CareerAdvance®
CAP’s focus on ending intergenerational poverty through a dual generation approach has taken another innovative step forward.
CareerAdvance® is a free workforce development program for the parents of enrolled children at most CAP early childhood education centers. The program seeks to help parents earn family sustaining wages that will provide more stable living situations. Designed in partnership with the Ray Marshall Center for the Study of Human Resources at the University of Texas at Austin and the Graduate School of Education at Harvard, CareerAdvance is based on research in the fields of sectoral workforce development and adult education. The program offers participants training and support along a path that culminates in a degree in Registered Nursing or Health Information Technology.
CareerAdvance is unique in two important ways. First, it is a sector-based workforce development program focused on serving parents with very young children. The idea is that not only will the parent benefit by attaining occupational certifications and good-paying jobs, but that there will be additional benefits that accrue to their young children.
Second, CareerAdvance bundles research-based innovations in workforce development in a new way. These innovations include a demand-driven, sector-based approach; an emphasis on skill development aimed at preparing participants for high-paying jobs; contextualized adult education for participants who lack a high school diploma; peer-to-peer support and network development; a Career Coach to help participants plan ahead, navigate various training systems, and solve problems individually and as a group; bonus payments for specified results; support in overcoming barriers such as child care and transportation needs; and the inclusion of a Healthcare Intermediary, whose role is to work with employers to create smooth paths to employment.
The George Kaiser Family Foundation and the Inasmuch Foundation supported 
development and pilot testing of the program. Funding from the Administration for Children & Families through the Health Profession Opportunities Grant (HPOG) has made it possible for CAP to continue and expand the program to additional CAP early childhood sites.
For more information contact Liz Eccleston, Program Manager, at (918) 382-3248.
This document was supported by Grant 90FX00100 from the Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS). Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of HHS.
