Recent resources
- Development and Maintenance of Direct Support Worker Registries: Benefits of Utilization and Enhanced Federal Funding Availability describes opportunities for enhanced federal funding for states to support the development and implementation of direct care worker registries, and provide best practices related to direct care worker registries.
- Strengthening the DCW in Rural Areas (PDF, [513 KB]), an update of a 2011 resource, summarizes the challenges of the direct care workforce (DCW) in rural areas and strategies that rural stakeholders can use to deliver high-quality home and community-based services (HCBS).
- A series of three briefs and a research compendium were developed to address self-direction as a model for the delivery of Medicaid HCBS:
- Origins and Benefits of Self-direction (PDF, [411 KB])
- Key Components of Self-directed Services (PDF, [361 KB])
- Operational Considerations for Self-directed Service Delivery Models (PDF, [390 KB])
- Self-direction Research Compendium (PDF, [272 KB])
- Emerging Strategies for States: DCW Learning Collaborative Summary (PDF, [626 KB]) summarizes themes, common challenges, and strategies shared and identified during the eight learning collaborative sessions of the DCW State Medicaid Learning Collaborative.
Prior resources*
Between 2008 and 2014, the National Direct Service Workforce Resource Center developed technical assistance resources including, but not limited to, the following.
- A Synthesis of Direct Service Workforce Demographics and Challenges (PDF, 1.22 MB) presents an overview of direct service workforce challenges and practices across intellectual and developmental disabilities, aging, physical disabilities, and behavioral health. It includes recommendations for action steps that could be taken in partnership across these different sectors to address workforce challenges.
- Funding Direct Service Workforce Development Activities (PDF, 417.54 KB) is a one-pager and checklist of funding sources to consider for direct service workforce development activities.
- PHI State Data Center - provides data and statistics about the direct service workforce in every state.
- Coverage of Direct Service Workforce Continuing Education and Training within Medicaid Policy and Rate Setting - A Toolkit was developed to help states better understand and utilize the CMS guidance provided in a July 13, 2011 bulletin.
* Note that the term direct care workforce (DCW) is also referred to as direct service workforce (DSW). Different terms are used by different entities and we use the terms synonymously.