Cooperative Home Care Associates (CHCA) is a worker-owned cooperative and employer-based training program that provides home health aide services in New York City's South Bronx. Since 1985, CHCA has developed from an outsider advocating for change in the home health sector to an insider within the sector. CHCA exhibits the following characteristics of sectoral initiatives: it targets a particular occupation or set of occupations within an industry; it intervenes by becoming a valued actor with the industry employing the targeted occupation; it exists for the primary purpose of assisting low-income people to obtain decent employment; and it eventually creates systemic change with the targeted occupation's labor market. The following are among CHCA's main areas of activity: (1) providing job training for entry-level home health aides; (2) improving the job of home health aides by working to increase wages; (3) promoting reform of policy regarding the health care industry; (4) achieving growth and greater efficiency through career recruitment and screening procedures; (5) providing staff training; and (6) developing career advancement strategies and helping home health aides obtain better jobs. Of CHCA's 240 trainees in fiscal year 2000, 197 (81%) and 180 (91%) were retained in employment at a cost per retained employee of $4,260. (Contains 86 footnotes.) (MN)