Wages Adjusted for Inflation: Over the past decade, inflation-adjusted median hourly wages for Nursing Aides, Orderlies, and Attendants in Arizona increased by 12 percent, from $8.40 to $9.43. Real wages for Personal Care Aides and Home Health Aides increased less noticeably.
Employer-Sponsored Insurance: Compared to the national civilian workforce, significantly fewer of Arizona’s direct-care workers have access to and use employer-sponsored insurance. Some work for employers that do not offer health insurance. Others work for employers that limit eligibility for health insurance to full-time employees. This creates a barrier for many direct-care workers, especially those in home and community-based settings, who often work only part-time due to the episodic nature of direct-care work. Even workers who do have access to insurance from their employer may find the co-pays and premiums unaffordable.
Direct Care Workforce Initiative: The Direct Care Workforce (DCW) Initiative is a public-private partnership that seeks to promote a stable and competent direct care workforce to meet the growing care needs in Arizona and provide support for families in their efforts to care for their loved ones at home and in the community.
Arizona Direct Care Worker Association: The Arizona Direct Care Worker Association (ADCWA) is a statewide, not-for-profit, advocacy organization, providing members with educational and leadership opportunities and connections to community resources.
Direct Care Worker Training and Testing Program: In 2011, Arizona Health Care Cost Containment Service or AHCCCS (Arizona’s Medicaid program) began implementing new training and testing requirements for direct-care workers providing in-home services. The training must be conducted by approved training sites utilizing the “Principles of Caregiving” curriculum, or another curriculum guided by the required competencies. Independent and self-directed caregivers are exempted from the training requirements.
Direct Service Workforce Resource Center – Intensive Technical Assistance: In 2006, the DSW Resource Center provided CMS-funded technical assistance to Arizona, assisting with the implementation of the state’s new consumer-directed program.
Catalina In-Home Services, Inc.: The consumer-directed model implemented at Catalina enables individuals to directly hire a home health aide or personal assistant while using the services of an established agency to manage, for a fee, all of the administrative aspects of “having an employee.” In addition, Catalina has developed innovative approaches to training consumers to be employers, screening and training caregivers, and providing backup workers.
Arizona Consumer and Family Toolbox (PDF): The Arizona Division of Developmental Disabilities provides this “tool box” of tips and ideas on how to improve the working relationships between people with developmental disabilities, families, and independent providers. The tool box provides advice regarding establishing relationships and expectations, recruiting and hiring workers, and problem solving.
Direct Care Worker Training- Manuals: These publicly available training manuals were created under the guidance of the Arizona Direct Care Workforce Committee in response to recommendations from the Citizens Workgroup on the Long Term Care Workforce. The “Principles of Caregiving” curriculum, revised in 2010, includes modules on Aging and Physical Disabilities, Developmental Disabilities, and Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia.