Legislation Would Support Direct-Care Workers
Washington, DC – The Eldercare Workforce Alliance (EWA) has endorsed the Direct Creation, Advancement, and Retention of Employment (CARE) Opportunity Act (H.R. 2999). Earlier this month, House Committee on Education and Labor Chairman Bobby Scott (VA-03), Representative Susan Wild (PA-07), and Representative Susie Lee (NV-03) introduced this legislation to invest in and support direct care workers. The Direct CARE Opportunity Act helps address this demand by strengthening support for workers who provide daily living assistance to millions of older Americans, people with disabilities, and others with chronic care needs.
“The Eldercare Workforce Alliance commends the Chairman Scott, Rep. Wild, and Rep. Lee for their actions to support the health and well-being of older adults and the workers who care for them,” said EWA Executive Director Amy York. “This critical legislation will support an often-overlooked workforce that provides urgently-needed long term services and supports to our nation’s older adults.”
The Direct CARE Opportunity Act addresses the need for a well-trained direct care workforce by:
- Distributing $500 million in funding among fifteen entities to invest in strategies to recruit, retain and advance the direct care workforce pipeline from 2022 through 2026;
- Implementing models and strategies to make the field of direct care more attractive, such as training, providing career pathways, mentoring, and allowing for local and regional innovation to address workforce shortages in a high-demand field;
- Encouraging retention and career advancement in the growing field of direct care; and
- Responding to the needs of a growing aging population and allowing older Americans, people with disabilities, and others who require direct care services to remain in their communities, when possible.
About EWA: The Eldercare Workforce Alliance is a group of 35 national organizations – representing consumers, family caregivers, and health care professionals, including direct care workers – joined together to address the immediate and future workforce crisis in caring for an aging America.