Overview
The Alaska Mental Health Trust
Authority, in collaboration with the University of Alaska and the State
of Alaska Department of Health & Social Services, has sponsored
the development of the Alaskan Core Competencies for Direct Care
Workers in Health & Human Services. The project was designed
and staffed by the WICHE Mental Health Program and the Annapolis Coalition
on the Behavioral Health Workforce. Version 1.0 of the competencies
has been released and can be accessed here. Download the Competencies
The competencies are designed to guide skill development with direct care workers, who are at times referred to as direct support workers, direct support professionals, paraprofessionals, or technicians. In terms of educational background, direct care workers typically have a high school diploma or GED. Their job preparation often involves a brief course or on-the-job training. While they provide a large proportion of the health and human services delivered in the United States, too seldom do direct care workers receive either training or an assessment of their skills that is competency-based.
The Alaskan Core Competencies are organized around 10 broad competency categories, which contain a total of 42 individual competencies. Each competency is defined by behavioral descriptors at three levels of performance: satisfactory, unsatisfactory, and excellent.
A Cross-Sector Approach
These competencies are "core"
in the sense that they include the basic skills that are necessary to
work in most areas of health and human services including, but not limited
to: mental health, addictions, developmental disabilities, child development,
long-term care, traumatic brain injury, and community based juvenile
justice. They were derived by comparing and integrating competencies
that had been identified separately for direct care workers in these
different health and human service fields. The Alaskan Core Competencies
are relevant to providing services in all geographic regions of the
country, but explicitly incorporate skills that are essential in rural
and frontier areas where direct care workers may function with limited
support or supervision and face unique challenges.
Using the Competencies
The competencies are designed to be used in multiple ways. They can guide the initial training and the continuing education of direct care workers, shaping both the selection of educational topics and the development of training content. Existing training curricula should be updated to incorporate these competencies. A simple tool for comparing the content of training programs with the Alaskan Core Competencies is available below. A curriculum for direct care workers is currently under development and it is guided by these competencies.
Additionally, the Alaskan Core Competencies can serve as the basis for assessing the performance of direct care workers or individuals being trained for direct care positions. Tools for assessing trainee and worker performance on these competencies are under development and will be released in 2010.Intended Benefits
Widespread adoption of the
Alaskan Core Competencies is intended to benefit workers, their employers,
and the individuals who receive services. If such adoption occurs,
direct care workers should benefit from improved orientation, training,
and continuing education; develop increased professionalism; experience
greater job mobility; and have more opportunities for career advancement.
Employers should benefit by having a better prepared workforce; a larger
pool of potential job applicants; and reduced employee turnover.
Most important is the potential benefit to individuals with health and
social service needs who should receive improved access to safer and
more effective care.
Feedback Invited
While there was broad input
into the Alaskan Core Competencies, it is anticipated that they will
be updated periodically based on feedback from individuals and organizations
that utilize them. To share your comments or suggested changes
please submit the feedback form.
How the Competencies Were Developed
Detailed descriptions of the
methods used to develop the Alaskan Core Competencies are contained
in two project reports, which can be accessed below.
For information about Alaska’s Committee on Workforce Competency (CWC), download the Overview.
Competency Comparison Tool
While the Alaskan Core Competencies can be used as the basis for training and performance evaluation, they can also be employed to strengthen existing training curricula and competencies. The Comparison Tool has been developed as an aid for systematically reviewing curricula or other competency sets to determine the extent to which they cover the Alaskan Core Competencies. With the knowledge generated from that comparison, those curricula or competencies can be updated to incorporate these core competencies. While the competencies were designed for direct care workers who have not had the benefit of higher education in health and human services, they contain basic helping skills that are relevant to and should be incorporated into associate, bachelors, and graduate level education as well. Download the Comparison Tool
For Additional Information
Email Michael Hoge, Senior Science & Policy Advisor for the Annapolis Coalition, with general or technical questions about the competencies.
Email Kathy Craft, who coordinates workforce development activities in Alaska, with questions about the implementation of the competencies in that state.
To learn more about Alaska’s
workforce development efforts visit the website of The Alaska Mental
Health Trust Authority.
The learn more about the WICHE
Mental Health Program click here.