Wounded Warrior Service Dog Program (WWSDP) FY2019

Beginning in FY2015, Congress appropriated $1,000,000 for the WWSDP to fund a competitive grants program. This program continues in FY2019 under the authority of the Defense Health Program, Operations & Maintenance, therapeutic service dog training program. The Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) is authorized by 10 U.S.C. 2113(g)(1)(A) to make grants to any nonprofit entity. Historically, USU has solicited grant applications from nonprofit institutions committed to connecting service dogs with service members and veterans. USU obligated $1,000,000 in FY2015, $5,000,000 in FY2016, and FY2017 and $10,000,000 in FY2018 to carry out this program. USU intends to award multiple, 12-month grants (subject to availability of funding) to eligible nonprofit organizations to continue this program in FY2019. All applications shall be submitted as outlined in this FOA. The Program Announcement (PA) number for this FOA is VP-19-001. All applications must be submitted electronically through the NIH ASSIST portal. Information on applying through ASSIST is outlined in the FOA. USU plans to obligate approximately $10,000,000 in grants to successful applicants for the WWSDP in FY2019. The number of grants to be awarded and the amount of funding per grant is to be determined based upon the quality of the applications. On average, since the Program's inception, USU awarded grants to 21 Recipients with an average funding amount of approximately $251,500 per award with awards ranging from $45,000 to $586,800. Funding provided through this program is not intended to finance new programs or initiatives, but to support the operations of existing programs. The planned period of performance for the FY2019 WWSDP is June 2019 through June 2020. Past Recipients of WWSDP grants are eligible to apply and compete for FY2019 WWSDP grants; however, applications for renewal or supplementation of existing awards will not be considered. The WWSDP is limited to nonprofit organizations subject to 26 U.S.C. 501(c)(3) of the tax code. Applicants must be nonprofit organizations who have been established for the purpose of training and providing service dogs. Pass-through entities will not be considered. Organizations should be able to tailor a comprehensive plan to establish and operate a program to provide assistance dogs to Service Members and/or Veterans with disabilities. An applicant's failure to meet eligibility criteria by the application deadline will preclude USU from making an award to the applicant.