TPMA to Expand Grant Services and Development

TPMA offers extensive experience in grant development and writing as one of our core services. We help clients successfully find and pursue funding opportunities while achieving successful models and sustainable solutions. 

We are proud of our success in helping clients secure funds from private and public sources – and subsequently help our clients achieve organizational and program goals and objectives. In fact over the last five years, TPMA has secured over $163 million in grants for our clients.

To build on this success, TPMA has hired dedicated grant services staff focused on a comprehensive set of funding strategy services. Such an approach allows us to guide our clients from idea, to development, to implementation, and finally to evaluation of a program’s effectiveness. As funding landscapes grow ever more complex, we have translated our institutional and ongoing knowledge into successful grant applications and fund development strategies for our clients. We look forward to continuing to grow this line of services for workforce agencies, economic development and community organizations, educational intuitions, and any client that may benefit from our extensive experience in these areas.

We will provide more information in the coming months on our approach, our expanded level of services, and our increased commitment to a top-quality grant services department.  In the meantime, if you would like additional information, please contact Elizabeth Higgins, Senior Project Consultant at 916-276-8731 or EHiggins@tpma-inc.com. 

Two New Workforce Grants Awarded to TPMA Clients

Speaking of grants, congratulations are in order to two TPMA clients for their recent success in securing two significant grants.

The United States Department of Labor’s Linking to Employment Activities Program recently awarded $500,000 to officials from the Montgomery County Workforce Investment Board of Norristown, PA.  TPMA worked with officials from the Board and their staff in developing the successful grant application. 

The state of Indiana will increase its focus on sector strategies after receiving a $4.875 million U.S. Dept. of Labor Sector Partnership Grant. 

The state will use the grant monies to develop innovative job training programs focused on regional and industry-specific collaborations.  The grant will build on the state’s “sector strategies” that align job-training programs to meet those needs of a local or regional labor market. The awards will connect workers who lost a job through no fault of their own and individuals struggling with long-term unemployment to a broad range of services, including on-the-job training; transitional jobs, pre-apprenticeships and Registered Apprenticeships; job search assistance; and career planning and job coaching.  We assisted the state of Indiana prepare and develop its grant application. 

It’s important to note that the Indiana grant complements the goals of a more integrated and comprehensive workforce development system envisioned by the new Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). In addition to expanding work-based learning, grantees must align services with other federal, state or local programs and agencies, such as Unemployment Insurance, Trade Adjustment Assistance, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, to improve the quality and efficiency of service delivery. Recent studies show work-based learning opportunities help get the unemployment back to work at good paying jobs.

TPMA Study Assisting Growth of Indiana Food Hubs

A TPMA-developed study is helping Indiana agricultural officials look at ways to grow the state’s network of specialty crop Food Hubs.

Food hubs bring growers and buyers together in ways that maintain the food value chain from farm to customer. This emerging system for the collection, processing and distribution of local foods can consist of space for retail vending, processing and equipment; community kitchens; and warehousing, packaging and transportation distribution facilities, among other services.

The study was released last month by the Indiana Department of Agriculture and contains five broad recommendations, including the launch of a Virtual Indiana Food Hub Network; exploration of a Sub-Hub Model for Hoosier Harvest Market, a Greenfield-based regional food hub model with an existing online purchasing system; streamlining of State policies and procedures, including incorporation of information on the Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH) Farm Produce Safety Initiative into the Indiana State Department of Agriculture Web site to better inform producers on requirements to sell to wholesalers; better marketing of Indiana specialty crops and regional food hubs; and increased ISDA Food Hub Planning Resources.

Monrovia-based Prosperity Consulting assisted TPMA with the study, which a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Specialty Crop Block Grant funded and administered. The USDA defines specialty crops as "fruits and vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits, horticulture and nursery crops, including floriculture." For more information on Indiana Food Hubs, go here.

Supreme Court Affordable Care Act Ruling and its Impact on Health Care Industry Sectors

Last month’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the Affordable Care Act not only upholds the Act’s implementation but will also impact a variety of industry sectors nationwide. The decision clarified that tax subsidies available for use in health insurance exchanges “established by the State” included exchanges set up by the states as well as those run by the federal government.

The ruling noted that a strict reading of the law would leave millions of Americans without premium subsidies, effectively destroying the health insurance market by causing premiums to increase even more – a result that Congress never intended. Many critics of the ruling believe the Court overstepped its bounds with a generous interpretation of the law, as opposed to a literal reading of the statute’s language.

The Supreme Court’s decision represents a major policy clarification to the Affordable Care Act, ensuring that the Act’s implementation will continue as Americans debate the merits of the law. The decision affects TPMA’s clients and their constituents across the nation, including individuals, small businesses eligible for premium subsidies, larger businesses who must comply with the Shared Responsibility provisions, as well as industry sectors with a stake in ensuring broader health insurance coverage for all Americans.

The affirmation of the federal tax credits significantly impacts key industry sectors and employers in the communities where TPMA works. Tax credits represent forgone federal tax revenue, which impacts budget decisions and priorities. Premium credits ultimately incentivize a certain behavior or choice, which can cause market inefficiencies.

