FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Gita Brown, 401-456-8465, gbrown@ric.edu
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – This fall Rhode Island College began running the first-ever job-training program at Parent College in Central Falls. Funded by a Real Jobs RI grant, the training is in community health worker certification and guarantees participants a job placement upon graduation. With Central Falls ranked second highest in the state for unemployment, this pilot is intended to strengthen both families and the community of Central Falls.
Established four years ago, Parent College has traditionally offered workshops in ESL instruction, healthy living, computer literacy and job-readiness taught by RIC faculty; Central Falls faculty, staff and students; and community partners.
“This is very exciting because we are now able to train individuals in the community to work in paid positions in the health-care industry, which will strengthen the community and families in Central Falls,” said Jen Giroux, RIC associate vice president for continuing education and professional development and one of the principal investigators on the Real Jobs RI grant.
Marianne Raimondo, executive director of RIC’s Institute for Education in Healthcare, is also a principal investigator, while RIC faculty helped develop and deliver the curriculum. Overseeing the pilot is Tonya Glantz, director of RIC’s Institute for Education in Healthcare.
Glantz noted that the demand for bilingual community health workers is great. “These professionals are employed in every facet of the health-care system,” she said. “They help members of the community navigate health systems, school systems and community resources. By living within the community themselves, they have a way of communicating the needs of client populations in a way that no one else can.”
Currently 18 unemployed or underemployed adults are enrolled in the pilot program at Parent College. Glantz said that they have all expressed feelings of self-empowerment through education and job training.
Participants meet at Parent College, which is housed in Calcutt Middle School. They begin the evening having dinner with their families and then attend classes from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Those who have children are offered free child care. According to Giroux, lack of childcare has often been cited as a barrier to seeking job training.
Giroux is also director of Outreach Programs at Rhode Island College, a program that has 20 years of experience offering noncredit training programs for unemployed, underemployed and dislocated workers – many of whom speak limited English and need assistance in ESL, job training and placement.
Community health worker certification was originally one of the trainings offered through Outreach Programs. Using that curriculum as the foundation, RIC faculty developed a new curriculum for the pilot in collaboration with the RIC Unity Center and the Rhode Island Parent Information Network (the biggest employer of community health workers).
The new curriculum includes some of the original components as well as a new component – behavioral health literacy – which employers have cited as a critical skill needed by these workers, the ability to de-escalate situations with clients. Participants also complete 1,000 hours of practical experience at health organizations.
The State of Rhode Island recently professionalized the community health worker field. “In the past, you could practice without a certificate,” Giroux said. “Now Rhode Island is asking state health agencies to look for certification when hiring new community health workers. Graduates of Parent College will have that certification.”
Rhode Island College intends to build on the success of this program and launch other trainings supporting other industries in the future.
Rhode Island College serves approximately 9,000 undergraduate and graduate students through its five schools: the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, the Feinstein School of Education and Human Development, the School of Social Work, the School of Management and the School of Nursing. For more information, visit www.ric.edu.
