TITLE IV-A CAREER PREPARATION PROGRAM SECTION I BACKGROUND Support for the establishment and strengthening of gerontology in postsecondary education has been a central objective of the Older Americans Act Training Program since 1965. Beginning in FY 1976 and continuing through FY 1978, the Older Americans Act Multidisciplinary Centers of Gerontology Program has had a similar purpose, namely to develop, expand, or maintain at institutions of higher education a broad, multidisciplinary interest and commitment to programs in gerontology. Both the Title IV-A Training and the Title IV-E Gerontology Centers Programs have been used by the Administration on Aging to support general development and catalytic efforts that were appropriate to an emergent field such as aging/gerontology. Program guidelines have been broad and adaptable, accommodating a diversity of actions and interests. Under these programs, institutions of higher education have been given considerable discretion in initiating and carrying out projects to train and educate people for service in the field of aging. While these purposes are valid for an emerging area of study, gerontology has matured to a point requiring some change in AoA's training support priorities. For the past several years, the number of technically qualified Title IV-A career training applications has far exceeded the funds available to support gerontology programs in higher education. With so many institutions displaying a commitment and a capacity to undertake broad purpose gerontology programs, that commitment and capacity alone can no longer be a valid standard for an AoA Title IV-A award. At the same time, there has been an obvious overlap between the Title IV-A Career Training and the Title IV-C (now IV-E) Gerontology Center programs. As many as 32 of the 43 funded center projects have also received IV-A training monies to support faculty, students, curriculum development and other purposes closely akin to the center program activities. The dual Title IV-A, Title IV-E investment in establishing and strengthening gerontology programs was consistent with past AoA policy of supporting the general development of training, education, and technical assistance resources in the field of aging. Current plans call for the focusing of available Title IV-A funds on specific purposes associated with career training, and Title IV-E funds on particular subject areas of serious concern to older people. The shift in program emphasis toward the support of specialized career development and preparation programs comes at a time of general budget constraints and no likely prospect of increased funding for the Title IV-A Training program. AOA's finite resources clearly must be allocated more sharply and strategically on meeting educational and training responsibilities prescribed by the Older Americans Act. SECTION 2 PROGRAM OBJECTIVES The Title IV-A Gerontology Career Preparation Program is designed to support the training of "persons who are employed or preparing for employment in the field of aging" (Older Americans Act, as amended, Title IV, Part A, Section 404). Under the authority of Title IV-A, the Administration on Aging has been and will continue to be committed to building the capacity of institituions of higher education to prepare persons for careers in aging and to retrain other persons already working with or in behalf of older people. Where the AoA Career Preparation Program does significantly change from previous years is in its focus on specific occupations, vocations, and careers closely related to Older Americans Act programs. The support of baseline gerontology program activities characterized, for example, by stipends to students interested in general or ancillary training in gerontology is no longer a strategic use of limited Title IV-A funds. Those funds will now be targeted toward professional education and career training programs leading to careers in: o policy formulation, planning, and management, at Federal, o the supervision of or practice in case management or services o the administration of or practice in the provision of health o the administration of or practice in the provision of services The applicant has the opportunity of choosing among one or more of these priority careers or of proposing other career preparation objectives to be accomplished through its application. In the latter case, the applicant must demonstrate convincingly that its choice of career training objectives has equal or greater significance in meeting the need for skilled personnel to carry out the program responsibilities mandated by the Older Americans Act. The Administration on Aging recognizes that the specialized education and training required to prepare persons for the types of careers outlined above can be accomplished through a variety of activities (see SECTION 3 SCOPE OF PROJECT ACTIVITIES below) in different program settings. Those settings range from interdisciplinary programs in gerontology to single disciplines in the social and health sciences, from particular professional schools to undergraduate two and four years colleges. SECTION 3 SCOPE OF PROJECT ACTIVITIES The emphasis on specialized career training as the principal objective of the Title IV-A Gerontology Career Preparation Program is linked to certain expectations concerning the readiness of gerontology programs. in higher education to join with AoA and other appropriate agencies in the field of aging in adapting curriculum, instruction, and other training resources to changing needs for aging program personnel. Gerontology programs in postsecondary educational institutions are capable of sustaining the core, basic education and training of gernealists in the field. For those institutions with an underlying commitment to gerontology education and training, there are various ways of enriching, strengthening, and distinguishing their programs to respond to the need for specializad professionals to serve older people today and in the future. Building the capacity of institutions of higher education to provide specialized career training in aging necessarily involves a carefully planned and integrated set of project activities. Examples of the type of project activities which might be incorporated into a Title IV-A Gerontology Career Preparation Program application are given below: o developing innovative gerontology curricula and providing financial assistance to students for specific providing increased student opportunities for combining o providing student placement services for jobs serving o developing effective methods of linking research, 0 using sophisticated information systems to stimulate o assisting in establishing comparable programs in o providing continuing education opportunities to o providing consultation to agencies that work with Consistent with the challenges presented by the new emphasis on specialized career training, AoA is aware that applicants will require a multi-year project period to carry out a well designed gerontology career preparation program. Grant awards will cover up to three years to ensure a rational and coherent project effort. The applicant is, of course, responsible for proposing a strategic, multi-phased plan of activities of sufficient depth and foresight to justify a multi-year commitment. Such a plan would necessarily include a detailed description of critical tasks, a schedule of when those tasks would be completed, and an explanation of the means proposed for accomplishing the tasks. Project periods will range from nine (9) months to three (3) years depending upon AoA approval of the proposed project scope, tasks, and plan for implementation. Both in recognition of the different gerontological program strengths among various types of potential applicants, and to promote equity in the competition for IV-A support, AoA is establishing four categories of applications: (1) University-wide Projects Projects which embrace activities conducted through two or more disciplines, schools, or departments within a university, such activities being organized and |