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Volume 12 Number 32 News: Health Workforce As part of President Bush's high-growth job training initiative, the Labor Department is making $2.5 million in grants available to organizations seeking to develop and implement regional strategies for increasing the number of qualified workers for jobs in the long-term health care industry. In a notice set for publication in the Federal Register Feb. 16, the department noted that both the population of those requiring long-term care and the demand for nurses, certified nurses' assistants, home health aides, and other trained workers in the industry are projected to rise dramatically in the coming decades. The Labor Department said interested public and private organizations, including faith-based and community groups, should apply for the grants by April 5, 2007, and address specific criteria set out in the notice in their applications. The notice emphasized that applicants should discuss how they would promote a partnership of business, the workforce investment system, and education, and how they would address job training and workforce development on a regionwide basis. The department said it anticipates funding five projects at approximately $500,000 each for 36-month periods. The notice added, however, that grants could be more or less than $500,000, at the department's discretion, and that time extensions might be available. Grants may be used to support ongoing programs but grants would not be available to renew expired programs, the notice said. The federal funds are not intended as a grantee's sole source of funding, but rather to supplement or leverage other financial backing, the department said. Completed grant applications should be mailed or hand-delivered to: U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, Division of Federal Assistance, Attention: Eric Luetkenhaus, Reference SGA/DFA PY 06-07, 200 Constitution Ave. N.W., Room N-4716, Washington, DC 20210. Interested parties may also apply online by April 5. The notice indicated that the Labor Department's Employment and Training Administration will hold an Internet seminar regarding the grant competition on March 5. Access information for the electronic seminar will be posted on ETA's website. For technical questions regarding the grant process, contact Jeanette Flowers by fax at (202) 693-2705. The fax must be sent to the attention of Flowers and include the following information: SGA/DFA PY 06-07, a contact name, return fax number, and telephone number. Documents published in the Federal Register can be accessed at . The website's option to "browse" the table of contents includes links to published material.
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