America is in the midst of a demographic crisis. The population of older adults with complex needs is growing by leaps and bounds while the pool of available workers is declining at a dangerous rate. This mismatch is harming older adults and their families.

Policy actions are needed. Our latest white paper, The Immigration Imperative, explores how reforms to our outdated and inefficient immigration system will allow us to welcome more foreign-born workers to long-term service and supports (LTSS) care teams.

Our country’s failure  to develop streamlined, supported, common-sense pathways for foreign-born workers to enter the LTSS sector results in a host of issues and leaves many qualified and in-demand caregivers stuck in an antiquated immigration process. It also obstructs the pipeline of qualified caregivers, elevates the cost of care, and denies older adults the services and support they need.

The Immigration Imperative outlines the four key challenges and related recommendations LeadingAge is advocating for to deliver real, critically important fixes that will help to solve the workforce crisis in aging services. And, because retaining foreign-born workers who join the aging services sector is critical to building the sector’s workforce pipeline, we’re also sharing resources for employers to use in ensuring on-the-job success.