Georgia CHEP, Inc.

Georgia CHEP is a member of the American Evaluation Association & The American Society for Training and Development

Our Mission

Georgia Cooperative Health Manpower Education Program, Inc. is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization working with varied partners to enhance health-related knowledge through facilitation of education and training programs.

About Us

Georgia Cooperative Health Manpower Education, Inc. (Georgia CHEP) was established in 1982 as a result of federal legislation that addressed the need for manpower development in underserved rural areas.  Our original focus was providing continuing education for rural-based health care providers; however, our mission statement was adapted in 1989 to include educational outreach and consulting services for urban constituents, consumers, youth, and community leaders, with an emphasis on minority populations.  Also included was a focus on assessment and evaluation services. 

Georgia CHEP is a results-driven agency governed by a volunteer board of directors who represent various medical entities across the southeast.  CHEP is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization that has been providing training, education, and consulting services to public and private agencies for over 27 years.  Specific services include:

• Continuing Education Workshops, Conferences and Webinars

• Needs Assessments, Customer Satisfaction Surveys

• Grant and  Program Evaluation

• Consulting/Strategic Planning

• Coalition/Capacity Building

• Leadership/Management Programs

• Fiscal Management/Grant and Project Partnerships

Continuing Education

Since 1982 we have trained over 450,000 health care providers, 50,000 consumers,  and 30,000 youth.   We have extensive experience in:

• Matching training needs with qualified faculty.  We have in our database over 2,000 presenters who are qualified to train on a wide variety of both clinical and administrative topics.

• Professional financial management/budget design.  We have partnered with various agencies as a fiscal agent for grants and other projects.  In addition, we have assisted numerous agencies with budget development and management for various training events or grant applications.

• Registration processing.  We utilize the Events Pro registration system that registers participants, issues participant confirmations, and generates name badges, sign-in sheets, certificates, invoices, transcripts and other related registration information.

• Accreditation applications.  The majority of our training programs carry continuing education units appropriate for each discipline.  We are an approved provider for Georgia Nurses Association (GNA), as well as the Georgia State Board of Nursing Home Administrators (GSBNHA).  According to the training topic, we apply for and receive accreditation for licensure purposes or certification through such agencies as the National Association of Social Work (NASW), Licensed Professional Counselors Association (LPCA), Georgia Addiction Counselors Association (GACA), American Association of Respiratory Care (AARC), and many others.

• Marketing.  We have a great deal of experience in the development of brochures, flyers and other marketing modalities.  With over 30,000 entities on our mailing list, we have prepared and mailed over a million marketing pieces annually for many years.

• Content/Curriculum Development.  CHEP staff members are adept at the identification of training goals and objectives and have developed content and curriculum for thousands of conferences, workshops, seminars and webinars.

• Evaluation.  We have conducted both process and impact evaluations of our training programs since 1982.

• Skilled Site Selection/Logistics.  Our staff members have a great deal of experience in researching and selecting the appropriate venue for training sessions.  We understand the importance of room set-up,  convenience of training site to accommodations,  as well as the need for state-of-the-art audiovisuals.  Our AV staff is onsite for trouble-shooting throughout the event.  We handle sign-in of participants, faculty travel and introduction, hotel and conference center contracts,  exhibitors, and work with the food and beverage staff.

• Recruiting nationally and internationally known presenters such as Greg Louganis (AIDS), Ted Kennedy, Jr. (Disabilities), and Dr. Joyce Brothers (Mental Health).

Needs Assessments/Surveys

Georgia CHEP has developed, conducted and summarized a wide variety of needs assessments and surveys for over 27 years.      Below is a sample of our work in this area:

• Since 1982 we have conducted an annual training needs assessment of all constituents on our mailing list.  This aggregated information is utilized to plan training events for the year.

• In 2005 we were contracted by Emory University School of Medicine to conduct a statewide physician training needs assessment.  Results were utilized to plan a comprehensive training series conducted jointly by the Georgia Department of Human Resources,  Emory and Georgia CHEP.

• In 2002, 2003 and 2004 we conducted a statewide Customer Satisfaction Survey of all veterans served through the Department of Veterans Affairs system in the state of Florida.

• In 2003, the Georgia Department of Human Resources contracted with our organization to conduct a needs assessment of all employees of Georgia DFCS, Babies Can’t Wait, Children First, Board of Health, Health Districts, Juvenile Courts, Families First and other related entities.  The summarized report was utilized to plan a statewide series of training on the Social and Emotional Development of Young Children, co-sponsored by DHR and Georgia CHEP, Inc.

• In 2006, the Georgia Department of Human Resources hired CHEP to conduct a needs assessment of all school nurses as well as public health nurses who work with schools.  This information was utilized to develop a year-long training series for school nurses.

• In 2008, three state agencies contracted with Georgia CHEP to conduct a needs assessment of various consumers.

Grant and Program Evaluation

We have applied for, managed and evaluated all of our own grants since 1986 when we first elected to seek grant opportunities.  Since that time we have received 52 federal, state and local grants as well as contracts with a variety of entities that required an evaluation component.  In addition, we have received over 450 Department of Veterans’ Affairs contracts.  All staff members have been involved in this component of our organization, and we offer the following evaluation services:

• Evaluation plan development.

• Process, performance, program and impact evaluations.

• Performance measurements.

• Outcome-based evaluations.

• Competency profiles.

