Direct care worker shortage hurts community-based services, study finds

Advocates call for decisive action “to stem the tide of growing instability.”

The shortage of direct care workers, who provide home care services, is “the single greatest barrier” to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) accessing long-term supports—and it’s “damaging the structural integrity of the community-based services system,” a new report suggests.

The findings come from United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) and the American Network of Community Options and Resources (ANCOR) Foundation’s “The Case for Inclusion 2023,” a report that examines the state of services for people with IDD and warns that the direct care system is nearing collapse.

Demand for workers to provide home- and community-based services is expected to increase 37% by 2030, with almost 8 million new job openings, according to estimates from PHI, an organization that researches and promotes the direct care workforce. Mercer, meanwhile, estimates that the US will have a shortage of 446,300 home health aides by 2025.

See the full article here: https://www.healthcare-brew.com/stories/2023/02/28/direct-care-worker-shortage