HOWTO Round 6 Webinar 10-23-2024 Q and A.pdf

Addenda 4

October 23, 2024 HOWTO Webinar Q&A

Link to recording of Info session #1 on Oct 23, 2024: https://youtu.be/pq82eVeXTWA

Questions from Webinar Chat Answer

1. Is that $1M for the entire project or for one year?

Projects can request up to $1 million total for the full award period (not per year).

2. Did you say requests had to be above $3000 but no larger than $1M?

There are two levels of award: up-to $300,000, and up-to $1,000,000.

We accept all sizes of budgets up to $1 million. No single award will be made more than $1 million.

3. Is OHSU, the institution, considered one organization, or are the separate departments considered to be different organizations?

Different departments would still be considered part of the same organization/institution.

Organizations can only be the lead/proposer for 1 submission in each round. Organizations can be partners on additional proposals submitted by other organizations.

4. Can foreign corporations apply as long as they deliver services within Oregon?

Eligibility to apply is not dependent on organization type/business designation. Selected proposals will be required to register with the Oregon Secretary of State business registry prior to execution of grant agreement. More information about registering a business that will have its home jurisdiction outside of Oregon is available on the Business Registration Forms webpage, under Foreign Business Registration Forms.

Proposals should reflect the HOWTO program’s focus on supporting Oregon’s health care workforce, which is further described in sections 2 and 3a, as well as Documents 4 and 5 (the scoring rubrics) of the RFGP.

5. Can it pay for equipment, like medical tables, etc.?

Equipment costs are allowable as part of the project budget.

6. Are LBGTQIA+ populations given priority for workforce training.

The HOWTO Round 6 RFGP does not have a specific list of priority populations. The scoring rubrics (Documents 4 and 5) outline the specific criteria that proposals will be evaluated on. These scoring metrics reflect the purpose and core values of the HOWTO program, which are described in the RFGP in sections 2 and 3.

https://youtu.be/pq82eVeXTWA https://sos.oregon.gov/business/Pages/business-registration-forms.aspx

Section 2- Purpose: “The HOWTO Grant Program is intended to expand health professional training within the State to address health care workforce shortages for people in:

• Culturally and linguistically diverse groups;

• Groups that have been economically and socially marginalized;

• Tribal communities;

• Rural communities; and

• Communities experiencing inequities throughout Oregon.”

7. Can we do an application if we are one of multiple partners on a grant being submitted by another org?

Organizations can only be the lead/proposer for 1 submission in each round. Organizations can be partners on additional proposals submitted by other organizations.

8. Will a current grantee that applies for a new project be competitive? Is there an intent to prioritize new organizations that have not received previous funding?

The competitiveness will depend on the project proposed. Current grantees need to be sure to meet the funding guidelines outlined in the RFGP on page 4 (section 3, c5): “Grant funding may not be used to expand current or previous rounds of HOWTO grant projects; these Round 6 HOWTO funds are intended only for new HOWTO grant projects that utilize different workforce training strategies and innovations distinct from an organization’s previous HOWTO grant project.

Current HOWTO recipients may apply for a NEW project, but they will be scored with respect to their new project only and will need to demonstrate capacity to support the new program.”

9. Will rural organizations be prioritized? The HOWTO Round 6 RFGP does not have a specific list of priority populations. The scoring rubrics (Documents 4 and 5) outline the specific criteria that proposals will be evaluated on. These scoring metrics reflect the purpose and core values of the HOWTO program, which are described in the RFGP in sections 2 and 3.

Section 2- Purpose: “The HOWTO Grant Program is intended to expand health professional training within the State to address health care workforce shortages for people in:

• Culturally and linguistically diverse groups;

• Groups that have been economically and socially marginalized;

• Tribal communities;

• Rural communities; and

• Communities experiencing inequities throughout Oregon.”

10. Within the MOE (maintenance of effort) exclusion, is that for projects only funded through prior HOWTO rounds, or ANY existing program?

For all proposals, the HOWTO grant funds may not be used for maintenance of effort of existing activities.

As described in section 3c, item 4: “Maintenance of effort consists of maintaining current funding levels and existing activities. The objective of this Round 6 HOWTO funding is for new project or expansion efforts to support innovative, transformative, and community-based training initiatives.”

11. Will a scoring rubric be published so that we can determine how rankings of OHA’s priorities will be categorized?

The scoring rubric is available on OregonBuys and is listed as Document 4 and 5 HOWTO Review Forms.

12. there is also different levels of medical for example a CNA vs a doctor. Is this something that will be looked at when addressing under-represented populations?

We invite proposals from all areas of the health care system. Previously funding projects have included a wide range of career fields with differing training and educational requirements.

13. Are there any character or word limits for the questions in this form?

(Organization Information, questions 1 & 2, and Project Information, questions 4 &7)

The only word limit is for the Project Abstract Summary (within Document 1: Proposer Information Form) , which has a maximum of 500 words. Refer to the RFGP opportunity notice section 8.b for more information on suggested length for the Project Narrative.

14. Re. "maintenance of effort": We are launching a Behavioral Health Talent Academy this year. We would be applying for second year funding. The project is still very much in a PILOT phase, learning and improving from the experience of first year students. Would second year funding for this still qualify as new? Or do we need to show some level of expansion in year 2 over year 1?

It would depend on the details of what is different for the project beyond the year 1 that is already complete.

The HOWTO Grant funds cannot be used for Maintenance of Effort (MOE) of existing activities. For the HOWTO Grant Program, applications that seek to continue funding for existing programs will need to explain in the proposal how the HOWTO funding will alter the existing work. For example, continuing an existing pilot as-is would be MOE. Converting a pilot to a formal program that would be sustainable would not be MOE.

