Pennsylvania Congressman Fred Keller last week introduced a bill to connect displaced workers, those out of a job because of the pandemic, with in-demand positions linked to long-term care.
The Strengthening Knowledge, Improving Learning, and Livelihoods (SKILLS) Act would pull out-of-work Americans from hard-hit industries like retail and hospitality and place them on a career path in the nursing home industry, where “qualified workforce is in high demand,” according to a statement released by Rep. Keller’s office.
One key aspect of the legislation — adding criteria to the Dislocated Worker Project by amending the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA).
So far, text amendments include a sentence about “developing [career] pathways and encouraging advancements” in the act, and adding a phrase specifying “in-demand occupations” when discussing job creation.
The timing is right to direct displaced workers to the long-term care field, especially those looking to make a career change or enjoy providing care to others, according to Stephen McCall, data and policy analyst for PHI National.
The need for long-term care workers has grown in the last decade, with 7.4 million more expected from 2019 to 2029, a September study published by PHI asserted.
“The pandemic economy has been really interesting in this regard because we’ve seen this rapid roller coaster of reorganization of the labor force,” noted McCall. “Millions and millions of workers have been displaced from other occupations that not only have similar entry-level requirements to direct care but may share other characteristics, with regard to skills required, knowledge required.”
The New York City-based policy research and advocacy organization is expected to publish a study specifically about workers displaced by the pandemic in October, McCall said.
Aging services advocacy groups like the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL) are supportive of the legislation.
“The SKILLS Act will help create a pipeline of essential workers for the long term care sector. Strengthening our workforce is critical to providing quality care for the millions of seniors in our nursing homes and assisted living communities, but we need federal resources to accomplish this,” Mark Parkinson, president and CEO of AHCA/NCAL, said in a statement.
Parkinson noted the association’s latest survey found 86% of nursing home members and 77% of assisted living operators say their workforce issues have gotten worse in the last three months; membership is made up of more than 14,000 nursing homes and assisted living communities across the country.
“We have to make sure that we’re building pipelines to good jobs on the other end, right? Nursing assistants, many of them are experiencing immense economic instability and are relying on public assistance to meet their most basic needs,” said McCall. “While that’s sort of outside the scope of the helpfulness of building pipelines — it’s not an either/or, it’s a yes/and. Yes, we need new pipelines, and we need better job quality on the other end.”
There are approximately 15,600 nursing homes in the country, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
“With over 10 million job openings and not nearly enough workers looking to fill them, I consistently hear from Pennsylvania employers who are desperate for skilled workers,” Keller said in a statement. “This bill is a positive step towards filling those vacancies and ensuring in-demand fields are being staffed properly.”
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