A pair of state Senate bills that aim to deepen the long-term care worker pipeline in Pennsylvania would open doors for high school juniors and seniors to get on track for a career in the sector.
Senate Bill 1102 would centralize and streamline certified nursing assistant training programs across the state. Meanwhile Senate Bill 1104 would allow high school students to earn up to two credits toward their graduation by completing a certain number of paid or volunteer work hours in senior care facilities such as nursing homes.
The measures were approved by the Senate Education Committee Tuesday and will next advance to the Senate floor for full consideration
The push to add more nursing home workers comes as Pennsylvania is experiencing both a rapidly aging population and a shrinking nursing home workforce. Providers are also faced with the new national staffing mandate.
Pennsylvania sector leaders actively worked with policymakers to draft the bills. The measures could remove significant barriers in the workforce pipeline, said Tim Ward, director of advocacy and government affairs at the Pennsylvania Health Care Association.
“Currently, the Pennsylvania Department of Education is required to approve every nurse aide training program. Oftentimes, the department takes months to review and approve training programs,” he told McKnight’s Long-Term Care News Wednesday. “Meanwhile, a shortage of programs exists across the commonwealth. Delays in approvals for training programs exacerbated a nursing home’s ability to recruit and train nurse aides”
SB 1102 solves that issue by requiring the state Department of Education to adopt a statewide nurse aide training curriculum that can be duplicated and delivered across the state, he noted.
While SB 1104 will not directly involve high school students in direct-care work, it will give them a foot in the door at facilities through culinary, maintenance and activities work, Ward said.
“This legislation will create an opportunity to introduce students to all of the careers that exist in long-term care from their interactions in the positions that they decide to pursue for credit. Long-term care is more than just clinical work, and we want to make students are more aware of the career opportunities that exist.”
Roadblocks remain
While the bills successfully advanced from committee hearing through to the Senate floor, they have not done so without pushback, however. The state Department of Education is opposing the legislation, Ward told McKnight’s.
At a committee hearing, State Senator Lindsey Williams (D) explained that the Department of Education would be required to evaluate new training programs within 45 days — a timeline it describes as “impossible.”
Providers, however, remain committed to the bills as a solution to the growing staffing crisis.
“At a time when staffing mandates are being imposed, providers are trying to identify solutions but are hitting roadblocks with governing bodies,” Ward explained.
Nonprofit providers joined the chorus of provider voices in support of the workforce bills as they continue to advance.
“These bills take an important step toward establishing a more robust pipeline of workers for the aging services sector, which will ultimately improve access to quality care,” Chuck Quinnan, senior vice president and chief government affairs officer at LeadingAge Pennsylvania told McKnight’s. “Many of our members, including those in leadership, started their journey in positions like this, and it is where they developed a love for serving older adults. Addressing the many challenges faced by the aging services sector will take continued collaboration and a comprehensive approach; these bills are an excellent start.”
Nearly all the bills’ sponsors are Republicans, though a pair of Democrats are also on the list. Republicans have a 28-22 majority in the state Senate.
