42 U.S.C. § 294r — State health care workforce development

Page 1057 TITLE 42—THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE § 294r 1 So in original. Probably should be ‘‘reasonably’’. aligned with requirements for entry into postsec- ondary education, and applicable industry stand- ards; and ‘‘(F) leads to 2 or more credentials, including— ‘‘(i) a secondary school diploma; and ‘‘(ii) a postsecondary degree, an apprenticeship or other occupational certification, a certificate, or a license. ‘‘(3) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The term ‘institution of higher education’ has the meaning given the term in sections 101 and 102 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001 and 1002). ‘‘(4) LOW INCOME INDIVIDUAL, STATE WORKFORCE IN- VESTMENT BOARD, AND LOCAL WORKFORCE INVESTMENT BOARD.— ‘‘(A) LOW-INCOME INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘low-in- come individual’ has the meaning given that term in [former] section 101 of the Workforce investment [sic] Act of 1998 ([former] 29 U.S.C. 2801). ‘‘(B) STATE WORKFORCE INVESTMENT BOARD; LOCAL WORKFORCE INVESTMENT BOARD.—The terms ‘State workforce investment board’ and ‘local workforce investment board’, [sic] refer to a State workforce investment board established under [former] sec- tion 111 of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 ([former] 29 U.S.C. 2821) and a local workforce in- vestment board established under [former] section 117 of such Act ([former] 29 U.S.C. 2832), respec- tively. ‘‘(5) POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION.—The term ‘post- secondary education’ means— ‘‘(A) a 4-year program of instruction, or not less than a 1-year program of instruction that is accept- able for credit toward an associate or a bacca- laureate degree, offered by an institution of higher education; or ‘‘(B) a certificate or registered apprenticeship program at the postsecondary level offered by an institution of higher education or a non-profit edu- cational institution. ‘‘(6) REGISTERED APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAM.—The term ‘registered apprenticeship program’ means an industry skills training program at the postsec- ondary level that combines technical and theoretical training through structure on the job learning with related instruction (in a classroom or through dis- tance learning) while an individual is employed, working under the direction of qualified personnel or a mentor, and earning incremental wage increases aligned to enhance job proficiency, resulting in the acquisition of a nationally recognized and portable certificate, under a plan approved by the Office of Ap- prenticeship or a State agency recognized by the De- partment of Labor.’’ § 294r. State health care workforce development grants (a) Establishment There is established a competitive health care workforce development grant program (referred to in this section as the ‘‘program’’) for the pur- pose of enabling State partnerships to complete comprehensive planning and to carry out activi- ties leading to coherent and comprehensive health care workforce development strategies at the State and local levels. (b) Fiscal and administrative agent The Health Resources and Services Adminis- tration of the Department of Health and Human Services (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Ad- ministration’’) shall be the fiscal and adminis- trative agent for the grants awarded under this section. The Administration is authorized to carry out the program, in consultation with the National Health Care Workforce Commission (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Commis- sion’’), which shall review reports on the devel- opment, implementation, and evaluation activi- ties of the grant program, including— (1) administering the grants; (2) providing technical assistance to grant- ees; and (3) reporting performance information to the Commission. (c) Planning grants (1) Amount and duration A planning grant shall be awarded under this subsection for a period of not more than one year and the maximum award may not be more than $150,000. (2) Eligibility To be eligible to receive a planning grant, an entity shall be an eligible partnership. An eli- gible partnership shall be a State workforce investment board, if it includes or modifies the members to include at least one represent- ative from each of the following: health care employer, labor organization, a public 2-year institution of higher education, a public 4-year institution of higher education, the recognized State federation of labor, the State public sec- ondary education agency, the State P–16 or P–20 Council if such a council exists, and a philanthropic organization that is actively en- gaged in providing learning, mentoring, and work opportunities to recruit, educate, and train individuals for, and retain individuals in, careers in health care and related industries. (3) Fiscal and administrative agent The Governor of the State receiving a plan- ning grant has the authority to appoint a fis- cal and an administrative agency for the part- nership. (4) Application Each State partnership desiring a planning grant shall submit an application to the Ad- ministrator of the Administration at such time and in such manner, and accompanied by such information as the Administrator may reasonable 1 require. Each application sub- mitted for a planning grant shall describe the members of the State partnership, the activi- ties for which assistance is sought, the pro- posed performance benchmarks to be used to measure progress under the planning grant, a budget for use of