PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICTS, BOARD OF COOPERATIVE EDUCATIONAL SERVICES, NOT-FOR-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS, PUBLIC LIBRARIES, INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION, EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY CENTERS, PUBLIC HOUSING AUTHORITIES, AND CONSORTIUMS OF SUCH AGENCIES

Approximately $3 million of Workforce Investment Act funds are available to fund new three-year grants to eligible agencies to establish a literacy zone in which to provide literacy and basic skills and English as a Second Language programs for undereducated and disadvantaged adults. The grant funds may also cover support services, such as educational counseling and guidance.

The Literacy Zone Initiative Request for Proposals will be available at www.emsc.nysed.gov under Funding Opportunities/Allocations. The due date for proposals will be March 2, 2009. For more information contact the Adult Education and Workforce Development Team at (518) 474-8940.

NONPROFIT HEALTH AGENCIES, INCLUDING LOCAL HEALTH DEPARTMENTS, OR HUMAN SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS

Applications will be accepted through March 30, 2009 for Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC); Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP); and WIC Vendor Management Agency (VMA) services

Over $90 million in funding is available to promote and maintain the health and well being of nutritionally at-risk women, infants, children, and elderly persons by providing nutritious food, nutrition and health education, and referral services to categorically and income eligible individuals found to be at substantial nutritional and/or medical risk. Prospective WIC contractors who wish to also apply to sponsor a WIC Vendor Management Agency or Commodity Supplemental Foods Program Agency must submit additional application(s) for each of the programs. An agency must first qualify and be selected to provide WIC services to be considered for selection as a WIC Vendor Management Agency or Commodity Supplemental Food Program provider. Alternately, the CSFP applicant must enter into a subcontract with a Sponsor Agency that is applying to operate a WIC Program. CSFP providers must be located in the metropolitan New York City Area. Essential components of these programs include, but are not limited to:

• Support all WIC/VMA/CSFP program functions; compliance with fiscal and operational requirements as established by Federal Regulations.

• Maintain a financial management system that ensures accountability for all WIC/VMA/CSFP program funds received and ensure that assigned WIC caseload targets are achieved through provisions of services in State identified planning areas or geographic locations with highest percentage(s) of WIC participant need.

• Provide adequate space for the provision of high quality, confidential nutrition services to WIC participants. Clinic space will be required to include a private or semi-private area for breastfeeding and adequate space for completing anthropometric and/or hematological screenings in a confidential and safe manner.

• Ensure an adequate number of WIC/VMA/CSFP staff, including Competent Professional Authority (CPA) staff, is available to certify WIC participants, provide nutrition education, and Enhanced Breastfeeding Peer Counseling in a customer friendly, efficient manner.

This grant is for October 1, 2009 through September 30, 2010 with four annual renewals. The budgets for these contracts must be renewed annually subject to satisfactory performance of the contractor.

Application materials for the grant competition will be available at http://www.nyhealth.gov/funding. Applications will be accepted in the New York State Department of Health, Bureau of Supplemental Food Programs if received by March 30, 2009.

For further information contact: Deborah McIntosh, Bureau of Supplemental Foods Programs, Division of Nutrition, Riverview Center, 150 Broadway 6th Floor-West, Albany, NY 12204, e-mail: [email protected], http://www.nyhealth.gov/funding

The New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) Refugee Health Program announces the opportunity for qualified licensed health care providers/agencies located throughout New York State (exclusive of New York City) to provide refugee health assessments and initial adult vaccinations to new refugee arrivals to the State. The refugee health assessment is designed to promptly identify refugees with health conditions of personal and public health concern; to introduce refugees into the US health care system; to ensure refugees receive ongoing care and appropriate follow up for identified problems by referrals to primary and specialty care providers; and to assist refugees in achieving a level of immunization consistent with US national guidelines. The refugee health assessment consists of a set of basic screening components designed to identify health issues typically found in refugee populations. Assessments, completed according to the required protocol, will be reimbursed at an all-inclusive per capita rate of $338.50 (upstate) or $346.39 (downstate, which includes Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester counties). Initial vaccines for adults will be reimbursed at a maximum of $208.00 per person, where those vaccines were administered during a reimbursable health assessment and actual cost of the vaccines is documented. The program is supported by an annual allocation of Refugee Medical Assistance funds awarded by the Federal Office of Refugee Resettlement through the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance. The total allocation for budget year March 31, 2009 to March 30, 2010 is expected to be $1,170,862. In the event funds for the budget year are exhausted, a limit may be placed on the number of health assessments to be provided.

