JFS Care Offers Free Caregiver Training
JFS Care, an arm of JFSLA that offers in-home care and care management to older adults throughout Los Angeles, launched a new caregiver training program called the LA Advancing Caregiver Excellence (ACE) Program, where eligible participants can simultaneously enhance their skills and earn compensation. Through this new program, caregivers are provided with free training and education, funded by CalGrows, California’s Department of Aging program for caregivers of older adults and people with disabilities.
“In order to deliver exemplary care for our clients, we need to attend to our caregiving staff. When the skills of our caregivers increase, our client’s benefit,” said Steven Barlam, CEO of JFS Care. “We also realize that at a time when there is a real caregiver shortage, the organization that provides more benefits to their employees will be the employer of choice. With this program, we have connected with many caregivers who were not our employees, and many have applied to become a caregiver with us.”
417 individuals in LA have registered for the training courses. Of those, more than 150 are JFS caregivers. Caregivers can access the training in person, online with an instructor, and through e-learning self-paced prerecorded courses provided in English and Spanish. LA ACE partners with Homebridge, an in-home care organization, to provide various online course topics including home care safety, dementia, Alzheimer’s, preventing risk in the home, nutrition, budgeting, mental health, and wellbeing, among others. According to Tatiana Celebertti, LA ACE Program Director, the course topics foster engagement, and participants consistently provide positive feedback.
“This is an exciting opportunity for anyone wanting to gain knowledge and build their skills,” said Tatiana Celebertti. “The courses are open and free to everyone, but eligible direct care workers may be able to receive incentive payments from CalGrows for completing these courses.” Caregivers can get paid up to $30 per hour.
“The LA ACE home care program has proven to be highly effective in the past four months,” said Tatiana Celebertti. “September saw a notable increase in live class attendance. Caregivers have reported significant improvements in their skills through the LA ACE program and have shared their testimonies with us.”
In the last few weeks, a caregiver completed over 25 courses, including Palliative Care & Hospice, which helped her understand how to recognize negligent care. The caregiver later suspected that someone close to her was being neglected in her nursing facility. She called JFS Care staff and sought advice on how to proceed with the situation, which led to her finding a better care facility for her loved one.
Two participants took LA ACE courses to learn more about starting a career in caregiving. Despite the participants not meeting the eligibility requirements for incentives, that did not discourage their desire to learn from the program. Now both participants are looking to start a caregiving career and hoping to become more qualified for potential caregiving jobs.
In addition, LA ACE has been invited to community events and centers to present orientation sessions and increase awareness of the program. If you or someone you know is interested in enrolling in the LA ACE training, please click the link below.
