National Minority Health Association Announces Successful Completion Of Caring4Cal Program Grant To Provide Training For Home-Based And Community-Based Care Providers

California is facing a critical shortage of trained home care caregivers, putting thousands of patients at risk for high-quality care

Owings Mills, MD /PRNewswire/ - The National Minority Health Association (NMHA), a national health-equity advocacy group, has announced the successful completion of the organization's effort to bolster the workforce of home and community-based healthcare providers in California. The NMHA won the grant in partnership with the grant in partnership with Nevvon, a leading online healthcare training company.

The need for caregivers is acute. In California, the population of individuals over the age of 60 is expected to increase by 166% by 2060, a rate of growth that is three times faster than that of the total U.S. population. By 2020, 1 in 4 Californians will be over the age of 60. On this current trajectory, the state will hit a massive caregiver crisis in just a few short years. The shortage is projected to be between 600,000 and 3.2 million workers.

Under a state of California $31 million grant, the Caring4Cal program allowed participants to earn up to $2,750 in incentives for completing essential training and retention milestones. To have been eligible for the program, caregivers needed to be residents of California, and either currently work in an eligible job role, or be interested in becoming an eligible provider in a home or community-based setting.

At launch, the NMHA initially identified a sign-up goal of 10,000 individuals. In a few short months, the campaign had reached more than 30,000 people across the state, enrolling over 19,000 and certifying more than 13,000 caregivers.

"We knew we had to think outside of the box for this unique challenge. The NMHA developed a forward-thinking approach to address the caregiver shortage. To support it, our team developed a messaging suite grounded in inspirational language that spoke to the heart, encouraging a groundswell response from California's future caregivers," said Burgess Harrison, NMHA, executive director. "We are honored to have had the opportunity to act as stewards of this grant and support the investment in the future of California's caregiving workforce."

The grant initiative was part of a $31 million program spearheaded by the California Department of Healthcare Access and Information (HCAI) designed to increase access to health services for rural communities, children with complex medical conditions, older adults and individuals with disabilities.

"A majority of the individuals that NMHA enrolled in the Caring4Cal program are net new to the healthcare field, with 67% of all enrollees having never worked in healthcare before, and were inspired to begin a new and meaningful career as a community health worker," said Sara Moore, NMHA, chief operating officer.

For more information, please visit https://www.thenmha.org/caring4cal.

About NMHA.
The National Minority Health Association is a 501c3 non-profit organization founded in 1988. The NMHA delivers on its mission of health equity through innovative programs including, Equity for All, Health is for EveryBODY™ (www.healthisforeverybody.org ), Operation Healthy You™, Equityville™, and The Art Alliance, to name a few. The lack of health equity in underserved, marginalized, and hard-to-reach communities translates into lost lives, adverse health outcomes, higher costs, diminished productivity, and declines in quality of life and well-being for everyone. For more information visit www.thenmha.org.