Rural Spotlight

January 22, 2025

New Funding Opportunity – Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training Program for Paraprofessionals, Apply by March 18

The purpose of the Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training Program for Paraprofessionals – HRSA-25-066 is to develop and expand community-based experiential training such as field placements and internships to increase the skills, knowledge and capacity of students preparing to become mental health workers, peer support specialists, and other behavioral health paraprofessionals.

The program has a special focus on developing knowledge and understanding of the needs of children, adolescents, and transitional age youth who have experienced trauma and are at risk for behavioral health disorders including anxiety, depression, and substance use disorder.

Eligible applicants include:

• Faith-based and community-based organizations
• Hospitals
• HRSA funded health centers and Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs)
• Public and private institutions of higher education
• Rural health clinics
• State, city, county, township, and special district governments
• State-licensed mental health nonprofit and for-profit organizations
• Tribal governments and tribal organizations

Please view the NOFO on Grants.gov for complete eligibility information.

Apply by March 18, 2025, 11:59 p.m. ET

Click Here to Learn More and Apply

January 22, 2025

New Funding Opportunity – HRSA Rural Maternity and Obstetrics Management Strategies (Rural MOMS) Program, Apply by April 22

The Rural Maternity and Obstetrics Management Strategies (Rural MOMS) Program from the Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA’s) Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) is open and accepting applications for the program’s 4-year period of performance (September 30, 2025 – September 29, 2029).

Rural MOMS funds networks that establish or continue collaborative improvement and innovative models that can provide long-term sustainable and financially viable service delivery to improve maternal and infant health outcomes. The work of these networks supports the goal of the program to improve maternal and infant health outcomes and access to and delivery of maternity and obstetrics care in rural areas and reduce preventable maternal mortality risks and decrease severe maternal morbidity in rural areas.

A technical assistance webinar via Zoom is scheduled for applicants on Wednesday, February 12, at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

Click Here to see examples of previously funded projects under this program.

For more information about this funding opportunity, contact RMOMS@hrsa.gov.

Apply by April 22, 2025.

Click Here to learn more and apply

January 21, 2025

Notice of Funding Opportunity: HRSA Rural Program of All-Inclusive for the Elderly Planning and Development

The Rural Program of All-Inclusive for the Elderly (PACE) Planning and Development grant is open and accepting applications for the program’s 4-year period of performance (September 30, 2025 – September 29, 2029). The purpose of this program is to improve health care in rural areas, including expanding access to medical care and long-term services, for rural aging populations by expanding PACE programs into rural areas.

Program Goals:

• Provide start-up funding for organizations to develop a new PACE site serving the aging rural population.
• Provide funding for organizations to expand existing PACE programs into rural areas through service area expansion.
• Implement sustainable PACE programs that will effectively serve critical health care needs for rural aging populations.

This funding will support organizations to develop an initial PACE program or expand an existing PACE organization into rural areas.

HRSA will make up to 4 awards, up to $500,000 per year, to provide resources to assist with the development of an initial Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (DMS) PACE program serving HRSA-designated rural areas or to expand an existing certified CMS PACE programs into HRSA-designated rural areas through PACE service area expansion.

Eligible Applicants

• Public and State controlled institutions of higher education
• Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments)
• For profit organizations other than small businesses
• Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
• Small businesses
• Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with th IRS, other than institutions of higher education
• Independent school districts
• Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized)
• Private institutions of higher education
• City or township governments
• County governments
• State governments
• Special district governments
• State and county health departments,
• Hospitals
• FQHCs
• Rural Health Clinics

Click Here to Learn More and Apply

For more information about this funding opportunity, contact RuralPACE@hrsa.gov

January 13, 2025

New Funding Available: Rural Residency Planning and Development Program, Apply by April 10, 2025

The Rural Residency Planning and Development (RRPD) Program, HRSA-25-007, is open and accepting applications for the program’s 3-year period of performance (August 1, 2025 – July 31, 2028). The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) will make up to 15 awards, each up to $750,000, to improve and expand access to health care in rural areas by developing new sustainable rural residency programs, including rural track programs (RTPs).

Eligible applicants include all domestic public and private, nonprofit or for-profit, entities. Applicants must propose a new rural residency program in a qualifying medical specialty.

Qualifying medical specialties are:

• Family medicine
• Internal medicine
• Preventive medicine
• Psychiatry
• General surgery, and
• Obstetrics and gynecology

For this notice of funding opportunity, rural residency programs are accredited physician residency programs, train residents in clinical training sites that are physically located in a rural area as defined by HRSA’s Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) for greater than 50 percent of their total time in residency and focus on producing physicians who will practice in rural communities.

Successful RRPD Program awardees will:

1. Develop a new rural residency program that is accredited by Accreditation Council for Graduated Medical Education;
2. Finalize a sustainability plan, which includes ongoing funding streams to sustain long-term resident training after program establishment; and
3. Develop a plan to track and publicly report on resident career outcomes after graduation for at least 5 years after the first graduating class to assess retention in rural communities.

Click Here to Learn More

Click Here to attend a technical assistance webinar, via Zoom, on Wednesday, January 23, 2:00 p.m. ET

A list of previously funded grants under this program are available here.

Applicants may also benefit from the resources and tools in the RuralGME.org portal (registration required).

For questions about this funding opportunity email: ruralresidency@hrsa.gov.