the funds to complete the re- quired activities described in paragraph (5), and such additional assurance and information as the Administrator determines to be essen- tial to ensure compliance with the grant pro- gram requirements. (5) Required activities A State partnership receiving a planning grant shall carry out the following: (A) Analyze State labor market informa- tion in order to create health care career pathways for students and adults, including dislocated workers. (B) Identify current and projected high de- mand State or regional health care sectors for purposes of planning career pathways. Page 1058 TITLE 42—THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE § 294r 2 So in original. Probably should be ‘‘develop’’. (C) Identify existing Federal, State, and private resources to recruit, educate or train, and retain a skilled health care work- force and strengthen partnerships. (D) Describe the academic and health care industry skill standards for high school graduation, for entry into postsecondary education, and for various credentials and li- censure. (E) Describe State secondary and postsec- ondary education and training policies, mod- els, or practices for the health care sector, including career information and guidance counseling. (F) Identify Federal or State policies or rules to developing 2 a coherent and com- prehensive health care workforce develop- ment strategy and barriers and a plan to re- solve these barriers. (G) Participate in the Administration’s evaluation and reporting activities. (6) Performance and evaluation Before the State partnership receives a plan- ning grant, such partnership and the Adminis- trator of the Administration shall jointly de- termine the performance benchmarks that will be established for the purposes of the planning grant. (7) Match Each State partnership receiving a planning grant shall provide an amount, in cash or in kind, that is not less that 15 percent of the amount of the grant, to carry out the activi- ties supported by the grant. The matching re- quirement may be provided from funds avail- able under other Federal, State, local or pri- vate sources to carry out the activities. (8) Report (A) Report to administration Not later than 1 year after a State part- nership receives a planning grant, the part- nership shall submit a report to the Admin- istration on the State’s performance of the activities under the grant, including the use of funds, including matching funds, to carry out required activities, and a description of the progress of the State workforce invest- ment board in meeting the performance benchmarks. (B) Report to Congress The Administration shall submit a report to Congress analyzing the planning activi- ties, performance, and fund utilization of each State grant recipient, including an identification of promising practices and a profile of the activities of each State grant recipient. (d) Implementation grants (1) In general The Administration shall— (A) competitively award implementation grants to State partnerships to enable such partnerships to implement activities that will result in a coherent and comprehensive plan for health workforce development that will address current and projected workforce demands within the State; and (B) inform the Commission and Congress about the awards made. (2) Duration An implementation grant shall be awarded for a period of no more than 2 years, except in those cases where the Administration deter- mines that the grantee is high performing and the activities supported by the grant warrant up to 1 additional year of funding. (3) Eligibility To be eligible for an implementation grant, a State partnership shall have— (A) received a planning grant under sub- section (c) and completed all requirements of such grant; or (B) completed a satisfactory application, including a plan to coordinate with required partners and complete the required activi- ties during the 2 year period of the imple- mentation grant. (4) Fiscal and administrative agent A State partnership receiving an implemen- tation grant shall appoint a fiscal and an ad- ministration agent for the implementation of such grant. (5) Application Each eligible State partnership desiring an implementation grant shall submit an applica- tion to the Administration at such time, in such manner, and accompanied by such infor- mation as the Administration may reasonably require. Each application submitted shall in- clude— (A) a description of the members of the State partnership; (B) a description of how the State partner- ship completed the required activities under the planning grant, if applicable; (C) a description of the activities for which implementation grant funds are sought, in- cluding grants to regions by the State part- nership to advance coherent and comprehen- sive regional health care workforce planning activities; (D) a description of how the State partner- ship will coordinate with required partners and complete the required partnership ac- tivities during the duration of an implemen- tation grant; (E) a budget proposal of the cost of the ac- tivities supported by the implementation grant and a timeline for the provision of matching funds required; (F) proposed performance benchmarks to be used to assess and evaluate the progress of the partnership activities; (G) a description of how the State partner- ship will collect data to report progress in grant activities; and (H) such additional assurances as the Ad- ministration determines to be essential to ensure compliance with grant requirements. (6) Required activities (A) In general A State partnership that receives