Opportunities for local students to launch their careers in the health care field will become more accessible, thanks to a recent $1.2 million grant from CalOptima to Santiago Canyon College.
The goal of the grant is to expand educational health care opportunities in SCC’s Division of Continuing Education and create an employment pipeline between SCC students and CalOptima service providers.
“For us, it’s a huge benefit to receive this grant,” said SCC Dean of Instruction and Student Services Chrissy Gascon, who wrote the grant proposal. “Our goal is really to upskill, or give initial skills, and place a student into a job making livable wages.”
SCC’s Continuing Education programs are tuition-free, noncredit- or nonunit-bearing pathways, and the programs this CalOptima grant will expand include Behavior Technician, Medical Assistant and Licensed Vocational Nurse.
The nursing program is under development, and the grant funds will enable SCC to add this option to its Continuing Education offerings. One of the components of this new launch will include the build-out of state-of-the-art classrooms that will house the latest technology and equipment. Once developed, the 12- to 18-month program is expected to produce 60 graduates annually.
SCC’s Medical Assistant program will also receive new classrooms and equipment, as the program is currently held off-campus at Hope Builders, a Santa Ana-based nonprofit that provides mentorship and skills training for young adults. With the estimated completion of these new classrooms in spring 2025, the relocation of the program to campus is expected to increase capacity to 150 students annually. Graduates who complete the program are prepared to work in a medical office setting assisting doctors or physician assistants.
The Behavior Technician program prepares students to follow a career in the field of behavior analysis. After completing four to eight weeks of online coursework, students can become certified and pursue positions that assist parents or guardians with children who are on the autism spectrum.
The current SCC program capacity for Behavior Technician is approximately 25-50 students. The grant funding will allow for up to 100 students and will provide student incentives upon employment as a way to improve retention in the field.
Certificate graduates who stay employed with their CalOptima provider for six months would receive a $250 incentive. At 12 months, they would receive a $500 incentive, and at 18 months, a $1,000 incentive.
Another component of the grant will allow SCC to add the position of job liaison, someone to assist students after program completion with entering the workforce with CalOptima partners.
With the city of Orange and Orange County being a hub for several medical facilities, the need for medical professionals is growing.
“Students in these programs get all of the skills they need to get a career started, and what we’re hoping for is that they might come to our program and start and move up the line,” Gascon said. “Someone becoming a medical assistant might then choose to get their RN and further their career.”
SCC’s investment in local students not only provides them with a career path but also shows a commitment to partnering with the local community in growing the workforce and the economy.
“What we’re trying to do via our noncredit or continuing education programs and workforce development programs is to provide them with that lift up, the opportunity to be able to take classes for free so that they’re able to move into higher paying jobs via promotions because they earned a certificate, gained a new skill set or they decided to make a complete career change,” said SCC President Jeannie G. Kim. “It’s not just for education’s sake or knowledge’s sake. It’s really for that economic mobility and being an economic engine for our local community.”
The CalOptima grant funding will be awarded over three years beginning in July, in time for the start of SCC’s new fiscal year. The hope is that the funds will cause a ripple effect of benefits that stretch from providing affordable education options to local students to achieving change within the local health care workforce.
“These kinds of efforts are incredibly important to any community that’s trying to grow and trying to support its community members, whether they work here or live here or both,” Kim said. “That’s the singular focus of what we’re trying to do here at Santiago Canyon College. … We’re very eager to be able to show what we can do, and we’ve already been doing it, but this funding will help us to be able to take that to the next level. That’s what I’m most excited about.”
