Request for Applications - Hospital Grant Opportunity

November 5, 2019

MEMORANDUM

Request for Applications - Hospital Grant Opportunity

The Illinois Department of Human Services (DHS) contacted the Illinois Health and Hospital Association (IHA) to encourage hospitals to apply for a grant opportunity related to services for class members covered by the Williams v. Pritzker and Colbert v. Pritzker Consent Decrees, which requires evaluation of institutionalized individuals for possible transition to a community-based setting.  Full details on the grant opportunity can be found on the Request for Applications (RFA): Williams and Colbert Consent Decrees webpage.  Released on October 21, applications for the grant opportunity, including budget materials submitted through CSA Tracker or, as applicable, with the application, must be received no later than 5:00 pm Central Time on Friday, December 20, 2019.

DHS’ need for services, goals to be achieved, services to be performed in coordination with Medicaid managed care organizations, application content and grantee requirements can all be found on the RFA webpage under Part II.  DHS is charged with implementing and meeting the requirements of the Williams and Colbert Consent Decrees.  While targeted at different populations, both decrees require the Department to evaluate individuals currently residing in institutional placements, with the end goal of transitioning them to the least restrictive Community-Based Setting appropriate to the individual's needs, e.g., fair-market subsidized rental units, permanent supported housing (including fair-market, subsidized rental units), home with family, supported/supervised residential settings, or supported living programs.

Eligibility
Public or private, for-profit or not-for-profit community-based agencies, hospital systems, Federally Qualified Health Centers, Healthcare for the Homeless Centers, and Managed Care Organizations are all eligible to apply for funds.  The funding opportunity in the request for applications is not limited to those who currently receive funding from DHS, either generally, or to currently serve Class Members.  Successful applicants must hold all necessary licenses for the services to be delivered and populations to be served.

Award Process
DHS anticipates the availability of approximately $12,390,558 for services in Fiscal Year 2020 (February 1, 2020 - June 30, 2020).  In the event DHS continues this funding, the Fiscal Year 2021 (July 1, 2020 - June 30, 2021) anticipated available funding is $29,737,340.  This is the anticipated total, available funding for the services outlined in this RFA and does not include all funding under the consent decrees.  Separate awards will be issued for the Williams Consent Decree and the Colbert Consent Decree to ensure that the Department tracks expenditures and activities as required in each consent decree.

It is anticipated that applicants will receive notifications by DHS regarding funding decisions by January 10, 2020.  A Notice of State Award (NOSA) is not equivalent to an agreement with DHS to commence providing service.  Successful applicants will receive the Uniform Grant Agreement for their signature and return per instructions provided at the time. Work cannot begin until an agreement is signed by both the applicant and DHS.

Estimated Length of Agreement
DHS estimates that the initial term of the agreement resulting from this RFA will begin February 1, 2020, ending June 30, 2020.  At DHS' sole discretion, the agreement for this program may be renewed for an additional one-year period (July 1, 2020 - June 30, 2021).

Questions
Submit questions relating to the RFA via email to Barb Roberson, DHS, at barb.roberson@illinois.gov.  All technical questions and answers will be posted on the IDHS RFA webpage.  The site will be updated periodically, a minimum of two times per week.  Written answers on the Question and Answer page will be considered as part of the RFA.  The last day to submit a question is December 10, 2019.