Home Stabilization Recruitment and Retention Mini-Grant Offering Application

Staff recruitment and retention has been cited as a challenge across industries in recent months, especially in the direct service industry. Specifically, staff shortages in the homeless service industry have been identified as a critical need.

The number of adults experiencing homelessness in Rhode Island has increased from 747 in 2018 to 1,070 in 2022. Similarly, the number of youth (under 18-years-old) has increased from 206 in 2018 to 317 in 2022 (RICEH, 2022). The growing number of persons experiencing homelessness in Rhode Island must be addressed using a multitude of strategies, one of which is addressing inadequate staffing within organizations that serve persons experiencing homelessness as part of their mission. Recruitment and retention of skilled staff members directly serving persons experiencing homelessness will be addressed in part by this mini grant opportunity.

The Rhode Island Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS) acknowledges staffing challenges in the homeless service industry and is issuing a mini grant opportunity for Certified Home Stabilization Providers.

The activities conducted from the mini grant offering are intended to improve staff capacity to increase delivery of home stabilization services and allow for more meaningful engagement with clients in need of housing navigation and home stabilization services.

A staffing salary survey that was conducted in 2022 by the Rhode Island Coalition to End Homelessness uncovered that “case managers” were one of the most difficult positions to recruit and retain at their organization, followed by clinicians and residential staff. With this in mind, allowable spending under this grant opportunity will be limited to activities that support direct service workers providing home stabilization services.

EOHHS has identified five areas in which potential grantees can request funds:

  • Retention Bonuses (25-75% of total award)- can be based on seniority, performance, equally distributed, or combinations of some or all three of these categories. 
  • Recruitment Bonuses (25-75% of total award)- to be dispersed after the new employee successfully completes the organization’s probationary period. 
  • Professional Development (0-25% of total award) Providing a marketable professional development program- successful completion of which could lead to a financial incentive such as a salary increase or cash incentive.
  • Job Fair (0-15% of total award)- Costs associated with a home stabilization team job fair which will include targeting peer and underrepresented populations and may include application incentives.
  • Part or Full-time Consultant (0-25% of total award)- Who may assess work culture and cultural competency of staff and the organization, assess possibilities of added fringe benefits with or without associated costs, and/or assess desired intrinsic and extrinsic rewards and values that the organization can utilize for hiring and retention purposes.

Requirements:

  • Each project proposal may include two or more funding areas equal to 100% of the award, identified on the list of priorities on page 2. The stream of work specific to each subcategory of funding should be clearly explained in the narrative.
  • All projects should describe how their efforts align with direct service workforce recruitment and retention.  Applicants should indicate if and how they plan to sustain grant activities implemented under this award period.
  • Should the applicant apply for multiple subcategories, they should reference if and how the grants would impact each other in their description, and abide by the caps within each subcategory.
  • Grantees will commit to providing updates on grant activity progress during monthly scheduled meetings with the EOHHS Home Stabilization Program Director.
  • Grantees will participate in a one-time learning collaborative with all Home Stabilization Recruitment and Retention Mini-Grant awardees hosted by EOHHS.
  • Awards must be spent within 1 year of receipt.
  • All applicants must register with the Ocean State Procures system in order to receive a standard purchase order and any approved funds. Osp Vendor Registration | Rhode Island Division of Purchases (ri.gov).

Evaluation Requirements of Activities Implemented:

By submitting an application for the award, applicants acknowledge and agree that the following evaluation metrics will be collected by EOHHS for reasons of program evaluation.

Additionally, evaluation will include EOHHS’s review of grantees’ Home Stabilization claims [Codes H0044/ H0044u1] volume during the identified evaluation period.

The grantee will submit the following information to EOHHS quarterly beginning 3 months after receipt of award funds by completing the reporting template provided by EOHHS.

Awardees will report on the following activities for which the awarded funds are used in alignment with the funding period (1 year):

  • Current staffing prior to award
  • New staff hired (part-time/full-time)
  • Staff vacancies
  • Staff departures
  • Trainings and professional development attended, supported with award funds
  • Job fairs sponsored or attended by the grantee to support recruitment of direct services workers for the home stabilization provider
  • Policy changes that have resulted from receipt of these funds (for example, benefit changes or vacation)
  • Retention Bonuses (given directly to employees and why/ how – such as time based/performance based, across the board, etc. Please outline the structure of any retention bonuses).
  • Recruitment Bonuses (given directly to employees and why/ how – such as time based/performance based, across the board, etc. Please outline the structure of any recruitment bonuses).
  • Feedback on if the usage of these funds has aided in the delivery of higher quality and/or higher quantity of home find and home tenancy services.
  • New units found for clients served via home find services.
  • New evictions for clients served via home tenancy services.

Restrictions:

Mini-grant funding may not be used for rent, room/board of any kind, and cannot go directly to activities intended for anyone other than directs service workers delivering home stabilization services unless otherwise agreed upon with the State in writing. The funds must be used within 12 months of receipt unless the funded period is extended by the State.

Scoring Criteria:

Each application will be scored based on an analysis of pre-authorizations for home stabilization services submitted during May, June, and July 2023. [Billing code H0044] The applicant must be in good standing as a certified home stabilization provider at the time of award. Non-certified providers delivering home stabilization like services are not eligible to apply. No applicant will be awarded more than $200,000 in funding, and ultimately the award value will vary depending on how many eligible applicants apply and their pre-authorization volume during the pre-program analysis period (May, June, July 2023). For example, if an agency submitted 90% of the total volume of pre-authorizations during the analysis period, they would be awarded ~90% of the total available award. Awards will be issued based upon the analysis findings and the applicant’s request for funds as indicated in their applications.

To Apply:

Determine which sub-categories of support are the best match for your organization’s existing capacities and areas of opportunity. Applicants may request funds within multiple subcategories. Please submit the webform below. If you have any questions regarding the application or requested information please reach out to:

Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis between now and May 19th, 2023 at 4:00pm.

Webform