American Rescue Plan Act: Workforce Surveys
As part of the direct care workforce initiative, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) is conducting surveys to assess turnover, tenure, wages, benefits, and other factors. The results will help DHS discover ways to improve the quality and stability of the caregiving workforce that assists long-term care Medicaid beneficiaries.
Staff Stability Survey underway
DHS is now surveying agencies that provide long-term care for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The results of the National Core Indicators Intellectual and Developmental Disability (NCI-IDD) State of the Workforce Survey will provide insights to help us improve the quality and stability of Wisconsin's direct care workforce. Participating organizations must enter their data by July 31, 2024, to be included in the survey results and incentive eligible. Organizations can complete the survey at their own pace, but only on-time entries will be accepted.
Upcoming: Children’s Long-Term Services
DHS will conduct a new workforce survey focused on agencies serving children in the Children’s Long-Term Support (CLTS) Program in 2024 for the calendar year 2023. It will be patterned after the NCI-IDD survey with modifications for children. A similar incentive will be used to encourage participation.
Current activities: New survey focus group
DHS is currently participating in a focus group with three other states and four national organizations to develop a new national State of the Workforce Survey for individuals who self-direct their care. The goal is to pilot this new survey in 2024 for the calendar year 2023. A similar incentive will be used to encourage participation.
2021 NCI-AD State of the Workforce Pilot Survey
September 1 – October 31, 2022
Wisconsin and five other states participated in the National Core Indicators Aging and Physically Disabled (NCI-AD) pilot staff stability survey. We surveyed agencies that serve older adults and people with physical disabilities to learn how to improve the quality and stability of their direct care service workforce.
The 274 agencies that completed the entire pilot survey received incentive payments between $250 to $1,000, with a total payout of $81,250.
Lessons learned from the pilot will be applied to launch a survey available to all states in 2023.
State data at a glance
- Racial breakdown: 55.4% White, 23.3% Black or African American, 4% Asian, 2.5% Hispanic/Latinx, 1.1% American Indian or Alaska Native.
- Gender identity: 77.1% female, 19.3% male, 3.6% all other responses
- Wages: The average overall wage is $13.85. (NCI-AD average $14.35*)
- Health insurance: 29% of all agencies offer health insurance to some or all direct service workers
- Paid time off: 54% of agencies provide some paid time off
- Turnover ratio: 49.6% (NCI-AD Average 64.4%*)
- Vacancy rate: 17.1% full-time and 25.2% part-time. (NCI AD average 17.7% and 19.7%)
* Due to the small sample size, the average is impacted by one outlier state.
Resources
2021 NCI-IDD State of the Workforce Survey
April 12 – July 31, 2022
Wisconsin joined 28 other states and the District of Columbia for the 2021 NCI-IDD State of the Workforce Survey (formerly called the Staff Stability Survey). Agencies that provide long-term care for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities were invited to submit their workforce data.
The 204 participating agencies received incentives between $250 to $1,000, with a total payout of $81,250.
The data will inform DHS of ways to reduce the costs associated with staff turnover at provider agencies and to reduce the impact of turnover on the quality of supports and outcomes for consumers.
State data at a glance
- Racial breakdown: 62.3% White, 21.4% Black or African American, 3.4% Asian, 3.2% Hispanic/Latinx, 2.3% Indian or Alaska Native
- Gender identity: 77.3% female, 21.5% male, 0.2% non-conforming
- Wages: The average overall wage is $13.53 (NCI-IDD average $14.41)
- Health insurance: 39.9% of agencies offer to some or all workers (NCI-IDD average 59.9%)
- Paid time off: 62.3% of agencies provide some paid time off (NCI-IDD average 73.7%)
- Turnover ratio: 49.9% (NCI-IDD average 43.3%)
- Vacancy rate: 15.7% full-time and 16.8% part-time (NCI-IDD average 16.5% and 20.3%)