FOA-ODEP-18-01.pdf

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Office of Disability Employment Policy

NOTICE OF AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS AND FUNDING

OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT FOR:

Retaining Employment and Talent After Injury/Illness Network

(RETAIN) Demonstration Projects

MAY 24, 2018

200 Constitution Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20210

Table of Contents Table of Contents

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

I. FUNDING OPPORTUNITY DESCRIPTION

A. PROGRAM PURPOSE

B. BACKGROUND AND INTERVENTION DESIGN

C. PROGRAM AUTHORITY

D. DEFINITIONS

II. AWARD INFORMATION

A. AWARD AMOUNT AND PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

B. AWARD TYPE

III. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

A. ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS

1. Responsibilities of the Lead Applicant

B. COST SHARING OR MATCHING

C. OTHER INFORMATION

1. Application Screening Criteria

2. Number of Applications Applicants May Submit

D. ELIGIBLE TARGET WORKER PARTICIPANT POPULATIONS

E. VETERANS PRIORITY FOR PARTICIPANTS

F. OTHER AWARD SPECIFICATIONS

1. Allowable Use of Funds during Phase 1, RETAIN Planning & Pilot Cooperative Agreement .. 14

2. State and Local Partnerships

3. Program Technical Assistance

4. Evaluation Information

IV. APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION

A. HOW TO OBTAIN AN APPLICATION PACKAGE

B. CONTENT AND FORM OF APPLICATION SUBMISSION

1. SF-424, “Application for Federal Assistance”

2. SF-424A, “Budget Information Form” and Budget Narrative

3. Project Narrative

4. Attachments to the Project Narrative

C. SUBMISSION DATE, TIMES, PROCESS, AND ADDRESSES

D. INTERGOVERNMENTAL REVIEW

E. FUNDING RESTRICTIONS

1. Indirect Costs

2. Salary and Bonus Limitations

3. Intellectual Property Rights

4. Travel

F. OTHER SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

V. APPLICATION REVIEW INFORMATION

A. SCORING CRITERIA FOR PROJECT NARRATIVES

B. REVIEW AND SELECTION PROCESS FOR PHASE 1, RETAIN PLANNING AND PILOTS

1. Risk Review Process

C. REVIEW AND SELECTION PROCESS FOR PHASE 2, RETAIN DEMONSTRATION PROJECT

IMPLEMENTATION

VI. AWARD ADMINISTRATION INFORMATION

A. AWARD NOTICES

B. ADMINISTRATIVE AND NATIONAL POLICY REQUIREMENTS

1. Administrative Program Requirements

2. General Terms and Conditions of Award

3. Other Legal Requirements

4. Other Administrative Standards and Provisions

C. REPORTING

1. Quarterly Financial Reports

2. Quarterly Performance Reports

VII. AGENCY CONTACTS

VIII. OMB INFORMATION COLLECTION

IX. APPENDICES

A. THE NEED FOR EARLY INTERVENTION

B. WASHINGTON STATE’S CENTERS OF OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND EDUCATION (COHE) AND

EARLY RETURN TO WORK (ERTW) AND STAY AT WORK (SAW) PROGRAMS

C. CONTINUOUS QUALITY IMPROVEMENT

D. RETAIN PERFORMANCE METRICS

Office of Disability Employment Policy

NOTICE OF AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS AND FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT

FOR:

Retaining Employment and Talent After Injury/Illness Network (RETAIN) Demonstration Projects

ANNOUNCEMENT TYPE: Initial

FUNDING OPPORTUNITY NUMBER: FOA-ODEP-18-01

CATALOG OF FEDERAL DOMESTIC ASSISTANCE (CFDA) NUMBER: 17.720

KEY DATES: The closing date for receipt of applications under this Announcement is July 23, 2018. We must receive applications no later than 4:00:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

ADDRESSES: Address mailed applications to:

The U.S. Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration, Office of Grants Management Attention: Jimmie Curtis, Grant Officer Reference FOA-ODEP-18-01 200 Constitution Avenue, NW, Room N4716 Washington, DC 20210

For complete application and submission information, including online application instructions, please refer to Section IV.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration is responsible for the

Office of Disability Employment Policy’s grant award process.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP), in collaboration with the Employment and

Training Administration (ETA), U.S. Department of Labor (DOL, the Department, or we), and the Social Security Administration (SSA) announce the availability of approximately

$20,000,000 in funds authorized by Section 169, subsection (b)(5), of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), Section 1110 of the Social Security Act, and Consolidated

Appropriations Act of 2018 to plan and conduct pilot demonstration projects in Phase 1 of

RETAIN – the Retaining Employment and Talent after Injury/Illness Network. A subset of Phase

1 RETAIN awardees will competitively receive Phase 2 RETAIN cooperative agreements and funds to implement projects at full scale. DOL will award all funds and administer all cooperative agreements in both phases of RETAIN.

