Community Action Project’s innovative pilot program, CareerAdvance, will receive a nearly $2 million grant this year from the Department of Health & Human Services. The grant, which is funded through the Health Care Reform Act, is expected to be funded annually for five years, for a total of nearly $10 million.

CareerAdvance, which began in 2009, is a free work force development program offered to parents of children currently enrolled at three of CAP’s early childhood education sites. The program helps participants pursue training and employment in the nursing field by offering comprehensive support, including individual coaching, performance-based incentives, life skills development and assistance with child care and transportation.

Of the 15 participants in the initial phase of the pilot program, 13 have already received their certified nursing assistant certificate, with three currently attending licensed practical nursing classes.

“This grant will allow us to offer services to nearly 300 parents at CAP early childhood education sites over the next five years,” said Monica Barczak, director of innovation for CAP. “We are honored to be one of only 17 grant recipients across the United States and look forward to helping even more parents become economically self-sufficient.”

In addition to the existing nursing career pathway, CAP will offer a new medical assisting to health information technology track as a result of the grant.

“Thanks to the planning and startup funding we received from George Kaiser Family Foundation and the Inasmuch Foundation and the support of our program partners, CareerAdvance has changed the lives of both parents and children in Tulsa over the past year,” Barczak said.

CareerAdvance’s program partners include Tulsa Community College, Tulsa Technology Center, Workforce Tulsa, Union Public Schools and the Ray Marshall Center for the Study of Human Resources at the University of Texas in Austin.