According to a new study, better wages and benefits are critical to retaining direct-care workers in Vermont, yet a third of the state’s direct-care workers have employer-sponsored health insurance and only half of the workers surveyed expected to receive a raise.

Legislative Study of the Direct Care Workforce in Vermont also reports that only 42 percent of the 1,700 direct-care workers surveyed received formal job training, although workers who receive professional training remain in their jobs significantly longer.

The report makes nine recommendations to strengthen the state’s direct-care workforce:

• Increase wages;
• Increase access to health insurance through group health plans;
• Create accessible and affordable orientation, training, and professional development for workers and their employers;
• Recruit workers from new sources;
• Continue support for the development and full implementation of the Direct Care Worker Registry;
• Promote recruitment and retention through the use of evidence-based tools and promising approaches;
• Create standardized and portable career ladders for direct care workers;
• Establish a workgroup responsible for developing protocols and methods for collecting needed direct care workforce data; and
• Establish a group that is charged with directing, implementing and monitoring progress on the recommendations

The study was funded by the Department of Disabilities, Aging & Independent Living, The Community of Vermont Elders, and PHI.

Elise Nakhnikian, Senior Online Editor
enakhnikian@phinational.org