Direct Care Workers Honored in Fairfax County

Fairfax County Department of Family Services
12011 Government Center Parkway, Suite 500
Fairfax, VA 22035-1102
Contact: Belinda Buescher, Public Information Officer

703-324-7758, TTY 703-222-9452, Fax 703-222-9487
DFSPIO@fairfaxcounty.gov
www.fairfaxcounty.gov
News Release #5/06
May 23, 2006

Direct Care Workers Honored in Fairfax County

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors will proclaim the week of June 12 as “Direct Care Workers Week,” to recognize the importance of those who provide direct care on a long-term basis to our community’s seniors and adults with disabilities. The proclamation will be considered at the Board’s June 5 meeting.

“If the public really understood the incredible task direct care workers undertake daily to deliver quality services for our loved ones, this celebration would go well beyond the walls of the long-term care system,” observes Patsy Harris, Executive Director of the Direct Care Alliance and a featured speaker at the June 5 recognition ceremony in Fairfax.

The term “direct care worker” refers to a wide range of occupations including nursing assistants, personal care and home health aides, companions, sitters, residential counselors, program assistants and many others who provide hands-on care to seniors and adults with disabilities. They work in various settings, including nursing homes, home health agencies, group homes, adult day care centers, assisted living facilities and in clients’ homes.

“Direct care workers are the heart of the long-term care system for many of our families,” says Eileen Dohmann, chairman of the Fairfax Long Term Care Coordinating Council, a group appointed by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors to lead the effort to meet the long term care needs of the Fairfax community.

The LTCCC promotes local partnerships to increase training and educational opportunities for direct care workers and advocates for wage increases, benefits and career advancement opportunities.

Several new initiatives to recruit and train personal care assistants in the county’s diverse ethnic communities have been launched this year, thanks to a grant from the U.S. Department of Labor and the enthusiastic participation of faith and community-based organizations serving local Hispanic, Korean and Muslim communities. The federal grant was awarded to the SkillSource Group, Inc., the nonprofit entity of the Northern Virginia Workforce Investment Board, and focuses on strengthening collaboration between the Northern Virginia workforce system and local faith and community-based organizations. Another initiative administered by the SkillSource Group, Inc., in partnership with the Virginia Department of Medical Assistance Services, is matching direct care workers with long-term care job opportunities in the region.

“These new training and job placement initiatives -- launched in partnership with county government, educational institutions, faith and community-based organizations – are helping the region meet the growing need for direct care workers in Northern Virginia,” says David Hunn, executive director of the Northern Virginia Workforce Investment Board.

Fairfax County’s changing demographics indicate a growing need to recruit well trained workers who will be able to help care for a growing population of elderly individuals and those with disabilities. Persons age 65 and older are expected to increase by 80 percent between the years 2000 and 2020 – four times the growth rate projected for those under age 20. The county’s oldest residents, persons age 85 and older, are expected to increase in number by 43 percent between the years 2000 and 2020. Persons with disabilities represent 12% of the Fairfax area population.

To learn more about long term care resources in Fairfax County, visit the county’s Web site at www.fairfaxcounty.gov/seniors.

[Note to news media: A reception breakfast for direct care workers and others participating in the proclamation presentation will be held June 5 in Conference Rooms 4 and 5 of the Fairfax County Government Center, 12000 Government Center Parkway, in Fairfax, prior to the Board of Supervisors’ meeting. The breakfast begins at 8:30 a.m. Speakers will be available at that time for media interviews. Call 703-324-7758 to set up an interview.]

Fairfax County is committed to nondiscrimination on the basis of disability in all county programs, services and activities. Reasonable accommodations will be provided upon request. For more information, or to request this information in an alternate format, please call Kay Larmer at 703-324-2544, TTY 703-222-5494.

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