Section 9. A health professions worker training grant program is established for the purpose of responding to the need for workers in various health care professions, subject to the requirements of section 2RR of chapter 29.

A qualifying consortium shall apply for grant funding from the fund in the manner specified by the director.

Applications for grants must describe targeted participants of the proposed grant application and must describe the specific critical work force shortage the program is designed to alleviate. The application must include verification that in the process of determining that a critical work force shortage exists in the target area, the applicant has (1) consulted available data on worker shortages and (2) conferred with employers in the target area.

Within the limits of available appropriations, the director shall make grants not to exceed $200,000 each to qualifying consortia to provide workforce development services which may lead to employment in the health professions. Grant awards must establish specific, measurable outcomes and timelines for achieving those outcomes.

A qualifying consortium shall implement a marketing and outreach strategy to recruit into the health care professions persons from one or more of the potential employee target groups. Recruitment strategies must include: a screening process to evaluate whether potential employees may be disqualified as the result of a required background check or are otherwise unlikely to succeed in the position for which they are being recruited; and a process for modifying course work to meet the training needs of non-English-speaking persons, when appropriate.

High school students participating in a training program shall not be permitted to work more than 20 hours per week when school is in session.