ACA - Reinvestment of Civil Money Penalties to Benefit Nursing Home Residents

The purpose of this funding opportunity is to solicit applications to participate in a national federal grant program using Civil Money Penalty funds from nursing homes to support and otherwise benefit nursing home residents.

CMS seeks to fund activities that protect or improve the quality of care for residents. Funding under this opportunity is available to organizations/associations that are authorized by law to administer grants and contracts in support of national and regional programs.

Requested funds must be used entirely for activities that protect or improve the quality of care for nursing home residents. These activities must be approved by CMS and may include, but are not limited to: 1. Support and protection of residents of a facility that closes (voluntarily or involuntarily). 2. Time-limited expenses incurred in the process of relocating residents to home and community-based settings or another facility when a facility is closed (voluntarily or involuntarily) or downsized pursuant to an agreement with the State Medicaid agency. 3. Projects that support resident and family councils and other consumer involvement in assuring quality care in facilities. 4. Facility improvement initiatives approved by CMS, such as joint training of facility staff and surveyors or technical assistance for facilities implementing quality assurance and performance improvement program, when such facilities have been cited by CMS for deficiencies in the applicable requirements. 5. Development and maintenance of temporary management or receivership capability such as but not limited to, recruitment, training, retention or other system infrastructure expenses. However, as specified in § 488.415(c), a temporary manager's salary must be paid by the facility.

Period of performance is up to three years.

The review process will include the following: • Applications will be screened to determine eligibility for further review using the criteria detailed in this solicitation. Applications received late or from organizations that are not eligible will not be reviewed and will not be eligible for award. • A team consisting of staff from HHS and potentially other outside experts will review all applications. The review panel will assess each application to determine the merits of the application and the extent to which the proposed program furthers the purposes of the program. CMS reserves the option to request that applicants revise or otherwise modify their applications and budget based on the recommendations of the panel. • The results of the objective review of the applications by qualified experts will be used to advise the approving HHS official. Final award decisions will be made by an HHS approving official. In making these decisions, the HHS approving official will take into consideration: recommendations of the review panel; the extent to which the requested resources directly support implementation efforts; any overlap with existing resources that support implementation; the extent to which the state is committing state resources to implementation efforts; the reasonableness of the estimated cost to the government and anticipated results; likelihood that the proposed project will result in the benefits expected; and availability of funding. Successful applicants will receive one grant award per application issued under this announcement. CMS reserves the right to approve or deny any or all applications for funding. Section 1115A(d)(2) of the Social Security Act states that there is no administrative or judicial review of the selection of organizations, sites, or participants to test models under section 1115A.

Funding Opportunity Announcement Released: May 9, 2014 Required Notice of Intent to Apply Due: June 9, 2014 (Email Notice of Intent to apply to: Fed_CMPGrant@cms.hhs.gov) Electronic Grant Application Due Date: June 26, 2014 Anticipated Notice of Grant Award: September 4, 2014 Anticipated Grant Period of Performance: September 4, 2014-August 31, 2017