November 12, 2021, Washington, DC—New Jersey aging services providers called on their Members of Congress, including Josh Gottheimer, co-chair of the Problem Solvers Caucus, to support older Americans by passing the president’s Build Back Better legislative package in the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill includes long-overdue investments in housing, home and community-based services, and the aging services workforce.

“Congress is finally getting serious about helping older Americans and their families. We need Congressman Gottheimer and the entire New Jersey delegation to focus on areas critical to older New Jersyans,” said Jim McCracken, president and CEO of LeadingAge New Jersey and Delaware. “I urge our delegation to support workforce investment programs and funding for home and community based services and affordable housing with services.”

New Jersey home care providers have been declining nearly 2 out of every 3 new home care cases because of a shortage of available caregivers. And COVID related financial pressures, including increased staffing costs, are forcing some nursing homes in the state to close.

“People take care of people, that’s what healthcare is built upon. And without people, care and services do not exist,” said Carol Silver Elliott, president & CEO of Jewish Home Family in northern New Jersey and board chair of LeadingAge, the national association of nonprofit providers of aging services. “The demand for direct care workers and registered nurses is critical—and unprecedented. We must have meaningful support—from funding through an FMAP increase to training and educational programs—to care for those whose lives and wellbeing are entrusted to us.”

Remarking on the importance of the bill’s provisions for affordable housing for low income seniors, Katie Smith Sloan, president and CEO of LeadingAge, noted older New Jerseyans, like older adults nationwide, face daunting and growing waiting lists for affordable housing. “Without a safe place to live, older adults won’t be able to access the community-based care and services the legislation provides,” she said.

Sloan in a letter to Congressional leadership this week urged action on the Build Back Better package and what she called “historic, structural investments for older adults and aging services providers.”

Build Back Better Provisions Supporting Older Adults (and LeadingAge positions)

• Affordable Housing with Services (Section 202): Increase to at least $1 billion, the bill’s current $500 million for HUD’s Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly funding program.

• Home and Community Based Services (HCBS): Preserve or increase the bill’s $150 billion for Medicaid HCBS to allow more older adults to get the help they need to grow older wherever they call home—and to help address the staffing shortages and reduce long wait lists for support by bolstering the wages of the professional care providers.
• Workforce Investments: Provide adequate funding mechanisms, such as a Medicaid FMAP increase, and resources to implement the bill’s nursing home staffing provisions. And, preserve or increase the bill’s long-overdue workforce investments to ensure our long-term care system isn’t crushed under the weight of increasing demand as our country ages, including:
  • $1.6 billion for Nursing Home Workforce Training Grants for long-term care providers to address staffing shortages.
  • $1 billion for grants to support the Direct Care Workforce.
  • $425 million to expand Health Profession Opportunity Grants to train low-income recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families for high-demand jobs, including as home care aides, CNAs, LPNs and nurses.
  • $20 million for Technical Assistance Center for Supporting Direct Care and Caregiving to support care worker recruitment, education and training, retention, and career advancement.
  • $40 million to support Unpaid Caregivers Behavioral Health Needs of unpaid caregivers of older individuals and older relative care providers.
  • $30 million in funding for Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training.
  • $20 million for Hospice and Palliative Nursing for grants and contracts leading to CNA certification programs.
  • $350 million for individuals to carry-out nontraditional apprenticeship programs.

We represent more than 5,000 nonprofit aging services providers and other mission-minded organizations that touch millions of lives every day. Alongside our members and 38 state partners, we use applied research, advocacy, education, and community-building to make America a better place to grow old. Our membership, which now includes the providers of the Visiting Nurse Associations of America, encompasses the continuum of services for people as they age, including those with disabilities. We bring together the most inventive minds in the field to lead and innovate solutions that support older adults wherever they call home. For more information visit leadingage.org.