Fairfax County Department of Family
Services
12011 Government Center Parkway
Fairfax, VA 22035
For more information, contact: Belinda Buescher
703-324-7758, TTY 703-222-9452
For Immediate Release - June 8, 2004
A new regional partnership becomes official this week to help recruit, train and retain the workforce needed to provide direct care for Northern Virginia's growing population of seniors and adults with disabilities.
The Fairfax County Long Term Care Coordinating Council (LTCCC) and the Northern Virginia Workforce Investment Board (NVWIB) will sign a Memorandum of Agreement on Wednesday, June 9, formalizing their commitment to work together to enhance recruitment, training, and retention of a direct care workforce for the Northern Virginia community.
Members of the press are invited to attend the signing ceremony, which will take place Wednesday, June 9, at 7 p.m., at Northern Virginia Community College's Medical Education Campus, 6699 Springfield Center Drive in Springfield, VA.
This formal collaboration follows yesterday's proclamation by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, declaring June 10 - June 17 as "Direct Care Workers Week," in recognition of the importance of those who provide direct care on a long-term basis to our community's seniors and residents with disabilities.
"Direct care workers are key - they provide the caring support that our seniors and persons with disabilities need to be able to remain in their homes and communities," says Eileen Dohmann, Chair of the Fairfax Long Term Care Coordinating Council.
The term "direct care worker" includes a wide range of occupations including nursing assistants and aides, personal care and home health aides, residential counselors and program assistants, companions, sitters, certified medication technicians, homemakers and many others who provide daily, hands-on care to seniors and adults with disabilities in various settings. They may work in nursing homes, home health agencies, group homes, adult day care centers, assisted living facilities, and in individuals' own homes.
Fairfax County's LTCCC works as a community catalyst to enhance the quality and expand the quantity of the direct care workforce through collaborations and partnerships.
"The challenge is to recruit, train, and retain these critical workers," says Dohmann. "It is crucial that all community stakeholders collectively leverage resources and expertise to support the recruitment and training of the direct care workforce."
The Northern Virginia Workforce Investment Board (NVWIB) represents over 1.5 million residents and thousands of businesses in Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William counties and the cities of Fairfax, Falls Church, Manassas and Manassas Park. Overseeing the region's workforce system, the board assists businesses and educational providers to produce a highly skilled workforce responsive to the needs of the Northern Virginia business community.
"Health care services, including long-term care needs, affect every Northern Virginia business person and every resident's quality of life," says Robert P. Rogers, Jr., Chairman of the NVWIB and President of The Chesapeake Center, based in Springfield, Virginia. Rogers also noted that the NVWIB has targeted the region's health care businesses for support in 2004, and is committed to enhancing the region's long-term care workforce needs as well.
Nationwide, the U.S. Department of Labor projects that the health care industry will add 3.5 million new jobs between 2002 and 2012, an increase of 28%. During this time, home health services employment is projected to grow by nearly 56% from current levels. In Northern Virginia, projected population growth and the need for new health services is projected to increase health care employment requirements through 2015.
The LTCCC and the NVWIB have agreed to work collaboratively with other partners, including Northern Virginia Community College, to explore and develop new models of best practice for recruitment, training, and retention of a direct care workforce for Northern Virginia. The Northern Virginia Community College is represented on both the NVWIB and the LTCCC and provides a key community partnership for direct care workforce education and training.
More information about the Fairfax County Long Term Care Coordinating Council is available on the Internet at www.fairfaxcounty.gov/ltc.
For more information about the Northern Virginia Workforce Investment Board, contact David Hunn, NVWIB Executive Director, at (703) 752-1606, or visit www.myskillsource.org.
Read more NVWIB News at
www.myskillsource.org/Home/nvwib/whats_new/index.asp
Fairfax County is committed to a policy of nondiscrimination
in all county programs, services and activities
and will provide reasonable accommodations upon request.
To request special accommodations, call 703-324-3535 or Virginia Relay
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