For Immediate Release
June 10, 2010

Contact:
Deane Beebe, Media Relations Director
718.928.2033 (office) / 646.285.1039 (cell) / dbeebe@PHInational.org

Public Infrastructure Is Needed to Support Trend in Consumer-Directed Care

New York, NY — A national survey conducted by PHI to assess whether states have a public “matching services registry” to facilitate connections between consumers who receive self-directed care in their homes — and independent direct-care workers who provide that care — found that only one-third of the states have developed this type of registry.

Self-directed care allows elders and people with disabilities, or their families, to directly hire and supervise independent caregivers who provide personal care services and supports.

“Consumer-directed care is the fastest-growing service delivery option,” said PHI Director of Policy Research Dorie Seavey, Ph.D., who conducted the survey. “Yet there is little public infrastructure in place to help consumers and providers find each other for appropriate and efficient employment matches.

“Robust, public matching service registries can alleviate some of the challenges that both consumers and workers face. They can reduce unmet need due to difficulties that consumers encounter trying to locate independent providers. And for workers, they can play a valuable role in stabilizing employment and providing access points for training and other resources,” Dr. Seavey said.

Public “matching service registries” are interactive electronic databases that typically provide up-to-date detailed information about the consumer’s needs and preferences and the worker’s availability, skills, and preferences. They may also offer additional services such as worker screening and orientation, access to consumer and worker training, and recruitment and outreach to potential workers. Consumers and workers must each initiate their side of the transaction.

PHI’s state-by-state survey on public “matching services registries” found that:

• 16 states had statewide matching services
• 5 states had regional matching services
• 2 states had matching services under consideration or development
• 28 states had no statewide or regional matching service

A list of the states is below.

“The typical information and referral service offered by resource centers in aging and disability networks today is little more than a list pulled out of a drawer; the information may not be up to date,” Dr. Seavey said. “Matching service registries can play a significant role in building an infrastructure for the self-directed care that will be in even greater demand with the passage of the CLASS Act.”

There are two other types of public registries currently in use. “Quality assurance registries” — such as the nurse aide registries that exist in every state — provide directories of individuals who have satisfactorily completed a state’s training requirements to work in nursing homes and other long-term care programs. Some states also maintain “safety registries” that list workers with criminal backgrounds or abuse findings.

Today there are over 3 million direct-care workers, and over 1 million new positions are needed by 2018, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). A quarter of the nearly 1 million Personal and Home Care Aides in 2008 were either directly employed by private households or were self-employed, according to the BLS Employment Projections Program. However, a PHI Fact Sheet (pdf) explains that this figure significantly underestimates the number of independent providers of direct-care services.

The PHI Public Matching Services Registry Project is a multi-year project that will continue to document and track matching service registries across the states, highlight what is learned from these efforts, and encourage policies that improve and support infrastructure for self-direction.

More information on public matching services registries is available on PHI’s website, including an interactive map that illustrates what states have these registries and provides a snapshot description of the service. The PHI Public Matching Services Registry Project is funded with support from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research through the Center for Personal Assistance Services at the University of California at San Francisco.

Statewide Matching Service Registries (16)
Arkansas
California (52 county-based registries)
Connecticut
Massachusetts
Maine
Michigan
North Dakota
New Hampshire
New Jersey
Ohio
Oregon
Rhode Island
South Carolina
Vermont
Washington
Wisconsin

Regional Matching Services Registries (5)
Idaho
Illinois
Kansas
New York
Pennsylvania

Recent Legislative Efforts to Launch Matching Services Registries (2)
Connecticut
Missouri

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About PHI
PHI (www.phinational.org) works to improve the lives of people who need home and residential care—and the lives of the workers who provide that care. Using our workplace and policy expertise, we help consumers, workers, employers, and policymakers improve eldercare and disability services by creating quality direct-care jobs. Our goal is to ensure caring, stable relationships between consumers and workers, so that both may live with dignity, respect, and independence.