On October 11, LeadingAge asked for a clarification on whether the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Nursing Expansion Grant Program Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) requires nonprofit healthcare organizations, who are one of the six eligible lead applicants for the Nursing Career Pathways Track, to be affiliated with hospitals and other medical facilities, for the purposes of the grant program.

An affiliation requirement was listed in some places of the FOA.

On November 8, DOL issued an “Amendment to the FOA” which removed the affiliation language, and a revised Section III.A.1. Eligibility Lead Applicants Section of the FOA. Page 22 of the FOA is amended (new language in bold), to state:

For the purposes of this FOA, the following six types of entities qualify as eligible lead applicants:
• Nonprofit healthcare organizations (this includes community or faith-based organizations, community health centers, and other medical facilities);

The FOA Amendment also includes the following clarifying language for the Executive Summary, on eligible lead applicants:

Eligible lead applicants include nonprofit healthcare organizations; nonprofit trade, industry, or employer associations representing the target populations in the nurse education professional occupations and nursing occupations; community-based organizations; labor unions, labor management organizations, and worker organizations representing the target populations in the nurse education professional occupations and nursing occupations; education/training providers including community colleges, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), Tribal Colleges and Universities, and other Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) or Strengthening Institutions Program (SIP) colleges (as designated by the Higher Education Act’s Title III and V funding), among others; workforce development entities; and Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized).

All additional program award requirements for the DOL Nursing Expansion Grant Program are still in place. Eligible lead applicants must establish partnerships with the one of the following required partners: employer partners; education and training providers; workforce development entities; worker organizations; labor-management organization, or labor unions; or State Apprenticeship Agencies. Applicants are also strongly encouraged to collaborate with other optional partners that can support and the work of nurse and nurse education professional training programs. Additionally, they must embed three cross-cutting principles into their program design to ensure meaningful impact on, and benefit to the nursing workforce. The cross-cutting principles are:

1. Strategies for ensuring diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility;
2. Career pathways; and
3. Approaches for Increasing job quality.

DOL has published a “Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)” page, which is available online at: https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/grants/apply/find-opportunities, under the DOL Nursing Expansion Grant Program heading.

A pre-recorded “Prospective Applicant Webinar” is available online at https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/grants/apply/find-opportunities, under the DOL Nursing Expansion Grant Program heading and available for viewing any time.

Related Articles See: https://leadingage.org/dol-80-million-grant-funding-to-address-shortage-of-nurses/