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"I Can't Do That." In "Our Lives on Hold," we explore the gap between domestic needs and bureaucratic audits. When the simple act of helping a loved one shower becomes subject to a state-sponsored forensic audit, we are not measuring fraud; we are measuring policy failure. Today, for April 25, 2026, we push back against the "management state" that looks for criminality in the most basic acts of care. What Kennedy's fraud accusations, Colorado's caregiver cap, and a kitchen wi

Two bills. Two categories of invisible labor. One question Colorado is finally beginning to answer. Two kinds of work. Thirty-two years. The camera and the caregiving household - parallel architectures that the law has never seen as the same problem. "The Work the Law Couldn't See" - Care Futures, April 19, 2026. #ColoradoCAREAct #CareFutures By Mark Fukae - Director of Advocacy | Professionals Who Care I've been running camera since 1994. A film practice built over two decad

A completed fiscal and legal audit, a $1.5B state budget shortfall, and a zero-cost bill that changes both. Better One or Better Two?  In the latest part of our series, we focus on the prescription Colorado’s caregivers are still  waiting for. We have the clear data-showing substantial savings and no cost to the general fund-so why is the caregiver still waiting in the dark? It’s time to move beyond binary choices and look at the real person behind the complex machine. By Mar

What a parking lot in Denver has in common with the White House Situation Room - and why Colorado law sees neither. The Expertise Outside the Room:  In this part of our series, we put the microscope on the profound, unacknowledged expertise held by those waiting just outside the decision-making "room." While the person in the car reads celebrity gossip, the one caring for them is often the person with the most expertise, but they are rarely the one in the HR meeting-or the Si

What a decade of caregiving builds - and why Colorado law doesn't see it yet. Under the Microscope:  we put the microscope on the "expertise no credential captures." When we talk about caregiving, we often use generic, minimizing terms. But the reality is a multi-dimensional, high-expertise infrastructure that is simultaneous and never finished. This image is a stark reminder that sometimes the mental load is so heavy, even the simplest things end up in the wrong place. By Ma

What a Tuesday afternoon in our living room taught me about what it means to be seen — and what it costs when you're not. The system addresses us eventually - usually 43 days too late By Mark Fukae - Director of Advocacy - Professionals Who Care She came to find me in the middle of the afternoon. She had something in her hand - a magazine, US Weekly, held out toward me like she'd found something important. She had. The mailing label had her name on it. Her address. This house

Repairing the Executive:  In the final installment of our series, we explore the "architecture" of durable reform. Policy is more than just a statement of intent; it is the structural record that remains to protect caregivers even when the original advocates are no longer present. By Mark Fukae - Director of Advocacy - Professionals Who Care Part VI of 21st Century Guardrails examines executive overreach through the caregiver lens—from my kitchen to the Colorado budget, from

Part V of 21st Century Guardrails examines legislative abandonment, the newsletter gap, and why 1 million Colorado caregivers don't appear in the information ecosystem that shapes law. Repairing the Legislature:  Towards the conclusion of our series, we look at the vital role of legislative bodies in "holding the record" for their constituents. When the system fails to account for the daily, domestic realities of caregivers, the infrastructure of our society begins to crumble

Repair the Courts:  In the final part of our series, we look at the role of the judiciary in supporting the "infrastructure that never shuts down." While policy is debated in grand halls, its impact is felt at the kitchen table. It is time to ensure our court systems recognize and protect the vital labor of caregiving. Part IV of 21st Century Guardrails examines judicial retreat, unauthorized war's economic impact, and why the Colorado CARE Act is constitutional architecture.

Taming the Executive:  In Part III of our "21st Century Guardrails" series, we explore the precarious reality for caregivers when legal protections are absent. Without intentional policy "guardrails," families are left vulnerable. It is time to evolve our laws to ensure that care is not just a personal burden, but a protected right. By Mark Fukae - Director of Advocacy - Professionals Who Care "There is nothing in the law that protects you." Those nine words changed everythin

When Congress underinvests in its own capacity, working caregivers absorb the fallout.    The Supreme Court redraws trade authority. DOJ fires a court-appointed prosecutor. DHS enters week two of shutdown. Congress remains absent. By Mark Fukae - Director of Advocacy - Professionals Who Care This weekend, three separate stories revealed the same structural pattern: Congress is no longer exercising the authority it possesses. On Friday, the Supreme Court struck down the Presid

DHS shuts down on Valentine's Day. ICE keeps its $140 billion. Working caregivers keep holding the line. When the guardrails fail, caregivers hold the line - love as infrastructure in a system that no longer coordinates. By Mark Fukae - Director of Advocacy | Professionals Who Care On Valentine's Day 2026, the Department of Homeland Security shut down. Congress left for a ten-day recess. Over 260,000 federal employees were affected - TSA agents, Coast Guard members, FEMA work

On government shutdowns, caregiving moments, and why stability matters when the world is shaking Caregivers hold the care economy together - even when the country is in crisis. By Mark Fukae - Director of Advocacy - Professionals Who Care At midnight Saturday, the federal government partially shut down. The Pentagon. State. Treasury. Education. Transportation. The Senate passed a bipartisan funding package Friday night-seventy-one to twenty-nine-but the House won't return unt

“Our Lives On Hold” - a visual callout to the emotional and policy toll of caregiver neglect in American systems. On heartbreak, governance flooding, and why caregivers cannot wait for federal stability By Mark Fukae - Director of Advocacy - Professionals Who Care This week, I'm writing from a place I haven't written from before - not just as an advocate or policy analyst, but as someone whose household is about to be turned upside down, and whose heart is breaking every sing

Steadying the anchor:  This week’s title card reflects the precarious balance between shifting federal health policies and the personal search for economic stability. By Mark Fukae - Director of Advocacy - Professionals Who Care My mother has lived with my wife and me for more than nine years. This is her home. Her room. Her routines. Her familiar chair. Her birthday cards still sitting on the kitchen table. But this week, she began asking again: "Can you take me home?" She m

Our Lives On Hold: The moment memory meets policy - and the workplace says “suck it up." By Mark Fukae - Director of Advocacy - Professionals Who Care My mother and I share a birthday. This year, for her 94th, we took her to a small German restaurant - a place that felt like home. She was born in Germany, and even now, as her memory fades, the taste of sauerbraten and German folk music still spark something familiar. She smiled through the whole meal. But what she held onto m

By Mark Fukae - Director of Advocacy - Professionals Who Care Colorado families are managing care, work, and policy survival - all from the same surface. April 2024. My wife and I sat at our kitchen table in Brighton, staring at a calendar already packed with medical appointments, therapy schedules, and work deadlines. We were trying to figure out how to add one more person to our household care infrastructure. My wife's mother needed to move in with us. Type 1 diabetes requ

Once again, research shows that organizations have an outsized impact on the outcomes of caregivers. Inclusive policies matter.

We are not talking enough about what Medicaid cuts will mean for the people sitting next to us at work. Behind policy debates and budget lines are millions of employed caregivers who rely on Medicaid-funded home- and community-based services to make work possible. When those supports are reduced or eliminated, caregivers do not just lose services. They absorb new direct and indirect costs, lose stability, and face impossible choices between employment and care. Without home-

Caregivers are holding up the care economy - and 2026 will test every system they support. By Mark Fukae - Director of Advocacy - Professionals Who Care Across Colorado and the nation, caregivers are holding up the long‑term care system with unpaid labor, personal sacrifice, and an economic burden that grows heavier every year. As we enter 2026, the warning signs are no longer subtle - they are structural, systemic, and accelerating. Professionals Who Care is proud to share a