• Third-party grant evaluation.

We have worked as a grant evaluator for a variety of entities including the Department of Veterans Affairs, Georgia Public Health Districts,  School Systems and other non-profit organizations.   Our Executive Director is a grant reviewer for the Susan G. Komen Breast Health Foundation.

Consulting/Strategic Planning

Georgia CHEP has provided consultation and strategic planning services to a wide variety of organizations.   We help our clients identify innovative solutions to modern challenges, and CHEP staff members are available to provide consulting services in a wide variety of capacities including:

• Retreat planning and facilitation

• Grant review and consultation

• Tailor-made training events

• Workplace assessments

• Growth planning

• Effecting change

• Problem-solving

Leadership/Management Programs

Georgia CHEP has conducted various leadership and management programs.   We have held supervisory institutes, and have trained and consulted with dozens of agencies seeking to expand and motivate their management staff.   A few of our most popular programs have been the areas of:

• Provider as Coach.   We have a detailed handbook that is included with this training that was authored by Dr. Randy Gregg of our staff.

• Coaching and Counseling Employees Toward Empowerment

• Resolving Conflict in the Workplace

• Practical Supervision Skills

• Keeping Employees Motivated and Productive During Tough Times

• Communication, Personality Differences and Management Styles

Our staff is available to consult individually with leaders or potential leaders, customize a workshop for your organization, or plan a multi-day conference or series on supervisory issues. 

Coalition/Capacity Building

We began work in this area through our membership in a statewide coalition formerly named CHARGe (Coalition for a Healthy and Responsible Georgia), now known as Live Healthy Georgia.  At our AIDS and Tobacco Prevention conferences, we included sessions on coalition building, which were then followed by our consulting in various communities and remaining accessible to the coalitions after their inception.

Our capacity building services include the following components:

• The identification, development and strengthening of an organization’s abilities, processes and resources.

• Coaching, training and referrals.

• Assisting employees in defining and reaching their potential within the organization.

• Helping an organization assess its ability to achieve its mission.

• Actively seeking to improve an organization’s overall effectiveness.

Our Work with Homeless Veterans

One of our current priorities involves a project we are conducting in cooperation with the Northeast Program Evaluation Center,  under the direction of VA Central Office,  called the STEP Project.  

The goal of this initiative is to provide educational opportunities as well as collaborative services that will help develop and strengthen VA/community alliances and partnerships in order to expand, enhance and improve the quality of services provided to homeless veterans with mental health and substance use disorders.  Support Team for Existing and Emerging Partnerships (STEP) is a mental health education initiative aimed at providing assistance and support to VA clinicians and community-based organizations.  All activities will be accomplished as directed and prioritized by VA Mental Health Service Staff.

Using a Train-The-Trainer Model, members of the STEP Project will demonstrate methods that can be used by VAMC Liaisons to provide education and training to staff of community-based residential programs that operate under VA’s Grant and Per Diem Program.  The Train-The-Trainer Model employs adult learning strategies that improve retention of material.  During the training program, time is set aside to allow VAMC Liaisons to practice their own presentations of material and to discuss strategies for training staff of community-based residential programs.

Core course content provides base line clinical and administrative information to promote consistently high quality services to homeless veterans in community-based residential programs and encourage community-based program staff to engage in continuous quality improvement.  Course content across the 10 modules includes; but is not limited to:

• Recognition of mental illnesses often encountered in the homeless veteran population

• Special attention to suicide risk and suicide prevention

• Incorporation of relapse prevention as a component of substance abuse rehabilitation services

• Use of the recovery model approach to mental health and substance abuse services with an emphasis on engaging homeless veterans in their own treatment plans and efforts toward self sufficiency

• Utilization of VA’s national data systems (NEPEC and CHALENG) as a way to identify treatment needs and to track program progress and outcomes

• Implementation of strategies to identify, study and correct problems in order to engage in continuous quality improvement

• Adoption of case management strategies to improve services for homeless veterans

• Identification of VA and other federal, state and local vocational assistance services as a complementary effort to help veterans with employment.

• Incorporation of policies and strategies to assure veterans’ privacy and safety

• Overview of veterans’ benefits

• Identification of strategies to address inquiries from the media.

Video Library

We have established a video library containing educational workshop videos that can be checked out for a nominal fee.  These videos cover timely topics and are approved for CEUs for a variety of disciplines.  With a 30-day checkout, you can train as many employees as needed for one fee.  When the video package is returned to our office, we will then issue certificates.  We are receiving excellent feedback from those facilities that have participated in this component of our training program.  View Listing

How We've Changed

Now a free-standing non-profit, we have reengineered our long-standing format of providing traditional one-day accredited programs to include a greater emphasis on larger, co-sponsored educational events and projects.

We have expanded our contracts and grants division, and the vast majority of our efforts now are focused  on new models of educational delivery at contract sites.  

Our Staff

Our staff is virtual with employees in Georgia,  Florida,  South Carolina,  Mississippi,  Virginia, and Texas.  Our primary contact information is as follows:

      Marsha Tyson, Executive Director                mtyson@progressivetel.com

      Marjorie Huckeba,  Executive Assistant        mhuckeba@progressivetel.com       

Contact Information

Telephone

  478-463-3603

FAX

  478-463-3602

Postal address

  2363 Alvin Joiner Road, Dublin, GA 31021

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Last modified: 03/20/09