SHC Safety Program.pdf

State Home Construction Grant Program

Safety Grant Applications and Safety Citation Plans

I. SAFETY and SECURITY GRANT APPLICATIONS

Formal safety citations serve as the basis for requesting a VA grant (65% state matching funds) for correction. VA will require specific information to determine if the project meets the requirements of a safety project. The total cost of each portion of the safety project (fire alarm, nurse call, security cameras, etc.) must be provided.

“An application for a life or safety project, which means a 38CFR59.50(a)(1)(i) states:

project to remedy a condition, or conditions, at an existing facility that have been cited as threatening to the lives or safety of one or more of the residents or program participants in the facility by a VA safety office, VA engineering office, or other VA office with responsibility for life and safety inspections; a State or local government agency (including a Fire Marshal); or an accrediting institution (including the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations).”

All Safety and Security applications need to include documentation of hazard or certification that the project addresses threat to life and safety with the initial application.

• Submit cited document or report with corrective action; or

• Contact local VAMC for inspection (phone or visit); or,

• Contact grant office to make assignment.

All states should contact the State Home Construction Program Office to discuss the safety application prior to submitting into grants.gov.

All Safety and Security projects have priority for FY funding. These projects must meet specific project cost requirements to qualify for safety project ranking on the VA Priority List.

To be listed in the Safety and Security sub-priority (1.1.A-H):

• Safety projects >$400,000 must be submitted without non-safety project work.

• Safety projects <$400,000 may add non-safety work to meet the minimum $400k. The majority of the project cost must be safety.

Safety work not qualified for Safety and Security sub-priority (1.1.A-H):

• Projects with a safety project cost >$400,000 and that represent the largest portion of the project cost will be prioritized based on the component with the next largest cost. (States will be asked to split the project into two applications).

Individual safety projects can be grouped across multiple facilities into one project to obtain a total cost of >$400k.

State Matching Funds should be provided for all safety projects.

II. SAFETY CITATION PLANS

All state grant applications (funded and unfunded) should submit a safety citation plan that lists all OPEN SAFETY CITATIONS for all state home facilities. The plan should list the corrective action and completion date to address the citation.

The safety citation plan is not a listing of the state safety grant applications.

The VA does not require that a grant application be submitted for state safety citations.

The safety citation plan is intended to assure the VA that all safety citations at state veterans homes are being addressed.

38CFR59.50(e) states: “If any State home in a State has been cited by a VA safety office, VA engineering office, or other VA office with responsibility for life and safety inspections; a State or local government agency (including a Fire Marshal); or an accrediting institution (including the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations) for conditions that threaten the lives or safety of one or more of the residents or program participants in the facility, the State must include in any application submitted under § 59.20 or its updates to such application its plan to address all such citations.”

States should submit a document (safety citation plan) that lists all safety citations and corrective action with completion date for each state veterans home.

Create a cover page document with the safety citation plan that lists all the state applications (FAI#s) on the current and upcoming VA Priority List.

VA will add the state plan to all the state applications listed. If the state has no safety citations, provide VA with a “no safety citation” letter.

38CFR59.50(e) further states, “If VA determines that the State’s plan fails to set forth how it will address such citations in a reasonable period of time, and then VA will prioritize all applications of such State as follows….”

• Project with State Matching Funds States that fail to address the Safety Citation Plan requirements will have ALL PG1 grant applications moved into sub-priority 1.6.0, excluding projects that would be ranked 1.1.A-H (Safety) and 1.7 (New construction – limited bed need).

• Projects with no State Matching Funds States that fail to address the Safety

Citation Plan requirements have ALL PG2-8 grant applications moved into sub-priority 7.0.

Each year, submit the cover document and the list of state home safety citations. Only one submittal is needed for all grant applications.

List all state grant applications on the cover document, this includes:

All initial applications submitted for the upcoming VA Priority List; and

All applications on the current VA Priority List that will not be awarded or will receive a conditional grant award.

Safety Citation Plans should be submitted to VA grant office by August 1st.