Overview
States continue to struggle with the sizable difference between the number of individuals who qualify for Medicaid-financed long-term services and supports (LTSS) and the direct service care workers available to provide this essential care. Workforce shortages further hinder a state’s ability to rebalance its Medicaid population—by either transitioning individuals from nursing homes and assisted living facilities or prolonging their residence in the community—through the provision of essential home and community-based services (HCBS). While there are several solutions being proposed to states to support enhancing recruitment, retention, and development strategies, these strategies are limited in their ability to understand real-time gaps and needs.
Altarum has partnered with ADvancing States to develop a platform that addresses constraints in existing solutions. The comprehensive Direct Care Careers Center provides everything states need in a single workforce management tool—training and professional development resources, credentialing, job matching, peer support, and meaningful real-time data to guide planning and policymaking.
How It Works
The Direct Care Careers Center platform increases the state’s ability to:
- Understand the state’s current workforce by enabling a state-wide system
- Streamline the recruitment process between providers, individuals who direct their own care, and potential workers through job matching profiles with job descriptions
- Enable access to training and professional development resources, including required state certification training(s) through the learning platform
- Increase peer-to-peer support amongst workers through a collaboration forum
- Better manage the workforce and inform state workforce priorities through real-time data analytics and workforce dashboards
Over the past decade, Altarum has gained extensive expertise in building and maintaining online resource centers and virtual training centers for clients such as CMS and HRSA. As technical lead, we’ve designed the Direct Care Careers Center using an open-source content management system that allows extensive customization for different audiences and devices to meet state, employer, and worker needs.
States have the flexibility to enable or disable features based on their requirements, or population of interest. These features include tools for job postings, automatic match generation and advanced search capabilities for job seekers, easy online job applications, training modules, discussion forums, the ability to manage credentialing and licensure, and a talent bank of direct care workers.
Getting Started with DCCC
If your state is interested in learning more about the Direct Care Careers Center or receiving a demo, reach out to
Contact Us
Krissy Azeem - MPH, PMP
Senior Director, Delivery System Transformation
Areas of Expertise- Medicaid
- Training and Technical Assistance
- Long-Term Services and Supports
A leader in innovating the care delivery system with health plan, state, and federal partners, Krissy is proficient in health policy implementation and analysis, with a focus on home and community-based waivers and long-term services and supports. She has an eye for identifying the unintended consequences of proposed policies and creating innovative, and realistic, recommendations for state partners. Krissy has deep experience in providing technical assistance, designing and implementing action-oriented and outcomes-based learning systems, and catalyzing behavior change through thoughtful and strategic training. Passionate about improving the care delivery system, she has supported states and communities in enhancing the infrastructure, training, and experiences for direct service workers, including those who self-direct. Krissy holds a Master of Public Health degree from The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Sciences.
Stephen McCall - MPA
Long-Term Care Senior Analyst
Areas of Expertise- Long-Term Services and Supports
- Direct Care Workforce
- Mixed-Methods Analyses
Stephen has extensive experience researching, writing, and consulting on issues in long-term care and workforce development. In his current role, his research and analyses aim to drive reforms in policy and practice that improve care for older adults and people with disabilities—and strengthen jobs for the workers who support them. Before joining Altarum, Stephen served as a research analyst at PHI, a research and consulting nonprofit focused on strengthening the direct care workforce. He earned a Master of Public Affairs from the Marxe School of Public and International Affairs at Baruch College in New York City and a bachelor’s in political science and Chinese from the University of California, Berkeley.