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| Eldercare Workforce Alliance | |
|---|---|
| Name | Eldercare Workforce Alliance |
| Abbreviation | EWA |
| Formation | 2009 |
| Type | Coalition |
| Headquarters | Washington, D.C. |
| Region served | United States |
| Membership | Trade associations, labor unions, advocacy groups |
Eldercare Workforce Alliance The Eldercare Workforce Alliance is a U.S.-based coalition formed to address workforce shortages in long-term services and supports for older adults and people with disabilities. The coalition brings together national AARP, Service Employees International Union, Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute, LeadingAge, and National Association for Home Care & Hospice members to influence legislation such as the Affordable Care Act, the Older Americans Act, and the Medicaid Program while engaging with federal agencies including the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
The coalition emerged in 2009 amid debates over reform efforts like the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the aftermath of the Great Recession, when policymakers in the United States Congress and agencies such as the Office of Personnel Management confronted shortages highlighted by reports from the Institute of Medicine and the Government Accountability Office. Founding meetings included leaders from National Domestic Workers Alliance, American Hospital Association, National Association of Social Workers, and union representatives affiliated with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and the AFL–CIO. Early advocacy intersected with initiatives by the National Governors Association and recommendations from the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Brookings Institution on long-term care workforce development.
The alliance’s mission centers on improving recruitment, retention, training, and compensation for direct care workers to ensure quality services for older adults and people with disabilities, aligning with policy frameworks advanced by the Bipartisan Policy Center and the Joint Commission. Goals emphasize support for legislation like proposals advanced in the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives, coordination with the Department of Labor, and incorporation of standards from the Institute for Healthcare Improvement and National Quality Forum to influence state-level programs in places such as California, New York (state), and Texas.
Structured as a coalition of diverse stakeholders, membership includes national associations such as LeadingAge, National Association for Home Care & Hospice, American Health Care Association, labor unions like Service Employees International Union, advocacy organizations such as Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute and National Domestic Workers Alliance, academic partners from institutions like Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University, and University of California, San Francisco, and think tanks including the Urban Institute and the RAND Corporation. Governance typically involves steering committees and working groups that coordinate with congressional staffers from committees such as the Senate Committee on Aging and the House Committee on Ways and Means.
Advocacy efforts target legislative and regulatory change, promoting workforce clauses in bills and amendments debated in the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. Initiatives have included support for funding streams in proposals similar to those from the Coalition for Compassionate Care of California and recommendations echoing analyses by the Commonwealth Fund and the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. The alliance has engaged in rulemaking comment letters to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and policy briefings for congressional delegations from states such as Florida, Pennsylvania, and Ohio.
Programs emphasize training curricula, career pathways, and employer best practices developed in collaboration with partners including National Skills Coalition, WorkforceGPS, and state workforce boards like those in Massachusetts and Washington (state). Partnerships with academic centers at Columbia University, University of Michigan, and Yale University support workforce demonstration projects, while alliances with employers represented by the American Health Care Association and labor partners such as the AFL–CIO coordinate pilot programs modeled after workforce initiatives by Community Care of North Carolina and state pilots in Minnesota.
The coalition produces white papers, policy briefs, and toolkits drawing on research methods used by the Urban Institute, RAND Corporation, and the Institute of Medicine; publications cite workforce supply projections similar to analyses by the Economic Policy Institute and demographic studies from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Administration for Community Living. Reports often reference credentialing frameworks from the National League for Nursing and training standards informed by the American Medical Association and research collaborations with universities such as Boston University and University of Pennsylvania.
Supporters credit the alliance with elevating attention to direct care workforce shortages in hearings before the United States Senate Special Committee on Aging and contributing to proposals incorporated into state plans and federal initiatives, with endorsements from organizations like AARP and LeadingAge. Critics, including some employer groups and fiscal watchdogs such as the Cato Institute and Heritage Foundation, argue that proposed wage and benefit mandates could increase costs for providers and affect access in rural areas like Appalachia; others contend that coalition priorities sometimes align more closely with union agendas represented by Service Employees International Union rather than with small nonprofit providers. Ongoing debates mirror broader policy disputes involving the Medicaid Program, workforce regulation in states such as Alabama and Louisiana, and recommendations from interagency panels including the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
Category:Healthcare advocacy organizations in the United States