Issue No. 21-03
Message from NCALA President & CEO
For those that attended our in-person conference in October, we were so happy to see you! It truly felt like a celebration to return to Winston-Salem after a very tumultuous year. The NCALA Fall Conference & Trade Show has always been about continuing education, but it is also the one time every year when peers from across the state can get together and reconnect, re-energize, and have a little fun.

Planning this event was more difficult than usual due to the ongoing COVID concerns. We began planning this event in January, and by April we had to decide whether to hold an in-person event or to just go virtual again as we did in 2020. At that time, things were looking positive for our annual gathering. By August, we realized that this was going to leave out a large number of our members who would be unable to attend due to COVID, company travel restrictions, and workforce shortages.

It took a heroic effort, but we managed to put together, at the last minute, a virtual option for those who could not attend in person. NCALA worked extra hard to be able to offer the recorded version of the conference for those that were unable to attend. We truly had some engaging speakers and topics this year!


Sincerely,
Frances Messer
NCALA President & CEO
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2022 Membership Dues
In recognition of the ongoing hardships created by the pandemic, NCALA is continuing our 10% Covid discount for 2022 membership dues. Invoices will be sent out this month, via email, to all provider members. Please also complete the data collection form and return it to us so we can keep our records current.
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Fill your open shifts with your own internal staff by sending open shift texts (Shift Alerts) that your staff can see and accept in real-time on their phones.

You can send to multiple staff members, then choose the best candidate for that open shift. Alternatively, you can setup "auto-approve" to give the shift to the first person who responds.

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Support the PAC!
2022 will be a critical session in our legislature for the senior living industry and we need to continue to advocate for our providers. If you missed your chance to support the NCALA PAC by purchasing a t-shirt, please consider doing so! These are 100% cotton long sleeve shirts in Maroon, Gold, and Royal Blue.
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Infection Control: COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued an emergency temporary standard (ETS) to minimize the risk of COVID-19 transmission in the workplace. The ETS establishes binding requirements to protect unvaccinated employees of large employers (100 or more employees from the risk of contracting COVID-19 in the workplace). On November 6, 2021, a Louisiana federal appeal court blocked this OSHA ETS. Read the OSHA summary of the ETS.
NCALA Workforce Development Initiative
Upon forming the NCALA Workforce Development Taskforce earlier this year, providers, agency representatives, and educators have been meeting regularly to identify existing training pathways and to connect the dots so that viable solutions can be found regarding direct care workforce shortages.

We are happy to announce, after a year of seeking approval, that DHSR has approved the option for providers to create a Hybrid PCA program. This will allow all currently approved trainers to modify their existing 80-Hour State-approved PCA Programs to include portions of the training offered online via recorded self-study modules and the rest as live instruction modules. The practicum would still be held at the individual’s place of employment. You can access an outline of DHSR’s Hybrid 80 hour program outline here.

It is NCALA’s intent to submit a hybrid 80-hour PCA program for approval that will be accessible to all of our members free of charge.

Generation CARE
(Connecting Assisted Living Roles, Education & Employment)
Visit this link to take the next steps to connect! NCALA would like to collect and post a list of existing training resources for potential employees. If your company would like to submit any information, please email karen@ncala.org.
Continuing Education & Event Dates
Our 2022 AIT class dates have been posted. At this time, NCALA is planning to offer a hybrid version for people who would like to attend in-person and people who would like to attend online.

Please check our training calendar to register for training and check it often for new events!
NCALA Career Center
Members can post job ads for FREE. Simply email the text of your ad to ward@ncala.org being sure to include a job description, location, and method to apply. Additionally, please send us links to your hiring Web pages so that we may post them on our Career Center Web page.
NCALA | info@ncala.org | (919) 467-2486 | www.ncala.org