School Health Workforce Development Awards

Through a CDC Cooperative Agreement for Emergency Response: Public Health Crisis Response, the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services is awarding funding to establish, expand, train, and sustain the public health workforce to support jurisdictional COVID-19 prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery initiatives, including school-based health programs.

$1,812,718 is available for school health workforce support. K-12 school districts and private schools are eligible to apply for funding up to $250,000. Funds will be made available during the two-year budget period to conduct activities necessary to expand, train, and sustain a response-ready school health workforce. The two-year performance period is July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2023. All funding must be used to recruit, hire, and train school nurses and other school health personnel to increase the current capacity to address COVID-19 and future preparedness activities. 

*This ARPA funding and award recipients are subject to subrecipient monitoring.
All K-12 public school school districts and private school systems are eligible. School districts must apply on the behalf of interested individual schools. Only one application is allowed per school district or private school system.

School Health Workforce Development Award 
(Closed to New Applications)

  1. Click the link above to access the School Health Workforce Development Award application.
  2. You must sign into the grant application portal in the Submittable platform. 
    • If a school district or private school does not have an account in Submittable, the primary contact for the application will be asked to create an account. You will not be able to access the entire grant application without an account. Once you've created an account, access the grant application for additional instructions. 
    • Primary contacts with an established account in submittable can login and access the entire application. 
  3. Draft a proposal, budget, and budget narrative according to the guidance in the application. 
  4. Upload your information into Submittable and finalize your application. Active applications may be saved and reopened for edited prior to submission. 
  5. The primary contact will receive an email notice that the application and accompanying proposal have been successfully uploaded and will be reviewed by a team of DPHHS staff. 
  6. Additional follow-up communications will be sent as needed. If there are no questions regarding the proposal, budget, or budget narrative, the DPHHS review committee will score the application.
  7. If the application is successful, the district or private school will receive a message which will include details about the full funding amount to be awarded and next steps. 
  8. Unsuccessful applicants will receive a message indicating the reasons why the application was not successful.

ARPA School Health Workforce Development- Budget Template

ARPA School Health Workforce Development- Budget Narrative Template

Allowable Costs

  1. The costs, including wages and benefits, related to recruiting, hiring, and training of individuals to serve as:
    1. School nurses, school health coordinators, and school-based health services personnel, including hiring school-based nurses, converting current nurses from part-time to full-time work, increasing hours, increasing nursing salaries or otherwise supporting retention efforts.
    2. These individuals may be employed by sschools, school boards, school districts, or appropriate entities for providing school-based health and preventive services; or eemployment agencies, contracted vendors, or other temporary staffing agencies.
  2. Purchase of equipment and supplies necessary to support the expanded workforce including personal protective equipment, equipment needed to perform the duties of the position, computers, cell phones, internet costs, cybersecurity software, and other costs associated with support of the expanded workforce.

  3. Administrative support services necessary to implement activities funded under this section, including anticipated travel and training.
 
*This funding is a one time funding source made available through the ARP Federal Allocation. Funding is provided by the CDC RFA-TP18-1802 Cooperative Agreement for Emergency Response: Public Health Crisis Response.

Focus Areas

  1. COVID-19 Response
  2. Communicable disease identification, tracking, and reporting
  3. Chronic disease prevention, management, and education
  4. Coordination with local county health department and other public health partners
  5. Student and staff wellness policy implementation
  6. Other school health services tasks as needed

General Requirements

  1. School district authorization: All school district plans must have approval from authorized personnel at the district level. 
  2. Detailed funding proposal including a budget and budget narrative
  3. Recipients must submit semi-annual progress reports and budget expenditure reports. Example templates to be provided by the Department.

Reporting Requirement

Quarterly Invoices
Funding will be released upon the submission of quarterly invoices to the Department of Public Health and Human Services. Invoices must be uploaded into the Submittable Grants Application Portal by the 15th of the month following each quarter. Additional instructions will be shared with awardees. 

Quarter Breakdown

July 1, 2021 - December 31, 2021 (Back-pay): Report due 1/15/22
January 1, 2022 - March 31, 2022: Report Due 4/15/22 
April 1, 2022 - June 30, 2022: Report Due 7/15/22 
July 1, 2022 - September 31, 2022: Report Due 10/15/22
October 1, 2022 - December 31, 2022: Report Due 1/15/23 
January 1, 2023 - March 31, 2023: Report Due 4/15/23 
April 1, 2023 - June 30, 2023: Report Due 7/15/23

CDC 6 Month Progress Report
To remain in compliance with CDC funding requirements, awardees must submit progress reports every six months during the project funding period of July 1, 2021 - June 30, 2023. Tthese 6-month progress reports must be submitted through the Submittable Grants Application Portal.

Cooperative Agreement Guidance

CDC Crisis Response Cooperative Agreement: COVID-19 Public Health Workforce Supplemental Funding Guidance
This guidance is intended for state health departments participating in the CDC Crisis Response Cooperative Agreement. The Montana DPHHS has the authority to determine specific terms of this grant funding within the scope of the agreement.  

Need More Information?
Email DPHHS at schoolhealth@mt.gov