Overview

The Attainment Network—San Luis Valley Partnership brings together schools, colleges, community-based organizations, and employers committed to growing local health care talent in the San Luis Valley, a rural area in Colorado. These partners serve high schoolers and adults interested in early certifications and skill development. Participants benefit from access to advising, career navigation, tuition support, work-based learning, and the opportunity to earn credentials. The initiative is designed to develop health care talent in the region, which has historically struggled to recruit and retain health care professionals.

The evaluation consists of an implementation study and an early outcomes analysis that address the following research questions:

• How do program participation, program completion, and credential attainment vary across subgroups?
   
• How does program participation influence job placement, career advancement, and perceptions of career mobility?
   
• What contextual factors and implementation challenges play a role in program delivery in the San Luis Valley?
   
• What lessons and promising practices from the San Luis Valley model could inform expansion or replication in other rural communities and industries/fields?

The study will seek to answer these questions using data from focus groups, interviews, and surveys with various stakeholders, as well as participant-level measures of program completion, credential attainment, postsecondary enrollment, and employment soon after program completion. The analysis will shed light on what’s working in the San Luis Valley context and help identify directions for expanding or adapting the rural health care model moving forward.