Building Better Programs

HPOG: Using Labor Market Information to Design Job-Driven Training Programs

The purpose of this paper is to provide technical assistance to Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG) programs on using data to understand and respond to employer demand, develop career pathways, and become job-driven. It provides a step-by-step approach to help programs identify and use labor market information and other data to respond to real world job shortages and local community needs. It provides tips on how to measure success and to institutionalize change within an HPOG program to promote and use data to inform good decision-making.

The HPOG program, authorized by the Affordable Care Act, and administered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Family Assistance, funds healthcare education and training programs targeting Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) participants and other low-income individuals to prepare them for high-demand healthcare occupations. Five year grants (October 2010– September 2015) were awarded to 32 HPOG grantees in 23 states. Each program aims to improve job prospects for hard-working adults and help them identify and secure employment leading on a path to self-sufficiency. To do so, they offer a range of community and job-driven employment training opportunities, in approximately 50 distinct occupations, such as nurse aides, registered nurses, medical assistants, pharmacy technicians, and home health aides.

Throughout this paper an illustrative case example of a hypothetical HPOG program, Springdale Community College (Springdale CC or Springdale), located in an urban center in the Midwest, is highlighted to show how HPOG programs may develop and streamline each step discussed. At the end of the paper are a “cheat sheet” (Appendix A), data template (Appendix B), and a list of helpful websites (Appendix C) HPOG programs can use to help guide them through these steps and use data to respond to employer needs.

Using Labor Market Information to Design JobDriven Training Programs

For more information on the HPOG program click here.