PROGRAM HIGHLIGHT: REWARDINGWORK.ORG SEEKS TO INCREASE HOME HEALTH WORKFORCE
Need to hire someone to provide support in the home? RewardingWork.org has up-to-date information on thousands of experienced people who are ready to work. Call toll-free 866-211-9675.
The goal of Rewarding Work is to give people in Connecticut , Massachusetts, New Jersey and Rhode Island who need support with daily activities choice and control in finding personal assistants. The Rewarding Work Website and related worker recruitment campaign has been cited as a "Promising Practice" by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Overview
Individuals with disabilities, elders, and their family members find it challenging to recruit support outside their immediate network of contacts. As states continue to move to expand home and community-based services, specifically services that are consumer-directed, the need for additional support for individuals increases. And, as both caregivers and people with disabilities age, the demand is expected to grow to huge proportions. This is coming at a time when the potential available workforce is decreasing.
The Website is a collaborative effort of the Massachusetts Department of Mental Retardation, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Center for Health Policy and Research, New Jersey Division of Disability Services, Connecticut Department of Mental Retardation, and Rhode Island Department of Human Services. It has been funded, in part, by New England States Consortium Systems Organization.
Rewarding Work incorporates advertising and public relations techniques to reach potential workers who contact the campaign through a telephone call center or through the Website. Although candidates complete an application form before their information is posted on the Rewarding Work database, they have not been pre-screened for criminal history, verification of experience, or in any other way. Employers are responsible for searching, interviewing, and hiring job candidates from the Rewarding Work database.
Additional services
For people in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, who want help screening and hiring candidates, or help with the entire process, Rewarding Work offers an optional service through a partnership with ARBOR Associates (www.arborstaffing.com/families.overview.php), a staffing organization
ARBOR services include the following:
- Search, interview and/or provide reference & background checks for candidates for in-home care needs
- Provide care for children of all ages
- Escort children after school and provide supervision and care into the evening
- Supervise mentally or developmentally delayed children and young adults
- Give companionship and care to the elderly
- Monitor and administer medications
- Run errands and shop
- Prepare meals
Contact ARBOR at: www.arborstaffing.com/contact.php.
--Thanks to Barbara Maxam and Pam Bowers for bringing this resource to our attention.
05/08