual programming to continue and to expand our organization's ability to serve those who are unable to travel or in person services are not medically recommended due to co-morbidities. It is also unknown at this point whether or not those who have contracted COVID-19 and experience neurological changes may need ongoing services and supports after recovering leading to an increased demand for virtual and in-person services.

Hello. My name is _________________________________. I’m a home care provider, a member of the community, a voter, and a tax-payer. I live in ____________________________________________. (name of city or county) Home Care providers like me help older adults and people with disabilities live where they want to live: at home and in the community. We save the state money by keeping people out of the emergency room and out of nursing homes. We have been on the front lines of this pandemic every day, keeping older adults and people with disabilities healthy and safe. We are called essential workers, but we often aren’t treated as essential. I have been a home care provider for ___________________________________ years. I care for ______________________________________________________________. (examples: an older man, a young woman with autism, etc.) I help them by __________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ (examples: bathing, cooking, getting to their appointments, etc.) With my help, they are able to ______________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ (examples: live on their own, work, volunteer, see their family, etc.) I love being a home care provider because ____________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ However, home care providers like me face serious challenges. We are often called essential, but we are not treated as essential. My biggest challenge is: _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ (examples: low pay, no paid sick days, no health care, etc.) Here’s what it’s been like to be a Home Care worker during the pandemic: _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ Home Care workers are essential, frontline workers, but we aren’t always treated that why. That is why home care providers drafted a Home Care Bill of Rights to advocate for what we need: living wages, paid sick days and PPE for providers, just like state workers; and quality care for consumers. Thank you for funding raises, hazard pay and PPE last year. This funding literally saved the lives of older adults, people with disabilities, and home care workers like me. I’m here today to ask you to continue to support Home Care workers and consumers in Virginia by funding the following items in this year’s budget: A real pay increase for home care providers; Paid sick days; PPE; An orientation program so that home care providers can do their jobs well; and We ask you to fund the Home Care Bill of Rights so that we can recruit and retain the Quality Home Care Workforce that your constituents need to survive the pandemic.

Good Morning. I am Jeanne Trabulsi calling from the Shenandoah Valley where every day is a gift. Living among and with the people of the Valley—with neighbors who value loyalty to family, service to others, and, above all, responsibility—is a joy! One of the most memorable instances of these values-in-action came about when the engine of our Sante Fe conked out on Interstate 81. Dazed and in disbelief, my husband kept pushing the start button, and I kept shouting, “pullover, pullover.” As we came to rest on the highway’s shoulder— with our car convulsing from the trucks bolting by—, I became fearful that we would be rear-ended any minute. (And, become a hood ornament for one of those trucks!) BUT, minutes later, an angel appeared. An angel in the guise of Mr. John who maneuvered his Shenandoah County Safety Service Patrol truck directly behind us and who ensured our safety until the tow truck arrived. This VDOT free-assistance service was a gift to the Valley community from the General Assembly, and we thank you for it. Frankly speaking, we could use two more trucks. But, how to get the money? I’ve got an idea. How about removing from the budget the Virginia Israel Advisory Board (VIAB) at over $200,000 a year? Well, what is VIAB? On their website, they say that there’re a state agency administered under the General Assembly that helps Israeli companies do business in Virginia. Furthermore, I understand that it’s the only lobbying group in the U.S. that operates from within a state government. To me, it seems unfair in supporting VIAB. After all, the General Assembly doesn’t provide funding for an executive director nor office space for the Asian Advisory Board, the African American Advisory Board or the Hispanic Advisory Board. To me, it, also, seems unsustainable. What will the General Assembly do when businesses from other countries want to create their own in-house lobbying group? Remember what happened last year when a bill to create the Korea Advisory Board was tabled by the House Appropriations Committee? Laura Pho, who’s chair of an Asian American group wrote that creating an independent advisory board for only one specific country is problematic because it’s preferential and divisive. In other words, the mere existence of a Korea or Israel advisory board pits the interests of one ethnic group against another. In summary, I have one question and one ask: Was the General Assembly impartial in allowing the VIAB into state government? And, my one ask is to remove from the budget funding for VIAB. Thank you.

Hello. My name is _________________________________. I’m a home care provider, a member of the community, a voter, and a tax-payer. I live in ____________________________________________. (name of city or county) Home Care providers like me help older adults and people with disabilities live where they want to live: at home and in the community. We save the state money by keeping people out of the emergency room and out of nursing homes. We have been on the front lines of this pandemic every day, keeping older adults and people with disabilities healthy and safe. We are called essential workers, but we often aren’t treated as essential. I have been a home care provider for ___________________________________ years. I care for ______________________________________________________________. (examples: an older man, a young woman with autism, etc.) I help them by __________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ (examples: bathing, cooking, getting to their appointments, etc.) With my help, they are able to ______________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ (examples: live on their own, work, volunteer, see their family, etc.) I love being a home care provider because ____________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ However, home care providers like me face serious challenges. We are often called essential, but we are not treated as essential. My biggest challenge is: _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ (examples: low pay, no paid sick days, no health care, etc.) Here’s what it’s been like to be a Home Care worker during the pandemic: _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ Home Care workers are essential, frontline workers, but we aren’t always treated that why. That is why home care providers drafted a Home Care Bill of Rights to advocate for what we need: living wages, paid sick days and PPE for providers, just like state workers; and quality care for consumers. Thank you for funding raises, hazard pay and PPE last year. This funding literally saved the lives of older adults, people with disabilities, and home care workers like me. I’m here today to ask you to continue to support Home Care workers and consumers in Virginia by funding the following items in this year’s budget: A real pay increase for home care providers; Paid sick days; PPE; An orientation program so that home care providers can do their jobs well; and We ask you to fund the Home Care Bill of Rights so that we can recruit and retain the Quality Home Care Workforce that your constituents need to survive the pandemic.

Hello. My name is _________________________________. I’m a home care provider, a member of the community, a voter, and a tax-payer. I live in ____________________________________________. (name of city or county) Home Care providers like me help older adults and people with disabilities live where they want to live: at home and in the community. We save the state money by keeping people out of the emergency room and out of nursing homes. We have been on the front lines of this pandemic every day, keeping older adults and people with disabilities healthy and safe. We are called essential workers, but we often aren’t treated as essential. I have been a home care provider for ___________________________________ years. I care for ______________________________________________________________. (examples: an older man, a young woman with autism, etc.) I help them by __________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ (examples: bathing, cooking, getting to their appointments, etc.) With my help, they are able to ______________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ (examples: live on their own, work, volunteer, see their family, etc.) I love being a home care provider because ____________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ However, home care providers like me face serious challenges. We are often called essential, but we are not treated as essential. My biggest challenge is: _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ (examples: low pay, no paid sick days, no health care, etc.) Here’s what it’s been like to be a Home Care worker during the pandemic: _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ Home Care workers are essential, frontline workers, but we aren’t always treated that why. That is why home care providers drafted a Home Care Bill of Rights to advocate for what we need: living wages, paid sick days and PPE for providers, just like state workers; and quality care for consumers. Thank you for funding raises, hazard pay and PPE last year. This funding literally saved the lives of older adults, people with disabilities, and home care workers like me. I’m here today to ask you to continue to support Home Care workers and consumers in Virginia by funding the following items in this year’s budget: A real pay increase for home care providers; Paid sick days; PPE; An orientation program so that home care providers can do their jobs well; and