Health Profession Opportunity Grants 2.0: Year One Annual Report (2015–16)

The purpose of the Year 1 annual report is to summarize HPOG 2.0 Program offerings and participant activity and outcomes from September 30, 2015 through September 29, 2016. The first four to six months of Year 1 served as a planning period. Participant enrollment began between February and April 2016 and, therefore, the first-year findings are based on between six and eight months of enrollment.

This first report serves as a baseline for future annual reports. It describes the characteristics of HPOG 2.0 grantees, defines and details the trainings and services grantees are offering, provides characteristics of participants at enrollment, and describes first-year participant outcomes in training enrollment and completion, and employment.

Key findings from HPOG 2.0 Year 1 include:

• The HPOG 2.0 Program enrolled 5,150 participants in Year 1. The majority of HPOG grantees have five-year enrollment goals of between 500 and 999 participants (11 grantees) or between 1,000 and 1,999 participants (15 grantees).

• All HPOG 2.0 grantees offered at least one type of basic skills training; overall, grantees offered healthcare training in 66 different occupations. Grantees also offer support services in the areas of academic supports, personal and logistic supports, and employment assistance.

• Nine out of ten first-year enrollees were women. Nearly two-thirds (64 percent) were between ages 18 and 34, and 62 percent had one or more dependent children. Almost half of participants (47 percent) had annual household incomes of less than $10,000.

• About one-quarter of participants enrolled in basic skills training in Year 1.

• More than two-thirds of participants (69 percent) began healthcare occupational training in Year 1. Of those who began healthcare training, 41 percent completed in Year 1, 55 percent were still in training at the end of the grant year, and the remaining four percent had dropped out or did not pass.

• Many HPOG 2.0 participants received support services in Year 1. The most common services were case management (87 percent), academic advising (57 percent), assistance for training-related costs other than tuition (47 percent), and transportation assistance (44 percent).

• Of the 5,150 participants in Year 1, 19 percent started jobs or received a promotion after enrollment in HPOG 2.0. Employed HPOG 2.0 participants earned between $10 and $12.49 an hour.

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 activities and services, and training and employment outcomes. PAGES also includes the activities and supports grantees offer. Grantee program staff enter data in PAGES. The grantees each submit semi-annual and annual Performance Progress Reports (PPR) using data entered into PAGES; the PPR data are also used for this annual report. Grantees completed data entry for Year 1 by October 30, 2016, in order to submit their annual Year 1 PPR. All results in this report are based on data extracted on November 15, 2016.

Kelly S. Mikelson, Neil Damron, and Pamela Loprest. (2017). Health Profession Opportunity Grants 2.0: Year One Annual Report (2015—16). OPRE 2017-45. Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.