Report: Advancing the Home Care Workforce

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer advocated making permanent the $2 per hour hazard pay increase to HCWs. 84

 Widening the direct care workforce pipeline In recent years, to tackle the shortage of direct care workforce in Michigan, the IMPART Alliance focused on increasing worker supply. In Fall 2019, a pilot for PCA Technical Training was launched at Grand Ledge High School near Lansing. 82 The pilot was based on the BTBQ curriculum. Over the next 3-5 years, the IMPART Alliance hopes to expand the pilot statewide using public school funds. To create career pathways for new entrants, Michigan’s Aging and Adult Services Agency (AASA) is exploring options such as a bridge program from BTBQ to local community college courses such as Certified Nurse Assistant (CNA) and medical technician, etc. Offering training to a previously untapped population and offering them career progress opportunities can widen the pipeline and stabilize the future workforce. 6.2.3. Upcoming Policy Actions In August 2020, the Michigan Department of Health & Human Services Aging & Adult Services Agency (AASA) released the Michigan State Plan on Aging 2021 – 2023. 85 One of the goals under this plan is to increase the number of HCWs in Michigan. The first objective of this goal is to ensure that 30% of home care agencies have adopted direct care workforce competencies. Statewide competencies will be developed in partnership with the DCW Advisory Committee and the IMPART Alliance. Another objective is to ensure that agencies are using curricula that map with adopted competencies. Finally, a statewide media campaign to promote the training will be undertaken by AASA. These developments are expected to improve the quality and availability of training and increase the skills of the direct care workforce. Implications: • There is significant momentum in Michigan around state-level changes that the Foundation may wish to support. • Given that the supply of workers is a major challenge, the goal of improving wages and benefits will likely need to be part of any investment made by a stakeholder. 6.2.4. Absence of Meaningful Data in Michigan Despite multiple statewide and local direct care workforce initiatives, Michigan lacks a single, comprehensive source of data that can be used to assess its direct care workforce. Multiple disparate sources of data exist but cannot be accessed easily. The IMPART Alliance is currently in the process of creating a HCW registry. Discussions with stakeholders revealed that community colleges that train HHAs might have data on certifications issued by them. Additionally, Michigan Home Help has an offline registry to match potential participants to HCWs. An online version of this registry is not available.

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