education

The Kansas Community Health Worker Coalition Core Competency Education Program is a statewide virtual initiative designed to engage and educate Kansas CHWs about the vital role that CHWs play in our communities, and build skills related to the Kansas CHW core competencies.

Program Structure: Participants will meet twice weekly for 3-hour synchronous class sessions to learn about the 12 CHW core competencies in an online learning environment. Alongside the 100-hour synchronous class time commitment, students must participate in and complete 60 hours of service learning experiences as a requirement for course completion. Service learning activities are experiences completed outside of the classroom that strengthen the competencies taught during class. These activities and experiences include but are not limited to: Networking experiences, job shadowing, resource gathering, webinars, conferences, etc.

Community Health Workers (CHW), Community Health Advocates (CHA), Community Health Representatives (CHR), Care Coordinators, and Promotoras de Salud (PdS) are welcome to participate in this program. There is currently no cost to students for the CHW Core Competency Program thanks to funding provided by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. This is subject to change depending on funding opportunities available in the future.

This course is designed in conjunction with the textbook “Foundations for Community Health Workers.” We integrate Zoom classroom discussion and service learning to help ensure that CHWs gain the practical skills needed to be successful in their roles. Read about the 12 Core Competencies covered here

Please note: If you have completed the Metropolitan Community College Community Health Worker Course, any of the Missouri CHW courses, OR the Community Health Council of Wyandotte County trainings, please let the program coordinators know. The curriculum offered with the Kansas CHW Coalition is the same curriculum. At this time individuals who work and/or live in Kansas are given first consideration when registering students into the KCHWC class. This is not a college credit course offered through Wichita State University. Students who are interested in earning college credit for completion of this course may have the opportunity to do so upon request, however, not every cohort is guaranteed the opportunity to earn college credit depending on scheduling logistics.

Upon successful completion of the Kansas Community Health Worker Coalition (KCHWC) Core Competency Education Course, eligible applicants may go on to apply for CHW certification in Kansas via the education pathway. If you have been working as a CHW for at least 800 hours across the span of 3 years, you may be eligible to apply for certification via the work pathway. To learn more about the certification pathways, please visit the coalition’s certification webpage here