Health care providers/agencies interested in participating in the Program must complete and submit the NYSDOH Refugee Medical Assistance Program application, meet the requirements described therein, and be approved for enrollment. An applicant must be a licensed health care provider (i.e., physician, nurse practitioner, community health center, county health department or clinic); must demonstrate clinical experience and staffing capacity necessary to provide health screenings in accordance with established protocols; must employ bilingual staff or provide interpreter services to overcome language barriers to care; and must demonstrate established linkages to services, whether on site or by referral, to primary care, specialty care, and mental health services. Experience with the health and mental health needs of refugees, asylees, and victims of trafficking, and in conjunction with office/clinic location accessible to refugees and refugee service agencies is desirable.

Applications are accepted on a continuous basis. The Program operates on a five-year contract cycle from March 31, 2005 to March 30, 2010. Contracts can be awarded to approved applicants at any time during this period, and will be in effect for the remainder of the five-year contract cycle, contingent on provider performance and availability of federal RMA funding.

For an application, contact: Department of Health, Refugee Health Program, Bureau of Tuberculosis Control, ESP Corning Tower, Rm. 840, Albany, NY 12237-0669, Telephone: (518) 474-4845, e-mail: [email protected]

OWNERS OF HOUSING PROJECTS IN RURAL AREAS OF THE STATE

The NYS Housing Trust Fund Corporation (HTFC) will accept proposals from owners of housing projects in rural areas of the State seeking project-based Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers, through February 12, 2009. HTFC intends to make up to of four hundred (400) vouchers available to owners of affordable housing projects that were constructed in 1985 or earlier under the Section 515 of the Housing Act of 1949, Title V, (as amended) and are subsidized by the state Rural Rental Assistance Program. Proposals may be submitted immediately. A proposal workshop will be held on January 26, 2009 at 1 p.m. at the CNY Development Services Offices, 800 South Wilbur Avenue, 3rd floor conference room, Syracuse, New York. The RFP may be found at www.dhcr.state.ny.us or by contacting: Lori Harris, Assistant Commissioner, Office of Community Development, Division of Housing and Community Renewal, (518) 473-3890.

MUNICIPALITIES, NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS, TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITIES, TRIBAL GOVERNMENTS AND PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION PROVIDERS

Applications will be accepted by the New York State Department of Transportation's Public Transportation Bureau, for Job Access Reverse Commute (JARC) and New Freedom (NF) projects in the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council (NYMTC) district including New York City, Long Island and the lower Hudson Valley (Rockland, Westchester and Putnam Counties).

JARC services improve access to transportation services to employment sites and employment related activities for welfare recipients and eligible low-income individuals and transport residents of urbanized area and non-urbanized areas to suburban employment opportunities. Such services may include, but are not limited to: mobility management, extension of current transportation services, and promotion of those services. The New Freedom formula grant program seeks to reduce barriers to transportation services and expand the transportation mobility options available to people with disabilities beyond the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990. Expanded service beyond current ADA limitation, projects that fund non-key station improvements and support of mobility management and other mobility supports to improve access to transportation.

Both funding sources require that services be identified in the Coordinated Human Service and Public Transportation Plan for the NYMTC Region (available at www.nymtc.org) and be coordinated with other federally-assisted programs to ensure efficient use of federal funds. The total funds available for these programs are $11.3 million.

To be eligible to apply for JARC and New Freedom funding, applicants must be either a local government authority, non-profit agency registered with the NYS Department of State or an operator of public transportation services. It is anticipated that applications will be released in January 2009 with an application deadline of March 27, 2009.

For an application, please visit the NYMTC website http://www.nymtc.org or contact: Nancy O’Connell, Program Manager, NYMTC, 199 Water Street, 22nd Floor, New York, NY 10038-3534, (212) 383-7200, email: [email protected]