Guiding Caregivers to Success
In the summer of 2023, the DSHS Home and Community Living Administration’s Workforce Development team hired three workforce navigators to help address the caregiving workforce shortage in Washington state. Naomi Spector, Yan Heng and Julie Gardner helped further define these positions as they learned what kinds of supports are needed for prospective caregivers to better navigate the caregiving training, certification and employment landscape. Each navigator takes a personal approach to supporting every person who reaches out by helping determine their preferred work setting, understanding the required training for employment, and finding solutions to barriers they are having to becoming a paid caregiver.
Along with the team’s outreach coordinator, the workforce navigators have attended more than 150 career fairs, presentations or other community outreach events, and they have individually assisted more than 3,000 prospective caregivers. The workforce navigators have tracked more than 400 people who have been hired as caregivers, in various care settings, with their support. Workforce navigators have an impact on each person they support through their journey to a career in caregiving, to the caregiving workforce, and ultimately to the clients who are able to remain in their preferred home and community settings because they have a caregiver to meet their needs.
Referrals to the workforce navigators continue to grow from word-of-mouth and marketing efforts that guide people to the Caregiver Careers Washington website. This website is becoming increasingly helpful and accessible to those who want information about becoming a caregiver and ongoing support in a caregiving career.
The workforce navigators are part of a muti-pronged approach that the Workforce Development team takes to help recruit and retain caregivers. This team is focused on helping advance the perceived value of caregivers and is making conscious efforts to elevate the caregiving experience with the ultimate goal of having a robust, respected and happy caregiving workforce that is able to meet the growing demands of people who are aging or have a disability and need support.
