COVID-19 Containment Response Corps (CCRC) was a group of AmeriCorps members and AmeriCorps Senior volunteers who served as case investigators or contact tracers for the State of Colorado during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the CDC, “Case investigation and contact tracing is a specialized skill. To be done effectively, it requires people with the training, supervision, and access to social and medical support for patients and contacts.” From July 2020 to May 2021, the CCRC provided thousands of Coloradans with the information and resources they needed to understand their potential to spread COVID-19 and remain quarantined/isolated. During this time, AmeriCorps, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), Serve Colorado - the Governor’s Commission on Community Service, and COVID Check Colorado, LLC (CCC) partnered together to form the Colorado COVID Recovery Program and they signed a memorandum of understanding on July 1, 2020.
Findings:
The report’s key findings were the following:
- Through their contributions to CCRC, AmeriCorps members and AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers completed 17,629 case investigations, 7,635 through contact tracing, and an approximate 32,803 test results delivered (out of approximately 67,500 calls attempted).
- The program also exceeded expectations as a pathway to employment for the members and volunteers who served, from early summer 2020 to the project’s wind-down phase.
- Roughly 934 members and volunteers served with CCRC in some capacity since the program’s inception.
- Of those 934, 84 former CCRC members and volunteers were hired to continue case investigation/contact tracing. This amounts to 11% who gained direct employment due to their service experience in CCRC.
For more information, download the full report.