In an attempt to kill two birds with one stone, the Youth Policy Institute in Los Angeles recently started a program to train low-income and unemployed residents as medical assistants, pharmacy technicians and certified nursing assistants. The program, which already has 400 people enrolled with room for 1,200 in all, according to the Los Angeles Times, not only helps to combat unemployment in the area--currently at 12.3 percent--but more specifically, it addresses the shortage of healthcare workers, particularly nurses.
Those who chose to participate in the program take free classes at Los Angeles Valley College, and afterward go through paid internships at various medical facilities. The cost is covered by $3.6 million from the federal stimulus and $2.4 million more in state and local grants.
"The demand is so great for this," Dixon Slingerland, executive director for the Youth Policy Institute, told the Times. "The goal is to get them a job as quickly as possible."
Slingerland added that the Institute is trying to "eliminate every potential barrier" for enrollees to succeed. For example, case managers help students with issues like housing, child care and transportation. One such manager, Sean Ransom, also told enrollees that the cost of books and uniforms would be covered, as well.
To learn more about the program:
- read this Los Angeles Times article
- visit the Youth Policy Institute's website