With generous support from the Kellogg Foundation, H-CAP established the Center for Advancing Racial Equity and Job Quality in Long-Term Care (The Center for Equity) to transform workforce development in the caregiving industry. Continued WKKF funding now enables us to integrate this worker-centered equity approach across our organization and throughout our network of labor-management training partnerships.

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Our innovative approach addresses deeply entrenched challenges in healthcare employment. Despite being America's largest and fastest-growing employment sector, healthcare remains plagued by structural racism, misogyny, and xenophobia that devalues essential care work. The Census Bureau reports that women comprise over three-quarters of all full-time U.S. healthcare workers, with Black women and Latina workers disproportionately concentrated in entry-level, lower-paying positions like nursing assistants and personal care aides.

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Meanwhile, critical staffing shortages span the entire sector—from registered nurses and home care aides to medical technologists and behavioral health specialists. Across all specialties, challenging working conditions and persistent burnout undermine recruitment and retention efforts, further straining an already vulnerable system.

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