Immigration reform is needed to bring more foreign-born care workers to the United States, legally, to help resolve long-standing workforce shortages, according to a report published Wednesday by LeadingAge.
“America is in the midst of a demographic crisis. The population of older adults with complex needs is growing by leaps and bounds while the pool of available workers is declining at a dangerous rate — a mismatch that is harming older adults and their families,” LeadingAge President and CEO Katie Smith Sloan said in a press release issued in conjunction with the study.
“We’ve got to think boldly; systemic changes are needed to address the shortage of professional caregivers for the long term. September — when we observe National Workforce Development Month — is an opportune time,” Sloan added.
According to LeadingAge in the report, titled “The Immigration Imperative,” current immigration policies stand in the way of bolstering the long-term service and supports workforce. To that end, the national association suggests that the government increase annual caps for employment-based visas, eliminate the per-country limit for employment-based immigration and shorten the time required for employment authorization. LeadingAge noted that the immigration policies favor workers with bachelor’s or advanced degrees while preventing noncredentialed workers from immigrating to the United States to fill direct care positions for aging services employers.
Data show that foreign-born direct care workers come into the United States from at least 163 countries.
An unrelated study published in Health Affairs earlier this year found that immigrant care workers make up an increasingly large share of the nursing home workforce, largely because US-born certified nursing assistants have fled the sector.
LeadingAge noted that immigrants make up just 17% of the total US labor force. The organization said, however, that immigrants comprise 31% of the home care workforce, 30.3% of the nursing home housekeeping and maintenance workforce, 21% of the residential care aide workforce and 21% of the nursing assistant workforce.
In addition to making it easier for LTSS workers to enter the country legally, LeadingAge suggested that the United States expand its apprenticeship program to include foreign-born workers, making training and testing more accessible to people whose primary language is not English.
Further, according to the report, the government should “study wages, benefits, and the availability of wrap-around support services among immigrant caregivers and explore tools that home and community-based service providers can use to recruit and retain foreign-born workers.”
