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Policy Architecture for Caregiver Infrastructure
CASI builds policy architecture - not programs. We identify structural gaps in employment law and care infrastructure, then design legally enforceable interventions that protect caregivers before the crisis compounds. Caregiving is not a private burden. It is public infrastructure. And infrastructure requires legal protection.
Our Approach: Three Intersecting Frameworks
CASI operates at the intersection of three critical systems:
PRIVATE SECTOR: Employers need legal clarity for accommodation requests and workforce retention strategies that reduce turnover costs.
PUBLIC POLICY: Legislators need revenue-neutral solutions that strengthen workforce stability during budget crises.
HOME CARE: Families need workplace protections that allow caregivers to maintain employment while managing care responsibilities.
Our policy frameworks serve all three constituencies simultaneously—aligning economic incentives with social outcomes.
The Policy Architecture Methodology
CASI's work follows a three-step framework that moves upstream from the presenting crisis to the design flaw that made it inevitable.
Step 1 - Gap Identification: Locate where the legal architecture fails to protect the people it was built to serve. For caregivers, the gap is explicit: no protected class status under Colorado anti-discrimination law despite providing $16 billion in unpaid annual labor.
Step 2 - Upstream Structural Intervention: Design the fix at the source, not the symptom. The Colorado CARE Act amends CADA directly - the protected class definition, the accommodation framework, the prohibited actions - rather than funding a program that works around the structural failure.
Step 3 - Durable Regulatory Embedding: Anchor enforcement in existing legal infrastructure. The CARE Act routes complaints through the Colorado Civil Rights Division - an existing mechanism with established procedures, no new bureaucracy, no new appropriations.
This is the methodology. Every CASI policy instrument follows it.
Our Mission
The Caregiver Advocacy Support Initiative (CASI) provides nonpartisan research, policy frameworks, and legislative strategy to modernize workplace protections for family caregivers. We bridge the gap between private sector employment practices, public policy, and home care systems—positioning caregiving as essential infrastructure rather than private burden.
Colorado's 910,000 family caregivers provide an estimated $16 billion in unpaid care annually. When workplace discrimination forces these caregivers to choose between employment and care responsibilities, the economic consequences are catastrophic: workforce exits, lost tax revenue, and premature institutionalization that costs Colorado Medicaid $103,287 per nursing facility resident annually.
CASI exists to prevent this collapse through evidence-based policy advocacy.
Leadership
Mark Fukae
Founder & Policy Architect
Founder & Policy Architect, CASI · Director of Advocacy, Professionals Who Care (national nonprofit) · Registered Colorado Volunteer Lobbyist · Author, Colorado CARE Act & Universal Care Continuum model
Mark Fukae is a policy architect and gap diagnostician specializing in caregiver infrastructure and equity-centered systems design. As founder of CASI and Director of Advocacy for Professionals Who Care - a national nonprofit - he translates the Universal Care Continuum model into legally enforceable policy. His signature instrument, the Colorado CARE Act, adds caregiver status as a protected class under state anti-discrimination law with zero new state appropriations and an estimated $9–18M in annual Medicaid savings. A registered Colorado volunteer lobbyist, he works at the intersection of employment law, fiscal policy, and equity - with a single doctrine: good intentions without legal enforceability have no leg to stand on.
Our Research Methodology
CASI employs rigorous, nonpartisan analysis grounded in:
- Colorado-specific demographic and fiscal data from HCPF, DORA, and legislative fiscal notes
- Comparative policy analysis from jurisdictions with caregiver protections
- Economic modeling of Medicaid savings through prevented institutional placements
- Stakeholder consultation with employers, disability advocates, labor organizations, and legislative staff
- Cost-benefit frameworks using existing state agency data
We do not advocate for unfunded mandates, new bureaucracies, or speculative programs. Every CASI recommendation includes fiscal analysis, implementation timelines, and administrative feasibility assessments.
What We Don’t Do
CASI does not provide:
- Direct caregiver services or case management
- Legal representation for individual discrimination cases
- Benefits navigation or social services referrals
- Fundraising for other organizations
- Partisan political endorsements
- Membership programs or events
Our sole focus is legislative policy analysis and advocacy for systemic workplace protections.
Contact & Media Inquiries
Mark Fukae, Founder & Director
Email: mark_fukae@casiadvocacy.org
Website: casiadvocacy.org
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CASI is a nonpartisan advocacy initiative. 501(c)(3) nonprofit status pending.