Overview

1
Building a Strong
Personal Assistance Services
Workforce
A presentation of the Paraprofessional Healthcare
Institute
2
Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute
PHI is a 10-year old non-profit national
organization headquartered in the South Bronx,
NY. Our mission is to create high quality jobs
for direct-care and personal assistance workers
in the long term care continuum and in home and
community based services.
3
Direct Workforce Experience

• Worker-owned agency in the South Bronx
• Enterprise Development in NY, PA, NH, MI and
  AK
• Independence Care System

4
Workforce Recruitment and Retention Project

• Purpose Funded by CMS to identify for Systems
  Change Grantees
• Tools
• Resources
• Innovative practices
• in the recruitment and retention of personal
  assistant services workers.

5
Workforce Recruitment and Retention Project

• Products
• Fact Sheets/ Issue Briefs
• Supervisory Training Curriculum
• Return on Investment Analysis
• Final Report to Systems Change Grantees

6
Workforce Recruitment and Retention Project
Dissemination Through the National Clearinghouse
on the Direct Care Workforce and searchable
web-based database www.directcareclearinghouse.o
rg
7
The Demographic Imperative

• States already reporting worker shortages
• Elderly population will double by 2030
• The traditional personal assistance worker
  population is only expected to grow 7
• Currently- the ratio of potential workers to
  consumers is 2 1
• In 2030 - the ratio is expected to be less
  than 1 1

8
The Widening Care Gap 2000-2030
Source U.S. Census Bureau, National Population
Projections, Summary Files, Total Population by
Age, Sex, Race, and Hispanic Origin,
http//www.census.gov/population/www/projections/n
atsum-T3.html
9
Terminology

• Direct Support Professionals
• Direct Care Workers
• Personal Care Assistants
• Personal assistance workers
• Home health Aides

10
The Essentials of a Quality Job
PHI has identified these elements as essential in
creating a good job and a stable workforce

• Wages and Benefits
• Recruitment
• Training
• Supervision
• Support

11
Wages and Benefits

• In 1999, the median wage of all direct support
  workers was 7.97 per hour.
• Personal assistance workers averaged even less
  than other frontline workers.

Source US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1999
Occupational Wage estimates by service code