For more than 30 years, Comprehensive Youth Development has partnered with public New York City high schools to provide in-school college and career preparation and workplace readiness training and skills development, free of charge. Working closely with thousands of students from all boroughs and backgrounds, the organization is well-positioned to respond to the changing needs of young people entering a changing labor landscape.
A 2025 SNF grant made as part of its Global Health Initiative (GHI) will support Comprehensive Youth Development’s pilot of a new High School Healthcare Workforce Bridge Program, designed to meet the needs of the city and state’s forecasted shortage of health care workers and reports of high school graduates feeling underprepared and underinformed on beginning their careers in the sector. Through lessons on digital literacy, customer service, health care skills, and financial management, program participants will graduate with greater knowledge not only of the health care professions and certifications available to them immediately following their completion of high school, but with the set of skills needed to thrive in those positions.
Building on its existing network of connections across New York City’s health landscape and its track record of partnering with students to make and follow through on actionable postsecondary plans, Comprehensive Youth Development’s High School Healthcare Workforce Bridge Program will help enable hundreds of students to gain the knowledge and skills they need to enter the evolving and expanding health care field.