June 19, 2007 - Vera Salter, PhD, Director of the National Clearinghouse on the Direct Care Workforce since its founding in 2000, left her full-time position at the end of May.

Salter built the Clearinghouse into the premier national information resource supporting the movement to improve the quality of long-term care through the creation of quality jobs for frontline workers. The Clearinghouse website currently receives as many as 40,000 visits per month.

President Steven Dawson of PHI, the parent organization of the Clearinghouse, praised Salter’s efforts: “The National Clearinghouse has become a trusted source of information and analysis for the full range of stakeholders across the field. Its library, state activities pages, best practice profiles, and worker voices provide a wealth of information to all those working to improve the quality of jobs for direct-care workers. Vera has been the driving force behind this excellent resource.”

“Vera has been a valued contributor to the PAS Center,” says Teresa Scherzer, PhD, MSW, of the Center for Personal Assistance Services at the University of California, San Francisco. “Her collaboration with the Center has contributed to the knowledge and dissemination of state- and community-based efforts to improving working conditions of personal care workers. Moreover, her warmth, humor, and positive spirit infuses her collegial relationships and makes her a valued colleague and friend.” The Clearinghouse contributes information to the PAS Center website.

Salter is now working as an empowerment coach and consultant. She will remain involved in the direct-care workforce movement as a member of the board of the Direct Care Alliance.

In the wake of Salter’s departure, PHI is reorganizing its communication department. PHI’s Director of Communications Karen Kahn will serve as the temporary director of the Clearinghouse until PHI hires an Online Communications Specialist to oversee an even more robust PHI web presence. PHI currently maintains three separate websites — www.directcareclearinghouse.org, www.coverageiscritical.org, and www.paraprofessional.org —all of which will soon be accessible through a single web portal. PHI will launch the new website, which will provide users with more advanced search and interactive capacities, in 2008.