Education and Training

Striving to Make the Next 40 Years as Great as the Past 40 Years!

Please take the time TODAY to participate in our survey by giving us your feedback on how RCAP Solutions can provide better information through our "From Watershed to Well" publication as well as better address your needs in our field work. Thank you in advance!

*To read the complete article associated with this survey, please click here

RCAP Solutions has made a major commitment to education and training as a means of helping to assure public and individual self-reliance, and to improve the quality of life for individuals and families, and the communities in which they live and work. We are also committed to using a variety of cutting-edge learning technologies, including distance learning, the Internet, traditional classroom instruction, and internships. We view partnerships with other community develop organizations and academic institutions – both those in the public and the private sectors, as part of the future direction of education and training at RCAP Solutions.

Our expert staff share their expertise through coaching and teaching in areas that include community capacity, community infrastructure, transitioning to work/workforce development, and housing.


	RCAP staff Juan Campos coaches community members in Comunidad Mulas La Sofia in Puerto Rico

RCAP's Education and Training programs are offered at a reasonable cost and can be tailored to your needs. Programs can be delivered at our training facility in Gardner, Massachusetts, or in local facilities convenient to the target audience for a given program, such as:

Community Capacity

• Board Development
• Comprehensive Community Capacity Development
• Financial and Managerial Capacities (e.g., budgeting, billing and collections, capital improvements,
and rate setting)
• Planning and District Formation
• Economic Development

Community Infrastructure

• Regulatory Compliance
• Asset Management (EPA CUPSS Trainer Certified)

CUPSS (Check Up for Small Systems) is free asset management software available from the EPA (www.epa.gov/cupss). RCAP Solutions has been teaching CEU-accredited asset management classes for three years and can assist anyone with asset management questions, its' implementation and the use of CUPSS or alternative software.

For more information please contact Art Astarita at 207-766-3065 or aastarita@rcapsolutions.org

• Emergency Preparedness
• Safety and Security Assessments
• De-centralized Wastewater Management and Technology
• Career Development in Water and Wastewater System Operations

Transition to Work & Workforce Development

• Post Secondary Operator Education Programs in partnership with the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico, Center for Environmental Education, Interpretation and Research (CECIA)

Homeowner and Landlord / Property Manager Training & Development

• First-Time Homebuyers Education
• Financial Literacy Training and Managing Your Credit
• Property Owner and Manager Training
• Fair Housing Laws
• Subsidized Housing Programs

SMART About Water Program Comes to an End
In 2008, the National Environmental Services Center (NESC) launched Smart About Water, a project in partnership with the Rural Community Assistance Partnership (RCAP) designed to assist small communities in their efforts to protect drinking water quality. Funded by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the project helped develop and provide training and technical assistance about source water and wellhead protection, and focused on untreated wastewater from failing septic and sewer systems, the largest contributor to water quality degradation.

The first step of the project was training RCAP field staff, who then conducted 112 trainings in 42 states and US Territories. Altogether, SMART trained 1,479 participants representing 683 small and very small drinking water systems throughout the nation. Of special interest were the 23 Trailblazer Communities, selected by RCAP based on their readiness to prepare source water and wellhead protection plans.

The SMART project officially ended September 30, 2009, although most of the project materials are still available on the SMART About Water Web site. You can also contact the NESC at (800) 624-8301 or email info@mail.nesc.wvu.edu.

For a full recap of the SMART About Water Program, click here

For information about Education and Training contact:

Ms. Sukhwindar Singh, Director of Education and Training, at 814-861-7072