National Direct Service Workforce Resource Center : Federal Funding

Make sure you know which federal grants your state has already received or is applying for. Familiarize yourself with these grants’ objectives and requirements and identify whether there might be a connection to DSW issues that would allow you to collaborate on an existing project, rather than seeking new funding.

Federal grant money often flows to states through formula or block grants. The best way to access certain federal monies may be through your state government.

Think about whether it makes more sense to apply for a demonstration grant or funding to support a research project, or to support DSW improvement efforts with more constant sources of funding like Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) or a Medicaid home and community based services waiver.

Here are some general on-line resources about federal grants:

Grants.gov: The Grants.gov website is a single access point that allows organizations to electronically find and apply for more than $400 billion in Federal grants offered by all Federal grant-making agencies. The website allows organizations to search for grants, sign up for email notification of specific grant opportunities, and download grant application packages.

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA): The CFDA describes both Federal grants and non-financial assistance programs and includes a keyword index. The catalog is published annually and updated continuously. The CFDA also provides guidance for writing Federal grant proposals.

Sources of Federal Funding:

Department of Health and Human Services Funding Sources

Department of Labor and Department of Education Funding Sources

Created by: admin. Last Modification: Monday 04 of May, 2009 13:25:47 EDT by lauren.coughlin.

What's New

New Funding Opportunities!

Health Reform

Webinar on Strengthenging the Direct Service Workforce In Rural Areas: On March 18, 2010 the Direct Service Workforce Resource Center held a webinar on strengthening the direct service workforce in rural areas.

Webinar on Nurse Delegation:
On February 17, 2010 Susan Reinhard, RN, PhD, of AARP and national expert on nurse delegation, moderated the webinar and provided an overview of nurse delegation. New Jersey discussed their nurse delegation pilot program and North Dakota discussed changes that have been made in their state to support nurse delegation.

Webinar on the Findings from DSW Demonstration Evaluation: On November 16, 2009 Sarah Hunter from the RAND Corporation and Laura Steighner from American Institutes for Research (AIR) presented the results from the evaluation of the 10 Direct Service Workforce Demonstration grants. CMS awarded the demonstration grants in 2003 and 2004 to better understand how to improve recruitment and retention of the direct service workforce.

Strategies for Improving DSW Recruitment, Retention, and Quality: What We Know about What Works, What Doesn't, and Research Gaps: This report provides examples of efforts that have demonstrated positive impacts on recruitment, retention, and quality of services by summarizing key findings from several national studies that reviewed the research on efforts to strengthen the direct service workforce.

Direct Service Workforce Core Competencies Annotated Bibliography: This resource was developed in response to requests from several states for information about developing core competencies for DSWs across sectors. Although each sector has its own sets of competencies, no state or national body has yet developed a common set of core competencies and career path for DSWs across the physical disabilities, aging, behavioral health, and intellectual/ developmental disabilities sectors. This annotated bibliography summarizes the recommendations from six state-level reports, two national studies, and a Federal bill to develop such competency-based training across sectors.

Strengthening the Direct Service Workforce in Rural Areas: Due to geographic isolation, fewer available services, transportation limitations, demographic trends reducing the supply of informal caregivers and less ability to recruit an adequate supply of direct service workers, many rural areas struggle with providing quality home-based supports. This issue brief contains a summary of the challenges of the direct service workforce in rural areas and strategies that rural stakeholders can use to provide high-quality long-term care services and supports.

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