United Cerebral Palsy/
Community Living and Support Services (UCP/CLASS) (with PHI, Institute on Disabilities at Temple University)
Direct Caregiver Training Program

Description:  The agency is proposing a continuation of a pilot started in April 2010 entitled the Direct Caregiver Training Program.  It is a collaboration between UCP/CLASS, PHI, and Temple University’s Institute on Disabilities to train 100 attendant care workers who provide direct personal care for 300 consumers.  The training curriculum was developed by PHI to prepare and empower direct care workers by teaching relationship-building, communication-building, and direct care skills.  Workers learn to provide the personal activities, such as bathing and dressing, in a caring and respectful manner instead of just completing a work task.  The Program also will provide group workshops for 500 family members and friends, who are informal caregivers for the 300 consumers, in order to support these caregivers and promote continuity for the consumers in the assistance they are receiving from multiple sources.  United Way funds will be used to build on the existing pilot, provide the training to attendant care workers and family/friend caregivers, and evaluate the outcomes of the program.

The Program Serves a Population with Great Needs:  Seniors and adults with disabilities in need of personal care services will benefit from training focused on attendant care workers and family/friend caregivers.  Consumers of attendant care reside throughout Allegheny County.

The Program Achieves Measurable Results:  Most of the agency’s attendant care consumers receive services for about 4 years.

The Program Applies a Sound Approach:  Research shows that those programs that help to improve the skills of caregivers are effective in improving outcomes for seniors and adults with disabilities who need direct care.

Alignment with Preferred Outcomes and Likelihood of Community Change:

• Remain safely in home/least restrictive community setting (280 of 300, or 93%)
• Caregivers able to keep loved one at home (440 of 500, or 88%)

Community Outcomes:  The project will improve the capacity of attendant care workers to serve seniors and adults with disabilities who are at-risk for institutionalization.  By providing professional development to care workers, the project creates a multiplied impact.  For every one person the program touches directly, multiple people are provided higher quality service.  This serves as a model for improving professional capacity for direct care workers for any population.  Attendant care workers provide necessary services such as bathing and dressing; without this level of care, recipients likely would require institutionalization.  Moreover, providing these services in a respectful and caring manner allow individuals to remain in their home with dignity and improved quality of life.  In addition, research also shows that participating in training of this type significantly reduces direct care worker turnover, thus providing valuable continuity for consumers and improved work environment for these workers.