Janis A. Prince, PhD, MMFT, Chiles Center for Healthy Mothers and Babies, University of South Florida, 3111 E Fletcher Av, Tampa, FL 33613-4660, 813 974-8610, jprince@hsc.usf.edu and Darlene Shearer, DrPH, The Lawton and Rhea Chiles Center for Healthy Mothers and Babies, University of South Florida, 3111 East Fletcher Avenue, Tampa, FL 33613-4660.

The positive role of community health workers (CHWs) in improving health outcomes--particularly among racial/ethnic minority populations--is often illustrated with the use of moving, personal stories. As a result of the belief in the value of CHWs, a variety of CHW training programs have been implemented across the U.S. However, well-designed evaluations of CHW training programs and the role of CHWs in health promotion interventions remain lacking. Such information is vital in the sustainability of CHW programs. The Maternal and Child Services Workforce Development Program is a 21-college credit-training program for CHWs specializing in support services to childbearing families and children birth to age five. This pilot program is currently being implemented in three schools in Florida: Central Florida Community College, Hillsborough Community College, and St. Petersburg College. This presentation will describe the evaluation of the Workforce Development Program, with particular attention paid to the four levels of outcomes being evaluated: i) the knowledge, practice, self-efficacy, satisfaction and career goals of CHWs; ii) work assignments and career opportunities available to CHWs from employer agencies; iii) client satisfaction and service utilization; iv) processes of the program. There will be a discussion of the challenges the evaluation faced, and information on how these challenges were overcome. The CHWs role in, and perspective on, the overall program evaluation will be presented by a CHW who is a trainee in the Workforce Development Program.

Learning Objectives:

• i) Participants will take away an appreciation of each level being evaluated and its importance for the sustainability of CHW programs. ii) Understand how each level of the evaluation addresses an important aspect of CHW programs. iii) Learn about evaluation techniques suitable for evaluating CHW programs.

Keywords: Community Health Promoters, Community Health Programs

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I have a significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.
Relationship: I am the Program Evaluator of the Workforce Development grant program at the Chiles Center USF.