However, the premium credits also make it possible for more individuals, particularly lower income employees of small businesses to obtain coverage and reduce the likelihood of defaulted medical debt. This keeps insurance more affordable for businesses and individuals across the board. The inclusion of younger, healthier individuals in the broader insurance market also spreads risk, stabilizing costs for all. Industry sectors like hospitals, health systems, and insurance companies benefit from increased coverage rates induced by the tax credits through lower rates of uncompensated care, and the ultimate result is less “cost-shifting” from the uninsured to the insured in the form of premium rate increases over time.

TPMA looks forward to identifying how this decision will specifically impact our clients and helping to operationalize any policy or programmatic changes resulting from the ever-evolving healthcare delivery landscape.  

Taking a Closer Look at Indiana's Nursing Workforce

Numerous factors are dramatically impacting the supply and demand of Indiana’s nursing workforce, including Registered Nurses (RNs), Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs), and Advanced Practice Nurses (APNs).  As a result of changing demographics, such as an aging population that will require more care;  evolving healthcare delivery models; increased coverage rates; and changes in healthcare reimbursement under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the future supply and demand balance of the nursing workforce is unclear at this point in time.

In fact, there are conflicting reported projections on what Indiana’s nursing workforce will look like by 2025. Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA’s) Health Workforce Simulation Model projects the supply of RNs and LPNs will outpace the demand at the national level and in 34 states, including Indiana.  HRSA’s model projects the state to have a surplus of 20,200 RNs and a surplus of approximately 1,970 LPNs by 2025. In contrast, Indiana University’s Data Report: 2013 Indiana Nursing Workforce projects there will be a shortage of RNs around 2018 and increasing to about 260,000 by 2025.

When analyzing the supply and demand of Indiana’s workforce, it is important to take a closer look at model inputs and assumptions. HRSA’s Health Workforce Simulation Model assumes that nurses will practice in states where they received their education and training. HRSA’s model also relies on publically available data sources that represent population samples and are extrapolated to simulate demand for healthcare services in different settings. Despite national models showing a projected surplus of RNs and LPNs, current and future nursing shortages in Indiana are cause for concern with the workforce distribution of the nursing profession. Other factors, such as the shift in nursing scope of practice and roles in new care delivery models, and efficiency gains also impact these projections—and some of these factors cannot be easily quantified.

In Indiana, RNs and LPNs are more heavily concentrated in urban counties. Workforce policy and planning discussions should not only be centered on increasing training of the nursing workforce and number of positions, but should simultaneously focus on creating an equitable distribution of the nursing workforce throughout Indiana. Furthermore, as the nation’s population ages, it will be important to increase expertise in geriatric issues in the near future. Indiana University’s Data Report: 2013 Indiana Nursing Workforce indicates that only 7% of Indiana’s nursing workforce currently specializes in geriatrics/gerontology. 

Educational system capacity to train the future nursing workforce is also a cause for concern. Nationwide, and in Indiana, there are more faculty positions that can be filled; consequently, schools of nursing sometimes turn away qualified students. Doctorally-prepared nurses tend to show more interest in advanced clinical practice than teaching or research. Incentivizing nurses at this level to enter education and research will be a key policy strategy to build capacity to train new nurses and replace those who are retiring.

The state of Indiana is positioned to collect timely data on nursing professionals as a result of Indiana’s Professional Licensing Agency’s (IPLA’s) renewal process and state-level survey data. Ongoing research and evaluation efforts aimed at understanding trends of the nursing profession will enable policy makers and stakeholders to understand how Indiana’s healthcare workforce will need to respond to evolving healthcare policies and healthcare needs of Hoosiers.

TPMA looks forward to closely tracking policy discussions and ongoing evaluation efforts, and plans to collaborate with stakeholders to translate these ongoing research efforts into defined strategies to respond to the shifting dynamics and evolving trends of the healthcare industry. 

Independent Colleges of Indiana offers New Recruitment Service to Connect Employers and Graduates

We recently came across a unique new service being offered by the Independent Colleges of Indiana (ICI) that seeks to connect employers with talented and career-ready graduates of Indiana’s colleges. ICI is a membership association of the state’s 31 private, nonprofit colleges and universities, and has recently launched what they are calling the ICI Career Hub, a free-of-charge service that will provide businesses one-stop access to almost 100,000 students, as well as alumni, from the 31 ICI member institutions located throughout the state.

The service offers recruiters job postings to all 31 ICI campuses; interview scheduling with students and alumni from multiple institutions; interview rooms at the Indianapolis downtown ICI offices; and "Huddle" videoconferencing stations for broadcast presentations and interviews with candidates.  Students and alumni of ICI institutions can see open positions and interview schedules which have been shared with ICI.

It’s a great service that should help assist businesses with their recruitment and workforce needs.  For more information, contact Scott Feeny, ICI’s Director of Policy & Research, at (317) 236-6085 or sfeeny@icindiana.org

Center for Leadership Development Helping Advance Minority Youth in Central Indiana

Speaking of good organizations and good programs, Central Indiana’s Center for Leadership Development continues to do great work in developing and advancing minority youth as future professional, business and community leaders by providing experiences that encourage personal development and educational attainment.

The Center has developed a wide ranging array of education, training, enrichment, character and leadership development, college-prep and similar programs – for both students and their parents – that are developing and preparing our next generation of leaders for high levels of academic achievement, career success and community service.  And while they are primarily focused on Indianapolis and Central Indiana -- their approach seems worthy of replication anywhere in the country.  It’s worth a look