This report, completed by the DC Coalition on Long Term Care’s Workforce Committee Chair Claudia Scholsberg, highlights the severe workforce shortages in DC’s long-term care sector, including skilled nursing facilities, home health care, and assisted living services. It documents a persistent lack of qualified direct care workers and nurses, leading to service refusals and increased strain on existing staff. Despite slight wage increases, compensation remains noncompetitive, contributing to high turnover. Regulatory barriers and insufficient training opportunities further exacerbate the crisis, and respondents overwhelmingly support reforms like joining the Nurse Licensure Compact to alleviate staffing challenges.
The survey emphasizes the urgent need for strategic interventions, such as reducing regulatory hurdles, expanding training programs, and improving wages and benefits. Recommendations include expediting credentialing, increasing funding for training, and reforming Medicaid reimbursement policies. It also underscores the importance of public campaigns to promote direct care jobs and implementing advisory councils to better address workforce issues. These measures aim to stabilize and grow the workforce to meet the needs of DC’s aging and disabled populations effectively.
Please click on the link below to access the report: