There’s nothing like a good funding opportunity to add some intrigue to a Monday morning. In this case, $690,000 is available from California’s Student/Resident Experiences and Rotations in Community Health (CalSEARCH) that will help strengthen the state’s health care workforce.
This opportunity has two different components. CalSEARCH will provide grant opportunities through the Workforce Education and Training Program (WET) to organizations for mental health rotations for students and residents within the public mental health system, and through The California Endowment to organizations supporting Community Health Workers/Promotores in one of the 14 Building Healthy Communities or designated counties of the Central Valley.
The Request for Applications was posted on the CalSEARCH site late last week and is available for review. The final applications are due on March 20, 2015. If you have questions, CalSEARCH is hosting a pair of technical assistance webinars, the first tomorrow (February 24th) and another on March 9th. You can register to attend these webinars here.
Any effort to improve diversity in California’s health care workforce will help improve access to health care careers for many in the state. For example, while communities of color represent 61% of the California’s population, they only represent 48% of practicing physicians in the state. The disparity is even more evident in the Latino community, which represents 38% of the population but just 4% of physicians.
You can find more information on CalSEARCH on the program’s website. And if you’re interested in applying, be sure to get your application in by March 20th!