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Real Choice Grant
In 2001, North Carolina was selected to receive a $1.6 million "Real Choice" grant from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The grant program is intended to help states improve the infrastructure and services to support the preferences of people who have disabilities or long-term illnesses. North Carolina's grant focuses on workforce issues affecting home and community based long-term care.
The grant covered five major areas to improve the size, stability and quality of North Carolina's direct care workforce:
- Reviewing state and federal policies governing home- and community-based services to identify those that contribute to an institutional care bias
- Developing a career ladder to support initial and professional development opportunities for direct care staff
- Launching public education and awareness efforts to promote recruitment and retention of direct care workers
- Collecting and analyzing data about workforce trends, including turnover
- Developing a quality improvement system for the direct support professional
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