From our friends at PHI:

State policymakers grappling with soaring demand for eldercare and disability services, particularly in home and community-based settings, face an enormous challenge: maintaining a stable, skilled direct-service workforce that can deliver quality services to consumers.

A new set of recommendations (pdf 1MB) from the National Direct Service Workforce Resource Center suggests that a first step in addressing this challenge is adequate data collection.

The Center recommends that states collect a minimum data set, including three basic elements:

• Numbers of direct service workers (full time and part time)
• Stability of workforce (turnover and vacancies)
• Average compensation of workers (wages and benefits)