Facing labor crunch, NJ launches jobs website for home health aides, group home staff
New Jersey's Department of Human Services and The Boggs Center on Developmental Disabilities have launched a website to promote job openings for aides who would work with people with disabilities and older adults, the state announced this week.
Dubbed Jobs That Care New Jersey, it lists open positions in two fields sorely in need of staff, direct support professionals and certified home health aides. Labor shortages plague both industries, which are charged with caring for some of New Jersey’s most medically fragile residents.
“Bolstering our caregiving workforce has long been one of my top priorities, and while we have invested in these critical jobs through wage increases and supports, we’ve now made it easier to connect job seekers to these essential job opportunities,” Human Services Commissioner Sarah Adelman said in a statement Tuesday.
“I encourage anyone interested in pursuing a rewarding career in the care economy to please visit this new site to learn more and find jobs in your area," she said. "This work makes a real and meaningful difference in people’s lives.”
Jobs That Care website
The Jobs That Care New Jersey website can be found at nj.gov/humanservices/jobsthatcare/index.shtml.
Positions offered
Direct support professionals are employed by companies that care for the roughly 10,000 people with disabilities living in New Jersey's 2,200 group homes. The scarcity of aides has been a long-standing quality-of-life issue for residents, who depend on support professionals for everything from social activities to cooking, bathing and transportation.
Certified home health aides assist adults ages 60 and older, as well as others including some children with chronic medical conditions. They help clients at home and in other settings with daily activities such as bathing, meal preparation, and shopping. Home aides work under the supervision of a registered nurse in a variety of settings, including assisted living residences, nonprofit homemaker-home aide agencies and health care service firms.
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Career videos, employer lists will be available
Explanations of both jobs can be found on the site, including videos of direct support professionals and the people they support. Information on employers will also be available, the state said.
Human Services said it has also awarded funding to an advertising firm to design a promotional campaign to highlight the website and recruit direct care workers to the home and community-based care field.“These are essential jobs to support individuals with disabilities and older adults to live healthy and engaging lives in communities across our state,” said Human Services Deputy Commissioner for Aging and Disability Services Kaylee McGuire. “Whether it’s helping with personal needs, health and home care or community activities, workers in these careers truly matter. They support our friends, our family, our neighbors. They change lives.”
Gene Myers covers disability and mental health for NorthJersey.com and the USA TODAY Network. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
Email: myers@northjersey.com
Twitter: @myersgene
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ launches jobs website for home health aides, group home staff
