Healthcare Employment Training Grant for Low-income Individuals

The Health Profession Opportunity Grants to Serve TANF Recipients and Other Low-income Individuals is a provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (the health reform legislation signed into law by President Obama in the spring). Administered by DHHS’s Administration for Children and Families, this grant provides an opportunity to develop demonstration projects that will provide education and training to state TANF- eligible and other low-income individuals (as defined by the applicant) in the healthcare sector.


The application deadline is August 5, 2010.

Competitive applications will describe programs that would:

• Offer targeted training in health care occupations that pay well and are either expected to experience labor shortages or will be in high demand.

• Support career pathways

• Result in an employer- or industry- recognized certificate or degree

• Provide support services (such as transportation and child care) and integrate basic skills training with occupational training to help participants overcome barriers to successful program participation and employment

• Be accessible to participants

Applicants are strongly encouraged to design projects that meet the needs of the target populations they serve and to investigate other program models that have been proven to result in positive outcomes for participants. Successful applications will also include partnerships entities including employers, vocational training providers, nonprofit organizations, state agencies, and foundations. Applicants are also required to show that they have consulted with the state agency administering TANF, the Local Workforce Investment Board, and the State Apprenticeship Agency.

Importantly, this funding is for new programming. 51 million dollars have been made available under this grant, with grants ranging from 1 million to 5 million. Applicants have to show that the grant, if received, would not be used to supplant other Federal, State, or local funds that would have otherwise been made available. Nor can the applicant seek to simply expand or augment a current federally or grant funded program.

Eligible applicants are states, local workforce investment boards, institutes of higher education, Indian tribes and tribal organizations, tribal colleges and universities, a sponsor of a registered apprenticeship program, and community- based organizations.

The full announcement can be found here.