RETAIN Demonstration Projects will test the impact of early intervention strategies that improve stay-at-work/return-to-work (SAW/RTW) outcomes of individuals who experience an injury or illness while employed. RETAIN projects will address both on-the-job and off-the-job injuries and illnesses. Individuals participating in RETAIN must be employed, or at a minimum in the labor force, at the time of the injury or illness onset.

Central to these projects is the early coordination of health care and employment-related supports and services to help injured or ill workers remain in the workforce. These supports and services include training in occupational health best practices for participating health care providers, active involvement of a Return-to-Work Coordinator throughout the medical recovery period to facilitate continued employment, enhanced stakeholder engagement and communication, and retraining and rehabilitation services.

To accomplish this, successful applicants will provide services through an integrated network of partners that includes close collaboration between state and/or local workforce development entities, health care systems and/or health care provider networks, and other partners as appropriate.

The RETAIN Demonstration Projects will be funded in two (2) phases. This FOA covers Phase

1. The initial period of performance (Phase 1) is eighteen (18) months and includes planning and start-up activities, including the launch of a small pilot demonstration. The small pilot demonstration must begin within nine (9) months of the award or immediately after the Office of

Management and Budget (OMB) provides Paperwork Reduction Act approval for the project’s information collection, whichever occurs later. We expect to provide approximately $2,500,000 each to up to eight (8) state workforce agencies in the form of cooperative agreements for Phase

1. The state workforce agencies must partner with the State Health Departments, or equivalent entities generally responsible for managing, regulating, or influencing the provision of health services; health care systems practicing coordinated care and population health management; and the State Workforce Development Board. Expenditures for planning activities are limited to

$1,000,000, leaving a minimum of $1,500,000 for pilot implementation.

The RETAIN Program Technical Assistance (TA) Provider will assist awardees with planning, start-up, and pilot requirements during Phase 1. The RETAIN Program TA Provider will also conduct an assessment of the Phase 1 awardees’ ability to implement the project.

Awardees must participate in the RETAIN independent evaluation. In Phase 1, the external independent evaluator will design the evaluation and conduct an evaluability assessment of the projects. During Phase 2, the independent evaluator will conduct an evaluation of the demonstration projects. More information about the RETAIN TA Provider and the independent evaluation follows in Section III.F.

At the conclusion of the initial period of performance, up to four (4) Phase 1 awardees will be awarded supplemental funding of up to $19,750,000 each to implement the demonstration projects during Phase 2 through a separate competition. Awardees will continue receiving support from the RETAIN Program TA Provider. If funds are available in future years, DOL may award additional Phase 2 cooperative agreements to Phase 1 awardees not initially selected for Phase 2. More information on the two-phased funding process is in Section II.A and II.B.

DOL will host a prospective applicant webinar for this competition. The date, time, and other logistical information will be posted on ODEP’s website at https://www.dol.gov/odep.

I. FUNDING OPPORTUNITY DESCRIPTION

A. PROGRAM PURPOSE

This Announcement solicits applications for Phase 1-RETAIN Planning and Pilot cooperative agreements for the RETAIN Demonstration Projects. The purpose of the RETAIN initiative is to implement and evaluate promising SAW/RTW early intervention strategies to support injured or ill workers in remaining at or returning to work. The awardees will accomplish this by providing coordinated health and employment services for up to six (6) months1 that support labor force attachment.

Successful applicants will provide services through an integrated network of partners that includes close collaboration between state and/or local workforce development entities, health care systems and/or health care provider networks, and other partners (e.g., employers or insurers) as appropriate. If additional services are required after six (6) months, participants will be referred to non-RETAIN-funded services.

The RETAIN Phase 1 cooperative agreements provide funding to conduct planning, infrastructure development, and pilot activities necessary to prepare for possible competitive selection to participate in Phase 2 of the initiative, which will include program implementation of the demonstration project and participation in the related independent evaluation. Additional information on the two-phased funding process is provided in Sections II.A and II.B.

The primary goals of the RETAIN Demonstration Projects are:

1. To increase employment retention and labor force participation of individuals who acquire, and/or are at risk of developing, work disabilities;2 and

2. To reduce long-term work disability among project participants, including the need for federal disability benefits (i.e., Social Security Disability Insurance [SSDI] and

Supplemental Security Income [SSI]).

The ultimate purpose of the demonstration is to validate and bring to scale evidence-based strategies to accomplish these goals.

Studies show that the likelihood of a return to full employment drops significantly after six months of absence, and the odds of a worker ever returning to work drop 50 percent by just the 12th week after injury or illness onset. In the experience of one insurance provider, targeting injuries or illnesses early – from day one to six months out – can dramatically impact medical costs and the length of time off work. We anticipate many worker participants will not require the full six (6) months of allowed services. Source: Zurich Insurance and Disability Management Employer’s Coalition. 2015. “Early Intervention & RTW Best

Practices.” Available online at http://www.dmec.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Zurich-Whitepaper_Early-

Intervention-RTW-Best-Practices.pdf.

