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NYS Department of Health Announces Workforce Retraining Funding Opportunity

May 29, 2018

The New York State Department of Health (DOH), in consultation with the Department of Labor (DOL), recently announced a Request for Applications for the Health Workforce Retraining Initiative (HWRI).  This program was established pursuant to NYS Public Health Law §2807-g and is funded through the State’s Health Care Reform Act.  The 2018-19 Enacted New York State Budget included $9 million for this initiative and DOH anticipates an additional $9 million to be available for this grant in SFY 2019-20.

The DOH is soliciting applications from eligible organizations that seek to train or retrain health industry workers for new or emerging positions in the health care delivery system.  The purpose of this initiative is to:

  • Assist health care workers in the development of new skills to maintain employment and achieve licensing/certification requirements;
  • Enable health care workers to pursue new career opportunities created due to market changes, new employment for displaced health care workers and those at risk of displacement;
  • Provide health care workers with the education and training necessary to utilize emerging health technologies and data analytics to support population health management and delivery of high quality, cost effective care;
  • Address current and future occupational shortages;
  • Provide expertise to support integrated and interdisciplinary team-based care;
  • Meet increased demand for home and community-based long-term care services; and
  • Ensure health care workers can effectuate appropriate care transitions, reduce avoidable hospital readmissions and emergency room visits.

Funding is based on the total amount available in each region and will be awarded on a competitive basis by project and region.  Interested organizations may submit up to 50 applications for multiple projects.  Below please find further information regarding the counties included in this initiative, as well as the amount of funding available per region.

Maximum Funding Levels by Region

Western

Rochester

Central

Utica/ Watertown

Northeastern

Northern Metropolitan

New York City

Long Island

Allegany

Livingston

Broome

Chenango

Albany

Columbia

Bronx

Nassau

Cattaraugus

Monroe

Cayuga

Franklin

Clinton

Delaware

Kings

Suffolk

Chautauqua

Ontario

Chemung

Hamilton

Essex

Dutchess

New York

Erie

Seneca

Cortland

Herkimer

Fulton

Orange

Queens

Genesee

Wayne

Schuyler

Jefferson

Greene

Putnam

Richmond

Niagara

Yates

Steuben

Lewis

Montgomery

Rockland

Orleans

Tioga

Madison

Rensselaer

Sullivan

Wyoming

Tompkins

Oneida

Saratoga

Ulster

Onondaga

Otsego

Schenectady

Westchester

Oswego

Schoharie

St.

Warren

Lawrence

Washington

$526,458

$1,045,833

$561,481

$66,643

$483,425

$861,535

$12,866,527

$1,908,098

Maximum Regional Funding Amounts

$67,784

$135,110

$73,280

$8,015

$63,662

$109,920

$1,588,115

$244,114

The following organizations may apply for funding under this initiative:

  • Health worker unions;
  • General hospitals;
  • Long term care facilities;
  • Certified home health agencies, licensed home care services agencies, long term health care programs, hospices, ambulatory care facilities, diagnostic and treatment facilities;
  • Office of Mental Health or the Office of Alcohol and Substance Abuse Services licensed providers;
  • Health care facilities trade associations;
  • Labor-management committees;
  • Joint labor-management training funds established by the Federal Taft-Hartley Act; and
  • Educational institutions.

Additionally, applicants must:

  • Be a legally established organization located in NYS;
  • Have a minimum of two years of training experience with health care workers;
  • Be capable of entering into a master contract with DOH; and
  • Identify a need for training in one or more areas:
    • Occupations with known shortages;
    • Educational opportunities in shortage occupations;
    • Provide training to affected health care workers who have experienced or will likely experience job loss/displacement due to changes in health care delivery;
    • New job certification or licensing requirements; and
    • Knowledge and use of emerging technologies.

Applicants that are able to thoroughly demonstrate a need for such training will be given higher scores.  Additionally, preference points will be provided to projects that increase workforce supply in the following professions:

    • Clinical laboratory technologists;
    • Registered Nurses and Licensed Practical Nurses;
    • RN Care coordinators;
    • Certified Nursing Aides;
    • Nurse Practitioners and Psychiatric Nurse Practitioners;
    • Nurse Managers and Directors;
    • Physician Assistants;
    • Licensed Master Social Workers and Licensed Clinical Social Workers;
    • Minimum Data Set Coordinators;
    • Home Health Aides;
    • Emergency Technicians and Paramedics;
    • Physical Therapists;
    • Occupational Therapists; and
    • Diagnostic Medical Sonographers.

Applicants must also clearly demonstrate an ability to:

    • Develop and manage the structure necessary to implement proposed projects;
    • Develop project curriculum and select program participants within three months of contract execution;
    • Ensure assessment, training and placement services for proposed program participants;
    • Provide DOH with monthly or quarterly outcome and expenditure reports, as well as a two year final report; and
    • Cooperate with DOH and DOL during the program review process and provide supporting documentation regarding outcomes, expenditures and any other information required to evaluate programmatic progress.

Interested organizations must submit applications via the NYS Grants Gateway on or before June 22, 2018 by 4:00 pm.

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For additional information on this and other DOH initiatives, please do not hesitate to contact Farrell Fritz’s Regulatory & Government Relations Practice Group at 518.313.1450 or NYSRGR@FarrellFritz.com.