PRESS RELEASE
For immediate release
July 6, 2009

Contact: Alex Olins
PHI Northern New England Director
Phone: (802) 655-4615
Email: aolins@PHInational.org

Rewarding Skill and Improving Care
New initiative provides career advancement opportunities for direct-care workers in Vermont

Burlington, VT — Few issues are more important to people today than health care. Both from a personal and societal perspective, Americans are deeply concerned about what the future holds for them when it comes to health care. In many states, the growing needs of an aging “baby boomer” generation are creating an enormous shortage in qualified direct-care workers, who provide most of the “hands on” home and community-based care that elders and people living with disabilities depend upon.

Challenged by this critical need, the Vermont Department of Labor, with funding from the DOL’s Workforce Education and Training Fund, is supporting a unique education and career ladder training program for 65 Personal Care Assistants (PCAs) at four sites in northwestern Vermont:

• VNA of Chittenden and Grand Isle Counties
• Franklin County Home Health Agency
• Armistead Caregiver Services
• Home Instead Senior Care

PHI — a nationally recognized training and organizational development consulting firm focused exclusively in the eldercare/disability services industry, with a regional office in Vermont for many years— will be serving as project manager of the entire initiative. PHI will be collaborating with the Vermont Department of Labor (DOL), the Northwest Technical Center, the Community College of Vermont, Vermont Adult Learning, and all four community partner sites throughout the project.

“These educational opportunities will be the next steps in what has proven to be a valuable and mutually important collaboration,” said Churchill Hindes, VNA President and CEO. “This initiative will benefit the agencies involved, the trainees who participate in the instruction, and ultimately — and most importantly — the people who will benefit from their skills and caring.”

An Innovative Solution with Growth Opportunities

The initiative will address the state’s shortage of direct-care workers with the development of a career ladder training program to improve workforce retention and ultimately, it is hoped, increase the number of PCAs available to care for Vermont’s aging population. The program will assist incumbent workers to advance in their health care careers, and allow participating workers and organizations to:

• Earn while they learn. PCAs will be paid for at least 50 percent of their time while in training—a critical component of success in incumbent worker training programs for low-wage workers.
• Work toward meaningful promotions and raises: At some locations, training will enable a PCA to be promoted to PCA II. At other sites, training will enable a PCA to be certified as a Licensed Nursing Assistant (LNA), with the requisite increase in wages.
• Participate in a flexible and robust learning opportunity. Each provider will provide a customized training program for its workers.
• Encourage a more diverse group to enter health care professions. Non-native English speaking participants will be able to take contextualized ESOL classes at their worksite, in conjunction with their clinical skills classes.
• Improve workforce retention.

The CareWell curriculum, a 40-hour course developed by the Visiting Nurse Association (with support from the Community of Vermont Elders through their Better Jobs Better Care initiative), will be a cornerstone of the PCA training. PHI, in addition to its role as project manager, will also be providing its “Coaching Approach to Communication” training at all sites.

“One of the fastest-growing occupational areas in Vermont over the next 20 years will be in direct-care services,” said Greg Voorheis, Senior Grant Administrator for the Vermont Department of Labor. “The state’s Workforce Education and Training Fund grant to PHI creates the opportunity for multiple long-term care employers to hire well-trained direct-care workers who will be participating in the development of a career ladder.

“PHI’s leadership in this work will benefit not only long-term care employers, but many direct-care workers already in the field — or individuals who aspire to work in the field. And, most importantly, their work will improve the quality of health care provided to individuals. We look forward to sharing what we learn with others,” Voorheis concluded.

The program, which was officially launched in early June, will conclude in June of 2010.

For more information about this project, call Alexandra Olins, PHI Regional Director, Northern New England, at 802-655-4615.