The CAPTC moves from training California, to training contact tracers and case investigators nationwide
Contact tracer (woman in a white shirt and grey jacket) makes a phone call on a mobile phone, and is taking notes on a laptop.
The CAPTC’s Disease Intervention Training Center (DITC) has been working around the clock since July 2020 – to develop curricula to build and train the nation’s growing contact tracing workforce to combat COVID-19, including case investigators (CI), contact tracers (CT), and contact tracing supervisors.
The new virtual skills-based training course they’ve helped develop, dubbed the National COVID-19 Virtual Skills-Based Training Programs, is now available to public health departments across the United States.
A robust and well-equipped contact tracing workforce is essential in preventing the further spread of COVID-19. This requires individuals skilled with tactful interpersonal skills, interviewing skills, and cultural sensitivity that help build trust with contacts who may have been exposed to, or who have tested positive for COVID-19.
Nearly all states are conducting contact tracing in some capacity. Their approaches are determined by the spread of disease in their state, in addition to the resources available to them. States are recruiting contact tracing workforce in a variety of ways – from reassigning state and local government employees to seeking volunteers to using outside vendors.
The National COVID-19 Virtual Skills-Based Training Programs incorporates a variety of learning approaches including online instructional modules, sample interviews with cases and contacts, skills sessions to practice questions asked in a case investigation and contact tracing interview, and exercises to determine isolation and quarantine periods for cases and contacts. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are funding this new national training program.
Previously, the CAPTC’s case investigation experts actively contributed to the curriculum development and training of California’s contact tracing workforce in coordination with its partners at University of California, San Francisco and University of California, Los Angeles. To date, California has trained nearly 10,000 learners since May as part of Governor Newsom’s California Connected program.
Registration is now open to staff working with local or state health departments at: https://www.nnditc.org/index.html.
This fact sheet provides additional information on the National COVID-19 Virtual Skills-Based Training Program. If you have questions, please contact info@nnditc.org.