Federal bill looks to bolster direct care workforce

For years, home care aides, family caregivers, and other direct care workers have quit in favor of higher-paying, less demanding jobs—departures which only increased during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Now Congress is eyeing legislation to bolster the direct care workforce.

Sen. Tim Kaine, a Virginia Democrat, reintroduced legislation in late April to improve conditions for direct care workers and family caregivers, many of whom are paid low hourly wages—often at or slightly above minimum wage.

The bill, known as the “Supporting Our Direct Care Workforce and Family Caregivers Act,” aims to provide better pay, benefits, training, and career advancement opportunities for direct care workers, who provide long-term care to people who are generally older or have disabilities and chronic conditions.

Kaine argued that the loss of direct care workers—including home health and personal care aides and certified nursing assistants—hurts not only patients who rely on them but also the economy.

“That’s why I’m leading this legislation to help us address the root causes of shortages in our care system and ensure that our hardworking direct care workers and family caregivers can keep delivering their much-needed services,” he said in a statement.

The US is expected to have a shortage of 446,300 home health aides and 95,000 nursing assistants by 2025, according to Mercer estimates. Meanwhile, PHI, an organization that researches and promotes the direct care workforce, predicted that ​​demand for workers to provide home- and community-based services will increase 37% between 2020 and 2030, with almost 8 million new job openings.

Kaine’s bill would direct the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to award grants through its Administration on Community Living (ACL) to states and “other eligible entities for initiatives” that promote the direct care workforce and support education and training for family caregivers, his office noted.

The ACL would also develop a center offering “technical assistance to grant awardees,” as well as others interested in developing the direct care workforce and supporting family caregivers. That center would “establish career development and advancement strategies” for direct care workers, investigate the workforce shortages, recommend training and education curricula, and share best practices.

Kaine introduced a previous version of the bill in 2021.