On April 27, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The Hitachi Foundation jointly received the 2010 Critical Impact Award from The Council on Foundations, in recognition of their work on a program that benefits frontline healthcare workers.

Jobs to Careers: Promoting Work-Based Learning for Quality Care improves skill-building and career advancement opportunities for low-wage workers in a range of healthcare positions.

Through building partnerships between employers, educational institutions, and community organizations, Jobs to Careers seeks to “expand and redesign systems to create lasting improvements in the way that institutions train and advance their frontline workers.”

The $15.8 million program, also supported by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment & Training Administration, has provided grants to 17 organizations nationwide. These include Portland Community College in Oregon, for a project to enhance skill and career development for pre-licensed direct-care workers in assisted living facilities; and Capital Workforce Partners, a Connecticut-based Workforce Investment Board, for work to improve clinical skills, job readiness, literacy, and awareness of career and wage advancement opportunities among Certified Nursing Assistants and other long-term care workers.

The Critical Impact Award was presented at the annual conference of The Council on Foundations, an association of foundations and corporations with a mission to promote responsible and effective philanthropy.

Importance of Training and Career Advancement

By recognizing the joint work of The Robert Wood Johnston Foundation and The Hitachi Foundation, The Council on Foundations emphasized the importance of a key issue — namely, the need to improve training and advancement opportunities for frontline healthcare workers, who play an essential role in the delivery of quality care to consumers.

In another effort, the Hitachi Foundation currently supports PHI’s work to document employment strategies that strengthen opportunities for low-income individuals.

PHI’s work under this grant includes producing case studies of “high road” employers that are expanding opportunities for frontline direct-care workers.

– by Brian DiPaolo