Norwich - By 2035, the numbers of elderly and disabled people nationwide needing the services of home care workers will surpass the available pool of workers by 35 million unless steps are begun now to make the job more attractive.

That statistic and its message, presented by Connecticut College economics professor Candace Howes, was the basis of a forum Thursday at Three Rivers Community College. Sponsored by Senior Resources - Agency on Aging, the forum, the last of a four-part series, was intended to highlight the problem of homecare work force shortages and discuss possible solutions, said Lisa Ryan, a member of the Direct Care Workforce Team, another of the forum's sponsors. The shortages are growing more acute even as efforts are being made to keep more people in their homes instead of nursing homes, speakers said. Nursing home care costs three times as much as home care, yet too many people in Connecticut and other states are still being funneled into nursing homes who could be at home.

Howes, who recently completed a multi-year research project on the homecare work force in California, held that state up as an example Connecticut could draw on to solve its homecare worker shortages. As wages for homecare workers rose and low-cost health insurance was offered, turnover declined dramatically, she said. The state also allows the elderly or disabled person needing care to hire a family member or friend as an aide, with the state paying the wages. And what had been a disparate work force became organized under unions.

"The union has turned this into a 'job' for them, and gave them a sense of dignity," Howes said.

In Connecticut, Howes said, about 24 percent of people who need long-term care have at-home services, with the rest ending up in nursing homes. In California, about 44 percent have services at home.

After Howe's presentation came Dawn Lambert, program director for the state Department of Social Services' Money Follows the Person Program. A pilot program begun in December, its purpose is to move people out of nursing homes within the first six months into homes or apartments with in-home services.

Thus far, she said, 120 people who requested it have gone home, and another 900 applications are pending. The long-term goal is to move 700 people out of nursing homes by 2012.

One of the major obstacles to moving people home is housing, she said, so the program includes a component that finds affordable apartments and pays for modifications to make a home handicapped- accessible.

Another component is working with hospitals to increase the likelihood that people are discharged home with services rather than to a nursing home, Lambert said.

The program also recognizes the need to develop the homecare work force, she added.

Attending the forum were state representatives Betsy Ritter, D-Waterford, Kevin Ryan, D-Montville, Mae Flexer, D-Danielson, and Joan Lewis, D-Coventry. A report prepared by Senior Resources and the Direct Care work force team, titled, "When No One Cares: Why We Need to Save Connecticut's Direct Care Workforce," was presented to the legislature in May. It can be found at: www.seniorresourcesec.org/news/directcare.shtml.

j.benson@theday.com