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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Andrea Daitz, RWJF, (609) 627-5937, adaitz@rwjf.org Carmon Cunningham, Jobs for the Future, (617) 728-4446, ccunningham@jff.org Mark Popovich, The Hitachi Foundation, (202) 828-1643, mpopovich@hitachifoundation.org    LEAD PARTNERS SELECTED FOR QUALITY INITIATIVE SUPPORTING FRONTLINE HEALTH CARE WORKERS   Jobs to Careers Initiative Announces Awards to Groups in Nine States Princeton, N.J., October 17, 2006 –  Nine projects (see attached list) have been awarded grants through Jobs to Careers: Promoting Work-Based Learning for Quality Care, a national initiative to support the needs of workers delivering direct health care and services and of the employers, patients, and clients who require a skilled and stable frontline workforce. These frontline workers—4.7 million of them in the United States—provide their patients and clients with preventive and early intervention services, chronic illness management strategies, and long-term and post-hospitalization rehabilitative care. Yet despite their critical and growing responsibilities, few earn enough to support a family, and their lack of access to training and credentials compounds the limits on their opportunities to advance. Jobs to Careers is a four-year, $15.3 million national initiative of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, in collaboration with the Hitachi Foundation. The foundations are providing support to nine partnerships of employers and educational institutions to advance and reward the skill and career development of frontline workers. The grantees will lead broad-based local partnerships comprised of employers, educational institutions, and other community organizations. “The opportunity to develop skills and careers of the people most directly involved with patients and services is critical to the sustainability and performance of frontline workers. The nine grantees represent a range of urban, rural, and suburban locations from Pennsylvania to a Northern Arizona Native American reservation to Hawaii,” said Victor Capoccia, Ph.D., senior program officer at RWJF. “Significantly, they also encompass diverse sectors—acute and long-term care, as well as behavioral and community health—and diverse types of organizations: educational institutions, health care employers, union training funds, and workforce development entities.” “Employers are key to the success of work-based training and may be challenged to create new policies and practices to support these frontline workers,” notes Hitachi Foundation president and CEO Barbara Dyer. “I’m impressed with the employer commitments in these projects, and there will be much to learn from their experience”. Projects supported through Jobs to Careers will expand and redesign systems to create lasting improvements in the way that institutions train and advance frontline workers currently employed in a number of entry-level positions, such as dietary aides, substance abuse workers, medical assistants, housekeepers, clerks, and patient care technicians. Jobs to Careers will provide them with training and opportunities that will enable them to gain, and succeed in, jobs with better pay and increased responsibilities. The grantees will participate in a national learning collaborative, coordinated by Jobs for the Future, which serves as the national program office for Jobs to Careers. Through this network, they will share challenges, successes, and lessons learned. This national learning collaborative will also include periodic Web-based discussion groups and small group teleconferences. In addition, each grantee will receive individualized technical assistance from the national program office to help refine and implement their projects. “Jobs to Careers connects the well-being of frontline workers to the quality of care people receive,” according to Marlene B. Seltzer, president and CEO of Jobs for the Future. “We look forward to collaborating with the nine partnerships in the coming years, helping ensure that their efforts yield clear benefits to frontline workers—and to the millions of Americans, young and old, who they serve every day.” More information about the Jobs to Careers initiative is available at www.jtcp.org. ### About the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation www.rwjf.org The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation focuses on the pressing health and health care issues facing our country. As the nation's largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to improving the health and health care of all Americans, the Foundation works with a diverse group of organizations and individuals to identify solutions and achieve comprehensive, meaningful and timely change. For more than 30 years the Foundation has brought experience, commitment, and a rigorous, balanced approach to the problems that affect the health and health care of those it serves. When it comes to helping Americans lead healthier lives and get the care they need, the Foundation expects to make a difference in your lifetime. About the Hitachi Foundation www.hitachifoundation.org The Hitachi Foundation is a nonprofit, independent, philanthropic organization established to enhance the well-being of economically isolated people in the United States. The Foundation systematically invests in path breaking practices for use by business and nonprofit organizations to mutually address community problems. These practices alleviate conditions that perpetuate poverty and also help to strengthen business.   About Jobs for the Future Jobs for the Future is a Boston-based nonprofit that seeks to accelerate the educational and economic advancement of youth and adults struggling in today’s economy. JFF partners with leaders in education, business, government, and communities around the nation to: strengthen opportunities for youth to succeed in postsecondary learning and high-skill careers; increase opportunities for low-income individuals to move into family-supporting careers; and meet the growing economic demand for knowledgeable and skilled workers. JFF serves as the national program office for Jobs to Careers: Promoting Work-Based Learning for Quality Care.    Jobs to Careers Grants Awarded   Asante Health Systems, Medford, Oregon Contact: Sandra Olson, 541.789.5025, solson@asante.org Baltimore Alliance, Baltimore, Maryland Contact: Ronald Hearn, 443.451.9822, Ronald.hearn@comcast.net District 1199C Training & Upgrade Fund, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Contact: Cheryl Feldman, 215.568.2220, cfeldman@1199ctraining.org Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona Contact: Cruz Begay, 928.523.6344, cruz.begay@nau.edu Owensboro Community & Technical College, Owensboro, Kentucky Contact: Cindy Fiorella, 270.686.4445, cindy.fiorella@kctcs.edu Portland Community College, Portland, Oregon Contact: Pamela Murray, 503.977.4696, pmurray@pcc.edu SSTAR, Fall River, Massachusetts Contact: Pat Emsellem, 508.324.3599, pemsellem@sstar.org Waianae Health System, Waianae, Hawaii Contact: Joyce O'Brien, 808.696.1587, JOBrien@wcchc.com WorkSource Austin, Austin, Texas Contact: Susannah Erler, 512.597.7100, susannah.erler@twc.state.tx.us