Archive for ‘career advancement’

Improving Care Quality by Developing Direct Care Worker Leaders

Posted by on November 29th, 2011 at 11:12 am | 2 Comments »

Beverly Faulkner

Developing direct care workers’ leadership skills can be an effective way of improving job and care quality in long-term care, according to early feedback from a collaboration between the Direct Care Alliance and four New York City-area nursing homes. The program is part of a pilot being conducted by DCA, the Beth Abraham Family of Health Services in New York City, and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

The project partners developed a new job description for certified nursing assistants (CNAs), creating an intermediary Senior Resident Care Associate position between the traditional CNA position and licensed nurses. The main goal is to develop direct care workers’ leadership skills so they can better advocate for improved working conditions, career advancement, and respect. The new position essentially creates a CNA career track, allowing seasoned nursing assistants to take on more responsibility and earn more pay without having to abandon the profession.

According to sociologist Deborah Little, PhD, the program’s evaluator, 30 CNA leaders—“the cream of the cream of the crop”—will be trained over the next three years. The first ten came from two of Beth Abe’s four homes. Each of the remaining two homes will contribute ten more. Training began for the first group this fall and begins for the last group next spring.

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Credentialing Caregivers: A Path to Personal Mastery

Posted by on August 29th, 2011 at 6:05 pm | 1 Comment »

Phil Garner

Last week, personal care worker Helen Hanson interviewed Phil Garner via email about his experience with the DCA’s Personal Care & Support Credential examination. Garner is executive director of Buffalo River Services, an agency that provides services to people with disabilities and their families in Waynesboro, Tennessee. Buffalo River recently administered the credential exam to a select group of direct support professionals.

Why is it so important to have quality caregivers?

As we have worked over the past few years in Tennessee’s Person Centered Organization project, we found one very important barrier to providing great services: There is a gap between what we are teaching our direct support professionals and our expectation that they should perform their duties in the most effective person-centered way. We realized we were far from where we needed to be just to achieve our current goals, let alone the “best practices” we aim for, which include person-centered thinking. Continue reading »

Believe, Achieve, Succeed

Posted by on August 22nd, 2011 at 1:13 pm | 4 Comments »

Tracy Dudzinski

Being elected the chair of the board of directors for the Direct Care Alliance at our annual meeting this year was a great honor and an important step in a leadership journey I’ve been on for a few years. It’s also been an honor to work with my talented fellow board members, including several new Voices Institutes graduates who began serving their terms this year.

As many of you already know, I am the chair of the board of directors for a worker-owned home care cooperative I work for in Wisconsin. A few years ago, I became chair of the Wisconsin Direct Caregiver Alliance, and I am on the board of directors of the Wisconsin Long Term Care Workforce Alliance.

But being the chair of a powerful national organization like the DCA brings new opportunities and responsibilities. My fellow direct care worker board members and I are responsible for representing the voice of the workers. We make up the majority of the board members, and that is an excellent start, but it’s our responsibility to make sure that our voices are heard loud and clear–not just within the DCA but in wider discussions about the work we do. Over the next year, I plan to help the DCA become better recognized as the voice of direct care workers.
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Care, Committment and Coffee Series Concludes with Norman Thomas of New York

Posted by on August 8th, 2011 at 3:02 pm | No Comments »

At the 2011 Voices Institute Leadership Training, DCA communications director, Josh Sabato sat down to speak with direct care worker, Norman Thomas to discuss the most pressing issues facing direct care workers.  Mr. Thomas is a direct care worker at Beth Abraham Family Services in Bronx, New York.

The DCA recently teamed up with Beth Abraham and other home care employers in New York to provide a comprehensive training for direct care workers on job safety, emergency preparedness and other skills training to better equip workers with additional tools to care for elders and persons living with disabilities.  For more information about how other employers and workers can partner with us to help create a stronger more stable direct care workforce contact the DCA today!

Care, Commitment and Coffee with Muhanna S. Kakish of Minnesota

Posted by on July 12th, 2011 at 7:04 pm | No Comments »

At the 2011 Voices Institute Leadership Training, DCA communications director, Josh Sabato sat down to speak with direct care worker, Muhanna S. Kakish to discuss the most pressing issues facing direct care workers and how other activists can get involved in direct care advocacy in Minnesota.  DCA Speaks with Muhanna S. Kakish at 2011 Voices Institute Training.

Personal Triumph Highlights Crucial Role Immigrants Play in Direct Care Workforce

Posted by on June 27th, 2011 at 5:24 pm | 1 Comment »

Timothy Doe

What motivates one to immigrate to another country, especially to the United States?  If you are an immigrant, you have no doubt been asked: “So, what brought you here?”

