The pandemic underscored the significant value of the direct support workforce, the challenges they continue to grapple with, and how these issues are paramount to the health and safety of the workers and the people they support. Under the current presidential administration, however, there’s a chance to reexamine the state of the caregiver workforce and implement several changes that could improve the profession, thus ensuring care for people with disabilities.
The State of America’s Direct Support Workforce Crisis 2021, published by The American Network of Community Options and Resources (ANCOR), provides stark evidence to confirm what we believed was true – the direct support workforce crisis. ANCOR’s study delivers the support the Biden Administration needs to improve the profession.
President Biden proposed a $400 billion investment in the Medicaid Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) program in his Build Back Better Agenda. The relentless challenges evidenced by the data highlighted in ANCOR’s report illustrate why forgoing this investment or reducing its scope would be insufficient in addressing the magnitude of unmet needs in our communities.
Without the total investment proposed in the Build Back Better Agenda, it will hinder lawmakers’ efforts to create equity and opportunity in their states and communities, as a failure to invest in the DSP workforce is a failure to invest in a community of more than one million professionals who are predominantly women and people of color. In all, choosing not to stabilize the direct support workforce will have devastating consequences for people with disabilities and their families and local economies.
For opportunities to take action to support investments in community-based I/DD services, visit the ANCOR Amplifier at https://www.ancor.org/amplifier.