2 For the purposes of this FOA, the term “work disability” is defined as an illness, injury, or medical condition that has the potential to inhibit or prevent continued employment or labor force participation, and “federal disability benefits” refers specifically to the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) programs. See https://www.ssa.gov/disability/ for more information on SSDI and SSI.

https://www.dol.gov/odep

B. BACKGROUND AND INTERVENTION DESIGN

The RETAIN Demonstration Projects will test the effects of the provision of comprehensive, coordinated health and employment-related services and supports to injured or ill workers who have acquired, or are at risk of developing, a work disability. Information about the need for early intervention among this population is included in Appendix A.

This FOA solicits innovative proposals to create systems changes by developing and implementing partnerships and strategies that better identify individuals as they acquire a potential work disability and then assist them in maintaining a connection to the labor force, preferably through their current or most recent employer. Applicants should think broadly about recent trends in their state and consider new ways to prevent the development of long-term work disability through early, coordinated health and employment-related services.

In general, applicants will:

Identify a population of workers in their state who experience injuries or medical conditions that put them at risk of developing a work disability; and Develop a coordinated, comprehensive strategy to connect these workers to participating health care providers and the project’s RTW coordinators to ultimately return them to work with employers.

This demonstration should enhance existing standard practices or establish new practices

(currently identified as best practices through research) that improve the coordination of health and comprehensive employment services to promote RTW. The RTW Coordinator is critical to the success of RETAIN projects.

Build on States’ Existing Strengths

Applicants have the flexibility to develop projects that respond to their state’s specific demographic and socio-economic situations while satisfying the requirements described in this

Announcement. Projects should build upon existing programs or systems, such as state-based temporary disability insurance (TDI) programs, collaborative health care organizations, paid family leave programs, disability management insurance providers, or workers’ compensation

(WC) programs in a manner that improves upon, but does not directly duplicate, existing processes or services.

Required Early Intervention Strategies

SAW/RTW programs succeed by returning injured workers to productive work as soon as medically possible during their recovery process and by providing interim part-time or light duty work and accommodations, as necessary. The RETAIN Demonstration Projects are modeled after promising programs currently operating in Washington State, including the Centers of

Occupational Health and Education (COHE),3 the Early Return to Work (ERTW),4 and the Stay at Work programs.5 These programs are described in greater detail in Appendix B. While these programs operate within the state’s WC system and are available only to individuals experiencing work-related injuries or illnesses, the RETAIN Demonstration Projects provide opportunities to improve SAW/RTW outcomes for individuals with both occupational and non-occupational injuries and illnesses. Intervention strategies central to the projects include:

RTW Coordinators coordinating health and employment service delivery (including the development and implementation of a plan to support the employee in returning to or staying at work);

Training participating health care providers in occupational health best practices such as those provided in COHE6 and alternatives to opioids for pain management;

Incentivizing participating health care providers to utilize the best practices;

Early communication to all stakeholders to return the worker to the workplace as soon as possible;

Work-place based interventions (including accommodations such as lighter and/or modified duties, and adjustments to work schedules, tasks, and the physical worksite, if necessary);

Retraining/rehabilitation for workers who can no longer perform their prior job or other available suitable alternate work; and

Tracking and monitoring the medical and employment progress of participating workers.

Although these interventions are required for each applicant, the specifics of their design and administration will be at the discretion of each applicant. We encourage innovative proposals that are rooted in evidence-based practice and used in a variety of private and public sector industries.

Many injured or ill workers could remain in their jobs or the workforce if they received timely, effective supports, which include these strategies. While some workers require more extensive vocational counseling services, rehabilitation, retraining, and follow-up services, many workers can RTW relatively quickly with supports and accommodations or modification of job duties provided primarily through the employer and the RTW Coordinator.

Systems Leadership: Collaboration among Workforce Development System, Health Care System, and Other Systems such as Vocational Rehabilitation to Keep People Working

Strong leadership from the workforce development system, including an effective partnership with the health care system, is critical to implementing these strategies and achieving both desired employment and health outcomes. Health care systems will play a key role in ensuring

3 http://www.lni.wa.gov/ClaimsIns/Providers/ProjResearchComm/OHS/default.asp 4 http://www.lni.wa.gov/ClaimsIns/Insurance/Injury/LightDuty/Ertw/Default.asp 5 http://lni.wa.gov/Main/StayAtWork/ 6 Health care providers affiliated with COHE receive training in four specific occupational health best practices: (1) Submitting a complete Report of Accident (ROA) in two business days or less; (2) Developing an activity plan, which communicates the worker's ability to participate in work activities, activity restrictions, and the provider's treatment plans; (3) Communicating directly with COHE staff and employers when injured workers are off or expected to be off work; and (4) Assessing the injured worker’s barriers to RTW and developing a plan to overcome them.

the target population is medically able to RTW. Framing and embracing employment as a positive health outcome will facilitate effective partnerships between the workforce development and health care systems.

