Celebrating National Home Health Care Month with The Gateway-In Project
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November is National Home Health Care Month – a time to recognize progress such as The Gateway-In Project, an innovative initiative that strengthens California’s home health care workforce to address the growing needs of local communities, particularly important as our population is aging rapidly.
California urgently needs a larger health care workforce. By 2030, nearly one in five adults will be 65 or older while the state is projecting an additional 275,000 direct care workers will be needed by 2026.
LeadingAge California and the California Department of Health Care Access and Information (HCAI) launched The Gateway-In Project in June 2022 to bridge this gap, aiming to inspire and train 2.700 new Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs) and Home Health Aides (HHAs).
Since its launch, The Gateway-In Project has produced a series of successes to meet workforce objectives. Simultaneously, the project is expanding its reach and targeted scope to include Health Care Social Work and a focus on job placement within marginalized communities.
The Gateway-In Project’s Success by the Numbers
Since its launch The Gateway-In Project has:
- Received interest from a total of 8,074 applicants
- 2,065 students graduated.
- Employed 701 graduates
As the program concludes on July 1, 2025, the initiative has already graduated well over 1,500 students, ensuring a steady pipeline of certified professionals ready to enter the workforce with a focus on minimizing the gap between certification and job placement.
Advancing Health Care Social Work
In November 2023, LeadingAge California introduced The Gateway-In Project Health Care Social Worker (HCSW), an initiative made possible through the California Department of Aging’s CalGrows Program aimed at addressing social work shortages in the Home and Community-Based Services sector. Health Care Social Workers play an essential role in patient advocacy and resource access. HCSW ran from November 2023 to September 2024 and was designed to recruit, train and place up to 1,220 resident service coordinators, activities professionals, and certified nursing assistants. |
Key achievements of HCSW include:
- 1,140 graduates, including 934 CNAs, 104 Activities Professionals, and 102 Service Coordinators
- Financial assistance totaling over $1.7 million for 1,140 graduates from historically underserved communities, covering essential expenses like childcare, transportation and housing
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Expanding and Strengthening Our Care Infrastructure
Building off this momentum, The Gateway-In Project Expansion (Expansion) launched in 2023, awarded by the California HCAI Caring4Cal Program. Much like The Gateway-In Project and HCSW, the goal of the Expansion was to recruit, train and place certified nursing assistants (CNAs) and home health aides (HHAs) to help address the ongoing health care workforce shortage.
The program, which ran from December 2023 to June 2024, successfully exceeded expectations, thanks to strategic recruitment events at in-demand regions, social media campaigns and community partnerships.
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Program highlights include:
- $909,000 in student support covering essentials like food and housing
- 453 graduates successfully placed in roles at senior living and health care facilities
The Gateway-In Project, HCSW, and Expansion are more than workforce initiatives—they are building pathways for upward mobility, supporting our communities, and improving the quality of care for California’s seniors.
As we honor National Home Health Care Month, we recognize initiatives like The Gateway-In Project that are creating lasting impacts on our communities.
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