In a series of Stakeholder Meetings conducted by Care for Elders, Harris County seniors expressed grave concern about the screening, training, and dependability of home care and other direct care workers.  Through advocacy and the development of best practices, the partnership is ensuring a better prepared and more qualified front line workforce.

Care for Elders implemented an Enhanced Screening pilot in 2003 to evaluate the effectiveness of a more comprehensive screening program for direct care workers.  Results were surprising; we learned that current measures are inadequate for ensuring that criminals can not be hired to provide care to older adults. 

Care for Elders also implemented an Orientation and Continuing Education pilot to determine the impact of training on worker retention.  Workers completing the 16 hour orientation were found to have improved knowledge about working with the elderly and stayed employed longer.

Visit Reports and Evaluation Results for more lessons learned from these initiatives.