Home Care and Assisted Living Provider Social Connection Grants

The Home Care and Assisted Living Provider Advisory Council has been given approval by the Commissioner of the Department of Health to provide funding to home care and assisted living providers to promote social connection of vulnerable adults residing in home care and assisted living provider settings.

The Council will provide grants up to $5,000 for each applicant selected. Total funds to be distributed are no more than $250,000. The funds may be used by the applicant to purchase devices to assist with virtual visits designated for social connection. The device could also be designated for both health care and social connection. The funds may also be used for assistance with improving Wi-Fi or assisting with training and staffing for use of the devices purchased.

• Grant information
  • Applications and data privacy
  • Grant agreement
  • Grant payments
• How to apply for a Social Connections Grant
  • SWIFT Supplier/Vendor ID number
  • MDH Applicant Conflict of Interest Disclosure form
  • Social Connection Grant Funding Application for Home Care and Assisted Living Providers

Grant information

Grant funds are planned to be dispersed throughout Minnesota in the following manner after eligibility criteria has been determined:

• 50% of grant funds dispersed to assisted living providers will be awarded to larger assisted living providers (licensed capacity of 11 or more residents)
• 50% of grant funds dispersed to assisted living providers will be awarded to smaller assisted living providers (licensed capacity of 10 or fewer residents)
• 50% of grant funds will be dispersed to providers licensed within the 7-county metro area (Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott, and Washington Counties)
• 50% of grant funds will be dispersed to providers licensed outside of the 7-county metro area

The application period opens at 8 a.m. CST on January 3, 2023, and will remain open for 30 days, or until allocated money has been awarded, whichever comes first. To be eligible for a grant award, applicants must:

1. meet all requirements,
2. receive full scoring points on their funding plan, and
3. not previously have been awarded a Social Isolation Grant

Funding will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis for applicants who meet all eligibility criteria. Please ensure you have all requirements in place prior to January 3, 2023. If you have questions about the grant, please send them to health.homecare@state.mn.us.

Applications and data privacy

In accordance with Minn. Stat. § 13.599 applications are nonpublic until opened. Once opened, the name of the applicant, the address of the applicant, and the amount the applicant requested is public. All other data in an application is nonpublic data until completion of the evaluation process. After the evaluation process has been completed, all data submitted by the applicant is public.

If the applicant submits information in response to this RFP that it believes to be trade secret materials, as defined by the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act, Minn. Stat. § 13.37, the applicant must:

• Clearly mark all trade secret materials in its response at the time the response is submitted;
• Include a statement with its response justifying the trade secret designation for each item; and,
• Defend any action seeking release of the materials it believes to be trade secret, and indemnify and hold harmless the State, its agents and employees, from any judgements or damages awarded against the State in favor of the party requesting the materials, and any and all costs connected with that defense. This indemnification survives the State’s award of a grant contract. In submitting a response to this RFP, the applicant agrees that this indemnification survives as long as the trade secret materials are in possession of the State.

Grant agreement

All selected entities will need to sign a grant agreement before grant related expenses can be incurred. The grant agreement will be sent to the selected applicant’s email address at the time the applicant is notified of the grant award selection. MDH will work through this process as efficiently as it can; however, please expect time for normal document processing between the grant approval and grant agreement being sent. The grant agreements will be sent electronically for signature.

Grant payments

Per the Office of Grants Management’s Policy on Grant Payments (Policy 08-08), reimbursement is the method for making grant payments. All grantee requests for reimbursement must correspond to the approved grant award amount and include documentation on the expenditure of funds (e.g., receipts of technology purchased). In the event a grantee needs an advance payment, the grantee should contact the MDH Program Manager outlining the need for advance payment. Any advance payments must be approved prior to executing a grant agreement and the grant agreement must contain the details of the advance and how the advance will be reconciled. You can find the full text of the policy in the Current Policies tab on the Grants Management Policies, Statutes, and Forms page of the Department of Administration website.

How to apply for a Social Connections Grant

To apply for the Social Connections Grant, applicants will need to submit the following:

• their SWIFT Supplier/Vendor ID number
• an MDH Applicant Conflict of Interest Disclosure form
• completed Social Connection Grant Funding Application for Home Care and Assisted Living Providers

SWIFT Supplier/Vendor ID number

Applicants who do not have a valid supplier/vendor ID will not move past the initial review of the application and will not be under consideration for this grant award.

To register for a vendor ID, visit the Minnesota Management and Budget (MMB) Supplier/Vendor Portal; instructions for registering can be found in the SWIFT Quick Reference Guide: Register as a Supplier.

Applicants will need to enter this number when they fill out the Social Connection Grant Funding Application for Home Care and Assisted Living Providers; it takes a few days to process the request and receive the vendor ID, so we encourage you to register in advance so that you have it available when the application form opens on January 3, 2023.

MDH Applicant Conflict of Interest Disclosure form

Applicants should fill out the Applicant Conflict of Interest Disclosure form and email it to health.homecare@state.mn.us. This form can be submitted prior to the application open on January 3.

Social Connection Grant Funding Application for Home Care and Assisted Living Providers

The application is an electronic form; it will open at 8 a.m. CST on January 3, 2023. The form will remain open for 30 days, or until all funds have been distributed, whichever comes first.

Social Connection Grant Funding Application for Home Care and Assisted Living Providers Form

To complete the application, you will need the following information:

• Your facility's information, including
  • an email address that can be used to send information about the status of your application
  • Health Facility ID (HFID)
  • Federal Tax ID (FEIN)
• SWIFT Supplier/Vendor ID, including the Location Code and associated address
• a funding plan that includes
  • a plan for how this funding will improve social connection for your clients
  • an itemized list of the anticipated budget and total request
  • how frequently you anticipate the devices will be used
  • a description of how you will communicate communicate to your residents/clients, families, and healthcare providers regarding your new technology and funds to help social connection.

Any invalid, incorrect, or incomplete information may cause the application to be ineligible for the grant funding. Once your application is submitted, you will receive a copy of your responses at the email address you've specified.