Without adequate numbers of well-trained staff, no facility can meet the needs of its residents. Historically, the adult care home industry has experienced a very high staff turnover rate. Personal care aides rotate from facility to facility on an ongoing basis. Wages are low and benefits are almost nonexistent, so there is not much incentive to stay on the job. In addition, our booming economy and low unemployment rate have resulted in a plentiful and varied job market.
Workers can get jobs almost anywhere.
As a result, the adult care home industry is losing staff right and left to competitors, leaving many facilities without sufficient numbers of well-trained staff to do the job. The team knew that they wanted to help, and decided that an aggressive countywide approach was going to be necessary. They also knew that they could not successfully confront the issue of staffing in adult care homes by themselves, and that the establishment of a collaborative partnership with facility owners and managers was in order. The partnership was born on June 30th when Human Services staff and Wake County adult care home owners and managers met together for the first time to talk about issues of staff recruitment, training and retention. It was immediately apparent that issues surrounding staffing were very much on the minds of industry providers who welcomed a forum to discuss common concerns and experiences.