2024 -- S 2867 | |
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LC005661 | |
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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND | |
IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY | |
JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2024 | |
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A N A C T | |
RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- THE LADDERS TO | |
LICENSURE PROGRAM | |
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Introduced By: Senators Cano, DiMario, Pearson, Mack, McKenney, Zurier, and Lawson | |
Date Introduced: March 22, 2024 | |
Referred To: Senate Finance | |
It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: | |
1 | SECTION 1. Legislative findings. |
2 | The general assembly hereby finds that: |
3 | (1) Rhode Island is experiencing workforce shortages across health and human services, |
4 | the state’s largest employment sector, with a projected sixty-seven thousand five hundred (67,500) |
5 | open health and related social assistance positions between 2020 and 2030; |
6 | (2) There is a current and projected shortage of licensed health professionals including |
7 | registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, nurse practitioners, social workers, mental health |
8 | counselors, marriage and family therapists and post-secondary healthcare educators; |
9 | (3) The licensed health professional workforce is declining due to age and burnout; |
10 | (4) The number of applications to most health professional higher education programs is |
11 | declining; |
12 | (5) The current healthcare provider shortage has reduced timely access to quality patient |
13 | care and contributes to increased healthcare costs, factors that will be exacerbated over time; |
14 | (6) The high turnover among paraprofessional healthcare workers is attributable in part to |
15 | limited career advancement opportunities; |
16 | (7) The current health professional workforce does not reflect the racial, ethnic, linguistic |
17 | and cultural diversity of the population it serves which adversely impacts health outcomes; |
18 | (8) The paraprofessional healthcare workforce is significantly more racially, ethnically, |
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1 | culturally and linguistical diverse than the licensed health professional workforce; |
2 | (9) Advancement of the paraprofessional workforce will increase the diversity of the |
3 | licensed heath professional workforce; |
4 | (10) Improving the supply and diversity of the health professional workforce will require |
5 | removing historical and ongoing barriers to training and education among underrepresented groups |
6 | and establishing innovate public-private partnerships among healthcare providers, educators and |
7 | state agencies; and |
8 | (11) The executive office of health and human services in partnership with the office of the |
9 | postsecondary commissioner has successfully piloted the health professional equity initiative using |
10 | one-time ARPA funds to support over one hundred (100) healthcare paraprofessionals from diverse |
11 | backgrounds to pursue a higher education degree and health professional license in behavioral |
12 | health and nursing careers. |
13 | SECTION 2. Title 42 of the General Laws entitled "STATE AFFAIRS AND |
14 | GOVERNMENT" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following chapter: |
15 | CHAPTER 166 |
16 | THE LADDERS TO LICENSURE PROGRAM |
17 | 42-166-1. The ladders to licensure grant program. |
18 | The executive office of health and human services is hereby directed to establish the ladders |
19 | to licensure grant program, a public-private partnership to: |
20 | (1) Increase the number of licensed health professionals; |
21 | (2) Increase racial, ethnic, cultural and linguistic diversity of health professionals; |
22 | (3) Provide academic, financial and wrap around supports to enable working adults to |
23 | obtain health professional higher education degrees and license; |
24 | (4) Leverage employer support for academic, financial and wraparound supports; |
25 | (5) Align with existing state workforce and higher education initiatives; |
26 | (6) Develop and implement career ladders with tiered training and education requirements |
27 | and corresponding salary increases; |
28 | (7) Develop and implement interscholastic and interdepartmental agreements that accept |
29 | prior learning, credentials, work experience, and academic credits towards requirement for higher |
30 | education health professional degrees; |
31 | (8) Establish policies and initiatives to counter systemic racism and other institutional |
32 | barriers to participation and advancement of underrepresented populations; |
33 | (9) Establish policies and initiatives that provide flexible scheduling of work hours and/or |
34 | academic programs to reduce barriers to participation; and |
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1 | (10) Identify state policy barriers to entry and advancement in the field. |
2 | 42-166-2. Appropriation. |
3 | There is hereby appropriated to the executive office of health and human services the sum |
4 | of one million dollars ($1,000,000) for fiscal year 2025 to support the first year of this three (3) |
5 | year initiative. These funds shall be used to provide grants to three (3) or four (4) grantee |
6 | partnerships, consisting of multiple private sector health and human services employer |
7 | organizations and public education grantee partnerships (with at least one focused on behavioral |
8 | health and one focused on nursing). Employers will be required to contribute a twenty-five percent |
9 | (25%) in-kind match and a ten percent (10%) cash match. |
10 | 42-166-3. Oversight. |
11 | The executive office of health and human services shall collaborate and coordinate with |
12 | the department of labor and training and the office of the postsecondary commissioner in the |
13 | development, implementation and oversight of the program. |
14 | 42-166-4. Reporting. |
15 | The executive office of health and human services shall provide quarterly reports to the |
16 | speaker of the house of representatives and senate president documenting the progress of the |
17 | implementation of the program. |
18 | SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage. |
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LC005661 | |
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EXPLANATION | |
BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL | |
OF | |
A N A C T | |
RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- THE LADDERS TO | |
LICENSURE PROGRAM | |
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1 | This act would direct the executive office of health and human services (EOHHS), in |
2 | conjunction with the department of labor and training (DLT) and the office of the postsecondary |
3 | commissioner, to implement a grant program to fund public or private partnerships that provide |
4 | opportunities for healthcare paraprofessionals to pursue higher education degrees and health |
5 | professional licensure. This program would increase the diversity of the health professional |
6 | workforce. |
7 | This act would take effect upon passage. |
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