(CLOSED) HRSA Community Health Worker Training Program (CHWTP) (HRSA-22-124)

Sponsor Name: 
Health Resources and Services Administration
Description of the Award: 

The purpose of the CHWTP is to support projects that will increase the number of Community Health Workers (CHWs) and Health Support Workers and equip them with the skillsets needed to provide effective community outreach build trust with communities, support connections to and retention in care and support services, and other strategies to increase access to care and to assist individuals in prevention services, and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and other public health emergencies in underserved communities. These combined efforts are intended to advance public health, strengthen the public health workforce, reduce health disparities, and help underserved populations achieve health equity.
Program Goals

  • Expand the public health workforce by training new and existing CHWs and health support workers with specialized training and financial support to offset expenses that would impede success in training. The Program’s goal is to provide training so that 75% of participants become newly credentialed CHWs and health support workers.
  • Extend and upskill the public health workforce by developing new or enhancing existing curriculums to increase the skills and competencies of existing CHWs and health support workers.
  • Increase CHW and health support worker employment readiness through field placements and apprenticeships developed in collaboration with a network of partnerships that will enable trainees to respond to and support essential public health services and provide them with employment opportunities.
  • Advance health equity and support for underserved communities by increasing the number of CHWs and health support workers that are employed as integral members of integrated care teams that use their expanded skills to reduce health disparities.

Program Objectives

  • 1. Expansion:

    • Establish educational training curriculums and recruit, train and enable new CHWs and health support workers candidates to acquire core competencies for CHWs and Public Health certifications that follow state, local, or entity guidelines and support essential public health services.
    • Reduce barriers to CHW and health support worker program enrollment and retention by providing eligible trainees with participant support (e.g., tuition/fees, stipends, health insurance, and child care).
  • 2. Extension/Upskilling:

    • Provide additional training for current CHWs and health support workers to include the core competencies for Public Health and Essential Public Health Services.
    • Develop or enhance trainee curriculum around evidence-based core competencies for public health, including but not limited to emergency response education, prevention, treatment, and vaccine hesitancy research.
  • 3. Employment:

    • Implement hands-on CHW and health support worker integrated training through community-based partnerships that provide field placements in underserved communities.
    • Provide job placement services and on-the-job experiential training to new CHWs and health support workers through Department of Labor or state/local registered apprenticeship programs.
  • 4. Health Equity:

    • Address critical gaps in public health and community needs that can be filled by CHWs health support workers in communities that are disproportionately burdened by COVID-19, health inequities, limited access to technology, and the Social Determinants of Health (SDOH).
    • Increase the distribution and diversity of the CHW and health support workers workforce by recruiting, training, or employing, as applicable, individuals who will serve in underserved communities as integral members of integrated care teams.
Sponsor Final Deadline: 
Jun 14, 2022
OSVPR Application or NOI Instructions: 

Interested applicants should upload the following documents in sequence in one PDF file (File name: Last name_HRSA-22-124_2022) no later than 4:00 p.m. on the internal submission deadline:

1. Cover Letter (1 page, pdf):

  • Descriptive title of proposed activity
  • PI name, departmental affiliations(s) and contact information
  • Co-PI's names and departmental affiliation(s)
  • Names of other key personnel
  • Participating institution(s)
  • Number and title of this funding opportunity

2. Project Description (no more than two pages, pdf) identifying the project scope that addresses the key aspects and elements of the sponsor's solicitation, principal investigators, collaborators, and partner organizations. References may be included on an additional page.

3. 2-page CV's of Investigators

Formatting Guidelines:

Font/size: Times New Roman (12 pt.)
Document margins: 1.0” (top, bottom, left and right)
Standard paper size (8 ½” x 11)

To be considered as a Penn State institutional nominee, please submit a notice of intent by the date provided directly below.
This limited submission is in downselect: 
Penn State may only submit a specific number of proposals to this funding opportunity. The number of NOIs received require that an internal competition take place, thus, a downselect process has commenced. No Penn State researchers may apply to this opportunity outside of this downselect process. To apply for this limited submission, please use this link:
OSVPR Downselect Deadline: 
Thursday, May 5, 2022 - 4:00pm
For help or questions: 

Questions concerning the limited submissions process may be submitted to limitedsubs@psu.edu.

Notes: 
Benjamin Fredrick (CoM)