State Announces RFA for Healthcare Education and Life-Skills

(Oct. 29, 2024) A Request for Applications (RFA) was issued last week entitled Healthcare Education and Life-skills. Developed by the NYS Department of Health (DOH) Office of Primary Care and Health Systems Management, Center for Health Care Policy and Resource Development, Office of Healthcare Workforce Innovation, the initiative's purpose is to increase the number of students, or trainees, pursuing careers in health care by offering wrap-around services and supports. The initiative does not fund education in specific health care roles, but rather interventions, wrap-around services, and soft skills to help students and trainees achieve their health career goals.

This initiative seeks to increase the health care workforce by:

• identifying health care workforce shortages by region and supporting students/trainees interested in pursuing careers to meet the identified health care needs of the region.
• increasing graduation/completion rates among students/trainees by assessing the barriers to completion and providing the necessary supports required for success.

The RFA is here and may be accessed through the Grants Gateway.

It is anticipated that approximately $19.5 million in State funding will be available to support projects across 10 NYS regions per year.

The goal of the RFA is to fund at least two awards per region. Awards will be made on a competitive basis and will be for a five-year period.

Award amounts will be a minimum of $250,000 and a maximum of $1,000,000 per year. Applicants are instructed to propose budgets between $250,000 and $1,000,000 per year. The regions designated in the RFA are determined using the 10 Empire State Development designations.

Key Dates:

• Release Date: Oct. 22, 2024
• Questions Due: Nov. 12, 2024
• Questions, Answers, and Updates Posted (on or about): Dec. 3, 2024
• Applications Due: Dec. 20, 2024 by 4 P.M.

Applicant must be a not-for-profit organization that offers support to students, or trainees, pursuing careers in health care.

Not-for-profit organizations eligible to apply for funding may include, but are not limited to:

• Area health education centers
• Community-based organizations
• Community health associations
• Educational institutions
• General hospitals
• Health care facilities
• Health care worker unions
• Joint labor-management training funds and committees
• Long term care facilities
• Regional health planning organizations
• Regional health networks
• Rural health networks
• Trade associations
• Workforce Investment Organizations

Population Served:

Applicant must be a not-for-profit organization that offers support to students, or trainees, pursuing careers in health care. The student or trainee target population should be informed by regional or local health care workforce needs. Ultimately, applicant should select target population(s) that serves the needs of regional health care facilities. Applications may cover a wide spectrum of student/trainee levels and a wide spectrum of health care disciplines. “Healthcare student” is broadly defined as those pursuing an education that prepares them for a career in health care delivery. This includes a wide range of programs, from medicine and nursing to physical therapy, public health, and allied health programs. “Healthcare trainee” is broadly defined as those pursuing educational or training courses designed to prepare for a career in the health care field. Such programs can range from short-term certificate programs to lengthy degree programs.

Program Services:

Assess the health care role needs in the region.

• Interventions and wrap-around services
  • ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Examples may include: 
    • Services directly related to academic or career mobility, including, but not limited to, academic advising, tutoring, tuition, books, fees, supplies, lab fees, and similar items;
    • Parking, transportation, and travel costs;
    • Other educational expenses such as the cost of research, conferences, presentations, publication;
    • Services indirectly related to academic or career mobility, including, but not limited to, personal support expenses, child care, financial support for study time, preparation in English for speakers of other languages
• Life-skills instruction
  • ​​​​​​​Examples may include:
    • ​​​​​​​Wellness and stress management
    • Time management and scheduling
    • Financial literacy and budgeting
    • Curriculum that connects educational content with career readiness and/or employability with instruction on conflict resolution, building emotional resilience, setting boundaries, and other necessary tools to foster communication skills
    • Applicant may consider utilizing an apprenticeship, counseling, or life coach model to enhance the life-skills curriculum.
    • Personal growth models may include:
      • Goal Setting: Setting, managing, and carrying out plans/goals
      • Focus: Tools for concentrating on what is important at any given time
      • Self-Control: Control how to respond to emotions and stressful situations
      • Self-Awareness: Noticing people and situations; working interdependently
      • Flexibility: Tools for adaptability in changing situations

Subcontracting of components of the initiative may occur. 

Contract Timeline:

It is expected that contracts resulting from this RFA will have the following time period: five-year contracts, Jan. 1, 2026-Dec. 31, 2031.

Please note key dates, including Dec. 20, 2024, 4 p.m. as the application due date. 

Contact: Meg Everett, meverett@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8871