Official State of Rhode Island website

The Executive Office of Health and Human Services State of Rhode Island

HCBS Workforce Recruitment and Retention

Older woman with CNA

The pandemic has exacerbated challenges in meeting consumer demand for home and community-based services (HCBS) due to workforce shortages.  To help meet these challenges, the Rhode Island Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS) is dedicating approximately $57 million in funding from the American Rescue Plan Act (APRA) to increase compensation to direct service workers in our home and community-based workforce.

The goals of this program are to:

  • Increase our ability to meet Medicaid consumer needs for HCBS services
  • Increase the number of HCBS direct care workers and licensed health professionals actively providing frontline services
  • Improve retention rates for HCBS staff
  • Reduce vacancy rates for HCBS staff