Ohman Family Living has discovered that finding eager employees is not just restricted to young adults but also the students. It has established a strong work experience program with Cardinal High School, offering part-time employment to students interested in entering the workforce early with an interest in caregiving.
“It is not only that but it acts as a job, so they get paid while they get trained,” Vice President of Growth Strategies Joshua Wallace told The Weekly Villager. “We have coined the term, earn while you are learn. What better way to be able to start a career.”
Starting at the age of 16, all Cardinal students are eligible to join Ohman Family Living’s hybrid form of education and employment, which entails them taking online classes while also gaining practical experience as members of the New Hybrid Nursing Assistant in Training Program which allows them to earn degrees as Certified Nursing Assistants. While they are completing their online training, the students work closely with a licensed CNA until they officially complete the course.
Students who participate in Ohman Family Living’s NAIT program receive school credit and also have the opportunity to earn some income while training on the job.
According to nursing educator Andrea Gault, once students complete the course, they are state-tested at three of Ohman Family Living’s facilities, Briar, Holly or Blossom to receive an official certificate that licenses them as official CNAs.
“We do a little more training with them while they go out on their own and work on an assignment by themselves,” Gault said. “We keep them very close and under a tight wing until we feel comfortable, and they feel comfortable.”
Some students have elected to remain with Ohman Family Living in a full-time capacity after graduating from Cardinal while others have used the experience as a building block as they continue studying in college.
According to Wallace, the program not only meets the Department of Education requirements for 256 work hours to earn a 12-point certification but also allows students to explore what a career in caregiving looks like.
“We need individuals that fit first and foremost with our values,” Wallace noted. “You can’t teach people to love people, you either love them or you don’t. You can’t teach people to strive for excellence, you either have it or you don’t. You can’t teach people that there is an importance to home, and we are responsible to help cultivate that problem.”
Wallace said that Ohman Family Living experienced a workforce shortage around the pandemic and the executive leadership team developed a hybrid educational course to bring in new potential employees while incentivizing them by offering free classes, as opposed to having to pay to take those courses at a local college.
Gault added that students who receive this training also have jobs to go to during holiday school breaks but also retain a semblance of a social life.
According to Director of Talent Acquisition Max Knop, Ohman Family Living developed a corporate partnership with the Cardinal School District 18 months ago and the concept was well-received by the School Board.
“Jack Cunningham, their superintendent, was so excited and Andrea and I went and spoke at one of their Board meetings and we got to celebrate the success of students,” he added. “All of the students were there and we just got to give them their kudos.”
The NAIT training program not only has provided a great opportunity for students but Gault said that it has also gone a long way with the Ohman Family Living residents, who have deep ties to the Middlefield community and have appreciated sharing those ties with the Cardinal students.
“They have a lot of family that are at the Ohman facilities, so they are taking care of family, taking care of their friends’ families,” she said. “They are very proud of the Cardinal graduates. They talk to them about the sports teams, so they are involved in their lives because they are involved in the middle school system.”
Although the NAIT program has only been available to Cardinal students for 18 months, Knop said that it has already received significant interest from students, who relish the opportunity to assist their community and its residents.
“They are from this community, and they want to help people within the community especially if they are about to graduate,” he added. “If you are in 11th or 12th grade and you really want to take care of people and help people and maybe down the road you are thinking of college and have a degree in nursing which is a great career path, this really helps get them that experience on the front end.”
