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.
2023 NCI-AD State of the Workforce Survey
September 15 – November 30, 2024
DHS is participating in the National Core Indicators Aging and Physically Disabled (NCI-AD) State of the Workforce survey. This national survey is happening as a result of the pilot AD survey from 2021. DHS will survey agencies that provide long-term care for adults who are aging or have physical disabilities. The results of this survey will help us learn how to improve the quality and stability of the workforce.
All eligible agencies are encouraged to participate by sharing their data. Eligible providers will have a Medical Provider ID or Electronic Visit Verification number, a primary contact person, and employ direct support workers who provide direct support to aging adults and adults with physical disabilities. Agencies who complete the survey will receive an incentive for their participation.
View our fact sheet or informational presentation for details about the survey, agency incentive, and timeframe.
2023 Children’s Long-Term Services Survey
August 12 – September 15, 2024
DHS is conducting a new workforce survey of agencies who serve children in the Children’s Long-Term Support (CLTS) Program for the calendar year 2023. The purpose is to collect data about the direct care staff who provide support, help with skills development, guidance, or personal assistance to children with intellectual or developmental disabilities, mental health, or physical disabilities (PD) in CLTS.
2023 NCI-IDD State of the Workforce Survey
February 12 – July 31, 2024
DHS has completed our survey with 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. The survey data will be analyzed and we will share the results here once available. We thank all participants for their valuable input.
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%)