Last winter, PHI made a strong case for using the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) to invest in the direct-care workforce.

That message got through, and in July, the US DOL’s Employment and Training Administration released a solicitation for grant applications (pdf) that offers great opportunities for long-term care providers and others who are seeking funding for workforce training and development.

This latest grant solicitation seeks to fund projects in health care and other high-growth industries. About $125 million will go to projects providing training, education, and job placement assistance to prepare workers to enter the health care field. Grants will range from $2 million to $5 million each.

To help interested parties navigate the grant solicitation process, PHI has prepared a fact sheet (pdf) that answers frequently asked questions regarding DOL priorities, the types of projects that may receive funding, who can apply, and critical deadlines.

News from Washington State

In related news, the Washington State Long Term Care Ombudsman Program recently received $150,000 in stimulus funds for a 15-month pilot project supporting recruitment and retention of South King County’s nursing home workforce, including certified nursing assistants.

Nursing homes will be able to apply for funds to: implement or expand consistent assignment, establish peer mentor programs, promote workforce education in dementia care, remove barriers to employment, or implement other staff retention projects.

In July PHI surveyed the spate of state budget troubles that was then wreaking havoc with human services spending around the nation. A month later, the situation has not improved. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities updated its report on the state budget crisis on August 12, and ended the report’s first paragraph with this sobering declaration:

Most states have adopted budgets that closed the shortfalls they faced with a combination of federal stimulus dollars, service reductions, revenue increases, and funds from reserves. But these budgets are already falling out of balance as the economy has caused state revenues to decline even more than projected. States will continue to struggle to find the revenue needed to support critical public services for a number of years (“New Fiscal Year Brings No Relief from Unprecedented State Budget Problems“). Read the full story

The U.S. Department of Labor has launched a $220 million competitive grant program aimed at training new workers for health care and other high-growth industries.

Funded with dollars from the Recovery Act and administered by DOL’s Employment and Training Administration (ETA), the program will provide grants for both public and private nonprofit entities in order to train individuals for careers in nursing, allied health, long-term care, and health information technology, as well as other high-growth industries based on regional needs.  Read the full story

Capitol Hill

On Wednesday, the U.S. House and Senate reached a compromise on the economic recovery package, bringing the total cost to $789 billion.

Complete details were unavailable as of press time. According to various news reports, even though the deal had been struck, lawmakers still had not seen a final summary of the bill, which emerged from conference committee talks in a much expanded form, having doubled in size from roughly 778 pages to a whopping 1434 pages. Read the full story

President Obama and Secretary of Labor nominee Hilda Solis

The Senate H.E.L.P committee once again delayed a vote Thursday on Obama’s pick for secretary of labor.

As unemployment rates soar across the country and the promise of job creation looms in the federal recovery package, many have criticized the delay in confirming the nomination of California Democrat Hilda Solis. In the words of The Los Angeles Times, Solis’s nomination has been “in limbo” since January 9.

A New York Times Editorial blog from Jan. 28 (“Hilda! Hilda! Hilda!”) says, “If there was ever a time the nation needed a strong secretary of labor, this is it.” Read the full story

Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI)

Along with many economists and advocacy organizations, Rep.  Gwen Moore (D-WI) wants to see women’s poverty placed at the very top of the nation’s agenda. And she has exerted her political power as a U.S. representative to pursue this goal by advocating for the inclusion of women in President Obama’s economic stimulus package.

Moore’s passion for supporting low-income women is not just political but personal — She was a teenaged mother who lived on government assistance. Now she’s fighting to narrow the wage gap and increase post-secondary education for women on welfare. Thanks to a writeup at WomensEnews.org, we caught wind of the comments she delivered at the Democratic National Convention on women and poverty, and we tracked her down this week as she was on her way to cast votes in the House. Read the full story