The Road Ahead: Policy, Trends and State Strategies to Strengthen the Direct Care Workforce

We invite you to our free webinar, “The Road Ahead: Policy, Trends and State Strategies to Strengthen the Direct Care Workforce.” The event will explore how federal and state policy changes are impacting the direct care workforce in New Hampshire, and what opportunities exist to strengthen and support this essential sector moving forward and how you can engage.

Participants will:

• Learn how federal policy is evolving regarding the direct care workforce
• Understand policy implications for New Hampshire’s direct care workforce
• Hear how NH is investing resources to support this critical workforce
• Explore opportunities to engage

Who Should Attend?

This session is designed for:

-Employers

-State officials

-Policymakers

-Industry advocacy groups

-Anyone impacted by or interested in care work and workforce issues

-Care recipients

Whether you work directly in aging and long-term care, shape policy decisions, or rely on care systems in your community, this conversation will provide valuable insights into the challenges and opportunities ahead for New Hampshire’s direct care workforce.

Attendance is free, but advance registration is encouraged. Please register by Wednesday, June 17 at noon

REGISTER NOW

Featured Speakers

• Jake McDonald, Senior Policy Advocacy Specialist, PHI

Jake McDonald is the Senior Policy Advocacy Specialist at PHI, a New York-based, national non-profit organization that works to transform eldercare and disability services by promoting quality direct care jobs as the foundation for quality care. Jake works in multiple states and at the federal level to advance public policies and support advocacy strategies that improve compensation, training, and other dimensions of job quality for the direct care workforce. Jake received his J.D. from New York University’s School of Law and his B.A. from the University of Notre Dame.

• Wendi Aultman, Bureau Chief, Bureau of Adult & Aging Services, DHHS

Wendi Aultman is the Bureau Chief for the Bureau of Adult & Aging Services within the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services. With more than 27 years of experience, she oversees key statewide programs supporting older adults, adults with disabilities, and individuals with chronic and complex needs, including Adult Protective Services, Long Term Care and Community Services Policy, the Aging and Disability Resource Centers, and the Choices for Independence Medicaid Waiver.

Wendi represents the Department on the State Commission on Aging and the Oversight Subcommittee on Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders, contributing to statewide planning and system improvement efforts. She also leads New Hampshire’s System of Care for Healthy Aging, a cross-sector initiative strengthening access, coordination, workforce capacity, and age-friendly approaches across the state. A longtime champion of reframing aging, Wendi guided BAAS’s transition to its current name and identity, reflecting a more inclusive, strengths-based, and age-friendly vision for New Hampshire.

• Kris Foss, Direct Support Workforce Solutions, Institute on Community Integration, University of Minnesota

Kris Foss serves as the director of Direct Support Workforce Solutions at the Institute on Community Integration at the University of Minnesota. In her role, she works with provider organizations and state service leaders to support system change and the implementation of evidence-based solutions to stabilize and strengthen the direct support workforce. She brings 25 plus years of health and human services leadership. Kris worked formerly as Managing Director of Disability Solutions, a consulting practice supporting fortune 500 companies in attracting, hiring, and retaining talent with disabilities. She served as Director of Human Resources and Workforce Development for Ability Beyond, a large multi-state non-profit provider organization, developing and implementing strategies to recruit, engage, and retain the direct support and frontline supervisor workforce, including a nationally recognized career path program. Kris holds a Master’s Degree in Teaching with a focus on educational technology from Sacred Heart University and earned a Senior Professional of Human Resources (SPHR) and SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SCP). Kris currently lives in New Hampshire with her family.

• Serena Lowe, Founder & Principal, AnereS Strategies

Dr. Serena Lowe is the Founder and Principal at AnereS Strategies, LLC, and currently serves as a subject matter expert to several Federal and state governments focused on systems-change initiatives aimed at improving quality of life outcomes for individuals with disabilities through the provision of value-based, high quality home and community based services.

Serena previously served as the Senior Policy Advisor at ACL and was the chief HCBS Liaison to CMS, responsible for working with all 50 state Medicaid agencies and their sub-operational entities on the implementation of the 2014 federal HCBS regulation; expanding community options through various Medicaid 1915/1115 authorities; aligning policies, practice and payment toward evidence-based person-centered models of service delivery; and co-leading the initial work behind the CMS HCBS Recommended Quality Measure Set and the National Center for the Advancement of Person Centered Planning and Systems.

Serena has also previously served as a Senior Policy Advisor at U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy, where she led the ground-breaking Employment First State Leadership Mentoring Program and also co-led several workforce development initiatives aimed at advancing the HCBS direct care workforce. Serena was the first Executive Director of the Collaboration to Promote Self-Determination and served as Interim Executive Director for TASH in 2020. Most recently, Serena was the Senior Director of LTSS Innovations & Community Life at CareSource.

Today, Serena continues to serve in a number of roles providing technical assistance to state and Federal entities, including serving as an SME and advisor to the Olmstead & Community Life Division of the HHS Office for Civil Rights and the DCW Strategies Center.

Funding for the NH Alliance for Healthy Aging is provided by the Endowment for Health and Point32Health Foundation.