WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao today announced an award of $3 million in grants to six organizations to prepare workers for careers in long-term care. Successful applications were drawn from a pool of 77 applicants competing for awards of approximately $500,000 each.
“Our aging population is placing great demands on our health care system. Long-term care professionals, in particular, are in great need and these grants will help our nation's workers acquire the skills to fill this need and develop promising careers in this field,” said Secretary Chao.
Activities supported by today’s awards include developing a certified nursing assistant (CNA) career track and delivering on-the-job talent development programs; preparing community college students to advance up the nursing career ladder through a number of credential and certification programs; and implementing a direct care worker career pathway.
These programs and others will provide talent development solutions that are industry-driven and address the long-term care sector’s employment challenges. Programs developed and implemented with the help of today’s awards will be part of regional efforts to create pools of qualified workers from which the long-term care industry can draw.
“America’s aging population is creating demand for the professional development of highly skilled long-term care providers,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment and Training Emily Stover DeRocco. “Today’s awards will allow grantees to combine the strengths of public and private sector partners implementing education programs, and will create a pipeline of workers to meet the needs of the long-term care industry.”
Award-winning organizations include: Capital Workforce Partners of north central Connecticut; the Mississippi Hospital Association Health Research & Educational Foundation; the University of Alaska in Anchorage; the Northwest Michigan Council of Governments; the Workforce Investment Boards of Herkimer, Madison and Oneida Counties, N.Y.; and Neosho Community College in Eastern Kansas.
Today’s recipients were selected following a competitive solicitation for grant applications that opened Feb. 16, 2007. They will be taking promising talent development models, practices and tools to scale within their regions or adapting solutions that have been demonstrated to have positive impacts in other regions.
