Over 100 students already trained through Clark State contact tracing program

CLARK COUNTY, Ohio (WDTN) – Clark State Community College rolled out one of the first contact tracing programs in the nation, and now, nearly a month and a half later, they’ve trained over 100 students.

The director of the Workforce and Business Solutions which oversees the program said they’ve seen a variety of people enroll. From those currently unemployed to employees of companies looking to have that training on their staff. The director said it’s a skill set that’s needed and it’s not going away soon.

As Ohio continues to reopen, Clark State Community College is offering specialized training for contact tracing of the COVID-19 virus for just $50.

Lesli Beavers, Clark State’s Workforce and Business Solutions Director, said it’s self-paced, all online, and is normally done in about two or three weeks.

“We do have a four week deadline to try and keep people on track, but they can ask for extensions,” said Beavers. “We’ve had plenty of people ask for that because we do have a lot of people that work and are doing this on the side just to learn this pertinent information.”

She said the first class started May 26, and they’ve had three more course start dates since then. When students complete the program, her department then serves as a pipeline to any open contact tracing jobs.

“We always share when the postings are out for our county health districts, we serve Clark, Greene, Champaign and Logan counties, but we also share other counties or statewide postings because a lot of these can be done remotely,” said Beavers.

Governor Mike DeWine said Ohio would need about 2,000 contact tracers by the end of June. Beavers said she doesn’t know exactly how many positions have been created, but this is information directly from the CDC that anyone could benefit from.

“The need was there in May and will continue to grow, especially as we reopen,” said Beavers. “There will be probably more cases and more need for contact tracing because we’re interacting more on a daily basis.”

For more information or to register for the program, click here.