University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences 4301 Markham St. Little Rock, AR 72205 Krista Langston, Project Director 479.713.8000 KLangston@uams.edu Uams.edu The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) will implement the Community Health Worker Training and Apprenticeship Program (CHW TAP) to improve health equity, access to care, and diversity in the public health workforce. As the state’s largest health care safety net provider and largest educator of Community Health Workers, we propose to address significant workforce gaps and needs using the following key strategies: 1) update and expand the existing education/work/certification continuum to reduce time to completion for CHWs, 2) improve CHW competencies in addressing social determinants of health (SDOH) and increasing access to care, 3) leverage existing community relationships and cultural competencies to recruit CHWs from and place them for employment in underserved communities (rural, BIPOC, low-income, and high health disparities), and 4) strengthen the CHW employer ecosystem with resources to improve hiring, on-boarding, and supervising CHWs, improving their capacity to effectively integrate CHWs into care teams. These are the project objectives: 1.1. Establish educational training curricula; recruit, train, and enable 210 new CHWS/health support workers (HSWs) to acquire core competencies and Public Health Certifications that follow state, local, or entity guidelines; 1.2: Reduce barriers to CHW/HSW program enrollment and retention by providing participant support; 2.1: Provide training to 60 current CHWs/HSWs to include the core competencies of Public Health and Essential Public Health Services; 2.2: Develop or enhance trainee curriculum around evidence-based core competencies for public health, including emergency response education, treatment and vaccine hesitancy research; 3.1. Implement hands-on CHW/HSW integrated training through community-based partne
rships that provide field placements in underserved communities; 3.2: Provide job placement services and on-the-job experiential training to new CHWs/HSWs through Department of Labor or state/local registered apprenticeship programs; 4.1: Address critical gaps in public health and community needs that can be filled by CHWs/HSWs in communities that are disproportionately burdened by COVID-19, health inequities, limited access to technology, and the Social Determinates of Health (SDOH); 4.2: Increase the distribution and diversity of CHWs/HSWs by recruiting, training, or employing individuals who will serve in underserved communities as integral members of integrated care teams. CHW TAP will expand the public health workforce by training and placing 210 new CHWs and upskilling an additional 60 CHWs across the state, for a total of 270 participants over the project period. The program will be designed and implemented by the Partnership Network to ensure that the needs and voices of underserved communities drive program design, priorities, and decisions. CHW TAP will address the priorities of Health Equity and COVID-19. UAMS CHW TAP is eligible for a funding preference because we can demonstrate that more than 50% of our trainees are from disadvantaged backgrounds and that more than 50% of our graduates/completers practice in federally-designated Medically Underserved Areas. We are requesting total (direct and indirect) funding of $3,000,000.