A $1.3 million federal project, with funding spread over five years, will establish a new center to help strengthen the direct care workforce providing home- and community-based services to older adults and people with disabilities, the Department Health and Human Services’ Administration for Community Living announced Monday.
The agency said that a funding opportunity titled “Strengthening the Direct Care Workforce (DCW): A Technical Assistance and Capacity Building Initiative” will award approximately $1.3 million per year over five years from a combination of the Older Americans Act, the Rehabilitation Act, and the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act.
According to ACL, a National Technical Assistance Center will strengthen the direct care workforce as a central hub for state, private and federal entities involved in hiring, recruiting, training and workforce development associated with HCBS.
“This initiative builds off and will advance the collaboration between ACL, the Department of Labor, and other HHS agencies, including the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation,” the agency said in an announcement.
According to ACL, the center will offer access to a curated array of model policies, best practices, training materials, technical assistance and learning collaboratives.
Public and private nonprofit entities, community-based organizations, faith-based organizations and higher education institutions can eligible to apply for grants.
“The U.S. needs a path toward the sustainable, reimagined workforce of professional caregivers to ensure better care for millions of older Americans. The creation of a technical assistance center to address the insufficient supply of trained direct care workers is an important step to begin to manage a situation that is at crisis levels,” a spokesperson for LeadingAge told the McKnight’s Business Daily. “We’re eager to learn more details as they become available.”
The agency said it “expects that no single organization will be able to completely fulfill the priority areas addressed in this project. Therefore, applicants should describe how they plan to partner with other organizations, including those representing the needs of traditionally unserved and underserved, including those from racially and ethnically diverse populations, with intersectional identities.”
Applications are due June 28. Those interested can learn more at a teleconference May 17 at 3 p.m. ET by calling (888) 942-9712; the participant passcode is 5313288.
