4-3-1418 - Pilot program for training TennCare recipients in health care fields.

4-3-1418. Pilot program for training TennCare recipients in health care fields.

(a)  The department of labor and workforce development, in conjunction with the department of finance and administration, the department of health, and the department of education, shall establish a two-year pilot program in which the department will make specific efforts to encourage individuals on the TennCare program to utilize existing educational grants, in an effort to train individuals in needed health care-related fields for the region. The goal is to reduce the TennCare rolls, while at the same time directing people into medical fields that are vital to the specific area of the pilot program.

(b)  The department of labor and workforce development will utilize existing staff in the pilot region to assist individuals interested in educational opportunities, and, with the assistance of the department of education, seek out existing grant opportunities, including, but not limited to, the Wilder-Naifeh technical skills grants funded out of proceeds from the Tennessee lottery. Utilizing information from the department of health, efforts shall be made to encourage individuals to enter into the health-related fields that are lacking in the respective region.

(c)  The department of labor and workforce development shall report to the general assembly on or before April 1 of each year regarding the results of the program, including how many individuals took advantage of educational grants, how many individuals are in training in health-related fields, and how the individuals are proceeding through the pilot program.

(d)  The pilot project created by this section shall be implemented in local workforce investment areas four (4) and eleven (11).

[Acts 2006, ch. 941, §§ 1-4.]