Under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act’s (WIOA) Vocational Rehabilitation (VR)

State Plan provisions, State VR agencies have the option to provide these types of services and give priority to individuals who are otherwise eligible for VR program services and who are at imminent risk of losing their jobs unless they receive additional necessary post-employment services. In most instances, however, when VR resources are limited, states operate under an established order of selection giving people with the most significant disabilities a priority for

VR services. In such instances and when states choose not to prioritize individuals at risk of losing their jobs, these services can be provided to adults by the workforce development system through Title I of WIOA.

By providing RTW expertise and employment-related services to both individuals and employers and by coordinating closely with health care entities to address workers’ health-related needs, the workforce development system can minimize the human- and business-related costs associated with work disability. Given the cost work disability represents for individuals, as well as their employers and insurers, it is important that the workforce development system exert a strong leadership role in addressing this critical need.

C. PROGRAM AUTHORITY

This program is authorized by Section 169, subsection (b)(5) of WIOA, the Consolidated

Appropriations Act of 2018, and Section 1110 of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. 1310(a)(1).

D. DEFINITIONS

Accessible: for the purposes of this FOA, the term “accessible” requires work products to be usable by assistive technologies and meet the criteria outlined in Section 508 of the

Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794d), as amended by the Workforce Investment

Act of 1998 (P.L. 105-220) August 7, 1998, the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines

2.0 (WCAG 2.0) Level AA, or as specified in subsequent updates to the preceding criteria.

Federal Disability Benefits: for the purposes of this FOA, “federal disability benefits” refers specifically to the SSDI and SSI programs. Disability benefits received from the

Veterans Administration or other federal programs are not included.

Health Care System: The Compendium of U.S. Health Systems, 2016, defines a health system as an organization that includes at least one hospital and at least one group of physicians that provides comprehensive care (including primary and specialty care) who are connected with each other and with the hospital through common ownership or joint management.

Labor Force: sometimes referred to as the work force, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

(BLS) defines this term as all individuals classified as employed or unemployed (persons

16 years or older who had no employment during the prior week, but were available for and made specific efforts to find work during the previous four weeks)

Labor Force Participation Rate: BLS defines the Labor Force Participation Rate as the number of people in the labor force as a percentage of the civilian non-institutional population 16 years old and over. In other words, it is the percentage of the population that is either working or actively seeking work.7

Continuous Quality Improvement: a quality management process that encourages all team members to ask, “How are we doing?” and “Can we do it better?” on an ongoing basis.

Typically applied in health care settings, for the purposes of RETAIN, the CQI team includes all relevant stakeholders.8 See Appendix C for additional information.

Stay at Work/Return to Work (SAW/RTW): SAW/RTW strategies and programs allow employees to resume working, with or without work restrictions, when medically appropriate and help employers maintain valued employees while minimizing long-term health-related absences and optimizing productivity.

Systems Change: changes in organizational culture, policies, and procedures within individual organizations or across organizations that enhance or streamline access and reduce or eliminate barriers to needed services by a target population.

Theory of Change: the conceptual thinking behind how a particular intervention or action will lead to specific results.

Work Disability: for the purposes of this FOA, the term “work disability” is defined as an illness, injury, or medical condition that has the potential to inhibit or prevent continued employment or labor force participation.

Workforce Development System: a system that makes available the WIOA core programs, the other one-stop partner programs, and any other programs providing employment and training services as identified by a State or Local Workforce Development Board

Work Time-Loss: the period of time a worker is absent due to an injury or illness. For the purposes of RETAIN, the injury or illness may be work-related or non-work-related.

II. AWARD INFORMATION

A. AWARD AMOUNT AND PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

The RETAIN Demonstration Projects are structured in two competitive phases:

Phase 1, RETAIN Planning and Pilot – 18-month period of performance

Phase 2, RETAIN Demonstration/Implementation – 42-month period of performance

The initial period of performance (Phase 1) is 18 months. Approximately $20,000,000 is available to fund up to eight (8) RETAIN cooperative agreements to state workforce agencies.

The start date for Phase 1 will be no later than September 30, 2018. Applicants may not apply for more than the ceiling of $2,500,000 and should budget to expend no more than $1,000,000 for planning activities (with the remaining funds to be used for pilot activities). Applications with budgets exceeding the ceiling will be deemed non-responsive and will not be considered. See

Section V for information on the selection criteria.

7 https://www.bls.gov/cps/cps_htgm.htm#definitions 8 https://www.healthit.gov/sites/default/files/tools/nlc_continuousqualityimprovementprimer.pdf

At the conclusion of Phase 1, a subset of up to four (4) Phase 1 states may be competitively awarded supplemental funds to fully implement the demonstration projects during Phase 2.

Application requirements for Phase 2 awards, including expectations and selection criteria, will be clearly identified in the RETAIN Phase 2 Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), which

DOL plans to publish between approximately month 12 – 13 of the Phase 1 period of performance. DOL anticipates awarding up to $79,000,000 in Phase 2 funding to up to four (4) states, with an estimated ceiling amount of $19,750,000 per award. DOL anticipates that the period of performance for RETAIN Phase 2 awards will begin immediately following the conclusion of Phase 1.

