A free, 50-hour program to train personal and home care aides will be offered at Northern Essex Community College through its Workforce Development and Community Education program at the Riverwalk in Lawrence thanks to a federal grant.

Classes will be held Monday through Friday, February 25 through March 8 from 9 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. Students must attend all training days in order to successfully complete the program. This program is designed to teach students the skills that will support them in their role as a personal care attendant or homemaker.

In Massachusetts personal care aides earn a set rate of $12.68 an hour while working for an independent consumer employer. On average, homecare aides earn between $10 and $11 an hour working for a home care agency.

Fifteen students can be accommodated in this first session.

There is currently a great demand for direct care employees to provide personal care services such as bathing, dressing, foot care, denture care, and walking as a personal assistant to shopping, meal planning and preparation, laundry, and light housekeeping as a homemaker.

A critical shortage of direct care workers is expected due to a projected 51-70% growth in the elder and disabled population by 2020.

This program will provide the core skills and knowledge to work in this growing field and can also be the starting point for anyone interested in training for other types of healthcare jobs in the future.

For additional information or to register, contact Dianne Lahaye at dlahaye@necc.mass.edu or 978-659-1222 or Diane Zold-Gross at dzoldgross@necc.mass.edu or 978-659-1221.

This program is funded through the MA Personal and Home Care Aide State Training (PHCAST) Grant ProjectT82HP20323 funded by US HHS.