QUICK NEWS

Photo by Denise Maroney

FUNDAMENTALS OF CAREGIVING

After two years of hard work by our Training, Communications & Workforce Development (TCWD) team, we are moving forward with a new edition of Fundamentals of caregiving, the core training textbook for home care aides in Washington.

Fundamentals of Caregiving hasn’t been revised since 2015 and its last major update happened in 2005. We’ve learned a lot about providing appropriate, person-centered care in the last 17 years, and it was past time that we incorporated that knowledge into our caregiver training materials. The textbook is used by community and facility instructors around the state and provides the foundational knowledge our caregivers need to successfully and respectfully care for clients. Samuel Cooke of our TCWD team, with the assistance of his colleagues, have completed a pre-pilot draft of the new materials. The team is moving forward with final adjustments to the curriculum and deployment. The new materials will be fully deployed by January 1, 2023.

!Do you have some news or information you’d like to share with your HCS colleagues? Let HCS Communications Manager Meghan Erkkinen know!

This is an unprecedented time in the world of affordable housing. Federal, state, and local resources and guidelines are changing and growing at dizzying speed. We update our Roads to Community Living Housing Resources internet webpage frequently to provide a centralized place to get WA State housing resource information. If you haven’t visited the site recently, please take a look. There are state and local links for vouchers and service resources along with guidance about how to reach our regional specialists. Please put a link on your desktop!

Braiding resources is an important way to ensure our services are well utilized. Consider authorizing a Community Choice Guide or Supportive Housing provider to assist with housing and stabilization. These services are key in assisting clients to find and keep affordable housing and maintaining their in-home setting.

We also keep our LTC Chapter (5b) updated. Please use it instead of older documents you might be referencing on regional SharePoint sites as our guidance, of necessity, has to change regularly as we respond to new resources. And of course, let us know if

HOUSING

RESOURCES

there’s something you’d like us to cover in the chapter if you can’t find what you’re looking for.

We have created easy to view and use videos and brochures to help you spread the word about independent housing resources. Here are some direct links, but know that they are also available on the Housing Resources page:

• Options for Housing Through Long-

Term Care Services Video • What is the Governor’s Opportunity for Supportive Housing? Video • ALTSA Housing Brochure (English) – translations available on the website • ALTSA Housing Resource 811 Brochure • ALTSA Housing Resource NED

Brochure • ALTSA Housing Resource-Bridge

Subsidy Brochure • Translated Housing Brochures • GOSH One-Pager • Statewide GOSH Provider Network

Map

We hope this is useful for you and your partners. Thanks for your help!