Everyone’s personal situation is different and a variety reasons come into play when someone decides to come and live in this great country.  Some come to U.S. because of a dangerous political climate in their native country, others due to struggling economies, sky-high unemployment rates and lack of educational and professional opportunities in their home land.  Many come to the United States in search of liberty, freedom, more economic opportunities and a better quality of life for their families.

In a sea of thousands who emigrate here every year, and the millions that came before them, this is the story of one such person.  My name is Timothy Kokou Doe and I came to the United States in search of a better life in 2002.  I grew up in Lomé, the capital (and largest city) of Togo, located on the West African coast.  Back in Togo, I worked for nonprofit social service organizations, helping young people prevent early pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases and HIV.  I also created an association called Soleil de Nuit (Nighttime Sun), aimed at educating the public – especially teenagers – about these important topics through poetry, short sketches and theatrical plays.  After moving to the U.S. from my native Togo, I worked in a restaurant for two years.  Over the course of those two years, I practiced and improved my English so that I could one day pursue a career doing the direct care work that I love.

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The National Voices Institute Experience – Part III

Posted by on May 16th, 2011 at 4:24 pm | 2 Comments »

Joan Leah

Join Florida CNA Joan Leah on her journey to this year’s Voices Institute Training

My colleagues and I just completed the 2011 Voices Institute Leadership Training Program! It was a very intense, yet rewarding learning experience and I am honored to have graduated with some of the finest people I have ever met.

The investment that has been made by the DCA in this 2011 class is significant and it is now our responsibility to take the next steps to ensure our collective voices are being heard across the country.  I have been armed with the tools necessary to advocate for the desperately needed changes to our long term care system, and I am fully focused on stepping up to the challenge of helping to create a more stable direct care workforce throughout Florida.

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2011 DCA Voices Institute Training a Smashing Success!

Posted by on May 16th, 2011 at 4:23 pm | 1 Comment »

Tracy Dudzinski

This letter was contributed by DCA Board Chair, Tracy Dudzinski.

Another VI class has come and gone and what a week it was!  First off, I would like to thank all the workers who took the time to come to Wisconsin and develop their leadership skills.  It was a wonderfully diverse group filled with the talented and inspiring people our movement needs to be successful in the coming weeks, months and years.

The 2011 Voices Institute was a full circle moment for me.  I attended in 2008 as a worker and was privileged to come back this year and have the opportunity to expand my leadership skills as a facilitator.  When I arrived on Saturday and walked in the front door of Taylor Hall the memories overtook me.  It was like I was back in 2008 arriving as a student and I couldn’t wait to get started!  It was an exciting week and I enjoyed watching the new class find their voice.  Although some of our attendees were quiet at the beginning of our training, by the end of the week they blossomed like the magnolia tree in the garden, turning into the leaders who will expand this movement in all corners of the country.

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Maine Bill Seeks to Improve Direct Care Jobs

Posted by on March 14th, 2011 at 8:41 pm | 2 Comments »
This is a guest post from Tammy Dawson, a Direct Support Professional from Bangor, Maine, a member of DCA – Maine.

If you are a Direct Care Worker in the State of Maine, odds are you are not aware of all of the opportunities available to you.  A bill sponsored by Matthew Peterson and heartily encouraged by our own Helen Hanson and Roy Gedat would change that!

LD 818: A resolve that directs the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Labor to develop and to provide information about professional and career development, training and related credentialing and certification to all professional direct care and personal support workers.

Why Did I Get Credentialed? Respect, Opportunities & Professionalism!

Posted by on February 22nd, 2011 at 12:14 pm | No Comments »

Jimmie Chandler, Gov. Baldacci and Ted Rippy

As one of the first direct care workers in the country to become a Credentialed Personal Care & Support Professional, I am thrilled to be part of the movement to improve the quality of care and strengthen the direct care workforce. I’ve been a direct care worker for more than 22 years, and it is discouraging to not get recognition for how much work goes into the job. So many of us come into this field without knowing how many skills and talents it takes to provide the services our consumers need; we are required to develop a deep knowledge of personal assistance work right away, and over the years that knowledge grows tremendously.

The DCA Personal Care and Support Credential recognizes me as a competent, experienced personal assistance worker. The credential is nationally recognized and I can take it with me wherever I go. It was a challenging but logical exam; as I took it, I was able to think back on all of the work I’ve done with my consumer over the years and apply that to the exam. It really did test for the competencies we need to do our jobs well; I felt like the exam was written for me. Continue reading »

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