USDA Grant Provides Technical Assistance to Rural Homecare Cooperatives

Thanks to a Socially Disadvantaged Groups Grant from USDA, CDF will continue to support local technical assistance for homecare cooperatives in rural areas.

Grant funds will:

• Support technical assistance to existing homecare cooperatives and organizing groups.

• Help the Northwest Cooperative Development Center hire a cooperative developer in Eastern Washington.

• Expand homecare cooperative development in Wisconsin through conversion of existing homecare agencies to worker ownership.

• Develop a competency model for the homecare industry with the goal that the standards be recognized and codified by the Department of Labor.

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 support, 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 homecare 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.