On September 30, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), awarded more than $266 million in American Rescue Plan (ARPA) funding to grow the community and public health workforce. The funding is being made available to grantees through two HRSA-administered grant programs: the Community Health Worker Training Program and the Public Health Scholarship program.
HRSA is awarding $225.5 million to 83 grantees as part of the Community Health Worker Training Program (CHWTP), which is a new multiyear program that will support training and apprenticeship to support an estimated 13,000 community health workers (CHWs). CHWs are trusted community members that work to connect people to culturally appropriate care, give informal counseling and guidance on health behaviors and facilitate communication between patients and health care providers. In some counties, CHWs can be known as promotores de salud, community health advisors, outreach workers, patient navigators and peer counselors.
CHWTP is meant to equip CHWs with the skillsets needed to provide effective community outreach, build trust with communities, support connections to and retention in care and support services and other strategies to increase access to care and to assist individuals in prevention services. Efforts by CHWs are critical to advancing public health, strengthening the public health workforce, reducing health disparities and helping underserved populations achieve health equity.
Original source can be found here.
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