Project Summary

Tenderloin Health, in partnership with City College of San Francisco, trained frontline staff to become certified community health workers in order to improve staff retention and the quality of care provided to an HIV-positive client base.The program was made available to frontline workers in housing, case management, and social services.

~
“Although school is hard, I look forward to it every week because it makes me feel
good that I am learning skills. I am now able to help those less fortunate than me.”
— Doug McClain, Jobs to Careers participant, San Francisco
~

The partners developed a hybrid model of instruction, including online coursework, traditional classroom instruction, supervised internships, and specialized training by Tenderloin Health staff and outside professionals. The two-semester, seventeen-credit-hour program incorporated instruction on basic skills, soft skills, Microsoft Word, and health education. It also provided participants with a range of supportive services, including academic and vocational counseling. Workers formulated learning objectives with their supervisors and college instructor, both of whom evaluated their progress.

Workers who completed the program received an accredited Community Health Worker certificate from City College of San Francisco, a certificate program designed to prepare individuals for work in community-oriented health and social service fields. The courses were adapted to fit the work-based learning model. It took workers 18 months to complete the entire certificate program.

The economic recession took a major toll on Tenderloin Health, and its involvement in Jobs to Careers ended in the wake of funding cuts and a resulting loss of staff capacity; but employees participating in the project continued their studies at City College of San Francisco.

At the start of the Jobs to Careers project, the City College of San Francisco Health Education Department offered one online course (0.5 unit); at the end of the project, it offered eight hybrid/online courses (at least 19 units). More instructors are planning to develop technology-enhanced courses.

Training Outcomes

  • 25 employees participated; 9 earned the Community Health Worker Certificate; 3 were on track to obtaining it.

Benefits to Frontline Employees

  • Increased accessibility to higher education, with courses held at the workplace
  • The ability to enroll in the Community Health Worker Certificate program, which normally only accepts 40 students each year throughout the Bay Area
  • Financial assistance for course materials and tuition
  • Smaller classes, improving one-on-one access to the instructor
  • Increased self-confidence in pursuing higher educational goals
  • Increased ability to work effectively with clients one-on-one
  • A supportive learning environment through the integration of real work experiences within lesson plans
  • Increased opportunities for wage increases and advancement

Benefits to Employers

  • Improved retention of frontline workers
  • Improved quality of care to clients served by frontline workers
  • Increased teamwork and improve staff morale
  • Greater access to staff training support from the educational provider
  • Increased access to trained frontline staff

Changes to Institutional Practice

  • Increased access to college courses for incumbent workers through hybrid and online courses
  • Decreased mandatory face-to-face coursework for students enrolled in hybrid and online courses
  • Increased collaboration between community partners and City College of San Francisco Career and Technical Education programs
  • A philosophical shift in the value and meaning of experiential learning by integrating work experience with internship
  • A shift in departmental views toward online and hybrid courses