The Long-Term Care component of the U.S. Department of Labor’s High Growth Job Training Initiative responds to critical needs for a more highly skilled labor force caring for America’s aging population. This three-year project supports six projects nationwide, each one a partnership of long-term care employers, educational organizations, and in some cases, workforce intermediaries. Jobs for the Future manages technical assistance to the Initiative.

Approach

The initiative is led by public and private organizations in six regions across the country, partnered with nursing homes, home health care agencies, and other providers of long-term care.

Project sites are building a long-term care labor force through activities such as:

• Preparing high school students for nursing careers;
• Developing career ladders for nursing assistants and home health aides; and
• Recruiting minorities and refugees for entry-level nursing home positions.

JFF supports these activities, assisted by consultants from PHI National and the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning. JFF and the consultants help the project sites:

• Identify project needs;
• Provide information on best practices in long-term care; facilitate peer-to-peer learning conferences; and
• Offer tools to enhance education and training of long-term care workers.

For example, a tool developed by PHI National for the initiative is the “Business Investment Calculator Tool.” Long-term care employers can use the calculator to help them estimate the costs and potential savings associated with investments in their workforce.

Sites

Alaska: University of Alaska
Connecticut: Capital Workforce Partners
Kansas: Neosho County Community College
Michigan: Northwest Michigan Council of Governments
Mississippi: Mississippi Hospital Association/Office of Nursing Workforce
New York: Workforce Investment Board of Herkimer, Madison, and Oneida Counties

Funder

U.S. Department of Labor, Education and Training Administration

Randall Wilson at JFF, rwilson@jff.org, 617.728.4446