White House Summit Highlights American Rescue Plan Investments in HCBS

The White House held a summit highlighting over $40 billion in American Rescue Plan investments in state and local workforce programs. The Summit focused on three major areas of American Rescue Plan investment: building a diverse and skilled infrastructure workforce, strengthening our care and public health workforce, and expanding access to the workforce for underserved populations.

The summit highlighted the importance of the care economy and the American Rescue Plan’s investments in public health and the care economy to help provide better pay and career opportunities for care workers and make it easier for workers with child and elder care responsibilities to join and stay in the workforce.

The White House noted its investments of over $16 Billion in Medicaid and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) funds for the care and healthcare workforce, including over $9 billion in HCBS funds that were proposed in state plans “to increase the pay and benefits of direct support professionals, train workers, and recruit, retain, and expand the workforce to meet the needs of Americans on HCBS waitlists and family caregivers.”

Several states’ investments in HCBS were discussed, including Colorado’s development of a standardized curriculum and training program for home care workers to establish quality and increase specialized qualifications tied to wage increases.