‘Foot in the Door’ Healthcare Opportunities
for Low-income Students
Innovations Conference
March 4-7, 2012
_________________________________________________________________________________
Pat Copeland, Dean, Health and Human Services
Elizabeth Patterson, Allied Health Director, Faculty
John House, CATCH Director
Developing Aspirations, Transforming Lives
trans·for·ma·tion
A marked change, as in appearance or character, usually for the better.
A change or alteration, especially a radical one.
“I have changed by being an example to my children. I find study time becomes
family study time. My children ask me many questions about my homework . I
answer with excitement in my voice. My family outlook is bright because I now can
tell my children we will not be on TANF after I get working in my new career.”
“I didn't really understand why I needed the CATCH Life Skills course, but later on I
saw how it really helped me in my other classes, and in my life.”
“I passed my exam!! I’m so happy!”
“Thank you so much for taking the time to help me. I am super excited about
possibly working with youth, and it really helped me hear someone else say that I
might be good at it. I will look at the links, and thank you again, SO much!”
“I started my GED testing. I've taken Writing, Reading, and Social Studies and
passed all 3 so far! Tuesday I take Science and Math so wish me luck! I'm
determined to get this done so I can get into the CATCH Program!”
The overarching CATCH goal – to close the gap between underlying
poverty in Snohomish County, WA and regional job shortages in
healthcare.
Program Characteristics:
•
Affordable Care Act → Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG) Program →
Administration for Children and Families → U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
•
Year two of a 5-year project : $1.4 million awarded for the first year of a 5-year project, and
$1.6 million for each remaining year
•
Promising Practices – e .g., IBEST, e-learning, student learning communities, learning labs,
wraparound services –integrate and expand to improve training and employment outcomes.
•
Navigators and dedicated advising staff help participants understand the various systems
necessary for success and how to navigate these systems.
•
Dynamic partnership grounded in tailored MOUs
•
A demonstration project: demonstrating the feasibility of new methods and practices
Under One Umbrella
Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG)
Colleges
Employers
and WIBs
Edmonds Community College
Everett Community College
Business Access –
In-Home Learning Experts
Community
Agencies
TANF
WorkFirst
(Welfare-to-Work)
Employment Security –
WorkSource
& Basic Food
Employment and Training
Workforce
Development Council
(Navigators)
Washington Workforce Training
and Education Coordinating Board
Washington State Apprenticeship
and Training Council
Refugee and
Immigrant Services
TRAC Associates –
Career Services
Building Changes
Foundation
Housing Hope –
Homelessness
Services
Health Careers for All:
King County HPOG Grant
(WA State)
“I became homeless,” said Luz, 40, who spent the last year living in her car to staying in transitional housing. “I received TANF
(Temporary Assistance for Needy Families), which helps you get by. But then a counselor at a shelter offered me a new program.”
Creating ACCESS to CAREERS in Healthcare
Creating Possibilities by Widening the Doorway of Opportunity:
• Help low-income students and students of color complete
their education and obtain market-valued credentials
(Aligned with Achieving-the-Dream Mission)
• Anticipate and overcome barriers
• Provide quicker, condensed training without comprising
rigor, content, and competencies
• Emphasize employability skills
• Meet emerging workforce needs in the health care
industry
• Stimulate economic development locally
• Foster continuous learning
• Generate student transformations and raise aspiration
levels
Creating ACCESS to CAREERS in Healthcare
• Build training capacity at Edmonds and Everett Community Colleges
• Put people to work faster while maintaining rigor
and by including College/Career Success and Digital Literacy skill development
• Increase access to training through innovative curriculum design (e.g.,
development of hybrid course content and I-BEST-model for healthcare training
curricula).
• Training on three levels:
•
Foundational level (introducing individuals to healthcare careers and preparing them
to participate in occupational, college-level training)
•
Entry level (such as nurse assistant, restorative aide, phlebotomy technician,
EKG/monitor technician)
•
More advanced level (such as clinical laboratory assistant, medical assistant, health
unit coordinator, and patient care technician).
