Background: A major challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic has been training and maintaining a cohort of contact tracers equipped with the skills needed to help control transmission of the coronavirus. Consequentially, many health departments (HDs) recognized an immediate need for credible, efficient, and trackable training to support a sudden staffing surge.

Methods: The Public Health Foundation (PHF) designed free, customizable COVID-19 contact tracing training packages for HDs. These tailored curriculums were made available through PHF’s TRAIN Learning Network, and included offerings from TRAIN partners such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Johns Hopkins University, and Association of State and Territorial Health Officials. These existing trainings, coupled with scripts and other agency-specific resources, resulted in training programs tailored to community needs.

Results: Between July 1, 2020 and March 1, 2021, PHF received over 150 requests for customized contact tracing training packages, with 25% (n=36) from HDs. In collaboration with the Public Health Institute (PHI), TRAIN became a leading training provider for contact tracers in California, Oregon, and Washington. Of the 835 contact tracers registered for customized training packages offered by their HD, 74% (n=617) were affiliated with PHI. PHI employees were trained in multiple contact tracing databases, county-specific policies, and soft skills such as self-care, mental health first aid, and communication techniques.

Conclusions: As a result of these tailored training packages, agencies were able to access quality contact tracing trainings, quickly build staff capacity, and provide dynamic training and professional development opportunities to a new and emerging public health workforce. The diversity of the resulting training packages reflects and respects the unique needs of each jurisdiction. Important benefits of the TRAIN system are being explored for further use beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.