As state lawmakers face the issue of building a larger workforce pool in several high-demand areas, the executive board and stakeholders for Georgia’s College and Career Academies (CCA) would like to see the expansion of the Hope Career Grant for dual enrollment in a CCA and technical college.
The HOPE Career Grant is a state funded award for students who enroll in select areas of study specifically aligned with industries designated as high-demand careers in Georgia, and fields where there are more jobs available in Georgia than there are skilled workers to fill them. These industries have been identified as strategically important to the state’s economic growth. However, currently high school students participating in dual enrollment are not eligible for the HOPE Career Grant until they’ve used the 30 academic hours already allotted by dual enrollment funding.
CCA board members would like to see this funding expanded so a student can benefit from the HOPE Career Grant prior to achieving the 30 academic hours. This, officials say, would allow students to move into the workforce at a quicker rate.
Last year, Gov. Brian Kemp allowed for the funding to pay for Certified Nursing Assistant pathways programs – in an environment desperate for healthcare workers. He also designated over $800,000 to be awarded to several school systems for the creation of the CNA pilot program. The funds came out of the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund (GEER).
The CCA executive board continues to work to create Dual Enrollment and WBL/Apprentice pathways for healthcare providers.
The CNA program allowed 500 current Dual-Enrollment High School students across 10 Georgia College and Career Academy sites a grant to cover the cost of achieving a Nurse Aid Technical College Certificate (TCC), including in-person clinical training through partnering healthcare systems. Also, half of those students were eligible able to acquire an additional Geriatric Care TCC.
Now, CCA executive board members are now pursuing legislation that would sustain the current CNA programs with access to HOPE Grant funding for the CNA program as well as other pathways focusing on careers designated as “high-demand careers” in Georgia.
The CNA pilot program grew out of a recognized need in Dougherty County when Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital began looking for ways to address the state’s nursing shortage. At the time, last February, Georgia was nearly 30,000 nurses short. And according to officials that number could reach 75,000 in the next 15 years.
Hospital officials teamed with the Commodore Conyers College & Career Academy in Albany (4C Academy) to produce college and career ready graduates with relevant skills, education and exceptional work ethic who can compete and succeed in the real world. 4C serves students in Dougherty, Terrell, Baker and Calhoun counties.
At the time he announced the grant funding Kemp said, “Here in Georgia, we are committed to meeting the needs of our young people as they prepare to enter our world-class workforce following years of pandemic disruptions, and we are excited to see how this program will make a difference in their lives as it also helps us fulfill a critical workforce need
