Project Summary
The University of Alaska collaborated with several small behavioral health facilities across remote reaches of the state to develop an innovative way to train frontline employees without having them step onto the college campus. The partnership mixed work-based and distance learning to move workers up a career ladder as behavioral health aides. As a result, workers increased their earnings and self-confidence in serving clients, while the health facilities were able to grow their own stable, skilled workforces.
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“Work-based learning pulled all of us together to start
working as a team.”
—Irene Olanna, Case Manager,
Norton Sound Health Corporation.
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The training program was open to Norton Sound Health Corporation frontline workers, village-based counselors, substance-abuse counselors, and case managers. Employed at facilities across the state, they completed six courses as part of the University of Alaska’s human services curriculum: standards of practice; counseling; ethics; case management; crisis intervention; and community development.
Because of their geographic isolation from the university campus, workers attended class via teleconferences once a week and supplemented course lessons with work-based learning. Workers practiced new competencies on the job and met regularly with mentors, typically supervisors where they worked, to discuss the coursework further and get guidance on career plans. In addition, trusted elders in the remote villages encouraged the workers and provided support.
Program graduates were certified as Behavioral Health Aide I and received 15 to 18 college credits toward an Associate’s degree. They could also advance along a career path that consists of three levels: Behavioral Health Aide I, II, and III. As they progress through each level, they will receive an hourly raise of $2 to $3 for each.
Norton Sound had faced tremendous challenges in recruiting and retaining workers because its facilities were so remote, as well as because the jobs were difficult and the workloads were heavy. As a result of Jobs to Careers, supervisors and project administrators report, workers improved their job skills and self-esteem in counseling clients.
Training Outcomes
- 12 workers received training to become certified behavioral health aides.
Benefits to Frontline Employees
- Higher wages
- Obtained a certificate and credit toward a college degree.
- Increased their ability and self-confidence to serve clients
Benefits to Employers
- Overcame challenges in recruiting qualified workers and training employees for working in remote locations
- Reduced turnover that had resulted from workers feeling overwhelmed and lacking the skills to serve clients well
- Attracted more members of the community served to consider working at the facilities
Changes to Institutional Practices
- Partnering organizations collaborated to adapt college courses to the work-based learning model.
- Teleconferencing enabled workers from small, geographically dispersed communities to receive much-needed training.
