The para-professional long-term care workforcenursing assistants, home health and home care aides, personal care workers, and personal care attendantsforms the centerpiece of the formal long-term care system. These front-line workers provide hands-on care, supervision, and emotional support to millions of elderly and younger people with chronic illness and disabilities. Low wages and benefits, hard working conditions, heavy workloads, and a job that has been stigmatized by society make worker recruitment and retention difficult.