Nursing Home Staffing Campaign

Background
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is dedicated to enhancing safety and quality of care in nursing homes across the nation. The Nursing Home Staffing Campaign (NHSC) aims to address staffing shortages by increasing the availability of registered nurses (RNs) and licensed practical nurses (LPNs) in nursing homes. This initiative is crucial as many nursing homes face challenges in hiring sufficient staff to meet residents' needs, which directly impacts the quality of care provided.

The NHSC seeks to recruit RNs and LPNs through financial incentives, such as loan repayment and stipends, to encourage them to work in qualifying nursing homes or state inspection agencies for a period of three years.

Grant Details
CMS is accepting applications for cooperative agreements from entities that will administer financial incentives to RNs and LPNs. The tasks include:
1) Identifying and accepting applications from eligible individuals;
2) Distributing funds for student loan repayment (up to $40,000) and stipends ($10,000 for living expenses);
3) Ensuring that funds are distributed every three months in equal amounts over the three-year commitment;
4) Coordinating with states to enhance recruitment efforts;
5) Maintaining systems for tracking nurse commitments;
6) Collaborating with stakeholders such as nursing homes and educational institutions;
7) Reporting on program outcomes including recruitment numbers and financial distributions.

Eligibility Requirements
Eligible applicants include public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, private nonprofit institutions of higher education, national associations for nursing schools, nurses, or nursing students, community-focused nonprofit groups, small nonprofit businesses, and faith-based organizations meeting the criteria. Applicants must demonstrate experience working with large numbers of nursing schools and nurses across multiple states.

Period of Performance
The performance period spans five years with funding provided in five budget periods of twelve months each. The recruitment phase lasts approximately 18-21 months followed by a three-year work completion period during which financial incentives are administered.

Grant Value
The total funding available for this program is $80 million, with individual awards ranging from $1.76 million to $20 million per region per applicant. CMS anticipates awarding between five to ten grants based on regional coverage.

Place of Performance
The program will be implemented across six designated regions in the United States:
- Region 1 (Northeast)
- Region 2 (Southeast)
- Region 3 (Midwest)
- Region 4 (Southwest)
- Region 5 (Central)
- Region 6 (West).