PHI Announces National Launch of Universal Direct Care Workforce Initiative

Building on over three decades of experience as the nation’s leading authority on the direct care workforce, PHI presents an evidence-informed model for transforming training, credentialing, and career pathways for the nation’s more than five million direct care workers

NEW YORK, NY – Today, at the American Society on Aging’s annual conference, PHI announced the national launch of the Universal Direct Care Workforce Initiative™. Drawing on the latest workforce research, emergent findings from demonstration projects in Wisconsin and New York, an ambitious multi-year vision for state and national impact, and guidance from a newly-formed National Advisory Council, our initiative will strengthen training, credentialing, and career pathways for the nation’s 5.4 million direct care workers.

The initiative addresses longstanding, systemic challenges facing the direct care workforce— including fragmented training systems, limited career mobility, and inadequate compensation—that drive high turnover and compromise care quality for millions of older adults and people with disabilities. These challenges have only deepened amid federal policy actions targeting Medicaid funding, labor protections, staffing standards, and immigration.

“For decades, we’ve relied on direct care workers to hold our long-term care system together while offering them fragmented training, poverty-level wages, and limited opportunities for career advancement—challenges that have only been intensified by recent policy choices,” said Jodi M. Sturgeon, PHI President and CEO. “At a pivotal moment for both this workforce and our nation’s care infrastructure, our initiative is focused on building what should have been in place all along: clear, portable credentials, meaningful career pathways, and a system that recognizes what we know to be true—investing in direct care workers is fundamental to delivering quality care.”

A Model Informed by Evidence and State-Level Innovation

The PHI Universal Direct Care Workforce Model™ comprises four interrelated elements: universal entry-level competencies, stackable and portable credentials, integrated career pathways, and accessible training infrastructure. It draws on and amplifies meaningful progress underway across the country.

PHI is now leading demonstration projects with home care agencies, state leaders, community-based organizations, and payer stakeholders in Wisconsin and New York—testing elements of this model in two of the country’s most complex long-term care systems. These efforts—and progress toward advancing elements of this innovative model across a growing number of states—are featured in a new article by PHI leadership in Generations, the journal of the American Society on Aging.

“Throughout our history, PHI has been building the evidence base on successful strategies to improve direct care jobs and elevate this workforce,” said Kezia Scales, PhD, PHI Vice President of Policy, Research, and Evaluation. “The imperative now is to link these efforts into a coherent national framework—one that benefits workers, the people they support, and the system as a whole.”

A National Advisory Council to Guide the Path Forward

To inform the initiative’s national direction, PHI has established a National Advisory Council bringing together leaders in workforce development, state policy, credentialing, labor, aging services, and direct care delivery. The Council will provide strategic guidance on the development of a national competency framework, a portable and stackable credentialing approach, a state policy roadmap, and a federal policy agenda to support nationwide adoption of the universal workforce model.

Council members include:

• Helen Adeosun, Chief Strategy Officer, Activated Insights
• Patti Jo Becker, Director of Program Operations, Community Living Alliance
• Ben Bledsoe, President and CEO, Consumer Direct Care Network
• Danielle Copeland, Director of Leadership Development, 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East
• Wendy Fox-Grage, Senior Director, National Academy for State Health Policy
• Melissa Goldberg, Director of Competencies and Credentials, Corporation for a Skilled Workforce
• Lisa Gurgone, CEO, Mystic Valley Elder Services
• Nicole Howell, Director of Direct Care Workforce Development, National Council on Aging
• Nicole Jorwic, Chief Program Officer, Caring Across Generations
• Casey Kapalczynski, Program Manager, University of Wisconsin–Green Bay
• Barb Kleist, Director of Entrepreneurial and Development Programs, Institute on Community Integration, University of Minnesota
• Adria Powell, President and CEO, Cooperative Home Care Associates
• Bea Rector, Assistant Secretary, Home and Community Living Administration, Washington State Department of Social and Health Services
• Jack Teters, Senior Policy Advisor, New Jersey Department of Human Services

“PHI aims for impact that not only addresses today’s workforce challenges, but builds a better future for these workers and all who rely on them for care and support,” said Emily Dieppa Colo, VP of Workforce Innovations and Strategy, “We’re proud to be advancing this work with input from the visionary leaders and organizations who have chosen to dedicate their time and expertise to make it possible.”

PHI calls on policymakers, payers, employers, researchers, and advocates—including direct care workers, consumers, and families—to help us to realize the impact of our model in every state.

To learn more about PHI’s Universal Direct Care Workforce Initiative, visit ConnectedByCare.org.

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About PHI

Philanthropic support makes our initiative possible. Key funders for the Universal Direct Care Workforce Initiative™ include: Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies (MACP) in Wisconsin; The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, CD&R Foundation, Mother Cabrini Health Foundation, New York Community Trust, NYC Workforce Funders, New York Health Foundation, and The Clark Foundation in New York; and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation for our national work.

PHI is a national organization committed to strengthening the direct care workforce by producing robust research and analysis, leading federal and state advocacy initiatives, and designing groundbreaking workforce interventions and models. For more than 30 years, we have brought a 360-degree perspective on the long-term care sector to our evidence-informed strategies. As the nation’s leading authority on the direct care workforce, PHI promotes quality direct care jobs as the foundation for quality care. For further information, visit phinational.org