USDA Grant Advances Homecare Cooperative Development

Thanks to a Rural Cooperative Development Grant from USDA, CDF will continue coordinating the  Homecare Cooperative Initiative and its work developing homecare cooperatives. 

The 2019-20 USDA grant means CDF will:

• Host the 2019 National Homecare Cooperative Conference, 

• Identify existing homecare agencies suitable for conversion to worker ownership, 

• Conduct a feasibility study for a secondary cooperative to support homecare cooperatives,  

• Implement a homecare loan fund, 

• Support a homecare cooperative benchmarking study, and

• Provide education, outreach and steering committee activities.

Since 2014 CDF and its partners have developed sustainable homecare cooperatives through quality technical assistance, rigorous research and data-driven analysis. As worker-centered businesses, cooperatives prioritize improved working conditions including better training, higher wages, and job supports, resulting in increased worker satisfaction, higher quality care, and decreased turn over.  

The U.S. faces a caregiver crisis with the number of seniors needing care expected to double in the next decade. Millions of new home care workers will need to be hired to meet the growing demand. Worker ownership of homecare agencies may help meet this demand by creating quality jobs.