by Amy Allen
Thousands of Hudson Valley professionals lost their jobs after the 2008 recession ”” jobs that did not return as the economy recovered. Yet since then, our region has become a hub of health care innovation, creating hundreds of skilled job opportunities. One of several initiatives to prepare the workforce for today”™s jobs, a federal workforce development grant, aims to fill those jobs by providing training and support services for 425 long-term unemployed in the Hudson Valley. On Oct. 29, our first class of 25 graduated from a six-week “boot camp.” And the early consensus is that we”™re absolutely on the right path to reach our goal.
I say “we” because the Westchester County Association (WCA) was selected to serve as project manager of the federal Ready to Work grant, known regionally as the Jobs Waiting program. Administered by the Westchester-Putnam Workforce Development Board in partnership with the Employment Centers throughout seven Hudson Valley counties, Jobs Waiting will prepare 425 long-term unemployed individuals to fill positions in the health care field in data analytics, imaging, clinician assistance, coding and billing, and other areas that employers have identified. The WCA has amassed a dedicated team that includes a program manager, career coaches and job developers to execute all the facets of the grant. In addition to the support and collaboration with Westchester County”™s workforce development team, the resources available for this program are tremendous.
To health care employers, who have more than 2,500 vacancies on their hands, this program is a godsend. They know that people willing to undergo Jobs Waiting”™s rigorous boot camp program are committed and motivated to do whatever it takes to qualify for a health care job. This experience is designed to be transformational and prepare long-term unemployed individuals to work. The Workplace, a nationally recognized company in Bridgeport, Connecticut, runs the boot camp, which is in session six hours a day, four days a week for six weeks. The WCA career coaches provide one-on-one counseling, and participants discover how they can transfer existing skills to a new health care career. Along the way, they regain their confidence and energy they may have lost by being out of work so long.
Employers are driving the process
The WCA was awarded the role of project manager because of its experience in managing and executing multipartner, multiyear projects and its strong relationship with the region”™s health care employers. As part of its Blueprint for Westchester economic development program, the WCA began to address workforce development. Last January, we convened the Hudson Valley Healthcare Consortium, whose members signed a historic memorandum of understanding to address a dire need for more workers trained in new skills now in demand since the Affordable Care Act and changing market dynamics. Through a highly collaborative effort, the WCA made sure that health care employers had direct input, and identified skill sets and training needed to fill available jobs.
For the WCA, the Jobs Waiting project aligns with the goals of the Blueprint for Westchester initiative to not only boost business development and encourage Westchester”™s health care innovation hub to grow, but to build a talent pipeline to match. In addition to overseeing the Jobs Waiting program, the WCA is upgrading the skills of existing health care employees through the Hudson Valley Workforce Academy. The Academy offers short-term, certificate-based courses in data analytics, critical thinking, empathy training, communication and management, among others ”” skills that can be put to work immediately on the job.
Personalized approach
After boot camp, each program participant will pursue an individualized path. Those with transferrable skills will be placed in jobs. Others will receive free specialized training in their selected health care discipline. If participants need to take courses at a community college or the Hudson Valley Workforce Academy, the program will provide them with tuition subsidies of up to $6,000. Recognizing participants may require on-the-job or specialized training once employed, Jobs Waiting offers employers a 50 percent cash reimbursement for customized training costs.
Already, boot camp has started for 25 additional participants in Orange, Rockland and Dutchess counties. Additional boot camps will run for the duration of the grant program and the participants continue to receive dedicated attention from the Jobs Waiting team until they are placed in a job or a training program. The WCA is committed to creating a better future for the region”™s employers, but it is gratifying to know this project will create better futures for 425 people as well, who may have lost hope before this terrific opportunity.
Amy Allen is vice president and executive director, Hudson Valley Workforce Academy, Westchester County Association. She can be reached at 914-948-1168 or aallen@westchester.org.