All Phase 1 awards made under this Announcement are subject to the availability of federal funds. In the event that additional funds become available, we reserve the right to use such funds to select additional awardees for Phase 1 from the applications submitted in response to this

Announcement. Phase 2 funding is subject to the discretion of DOL and contingent upon the availability of funds, satisfactory progress of the grantee's project, and adequate stewardship of federal funds. The Department is not obligating any funds or creating any right to Phase 2 funding in this FOA.

B. AWARD TYPE

Funding for both phases of the project will be provided in the form of cooperative agreements, requiring close cooperation and coordination between DOL and the awardees. DOL will have substantial involvement in the administration of the cooperative agreement, and input and approval must be obtained prior to conducting most activities. DOL’s involvement in cooperative agreement administration during Phase 1 will consist of:

Monthly conference calls with awardees throughout the period of performance;

Prior approval of any RETAIN-related sub-contracts arising after cooperative agreements are awarded;

Prior approval of all key personnel appointments and changes;

Participation in site visits to project areas;

Providing advice and consultation to project development and management;

Providing awardees with technical and programmatic support, including training in DOL grant administration monitoring systems, and standard procedures regarding DOL management of cooperative agreements;

Reviewing, at reasonable times, all cooperative agreement documents pertaining to the project, including required metrics, status and technical progress reports, and quarterly financial reports. DOL will provide the format for the technical progress reports;

Oversight and approval of all work products, including but not limited to fact sheets, training materials, press releases, and publicity-related materials regarding the project;

Oversight and approval of all content for print and online resources developed through project activities including clearing topics for material production and final document production (e.g., outreach flyers, training materials, information about the project on the applicant’s website, etc.); and

Helping refine project evaluation design in collaboration with awardees, SSA, and the independent evaluator. (The evaluator will choose the evaluation designs based on the project’s overall research questions and on what each awardee identifies as their program design, target population, available data, and expected sample size.)

III. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

A. ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS

The following organizations are eligible to apply and will be referred to throughout the FOA as the “lead applicant” or “applicant”:

State Departments of Labor, State Workforce Development Agencies, or an equivalent entity with responsibility for labor, employment, and/or workforce development; and

Entities described in section 166(c) of WIOA relating to Indian and Native American programs. These entities include Indian tribes, tribal organizations, Alaska Native entities, Indian-controlled organizations serving Indians, or Native Hawaiian organizations. These applicants are not required to partner with Local Workforce Development Boards (LWDBs).

The eligibility requirements above are incorporated in the Application Screening Criteria specified in Section III.C.1.

Consortia of states may not apply in the current cycle of RETAIN (inclusive of phases 1 and 2).

State Health Departments, or equivalent entities for managing, regulating, or influencing the provision of health services are not eligible to apply as the lead entity, but are a required partner on each project. See Section III.F.2 for information on other required and recommended state and local partnerships.

1. Responsibilities of the Lead Applicant

The lead applicant will serve as the awardee and have overall fiscal and administrative responsibility for the cooperative agreement, including performance of any sub-awardees.

Fiscal responsibility may not be delegated. Administrative responsibilities, such as project management, coordination, or delivery of health or employment-related intervention services, may only be delegated with approval from DOL. As part of their responsibility for the cooperative agreement, lead applicants will be:

1. the primary point of contact with DOL to receive and respond to all inquiries or communications under this FOA and any sub-recipients;

2. the entity with authority to draw down funds;

3. the entity responsible for submitting to DOL all work products under the cooperative agreement, including all related technical and financial reports, regardless of which partnership member performed the work;

4. the entity that may request or agree to a revision or amendment of the cooperative agreement;

5. the entity with overall responsibility for carrying out programmatic functions, including collecting required project data, of the cooperative agreement, as well as the stewardship of all expenditures under the cooperative agreement;

6. the entity responsible for coordinating and fully cooperating with the independent evaluator and RETAIN TA Provider; and

7. the entity responsible for working with DOL to close-out the cooperative agreement.

States are encouraged to submit a Notice of Intent to Apply, as described in Section IV.B.

B. COST SHARING OR MATCHING

This FOA does not require matching, cost sharing, or other financial contributions from the applicant or any of the collaborative partners in the proposal nor will proposals be directly evaluated on the amount of leveraged resources. However, leveraging resources is critical to implementing successful early intervention and return to work strategies. Applicants are encouraged to leverage resources in the context of their strategic partnerships because it increases stakeholder investment in the project outcomes at all levels, broadens the impact of the project itself, and increases the likelihood of success and sustainability.

See Section IV.B.

C. OTHER INFORMATION

1. Application Screening Criteria

Use the checklist below as a guide when preparing your application package to ensure that the application meets all of the screening criteria. This checklist is only an aid for applicants and should not be included in the application package. We urge you to use this checklist to ensure that your application contains all required items. If your application does not meet all of the screening criteria, it will not move forward through the merit review process.

Application Requirement Instructions Complete?

