After more than 20 years in the workforce development business, The New Jewish Home in New York is expanding to a new crowd to meet demand in aging services: career changers up to age 40. SkillSpring has long been known for its programming focused on high schoolers and other first-time workers, who are encouraged to train as certified nursing assistants and pursue long-term care careers that might have otherwise been unknown to them. But, says CEO Jeffrey Farber, the program has fed the healthcare sector without necessarily solving his 514-bed nursing home’s immediate need for frontline staff. Nearly 100% of the program’s 1,600 young participants have graduated high school and been so inspired that they went on to college, often to pursue healthcare careers. "What we found is that that program is so successful as a high school enrichment program ... that it wasn't actually solving today's workforce shortage crisis because we need staff today,” Farber said. “So what we did was we expanded.” That meant next focusing on young adults 18-24, then immigrants. And now, grant funding from the New York Department of Youth and Community Development focuses on helping those under 40 navigate a successful transition to healthcare careers. The result is a longer, 24-week program that combines work readiness and occupational training with a longer paid internship. “The longer time frame gives us an opportunity to build not just the technical skills that are necessary to become a CNA [for] people that are training from very different backgrounds, but also the confidence and the workplace experience that they need to succeed in the job,” Farer says. And this arm of SkillSpring also continues wraparound services like English language education and childcare after official employment begins. In this episode, Farber tells McKnight’s Long-Term Care News Editor Kimberly Marselas about efforts to continue scaling SkillSpring and inspire national copycats. It’s just the latest way the innovative New York health system is reaching beyond traditional talent pools to transform the long-term care workforce. Listen in to learn more about the program’s first cohort and special participants, as well as specific strategies that are successfully placing new team members at the New Jewish Home and other settings across the city. "All the work to prepare, all the wraparound services, the attention to the potential barriers is critical. And I think what we've more recently uncovered and learned is there's more that we need to do once we're done with the program... because once you're on the job, those issues and those barriers didn't disappear." Highlighting the unique human element required in skilled care, Farber stressed that modern technology can supplement, but never fully replace, dedicated caregivers. "There’ll be room and there’s roles for technology, which we embrace and study as well, but that won’t replace the sort of human element—the requirement of caregiving, especially for frail vulnerable older adults," Farber emphasized. With plans to help partner organizations and ultimately scale the Skillspring model nationwide, the health system offers a compelling framework for providers seeking long-term labor stability. To hear the full episode and learn more about how The New Jewish Home is tackling workforce shortages through innovative training models, listen to the complete interview on the McKnight's Long-Term Care News website. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
