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September is National Workforce Development Month, and one of the most proven member resources to grow your workforce is OnTrack Nursing Assistant Training.

A study published in the American Journal of Public Health found that pandemic-related closures of adult day services left older adults and caregivers without critical support. The magnitude of the impact of adult day closures on well-being, particularly among members of racial/ethnic minority groups, has yet to be measured because nationally representative data sets associated with adult day center participation do not yet exist.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced $174.6 million in grant funds through a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) to support the development of new affordable multifamily rental homes for low-income seniors and ongoing project rental assistance and supportive services. The grants are offered under HUD's Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly program and will be awarded to nonprofit organizations across the country.

Recently, LeadingAge Minnesota received more questions about citations for past noncompliance actions and how those citations impact the five-star rating, calculating fines, and appeals.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated vaccine recommendations and included bivalent vaccines recently made available. They also revised the definition of up-to-date.

In partnership with Vital Research, the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) and the Minnesota Board on Aging are preparing for data collection for the Assisted Living Report Card. Assisted living directors will be informed by letter of the plans for this year's statewide assisted living resident quality of life and family satisfaction surveys in early October.

Lifeline and the Telephone Assistance Program are two programs that help make communication services more affordable.

New Five-Star Reports that reflect recent changes to the Five-Star Staffing Domain are ready to view in the LeadingAge Minnesota Data Portal. Primary contacts have access to the portal to view these reports. 

Beginning Oct. 3, Nurse Aide Registry candidates will have up to four chances to pass the knowledge exam until March 2023.

A new report providing insights and data on the nation's direct care workforce was recently released.

The report, Direct Care Workers in the United States: Key Facts, is released annually by PHI, which researches, supports, and promotes the nation's direct care workforce. The report includes workforce projections and demographic overviews of home care workers, residential care aides, and nursing assistants in nursing homes.

LeadingAge Minnesota has recently updated a Property/Grounds Hazard Vulnerability Assessment Tool (Ingestion-related events) as a guide to conduct regular safety checks to ensure that your property and grounds are maintained in a safe and sanitary manner.

The Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) Quality Reporting Program (QRP) Quality Measures Calculations and Reporting User’s Manual Version 4.0 is now available. Changes go into effect on Oct. 1.

Nurse aides hired or who worked during the 1135 waiver have until Oct. 6 to be placed on the Minnesota Nursing Assistant Registry.

Last week, Governor Walz announced an additional $2.5 million in American Recovery Plan funding to continue the state’s Next Generation Nursing Assistant Training Program (NextGen) until Feb. 2023.

The Health Regulation Division (HRD) of the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) will now take requests to change the capacity of assisted living settings any time throughout the year. MDH has reversed its previous practice, which limited change of capacity requests to the time of license renewal.

A draft version of the Minimum Data Set (MDS) Nursing Home Comprehensive Item has been released ahead of the October 2023 implementation date. The sheer volume of proposed updates means that operators and their software providers have their work cut out for them to be ready by Oct. 1, 2023.

With workforce pressures reaching unprecedented levels, the 2022 LeadingAge Minnesota Foundation Golf Fundraiser helped raise nearly $60,000 to benefit the LeadingAge Minnesota Foundation. The golf event was held on Aug. 2 at Prestwick Golf Club in Woodbury.

The Minnesota State HealthForce Center of Excellence has created a new Nursing Program Openings webpage to show which colleges and universities around the state of Minnesota have available seats in their nursing programs for the Fall 2022 semester.

A selection of on-demand webinars approved for clock hours for Licensed Assisted Living Directors is available for purchase. We've designed 11 self-paced webinars on a variety of topics which provide up to 13 clock hours.

LeadingAge Minnesota's Assisted Living Director Licensing Course is available online and self-paced.

The 2022 Governance Intensive for executive leadership and board members is available on demand. Confronting the Workforce Crisis Through a DEI Lens: A Governance Perspective explores the deepening workforce crisis through the lens of building a diverse and inclusive culture, examining the two matters from a governance perspective.

The 2022 Billing Basics for Care Centers five-part webinar series is available on demand.

Last week, Congressman Tom Emmer joined Guardian Angels CEO Traci Larson, State Rep. Paul Novotny, and State Sen. Mary Kiffmeyer at Guardian Angels Care Center, a skilled nursing community in Elk River. LeadingAge Minnesota staff also attended the meeting.

This week, US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Marcia L. Fudge visited Minnesota to announce the availability of new funding for the Older Adult Home Modification Program. The federal government will provide an additional $15 million to help senior citizens across the country upgrade their homes so they can continue to live in them safely.

The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) has announced that nurse aide registry candidates will have up to two hours for the knowledge exam beginning Oct. 3.

The Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) has several openings for Minnesota Medicaid-Certified Nursing Facilities interested in participating in an online Dementia Care staff training program.

The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) has requested a statewide waiver to extend the temporary nurse aide training program that is currently set to expire on Oct. 6.

This week, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced plans to conduct a four-part analysis in pursuit of establishing a federal minimum staffing standard in nursing homes. As part of their study, researchers will visit 75 nursing homes across the country over the next three months though none are planned for Minnesota sites. A national staffing plan would be incorporated into skilled nursing proposed rules published next spring.

Care centers must track and report flu vaccination information to the CDC this fall.

The reporting period for the new Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) Quality Reporting Program (QRP) measure "Influenza Vaccination Coverage among Healthcare Personnel" (HCP) begins Oct. 1.