Direct Care Workforce

This report describes two models developed by Public Authorities in California to provide back-up support for consumers with disabilities who direct their own personal care. The models were developed in Alameda and San Francisco County. These counties provide examples of contrasting models for providing back-up support.

The National Clearinghouse on the Direct Care Workforce publishes a free e-mail newsletter called Quality Jobs/Quality Care. Published twice a month, the newsletter covers issues concerning direct-care workers in long-term care and provides reliable, up-to-date information related to the direct-care workforce nationwide. To subscribe, visit the Clearinghouse website at www.directcareclearinghouse.org and look for Free E-mail Alerts.

Millions of Americans with disabilities or long-term illnesses need assistance with daily activities. Family members and friends fill much of that need, but paid workers are a critical source of care and services. The need for assistance is increasing yet the number of people available is growing slowly. CMS funded this paper to summarize literature and research on the home care, home health, and personal assistance services workforce, highlighting issues raised and lessons learned.

The Formative Evaluation of the Real Choice Systems Change Grants evaluates how the Systems Change grantees are progressing towards meeting their goals. The Formative Evaluation identifies problems faced by the grantees and ways that they deal with the problems. This document provides summary information about each of the FY2003 Grantees.

Of the Real Choice Systems Change grantees awarded funding under CMS’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2001 solicitation, 20 have one or more initiatives to improve the recruitment and retention of direct service workers. This report focuses on the workforce initiatives of these 20 Grantees, with an in-depth look at 7 Grantees (AR [2 grants], KY, MT, NH, NC, VT, with whom RTI conducted site visits).

In fiscal year (FY) 2004, Congress appropriated approximately $40 million in funding for a new round of Real Choice Systems Change Grants. With this solicitation, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) invites proposals for grants totaling approximately $31 million of these funds.

The Vermont Work Incentives Initiative is comprised of several interconnected grant projects that fund direct services to clients, research, and systems change efforts focused on improving employment outcomes and independence for people with disabilities. The web site prvides a wide array of resources on several topics, including benefits counseling, medicaid buy-in program, personal assistance services and other employment supports. A link to the Reports page is provided.

These curricula were developed with the goal of the training participants to be more effective in finding, supporting, and supervising personal assistance staff, resulting in more success in retaining such staff. The training materials include curricula for both consumers and home care agencies, as well as trainer overheads and participant handouts for each group. The trainings also provide an overview of the shift from a medical to consumer-directed services model.

The Compendium contains basic information about each of the Real Choice Systems Change Grantees. The Compendium will help you learn more about how these grants will be used to allow more people of all ages with a disability or long term illness to live and participate in their communities. Real Choice Systems Change Grantees will also find the Compendium useful to identify other Grantees with similar goals and activities. This edition of the Compendium replaces all previous editions.

The purpose of the AccessMaine site is to provide access to information about community-based services for persons with disabilities, their families, and providers in the State of Maine.