Federal grants would support direct care workers' training and careers

The Labor Department would award grants to eligible groups for plans to recruit, keep, or advance direct care workers. Eligible applicants include states, tribes, labor groups, nonprofits, workforce boards, and certain schools or colleges working with eligible partners. Grant awards depend on funding appropriated for the program, after amounts reserved for technical help are set aside. Groups applying for grants must consult workers and people who receive care, and submit plans and information required by the Secretaries. The Labor Department must arrange coordination with Health and Human Services and award grants within 12 months after the Act becomes law.

Grant recipients would use funds for at least one approved workforce strategy, such as training, career pathways, career planning, wages, or support services. Strategies may serve direct care workers or people training for those jobs, including workers who support people with disabilities or provide care at home or in the community. Some school or college applicants must include a career pathway program. Training programs must teach care recipients' rights. If programs pay workers or trainees, pay must meet the higher applicable federal or state minimum or collective bargaining wage. Recipients may not charge workers or trainees for grant-funded education, training, support services, or other benefits. Each grant would last at least five years.

Grant recipients would report on their programs, and federal officials would publish broader reviews of their results and the care workforce. The reporting duties apply to grant recipients, the Labor Secretary, and the Comptroller General. Reports must cover program participation, activities, and outcomes; some data must be broken down by group, unless numbers are too small for reliable results or could identify a person. Recipients must submit annual reports during each grant and a final report within six months after a strategy ends. Federal reports are due within one year of the stated preceding report.