Direct Care Workforce Strategies Center
Without a strong direct care workforce, families and caregivers face increased pressure to step in and deliver care that is often insufficient for the complex health needs of older adults and people with disabilities. The Direct Care Workforce Strategies Center, funded by the Administration for Community Living, will support the nation’s direct care workforce by providing critical resources, tools, and training.
During the pandemic, it became even more clear that the demand for direct care is far outstripping the supply of workers nationwide. Both care recipients and direct care workers deserve our support to improve the system for all.
With funding from the U.S. Administration for Community Living (ACL), NCOA's Direct Care Workforce Strategies Center is an important step toward supporting the development and coordination of policies and programs that contribute to a stable, robust direct care workforce.
Harnessing the power of a team of organizations with expertise in disability, aging, and workforce issues, NCOA will help facilitate peer-to-peer sharing of lessons learned and promising practices through learning collaboratives and support collaboration between state systems, including: Medicaid, aging, disability, and workforce agencies; service providers; and aging, disability, and labor stakeholders. States will have the opportunity to receive technical assistance aimed towards advancing systems change.
Please check back regularly as we continue to create and share resources from the federal government, highlight state and local model policies and best practices that can be replicated or adapted, and share training and technical assistance materials.
State technical assistance opportunities
The Call for Applications for the DCW Intensive TA to States and the DCW State Peer-Learning Collaboratives closed March 25, 2024 at 8 p.m. ET. Selected states will be announced over April and May 2024.
As of April 2024, the Center will provide state governments the opportunity to participate in one of two dynamic technical assistance offerings to help further their state systems-change efforts aimed at building a revitalized direct care workforce to meet the growing demand for high-quality Home and Community Based Services to support older adults and people with disabilities to age-in-place and live, work, and thrive in their communities of choice. The two offerings:
- OPTION ONE—DCW Intensive Technical Assistance to States: This opportunity will provide up to 250 hours of individualized technical assistance for up to six multi-disciplinary state teams. The program will be facilitated by the state association consortium, led by ADvancing States in partnership with the National Association of State Directors of Developmental Disability Services (NASDDDS) and the National Association of State Medicaid Directors (NAMD). States will be assigned to a TA Coach and have access to a number of subject matter experts (SMEs) based on state preference and need. State teams will work to complete individualized systems-change TA plans aimed at improving direct care workforce development and retention through reforms in policy, practice, programming, payment and performance. The states selected will be required to solidify a cross-systems and cross-agency state team composed of representatives from the state’s Medicaid agency, entities responsible for HCBS waiver populations and programming (including but not limited to developmental disabilities, aging, mental health, physical disabilities, traumatic brain injury, or other state-specific targeted HCBS populations), and workforce development systems. The participating states will undergo an intensive assessment and readiness action process as part of the TA model.
- OPTION TWO—Direct Care Workforce State Peer-Learning Collaboratives: The Center will sponsor up to three time-limited, results-oriented, topically-focused working groups of four to six states each. Each state participating in the Peer Learning Collaborative Series will engage in monthly virtual meetings focused on group learning and information sharing on best practices, innovative strategies and demonstrated models for growing the direct care workforce. In addition, each State will receive a small number of hours (50-70 over the course of PLC) to work with one subject matter expert (SME) of their choosing. It is expected that each participating state will accomplish one policy or program-related milestone within the parameters of the topic of focus as a result of participation in one PLC.
Funding for the Direct Care Workforce Strategies Center
NCOA was awarded a 5-year, $6.5 million grant from ACL to establish the Direct Care Workforce Strategies Center to strengthen the care economy. This initiative will provide technical assistance to states and service providers, and facilitate collaboration with stakeholders to improve recruitment, retention, training, and professional development of direct care workers.
The content and views expressed herein are those of NCOA and do not necessarily represent the views of, nor should be attributed to, ACL.
How to contact NCOA's direct care workforce team
- Jessica Johnston, Senior Director, Economic Security and Benefits
- Laura Thorn, Senior Specialist
General inquiries can be directed to directcareworkforce@ncoa.org.
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About the Center for Economic Well-Being
The Center for Economic Well-Being Access helps organizations enroll seniors and younger adults with disabilities with limited means into the benefits programs for which they are eligible so that they can remain healthy and improve the quality of their lives. Learn more about our work, including the training and technical assistance NCOA provides.