Grant Will Cover Tuition for Community Health Worker Program

A new program aimed at training people to be community health workers has already gotten an important boost: a grant to cover scholarships for some attendees.

The Community Health Worker Specialized Training Certificate program was introduced earlier this year as a partnership of UC Merced Extension and the Merced County Department of Public Health. The program will train community health workers, also known as promotores, on best practices for connecting people to the resources and tools that support them in being healthy.

Community health workers have a unique combination of lived experience and training that allows them to build trust and serve as liaisons between health care and social services, Medi-Cal members and the community.

Now, a $793,515 grant from Central California Alliance for Health will cover tuition for employees of health care providers who contract with the alliance, as well as program operational costs. The alliance is the Medi-Cal managed care health plan for Mariposa, Merced, Monterey, San Benito and Santa Cruz counties.

Extension representatives estimate that between 2020 and 2030, there will be over 680 available job positions associated with health care. A community health worker in the Central Valley is expected to make a median hourly wage of $21.93, which is a median annual salary of $45,614.

The program will equip participants with the knowledge, skills and approaches necessary to serve as effective community health workers. The training will be a pipeline for those prepared to work at health care facilities or clinics in roles such as independent health workers, wellness coaches or doulas.

Program participants will engage in theoretical learning, practical exercises and real-world applications to prepare them for the responsibilities of being community health workers. Ninety-minute evening online courses are held weekly. Courses in Spanish will be offered starting in 2025.

Six cohorts are planned each year. The first cohort is enrolling now. For more information, visit the program website .