an im- plementation grant may reserve not less Page 1059 TITLE 42—THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE § 294s than 60 percent of the grant funds to make grants to be competitively awarded by the State partnership, consistent with State procurement rules, to encourage regional partnerships to address health care work- force development needs and to promote in- novative health care workforce career path- way activities, including career counseling, learning, and employment. (B) Eligible partnership duties An eligible State partnership receiving an implementation grant shall— (i) identify and convene regional leader- ship to discuss opportunities to engage in statewide health care workforce develop- ment planning, including the potential use of competitive grants to improve the de- velopment, distribution, and diversity of the regional health care workforce; the alignment of curricula for health care ca- reers; and the access to quality career in- formation and guidance and education and training opportunities; (ii) in consultation with key stake- holders and regional leaders, take appro- priate steps to reduce Federal, State, or local barriers to a comprehensive and co- herent strategy, including changes in State or local policies to foster coherent and comprehensive health care workforce development activities, including health care career pathways at the regional and State levels, career planning information, retraining for dislocated workers, and as appropriate, requests for Federal program or administrative waivers; (iii) develop, disseminate, and review with key stakeholders a preliminary state- wide strategy that addresses short- and long-term health care workforce develop- ment supply versus demand; (iv) convene State partnership members on a regular basis, and at least on a semi- annual basis; (v) assist leaders at the regional level to form partnerships, including technical as- sistance and capacity building activities; (vi) collect and assess data on and report on the performance benchmarks selected by the State partnership and the Adminis- tration for implementation activities car- ried out by regional and State partner- ships; and (vii) participate in the Administration’s evaluation and reporting activities. (7) Performance and evaluation Before the State partnership receives an im- plementation grant, it and the Administrator shall jointly determine the performance benchmarks that shall be established for the purposes of the implementation grant. (8) Match Each State partnership receiving an imple- mentation grant shall provide an amount, in cash or in kind that is not less than 25 percent of the amount of the grant, to carry out the activities supported by the grant. The match- ing funds may be provided from funds avail- able from other Federal, State, local, or pri- vate sources to carry out such activities. (9) Reports (A) Report to administration For each year of the implementation grant, the State partnership receiving the implementation grant shall submit a report to the Administration on the performance of the State of the grant activities, including a description of the use of the funds, including matched funds, to complete activities, and a description of the performance of the State partnership in meeting the performance benchmarks. (B) Report to Congress The Administration shall submit a report to Congress analyzing implementation ac- tivities, performance, and fund utilization of the State grantees, including an identifica- tion of promising practices and a profile of the activities of each State grantee. (e) Authorization for appropriations (1) Planning grants There are authorized to be appropriated to award planning grants under subsection (c) $8,000,000 for fiscal year 2010, and such sums as may be necessary for each subsequent fiscal year. (2) Implementation grants There are authorized to be appropriated to award implementation grants under sub- section (d), $150,000,000 for fiscal year 2010, and such sums as may be necessary for each subse- quent fiscal year. (Pub. L. 111–148, title V, § 5102, Mar. 23, 2010, 124 Stat. 599.) Editorial Notes CODIFICATION Section was enacted as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and not as part of the Public Health Service Act which comprises this chapter. PRIOR PROVISIONS A prior section 294r, act July 1, 1944, ch. 373, title VII, § 751, as added Nov. 4, 1988, Pub. L. 100–607, title VI, § 604, 102 Stat. 3126, which related to establishment of a loan repayment program for allied health personnel, was omitted in the general amendment of this subchapter by Pub. L. 102–408. Another prior section 294r, act July 1, 1944, ch. 373, title VII, § 748, as added Oct. 12, 1976, Pub. L. 94–484, title IV, § 408(a), 90 Stat. 2279; amended Aug. 1, 1977, Pub. L. 95–83, title III, § 307(f), 91 Stat. 391; Dec. 19, 1977, Pub. L. 95–215, § 3, 91 Stat. 1504; Sept. 29, 1979, Pub. L. 96–76, title II, § 206(a), 93 Stat. 583, which related to traineeships for students in schools of public health, was renumbered section 792 of act July 1, 1944, by Pub. L. 97–35 and transferred to section 295h–1b of this title, and was subsequently omitted in the general amend- ment of this subchapter by Pub. L. 102–408. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries DEFINITIONS For definitions of terms used in this section, see sec- tion 5002(a) of Pub. L. 111–148, set out as a note under section 294q of this title. § 294s. Rural maternal and obstetric care train- ing demonstration (a) In general The Secretary shall award grants to accred- ited schools of allopathic medicine, osteopathic