How to Use Economic Stimulus Funds to Improve Direct Care Jobs

Using Recovery Act Funds to Improve Direct Care Jobs and the Quality of Direct Care Services (PDF)

A new Direct Care Alliance policy brief helps direct care worker advocates, employers, educators, researchers and others make the case for investing part of the federal funding available through the Recovery Act in the direct care workforce.

DCA Executive Director Leonila Vega calls this window of opportunity “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

But that window will close in just a few weeks, once all the funds have been allocated. ”Funds made available through the fiscal stimulus can do great things, but direct care advocates need to move quickly to figure out what they can use–and how. This brief offers them a terrific road map,” says labor economist Nancy Folbre, a member of the editorial committee that produced the brief.

Vega held a conference call this month with leaders of state direct care worker associations to go over a draft of the brief and discuss ways they could use it. “Nearly a trillion dollars is being sent to states by the federal government with the express purpose of stimulating the economy and building our infrastructure so more Americans join the middle class,” she says. “Let’s make sure we don’t use these funds for Band-Aid solutions, but instead for systems change programs that can help renew our economy by improving these crucial and fast-growing jobs.”

Using Recovery Act Funds to Improve Direct Care Jobs and the Quality of Direct Care Services outlines key challenges facing direct care workers and explains how some Recovery Act funds can be targeted to address them. It also explains why it pays to invest in direct care workers.

“Both my mother and sister have worked in direct care jobs, so I know how important and undervalued this work is,” says author Shawn Fremstad of the Center for Economic and Policy Research. “Policy makers who want to expand and strengthen the middle class should make improving the pay and benefits of direct jobs a top priority.

“Direct care work is one of the largest and fastest-growing sectors of work that pays low wages,” Fremstad adds. “And because direct care is publicly funded in large part, policy makers have a responsibility to ensure that these jobs pay enough to support families – and avoid high turnover rates that reduce the quality of care.”

The brief concludes with a chart on each of the relevant funding sources, which shows how much is available and when, what it can be used for, where to go to learn more about it, and other details.

This is the first in a series of DCA policy briefs that were conceived of at a January meeting of economists, researchers and others. The Russell Sage Foundation, which funded the meeting, is also underwriting the cost of the briefs.

If you have questions about the brief or want help in thinking about how to access Recovery Act funds, contact Vega (212-730-0741; lvega@directcarealliance.org) or DCA National Advocacy Director Roy Gedat (207-739-9179; rgedat@directcarealliance.org).

And please use the comment box below to share your thoughts and ideas, or to let us know of any progress being made in your state.

Related materials:

PHI fact sheet on how improving direct care jobs drives economic growth

Memo (PDF) and guidance (PDF) from the U.S. Department of Justice on how civil rights laws apply to distribution of Recovery Act funds.

Report on how Oregon is using stimulus funds to create more than 300 new jobs for nursing assistants

Elise Nakhnikian
Communications Director
Direct Care Alliance