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ETA News Release: [05/06/2003]
Contact Name: Lorette
Post
Phone Number: (202) 693-3984
U.S. Labor Department Awards Nearly $2 Million to
Council for Adult and Experiential Learning
Funding Will Develop Healthcare Career
Ladder
WASHINGTON—The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment
and Training Administration has awarded a $1,998,000 grant to the Council for
Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL) to build an education and training model
addressing the current national nursing and healthcare worker shortage. The
grant, which runs through September 2004, will fund a program to increase the
number of Certified Nurses Aides (CNA), Licensed Practical Nurses (LPN) and
Registered Nurses (RN).
“Getting people back to work is one of the Labor Department’s
top priorities,” said Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao. “This grant
will help unemployed workers climb a healthcare career ladder that leads to
better pay and a promising future.”
The Employment and Training Administration grant will allow CAEL to
build upon a model initially created for the Healthcare Career Advancement
Program (H-CAP)—which prepares LPNs to become RNs through a blend of
on-line and lab-based education that meets state and local educational
requirements for a clinical practicum.
With the help of the federal grant, CAEL will add a groundbreaking
apprenticeship component for CNAs and LPNs to ensure a continuous healthcare
career ladder. “Apprenticeship is an industry-driven concept, which uses
on-the-job training and classroom instruction to produce well-trained
workers,” said Emily Stover DeRocco, assistant secretary of labor for
employment and training. “We want to be sure that, at completion of
training, workers have advancement opportunity and employers have the skilled
workers they need to succeed.”
To ensure training success and provide needed services, CAEL will
partner with healthcare providers, two and four-year colleges and the public
workforce system One Stop Centers. The Labor Department grant will be leveraged
by about $482,000 in cash and in-kind support from the Alfred P. Sloan
Foundation, the project advisory committee and participating employers.
CAEL is a national, non-profit organization that provides adults better
access to education through partnership with business, government, labor and
higher education.
The Employment and Training Administration seeks to build a strong
workforce by matching job training and employment services with current
employer needs through a strong, responsive public employment service and
private sector partnerships.
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