A new report offers eight recommendation to improve direct care workforce jobs and nurture/retain home care workers, certified nursing assistants, and others:
- Reform long-term care financing to strengthen direct care jobs, including strengthening public financing for long-term care, increasing reimbursement rates under Medicaid and other public payers, and protecting and strengthening Medicaid to cover more individuals and improve direct care jobs.
- Increase compensation for direct care workers, including offering a living wage and improving access to full-time schedules.
- Strengthen training standards and delivery systems for direct care workers, including establishing a national standard for competencies.
- Fund, implement, and evaluate direct care workforce interventions, including strengthening the workforce pipeline in direct care and providing additional skill-building at the entry level.
- Improve direct care workforce data collection and monitoring.
- Center direct care workers in leadership roles and public policy.
- Rectify systemic gender and racial inequities for direct care workers.
- Shift the public narrative on direct care workers.