The deadline submission requirements are met Section IV.C

Eligibility Section III.A

If submitted through Grants.gov, the components of the application are saved in any of the specified formats and are not corrupt. (We will attempt to open the document, but will not take any additional measures in the event of problems with opening.)

Section IV.C.

Application federal funds request does not exceed the ceiling amount of $2,500,000.

Section II.A

SAM Registration Section IV.B.1

SF-424, Application for Federal Assistance, including a DUNS Number Section IV.B.1

SF-424A, Budget Information Form Section IV.B.2

Budget Narrative Section IV.B.2

Project Narrative Section IV.B.3

Project Logic Model Section IV.B.4

Resumes of Proposed Key Personnel Section IV.B.4

Organization Chart Section IV.B.4

Letter of Support and Commitment from the

Governor’s Office Section IV.B.4

Letters of Commitment or Signed MOUs with

RETAIN Leadership Team Members and Local

Workforce Development Boards

Section IV.B.4

Letters of Commitment from Target Worker

Population Recruitment Partners Section IV.B.3

2. Number of Applications Applicants May Submit

We will consider only one (1) application from each state. If we receive multiple applications from the same state, we will only consider the most recently received application that met the deadline. If the most recent application is disqualified for any reason, we will not replace it with an earlier application.

D. ELIGIBLE TARGET WORKER PARTICIPANT POPULATIONS

The RETAIN intervention is intended to promote the continued labor force participation of individuals who have sustained illness or injury while employed and who otherwise may be at risk of developing work disabilities. Thus, the proposed target population:

Must be employed, or at minimum in the labor force, at the onset of the injury, illness, or condition (work-related or non-work-related) for which they are participating in

RETAIN; and May not include individuals who have applications for federal disability benefits pending or who are already receiving such benefits at the onset of the injury or illness.

See Section I.D for definitions of labor force participation and federal disability benefits.

DOL and SSA are particularly interested in projects including workers at risk of musculoskeletal

(MSK) injuries or with a focus on industries where the incidence of MSK injuries is high. We are interested in serving workers with MSK injuries and disorders, such as low back pain (LBP), sprains, or strains resulting from overexertion because, according the Bureau of Labor Statistics

2015 data, those injuries accounted for 31 percent of total work-related injuries requiring days away from work.9 MSK injuries were the primary diagnosis for 32 percent of all SSDI disabled worker beneficiaries in 2016 and for 36 percent of all disabled workers awarded SSDI between

2014 and 2016.10

Individuals with existing disabilities or chronic conditions are also eligible to receive RETAIN services. They may be eligible to participate based on a new injury or illness unrelated to their pre-existing condition(s) or based on a new incident related to their pre-existing condition(s)

(e.g., a multiple sclerosis flare-up) or worsening of a pre-existing condition (e.g., reduced functional capacity due to LBP).

The applicant may choose the target population based on any type of injury or illness or combinations of injuries and illnesses (or other characteristics) so long as there are sufficient numbers of worker participants available within that population to meet the requirements of the independent evaluation, and they meet the above described eligibility criteria. We anticipate a rolling period of enrollment into the RETAIN research sample during Phase 2.11 We anticipate

RETAIN services will be low cost to allow for a high volume of service delivery.

See Section IV.B.3.a for application requirements about the target population.

E. VETERANS PRIORITY FOR PARTICIPANTS

38 U.S.C. 4215 requires grantees to provide priority of service to veterans and spouses of certain veterans for the receipt of employment, training, and placement services in any job training program directly funded, in whole or in part, by DOL. The regulations implementing this priority of service are at 20 CFR Part 1010. In circumstances where an award recipient must choose between two qualified candidates for a service, one of whom is a veteran or eligible spouse, the veterans’ priority of service provisions require that the award recipient give the veteran or eligible spouse priority of service by first providing him or her that service. To obtain priority of service, a veteran or spouse must meet the program’s eligibility requirements. Awardees must comply with DOL guidance on veterans’ priority. ETA’s Training and Employment Guidance

Letter (TEGL) No. 10-09 (issued November 10, 2009) provides guidance on implementing priority of service for veterans and eligible spouses in all qualified job training programs funded in whole or in part by DOL. TEGL No. 10-09 is available at https://wdr.doleta.gov/directives/corr_doc.cfm?DOCN=2816.

F. OTHER AWARD SPECIFICATIONS

1. Allowable Use of Funds during Phase 1, RETAIN Planning & Pilot Cooperative Agreement

Grant funds can be used to supplement services that are not currently available inside the workforce system such as coordination of health care and employment services, 9 https://www.bls.gov/news.release/osh2.nr0.htm 10 Social Security Administration. 2017. “Annual Statistical Report on the Social Security Disability Insurance Program, 2016.”

Accessed online at <https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/statcomps/di_asr/index.html>.

11 Participants enrolled as part of the pilot will not be included in the research sample or evaluation of RETAIN.

communication and outreach, and training to employers and health care providers on

SAW/RTW best practices.

