NACCHO is entering Year 3 of its funding opportunity to support the strengthening of the workforce capacity of rural and frontier-serving local health departments in response to emergencies like COVID-19 by providing training and technical assistance to those health departments. The purpose of this project will be to build upon the work of Years 1 and 2 to increase the capacity of additional local health departments that serve rural and frontier jurisdictions to effectively respond to, recover from, and build community resiliency related to the COVID pandemic and future public health emergencies. This includes strengthening their:
- Partnerships;
- Administrative preparedness planning;
- Public health communications;
- Health equity;
- Workforce;
- Mental health and wellbeing;
- Emergency preparedness workforce;
- Sustainability planning; and
- Other important areas that emerge.
The project approach will focus on two (2) primary activity areas:
- The provision of training in content topics to build the workforce capability of LHD staff responding to public health emergencies, like COVID.
- Direct technical assistance to incorporate administrative preparedness processes and practices in response activities to support emergency preparedness infrastructure building and sustainability for current and future response needs. This will include the development/strengthening/revision of administrative preparedness plans.
Estimated Period of Performance: 11 months; August 1, 2023, to July 31, 2024
Who we are looking for
This RFA is open to governmental LHDs 1) not previously awarded under this specific funding mechanism in 2021 or 2022, and 2) with at least 50% of their jurisdiction being designated as rural and/or frontier according to the USDA. Applicants will be evaluated on the following criteria:
- Recent/Current Emergency Preparedness Workforce Activities (15%)
- Recent/Current COVID-19 Workforce Challenges (15%)
- Technical Assistance Needs (40%)
- Project Staff & Partnerships (15%)
- Proposed Engagement with Project Activities (10%)
- Proposed Budget and Budget Narrative (5%)
Next Steps
Additional information can be found in the RFA here with instructions on how to apply. The link to the application may be found here. Due Friday August 4, 2023 by 11:59pm ET.
Any additional questions please contact [email protected]