Inching the Door Open –
Low-Income Students and College Success:
• Eliminate costs
• Accelerate training
• Provide technology, technology training, and
dedicated technology support
• Increase support through I-BEST model
• Minimize barriers using hybrid instruction
• Frontload college success skills
• Promote employability
• Foster learning communities (promotes help-seeking)
• Wrap-Around and ‘package’ social supports
Capacity Building Partnerships for System Change:
• TANF, WorkFirst, BFET
• Employment security
• WIBs
• Colleges
• Employers
• Community service providers
• In-home learning experts
Building partnerships:
Lessons learned
a
a
a
a
a
a
a
Customized MOUs
Crucial conversations
Knowledge management
Communication
Student voice
How to leverage funds
Colocation with partners
Skill Progression / Pathway Progression
CATCH Pathway
Readiness-to-Benefit Assessment

→
Explore Other Options/Enhance Skills
College Success Course → Digital Literacy
Course → Hybrid and IBEST-Supported Prerequisite Courses → Labs with
Integral Online Content and Skills → Clinical Externships
→
• Employment
• Advanced Certificates/Degrees
• Employment and Advanced Certificates/Degrees
Sample Health Care Career Pathways
Phlebotomy → clinical lab assistant → medical technologist
Nurse assistant → patient care tech → LPN → registered nurse
Nursing Assistant → Patient Care Technician
Nursing Assistant → Health Unit Coordinator
Nursing Assistant → Monitor Technician
Technology / Blended Learning Model –
CATCH Technology Resources:
Online learning communities supporting vulnerable populations
• Coach/Mentor
• Phone, Online and E-mail Technical Support
• Hardware, Internet Access, Software
• Tracking and Reporting: Daily, Weekly Reporting
Blended Learning - Learning labs and hybrid classrooms:
• Online classroom instruction – PowerPoint, lecture notes, videos,
discussion boards, online testing
• Hands on clinical skills lab – required, checklist of hands on skills that must be
signed off by an instructor prior to capstone clinical externship
• Open skills labs for supplemental practice
• IBEST online and on-ground support
Practical Strategies / Lessons learned
Instruction – view from the classroom
Online instruction relies heavily on reading and writing skills. Use IBEST to
support these basic skills; identify issues early and use additional college
resources i.e. Learning Support Center, tutors, bridge classes
Accelerated programs move at a fast pace for both the student and the
instructor.
• “Be there, be present and visible”
• “How am I doing”?
• “Turn on a dime”
• “I’m just going to stand here
until someone tells me what to do”
• “That’s it, I quit!”
• “It’s too much!”
• “What happens outside the classroom,
stays outside the classroom”
• “Learn and fugged about it”
• “Do not dumb down your program”
Practical Strategies / Lessons Learned:
Online and Hybrid Instruction:
• Scale-up considerations: Work closely with college systems to
anticipate increased demand and alert to novel situations.
• High-speed internet connection providers’ download speeds and
connectivity can vary. Test different providers before committing.
• Convene available technical support staff to identify system
incompatibilities, e.g. BlackBoard and Internet Explorer.
• Enhance the integration of syllabi by meeting more regularly
Anticipate and plan for the intensity of online instruction.
• Increase online mentor’s on-ground availability to students.
CATCH Navigation / Social Supports
Philosophy of CATCH Navigation:
• Gain knowledge of community and local systems
• Form partnerships with students to confront the information-and-supportseeking requirements of today’s social and educational systems
• Anticipate and overcome barriers to success
• Leverage, facilitate and broker college and community service systems
• Assess and promote use of natural supports
• Foster self-determination
Practical Strategies / Lessons Learned
Non-instructional Supports:
•
Define non-instructional support infrastructure
•
Create strategies to notify and engage partners across the systems
•
Foster early bonding to campus and vision as a college student
•
Encourage social relationships through learning communities
•
Scaffold curriculum components to increase student success
•
Offer intensive tutoring interventions early
•
Build multiple course tracks with multiple start points
Student Spotlight
Nina Prigodich, EvCC CATCH Student
Completed Work-Ready Certificates in Nursing Assistant and Phlebotomy
• Referral Partner: Immigrant and Refugee Services NW
• Strength: Persistence, Passed WA State Nursing Assistant Written Exam
on 2nd Attempt
• Outcome: Landed a job in less than three months. Working as a CNA at
Prestige Care and Rehab in Edmonds, WA
• Next Step: Land a Phlebotomy Tech Position
“I am very thankful for the CATCH Program and all of its staff.
Because of this program, I finally found a job that I like and I
have many new opportunities because of this experience.
Now I feel much more happier about my life.” Nina Prigodich
- What do you notice about Nina?
Thank You!
Pat Copeland, Dean, Health and Human Services
pcopelan@email.edcc.edu, 425-640-1316
Elizabeth Patterson, Allied Health Education Director, Faculty
elizabeth.patterson@edcc.edu, 425-640-1061
John House, CATCH Director
John.house@edcc.edu, 425-640-1851
Additional CATCH Information: http://www.edcc.edu/CATCH/
Additional HPOG Funding Information:
http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2010pres/09d/state_charts.html
This document was supported by Grant 90FX0025-02-00 from the Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health & Human services
(HHS). Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of HHS.