Allowable expenses under the RETAIN Planning and Pilot cooperative agreement include reasonable and necessary expenses to plan for and establish infrastructure necessary for effective program implementation of the RETAIN demonstration projects and for support of the related independent evaluation. See Section IV.B.3.a for a list of required activities during Phase 1. These activities and any supporting activities are considered allowable.

Incentives are a key component of the COHE model12 and are allowable in RETAIN projects. RETAIN funds may not be used for the following forms of incentives: raffle, lottery, entertainment, food, and/or beverages. Applicants may spend no more than 10 percent of their total budget in any given year on providing incentives. If it becomes apparent post-award that additional funding for incentives will be necessary to implement the model successfully, the awardee must seek and gain approval from the ETA grants office and

ODEP as part of the cooperative agreement. While RETAIN funds may be used to incentivize health care providers to utilize occupational health best practices through a fee-for-service payment model (e.g., a provider could receive an enhanced payment for submitting certain paperwork within a specified timeframe), RETAIN funds may not be used to pay for existing, billable direct health care services.

Additionally, as stated in Section III.F.4, RETAIN funds may be used to pay for project staff to work with and support the evaluation conducted by the independent evaluation contractor, to connect or establish systems to collect program data elements, and to conduct routine, internal program management activities, such as those within the required continuous quality improvement (CQI) plan. Use of RETAIN funds for other evaluative purposes is prohibited.

2. State and Local Partnerships

State

The lead applicant must partner and establish a consortium with a number of state level partners (referred to below as the “RETAIN Leadership Team”), which collectively will provide project leadership to meet program objectives and drive better integration of resources at the local level (see Section IV.B.3). In addition to the lead applicant, there are three required partners on the RETAIN Leadership Team:

1. The State Health Departments or equivalent entities generally responsible for managing, regulating, or influencing the provision of health services;

12 Findings from the final evaluation of the pilot indicate that encouraging adoption of occupational health best practices through financial incentives promotes improved disability prevention. See here for more information:

http://www.lni.wa.gov/ClaimsIns/Files/Providers/ohs/3CombinedReportApril222007Final.pdf.

2. Health care systems practicing coordinated care and population health management;

13 and

3. The State Workforce Development Board.14

We anticipate the State Workforce Development Board will serve as a key partner to engage employers and shape policies regarding how services such as those provided through

RETAIN are carried out by local Workforce Development Boards during and after the

RETAIN Planning and Demonstration Cooperative Agreements.

Beyond these required partners, applicants have flexibility to choose the types of entities represented on the RETAIN Leadership Team that are relevant to their proposed target population and scope of the project. In general, we anticipate this team will include representatives of:

State-level agencies involved in:

o WIOA core programs, o Health, mental health, insurance, and substance abuse, o Paid family leave programs, temporary disability insurance programs,15 where applicable, and/or workers’ compensation;

State Governor’s Office;

Business-membership or business intermediary organizations;

Health care systems or provider networks (in addition to the required partner);

State VR agencies;

Non-profit organizations or foundations with a history of involvement in coordinated care and/or SAW/RTW-related efforts; and

State- and privately-funded universities, to the extent that such entities exhibit strong influence on pre-service training and professional credentialing.

Local

The lead applicant must also partner with one or more Local Workforce Development Boards

(LWDB), which will implement cooperative agreement activities at the local level. For states with only one LWDB, the commitment of its sole LWDB fulfills this requirement.

Applicants are required to show the commitment of one or more LWDBs through a signed memorandum of understanding (MOU).

13 The Compendium of U.S. Health Systems, 2016, defines a health system as an organization that includes at least one hospital and at least one group of physicians that provides comprehensive care (including primary and specialty care) who are connected with each other and with the hospital through common ownership or joint management.

14 Workforce Development Boards direct federal, state, and local funding to workforce development programs. They also oversee the American Job Centers, where job seekers can get employment information, find out about career development training opportunities and connect to various programs in their area.

15 California, Hawaii, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island currently have mandated short-term/temporary disability insurance requirements. Source: https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/tools-and-samples/hr-qa/pages/stateswithstd.aspx.

In addition, relevant partnerships must be established at the local level to support the implementation plan activities. Such additional local entities may include, but are not limited to:

Health care organizations (including Federally Qualified Health Centers);

Local health and mental health agencies and providers;

American Job Centers (sometimes known as One-Stop Career Centers);

Disability agencies and service providers;

Disability management insurance providers;

One or more community college(s), technical institution(s), four-year colleges/universities, or other education partners that can provide education and training activities should retraining become necessary; and

One or more business or industry partners (such as business membership associations or

Chambers of Commerce) that will participate in: defining the program strategies and goals; and be actively involved in participating in funded project activities.

3. Program Technical Assistance

DOL will contract with a technical assistance provider (the “RETAIN Program TA Provider” or “Program TA Provider”) to support planning and pilot activities in Phase 1 and implementation activities in Phase 2 of the RETAIN Demonstration Project cooperative agreements. While supporting awardees in such activities, the Program TA Provider will coordinate with the independent evaluator (see below for expectations of the independent evaluation) to ensure the Program TA and support provided does not interfere with implementing the approved evaluation design. Awardees are expected to utilize the Program

TA Provider to address their project’s particular needs, such as barriers they may encounter in establishing necessary partnerships. Some of the technical assistance provided will be state-specific, while other technical assistance will be offered to all awardees in a group setting such as in a webinar.