15. Project Narrative suggests plain language. Is there a grade level attached to this?

There is no specific grade level requirement for the proposal, but we encourage the use of plain language and brief, specific responses when possible.

16. is the narrative single-spaced or double-spaced?

Specific spacing is not a requirement for the proposal.

17. Do you prefer us to keep with the document 2 timeline, or is it ok to create a modified version that may help clarify the work for our specific proposal?

We would prefer that you use the Timeline template. Minor modifications to further describe the proposers project are allowed but all components included in the timeline need to be included and clearly labelled as reflected in the template.

18. Program plan includes the timeline template. Does this get dropped in to this section 3 @ the end?

Yes, please add the timeline into the end of the section 3 (Program Plan) portion of the proposal.

19. Are there significant differences between HOWTO Round 5 and HOWTO Round 6 that you would be willing to highlight?

The overall structure of the Round 6 RFGP is very similar to Round 5. However, we have tried to simplify some components of the proposal that were repetitive, along with revising the scoring rubrics, appendices, and documents (called attachments in Round 5). We encourage proposers to carefully review the current Round 6 RFGP to ensure that they are following the updated guidelines.

20. Is the training for under-representative or for healthcare to keep or hire under-representative?

The HOWTO program is designed to support innovative, transformative, and community-based training initiatives that will address health care workforce shortages and expand the diversity of the health professional workforce. More details on the program’s Purpose and Core Values are outlined in the RFGP in sections 2 and 3. Training can address a wide range of different workforce needs, including but not limited to recruiting people into the health care field, retaining individuals who are already a part of the health care workforce, or helping to provide career advancement opportunities.

21. Are indirect costs allowed and if so, what’s the max percent?

Indirect costs are allowed and the indirect rate requested in the budget should be explained in the budget narrative section of the proposal. If the indirect rate is higher than average, additional information may be requested from the proposer.

22. Are we allowed any other appendices, such as a reference page?

References can be included as a footnote or at the end of the section that references them. No additional materials or appendices should be included beyond what is outlined in the RFGP.

23. Will partnerships/collaboratives be weighted more favorably than single-entity projects?

Partnerships are not a specific requirement or priority for proposals. Please review Documents 4 and 5 for the scoring rubric to be sure that the proposal addresses the items evaluated in the review process.

24. Is the Table of Contents to include the Budget and Appendices as well or only list what’s within the single pdf?

The table of contents should include the page numbers for the materials included in the single PDF: a) Proposer Information Form, b) Project Narrative, c) Budget Narrative, and d) Appendices.

25. Do we need to implement what we develop? For example if a training is developed do you want the training to be tested out or do you want to just to the research of it?

Proposals may include differing timelines for development and implementation of programs.

One aspect of proposal scoring (see Document 4 and 5) is the impact on addressing health care workforce needs. For example, “Proposal increases the Oregon health care workforce by building workforce capacity or skills to build retention and training” (row 13 in Doc 4) or “Proposal strategies and outcomes will have significant impact on health care workforce” (row 14 in Doc 5).

26. Can you explain what indirects are, please?

Indirect costs are typically costs to an organization for general operation, rather than for a specific product, project, or service.

27. Can we make a proposal to raise awareness of certain healthcare career training opportunities, without having formal partnerships with the agencies delivering training? For example, a promotional campaign to promote Mental Health Specialist training opportunities, targeted to individuals in Tribal Nations.

As noted in the RFGP in Section 3b, item 2:

“Proposers must be organizations launching innovative training initiatives that address documented shortages in specific areas of the local health care workforce.”

The details of the programs proposed will be evaluated using the rubric outlined in Documents 4 and 5.

28. Will the November 7th webinar be a repeat of the Oct 23rd webinar?

We will be presenting the same PowerPoint slides and overview of the RFGP in the November 7 info session.

29. So can we submit questions in two ways?

Outside of the information sessions, please ask questions via OregonBuys using the Q&A tab.

30. Will the questions be answered on a rolling basis, or all answered within a couple of days of 12/2/24?

Questions will be answered as they are received.

31. How do I get notifications of changes [to this RFGP]?

To get updates on this solicitation, a vendor/supplier must be logged into OregonBuys, and from the Bid Solicitation S-44300-00008989, scroll down to the bottom of that page and click on 'follow'. If you need help contact their helpdesk at 855-800-5046 option 1 for vendor support.

32. Are projects providing training to minors such as high school students eligible?

Projects focused on individuals under the age of 18 are considered eligible.

33. In round 5 there were disqualifications for not following the formatting. Will you be doing that again?

In Round 5, proposals were ineligible if they exceeded the required page limits listed in the RFGP. For Round 6, the only length requirement is that the Project Abstract Summary (in Document 1:

Proposer Information Form) is no more than 500 words. We eliminated the other page limits and instead have listed a “Suggested Length” as a guideline so that proposals will not be eliminated based on the length of proposals. We encourage proposals to include information in plain language that is clear, relevant, and brief.

34. How do I contact the Oregon Buys help desk?

Their phone is: 855-800-5046 email is:

suppliersupport@periscopeholdings.com

35. Someone who is an industrial organizational psychology is ok to apply as well?

We invite proposals from all areas of the health care system. Previously funding projects have included a wide range of career fields with differing training and educational requirements.

Proposals should reflect the HOWTO program’s focus on supporting Oregon’s health care workforce, which is further described in sections 2 and 3a, as well as Documents 4 and 5 (the scoring rubrics) of the RFGP.