In today’s rapidly changing workplace environment, health centers need to be at the forefront of developing solutions that meet the ever evolving needs of their workforce. ACU’s STAR² Center Podcast Series brings you engaging and informative chats with health center leaders and experts about the different core components that make up a robust health center workforce as it is the fuel for your organizational mission. The second season focuses on the short-term and long-term effects of the COVID-19 crisis on the health center workforce.

The STAR² Center online course library is a growing space for recruitment and retention professional development at your own pace. All courses are designed to be completed in around 30 minutes and you can save and return to a course if and when life gets in the way. Create a free account to enroll in courses such as "Creating a Compensation Package for Retention", "Building the Recruitment Team", and "Engaging High-Functioning Managers for Retention".

The day-to-day routine of many health care workers and the teams that support them continue to shift at a rapid pace. During these hectic times, it is more important than ever to practice self-care, even as it is harder to fit into the "to-do" list. Mental Health First Aid has put together Tips for Practicing Self-Care on a Busy Schedule to help with just that.

As ACU plans for our 2021 Annual conference we are monitoring the COVID-19 pandemic and public health measures closely to ensure that our Conference aligns with the highest safety standards—including the possibility of transitioning the event to a virtual setting or a hybrid event in which keynotes, general sessions, and some workshops are available via streaming.

ACU is now accepting workshop and poster abstracts for its 2021 Annual Conference, Mission: Health Equity. As of this time, the conference will be held in-person at the Mandarin Oriental in Washington, D.C., from August 1-4, 2021.

Join the STAR² Center on February 18 from 2:00 pm EST as expert faculty Matt Bennett leads an hour-long presentation defining moral injury and moral distress and highlighting the role of COVID-19 can play in its development. Through his presentation, attendees will explore the critical role health center leadership can play in creating meaningful, systemic changes that effectively and directly address the presence of moral injury and moral distress among their workforce.

The next session in this monthly series will take place on February 11 from 3:00-4:00pm EST. PCA and HCCN staff are invited to join our "train the trainer" series to boost their workforce training skills to support health centers. Materials from past sessions are available in our Resource Center.

The STAR² Center team offers FREE technical assistance to health centers on their workforce needs. Where questions arise in reviewing the Data Profile Dashboards, completing our comprehensive Retention and Recruitment Plan Template, planning for employee engagement, or something else, our team of experts is here to help. The STAR² Center is available to offer phone or web-based assistance free of charge to health center staff.

Workforce staff at health centers, PCAs, and HCCNs are invited to apply to add their expertise and experience to the National Advisory Group in preparation for the virtual Biennial Workforce Summit. The STAR² Center is looking forward to hosting this virtual event in collaboration with NACHC and CHC Inc. on May 26-27, 2021.

The Health Center Resource Clearinghouse is designed as a one-stop online repository of training and technical assistance resources developed for health centers by the National Training and Technical Assistance Partners. Topics include finance, operations, workforce, quality improvement, capital development, HIT/data, governance and emerging issues.