In Phase 1, the RETAIN Program TA Provider will provide general assistance to awardees as they fully develop implementation plans for both the pilot and Phase 2. Assistance may include, but is not limited to: providing access to subject matter experts (SMEs) with knowledge or experience in the required activities; research on the current evidence base on coordinated health care and/or SAW/RTW interventions (including early interventions), and federal disability programs; and providing guidance on partnership development, effective public-private collaboration and coordination, and crafting effective MOUs. In addition, the

RETAIN Program TA Provider will conduct an assessment of the Phase 1 awardee’s ability to implement the project programmatically, which will be included and scored as part of the awardees’ applications for Phase 2 funding.

In addition, the RETAIN Program TA Provider will assist DOL in coordinating meetings and communications with awardees, as requested. The RETAIN Program TA Provider will coordinate meetings, which may include programmatic calls with each awardee and its partners; calls with project directors; and calls that include all awardees and their partners.

DOL and awardees will collaborate in developing the schedule for such calls. Beginning in

Phase 2-Implementation, the RETAIN Program TA Provider will also plan and implement the logistics and agenda for an annual, in-person awardee meeting.

4. Evaluation Information

SSA will fund an evaluation contractor (referred to here as the “independent evaluator” or

“evaluator”) to conduct an independent evaluation of the RETAIN demonstration projects.

All RETAIN awardees are required to participate in this evaluation. The goal of the evaluation is to develop rigorous evidence about the approaches that work for serving target populations and the impacts of the demonstration projects. Applicants should read SSA’s contract solicitation for the evaluation (available at https://www.fbo.gov/spg/SSA/DCFIAM/OAG/28321318R00000024/listing.html) to learn further details about the expected scope of the evaluation.

a. Scope of the Independent Evaluation and Role of the Evaluation Contractor

The evaluation will include process, participation, impact, and cost-benefit analyses.

Conducting an impact analysis may involve random assignment of eligible participants into a treatment group (which would receive program services or enhanced program services) and a control group(s) (which would receive no program services or un-enhanced program services). Random assignment is a sample selection technique in which individuals are assigned to a treatment or to a control group by lottery. The two groups are compared to detect the difference in post-service outcomes (if any) made by the services or enhanced services also referred to as the “intervention.” This type of experimental design provides the most rigorous and widely accepted evidence of effectiveness of intervention(s). More information on experimental design and random assignment can be found at:

www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/desexper.php www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/random.htm

The awardees must provide program data in a timely manner (according to the schedule determined by the evaluator), which the independent evaluator will use along with administrative data from SSA and potentially one or more survey(s) of participants to conduct the evaluation. Based on the evaluation design, awardees may be required to collect individual level baseline data from the comparison group to facilitate the independent evaluation.

b. Data Collection Activities

Awardees will collect and store individual-level data on recruitment, enrollment, participant characteristics, employment and benefits information, program participation, service provision, and participant outcomes to report to DOL as part of their performance metrics. We anticipate that each participant’s name, gender, date of birth, Social Security

Number, address, and phone number will be collected as part of the intervention enrollment process. Other specific required programmatic data elements will be determined by DOL in collaboration with the awardees. We anticipate that these data will also be used for the independent evaluation, with the evaluator receiving extracts (copies) of all programmatic data that awardees collect. See Section VI.C.2 and Appendix D for information on required programmatic data elements.

The receipt of standardized data from all awardees is important to ensure a high quality, rigorous evaluation. The independent evaluator will provide guidance and TA to assist awardees in developing their data collection processes and ensuring data quality. This may include guidance on data elements, and data collection plans and aligning systems, among other topics.

In order to facilitate the independent evaluation of the RETAIN projects, awardees must enter into separate data-sharing agreements with SSA in order to submit to SSA and its evaluator, in a timely manner, extracts (copies) of:

The programmatic data that awardees collect to satisfy their award requirements;

and Employment and service-provision data (as determined by the evaluator) from existing state programs – such as vocational rehabilitation, unemployment insurance, and/or workers’ compensation – on all worker participants in both the treatment and comparison groups.

The evaluator will provide TA and assistance to develop these data-sharing agreements during Phase 1. Awardees must demonstrate that they have or will have the legal authority to share these data with SSA, and must provide any limitations as to how the data may be used, protected, disclosed, or shared.

In order for the evaluator to conduct an accurate and comprehensive cost-benefit analysis, awardees are also required to provide access to records on all parts of project activities, including data related to program costs, and to provide access to project team personnel, as specified by the evaluator.

c. Awardee Requirements with Respect to the Independent Evaluation

The awardee must fully participate in all evaluation activities (e.g., evaluation-related

TA, site visits, and conference…