Training a Quality Direct Care Workforce in the Greater Washington Region

By Rebekah Seder, Program Coordinator

We know that there is a rapidly growing demand for direct care health workers due to the region’s aging population, so how do we ensure that this demand will be met by a supply of well-trained and highly competent health workers?

This was the topic of discussion last week at the Working Group on Aging’s second Quality Jobs/Quality Care session, which featured a panel of leaders from community colleges and nonprofits in Northern Virginia, DC, and Montgomery and Prince George’s counties that offer training programs leading to Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) and other direct care certifications. These programs provide a pathway for workers, many of whom are female, low-income, and often foreign-born, into direct care jobs that are in ever-growing demand.

While these programs are meeting a critical need, obstacles persist. Because CNA and other training programs are generally non-credit programs at community colleges, the federal government doesn’t provide financial aid for students in these programs, so keeping these programs affordable for students is challenging. In addition, licensing regulations vary across jurisdictions, making it very difficult to live, study, and work in different counties throughout the region. Finally, ensuring that the direct care jobs that these training programs lead to are of high quality, professionally supervised, and well compensated, is a continuing issue.

VIDEO: Judy Berman, Deputy Director of DC Appleseed, talks a bit more about the region’s training programs, and what role the local philanthropic community can play in strengthening the direct care workforce:

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The Quality Jobs/Quality Care series is sponsored by WRAG’s Working Group on Aging, the Greater Washington Workforce Development Collaborative at the Community Foundation for the National Capital Region and the Washington Area Women’s Foundation. The series will continue on September 21 and December 13. Details TBA at www.washingtongrantmakers.org.