Health Profession Opportunity Grants 2.0: Year Four Annual Report (2018–19)

Publication Date: June 3, 2020
Current as of:
This is the Health Profession Opportunity Grants 2.0: Year Four Annual Report (2018–19) Cover

Download Report

Download PDF (3,924.67 KB)
  • File Size: 3,924.67 KB
  • Pages: N/A
  • Published: 2020

Introduction

Research Questions

  1. What entities operate HPOG 2.0 programs, and what trainings, activities, and services do the programs provide?
  2. Who participated in HPOG 2.0 in the first four years, what trainings and activities have they engaged in and completed, and what support services have they received?
  3. What are HPOG 2.0 participants’ employment outcomes at the end of Year 4?

This Year 4 Annual Report describes results for participants in the second round of the Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG) Program from the beginning of the Program through the end of Year 4 (September 30, 2015 through September 29, 2019). HPOG grants are awarded to organizations that provide education and training to Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients and other low-income individuals for occupations in the healthcare field that pay well and are expected to either experience labor shortages or be in high demand. The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded a first round of five-year HPOG grants (“HPOG 1.0”) in 2010.

This current, second round of grants (“HPOG 2.0”) was awarded to carry out five-year programs starting in September 2015 and has since been extended an additional 12 months, ending September 2021. Grant funds are disbursed annually to 32 grantees in 21 states, including five tribal organizations. From the beginning of HPOG 2.0 through the end of Year 4 (September 30, 2015, to September 29, 2019), grantees enrolled 30,927 participants.

Purpose

The purpose of this Year 4 Annual Report is to summarize the status of the HPOG 2.0 Program participants’ activities, outcomes, and characteristics from the start of the Program on September 30, 2015, through September 29, 2019, the end of grant Year 4. This report builds on three prior annual reports. It also updates information on participants’ career pathway progress as of the end of Year 4.

Key Findings and Highlights

Key findings from the HPOG 2.0 Year 4 Annual Report include:

  • Of the 20,400 participants who began healthcare training in the first four years of HPOG 2.0, 85 percent completed or were still in progress by the end of Year 4. More than two thirds (68 percent) of participants who completed healthcare training went on to earn a professional license or certification, and 65 percent started a job or were promoted on an existing job in healthcare.
  • More than one third (38 percent) of all participants engaged in standalone basic skills training (not combined with occupational training); of those, 91 percent completed or were still engaged in it at the end of Year 4. Of those who completed, most (79 percent) moved on to enroll in healthcare training.
  • Of participants who began healthcare training in the first four years of HPOG 2.0, almost half made career progress in training (beyond completing an entry-level training). This includes completing a healthcare training and moving on to a healthcare training at a higher career pathway level; completing multiple trainings at the same career pathway level to combine skills; completing a mid- or high-level career pathway healthcare training; or completing basic skills training or prerequisites and moving on to healthcare training.
  • Subsequent to enrolling in HPOG, almost half of participants started a job or were promoted on an existing job. Over one third (37 percent) of participants made career progress in employment defined as moving into a higher-paying job from a job held at enrollment or moving into a job in a healthcare occupation from a non-healthcare occupation job or unemployment at enrollment.
  • Under a set of metrics that combine multiple ways participants can make progress (including basic skills or prerequisites completion, healthcare training completion, and employment), 56 percent of HPOG participants showed “overall” career progress by the end of Year 4, and another 10 percent were engaged in activities toward career progress.
  • As in earlier years, participants in HPOG 2.0 are mainly single, female, and have dependent children. Twenty (20) percent were receiving TANF benefits at enrollment in the program. More than half had some college education, about one third already had a professional license or certification, and about one quarter were in school at the time of enrollment.
  • HPOG 2.0 participants engage in a variety of activities and receive a variety of supportive services. For example, almost half (46 percent) engaged in skill-development activities, and almost half (48 percent) received transportation assistance. HPOG 2.0 funded tuition in whole or in part for the majority (83 percent) of participants’ healthcare trainings.

Methods

The data in this report come from the HPOG 2.0 Participant Accomplishment and Grant Evaluation System (PAGES), a participant tracking and management system that includes data on participant characteristics, engagement in programs, and training and employment outcomes. PAGES also includes information on the activities and supports grantee programs offer. Grantee program staff enter data in PAGES. The grantees each submit semi-annual and annual Performance Progress Reports (PPRs) to ACF using data entered into PAGES; the PPR data are also used for this annual report.

Citation

Pamela Loprest and Nathan Sick. (2020). Health Profession Opportunity Grants 2.0: Year Four Annual Report (2018—19), OPRE Report 2020-60. Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.