Community Health Workers Grants Application: Strengthening the Rural Health Workforce in Wisconsin

Summary

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) seeks to strengthen the Wisconsin rural health workforce by developing and expanding high-quality and impactful community health worker (CHW) programs in clinical and community settings. There are three main components to this funding opportunity: 

• Hiring and supporting CHWs to carry out services in rural communities 

• Training CHWs on core competencies and standards  

• Building organizational capacity to sustain quality CHW service provision 

Applicants may apply to multiple Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP) funding opportunities for which their organizations are eligible. 

Key dates

• Application release: June 15, 2026 

• Letter of intent due: July 1, 2026 

• Application submission Due: Aug. 7, 2026 

• Application questions due: July 1, 2026. Responses will be posted within one week. Please send questions to: dhsruralhealth@dhs.wisconsin.gov and include CHW Application Questions in the subject line. 

• Estimated date for award notification: Late August 2026 

Background

The Wisconsin Rural Health Transformation Program is focused on improving healthcare access and health outcomes in rural communities across Wisconsin. This funding opportunity is part of the RHTP, a federal funding opportunity provided to states through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The DHS received a first-year award from CMS for $203,670,005.21 to invest in rural capacity, sustainability, and innovation. The program aims to improve access to care through three initiatives: strengthening the healthcare workforce, enhancing technology innovation, and cultivating coordinated care partnerships. Through collaboration among healthcare providers, public health agencies, and community-based organizations, the program seeks to improve health and well-being in rural communities. 

This funding opportunity is part of the workforce initiative. CHWs serve as trusted connectors and help individuals navigate medical and non-medical services and systems, manage chronic conditions, and overcome barriers such as transportation, food insecurity, and limited access to care. In rural communities, where healthcare provider shortages and geographic isolation are common, CHWs strengthen outreach and promote healthier communities through support and connection to essential services.

Purpose

This grant funding opportunity is intended to strengthen the rural healthcare workforce and linkages between the community and clinics to address the health needs of rural populations. Through this funding, the State of Wisconsin aims to expand the integration and sustainability of CHWs as an evidence-based care model to improve health outcomes in Wisconsin’s rural communities. This funding will prioritize CHW services for those who are low-income or underserved living in Wisconsin’s rural communities. The goals of this funding opportunity are to:   

• Increase the quality and number of the CHW workforce in rural areas of Wisconsin. 

• Improve the health of rural Wisconsinites through strong linkages between clinics and communities. 

• Strengthen CHW programs through training and technical assistance. 

• Build sustainable infrastructure to support the CHW workforce. 

Successful applications submitted as part of this funding opportunity must address the following:   

• New or enhanced CHW program: The program is focused on transformative work that goes beyond existing service provision. Funds awarded under this program must be used to support new or expanded CHW partnerships, services, or activities. Applicants may not use grant funds to maintain existing services or programs. Applicants should clearly describe how the proposed project represents a new program or a substantive expansion of current efforts, including any new CHW position(s), key partnerships, anticipated services, populations served, geographic areas, and service capacity. The CHW scope of practice is determined by the National Council on CHW Core Consensus Standards and services may include patient outreach and program enrollment, patient navigation, chronic disease management, non-medical resource navigation and barrier reduction, data collection and evaluation, and others defined through the grant funding opportunity.  

• Community-clinical linkages across sectors: Applicants should describe how developing or expanding a CHW program will address specific community needs and how collaboration between community and clinical partners will function to support program goals. Proposal should clearly describe how they will establish strong community-clinical partnerships, workflows, and referral networks between CHW staff and external partners to meet needs.  

• Training and technical assistance: Applicant agencies and CHWs must participate in training and technical assistance that align with, recognize, and adopt state and national best practices for CHW workforce development. Proposals should clearly describe the agency’s capacity to engage in training and technical assistance provided through the Rural Health Transformation Program. 

Recipients of this funding will have access to CHW Core Competency training and CHW Supervisor training provided by training entities selected through a separate grant funding opportunity. Recipients will be expected to participate in regional and in-person training and technical assistance offerings provided by the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute (UWPHI) Envision and other training partners that support RHTP deliverables. RHTP will also make available additional training and professional development opportunities based on applicant and recipient training needs.   

• Sustainability: Applications must include a clear and feasible plan for sustainability beyond the grant period. Proposals should describe how community health worker infrastructure will be maintained over time through reimbursement, payer mix, operational efficiencies, and other funding sources.

Program requirements

Program development or enhancement  

• Assess organizational readiness by utilizing the Wisconsin CHW Integration Toolkit Assessment or the Community Health Alignment CHW Healthcare Integration Toolkit. 

• Expand or create a CHW program that includes staffing for CHW position(s), CHW Supervisor, anticipated services, data documentation process, key partnerships, and engagement in the Wisconsin CHW workforce landscape. 

• Establish strong community-clinical partnerships, workflows, and referral networks between CHW staff and external partners to meet medical and non-medical needs.  

Training and technical assistance  

• Enroll and complete CHW core competency training and CHW supervisor training within six months.  

• Complete an assessment to identify specific training needs based on rural community medical and non-medical needs. 

• Participate in training and technical assistance for program development including onboarding, team integration, workforce, and financial sustainability provided by RHTP training and technical assistance partners. This training and technical assistance will be made available as part of the Rural Health Transformation Program. 

• Support CHW participation, as part of their position, in professional networks to advance and contribute to strengthening the statewide CHW workforce. 

Sustainability 

• Develop and implement a plan for establishing a comprehensive reimbursement model that includes multiple funding sources such as Medicaid, private, or other public funding to sustain agency CHW model.  

• Provide data necessary for reporting deliverables and engage in a CHW impact study for financial sustainability. 

• Collaborate with the RHTP grant evaluation team to collect and report qualitative and quantitative data using provided tools and guidance.  

• Additionally, funding recipients will be expected to align program development with future reimbursement requirements, such as Medicaid, and participate in CHW-related studies conducted by other RHTP grant partners.

Eligible applicants

Applicants must be rural facilities in the state of Wisconsin. Facilities in Wisconsin counties defined by the 2020 U.S. Census as either semi-rural or rural (see funding opportunity Addendum Exhibit 1 for a definition of semi-rural and rural counties) will be eligible to apply for these funding opportunities, including but not limited to the following: 

• Federally-qualified health centers and/or community health centers  

• Free and charitable clinics  

• Hospitals  

• Local and Tribal health departments  

• Rural health clinics  

• Tribal clinics  

• Community-based organizations 

• School-based health providers 

Applicant qualifications  

In addition to the program and evaluation requirements, applicants must meet or have a detailed plan to meet the following requirements: 

• CHWs who meet the American Public Health Association definition and have or will complete core competency training that meets the National C3 Council Standards. 
• CHW Supervisor in a ratio of 1 supervisor per 5 CHWs and who have or will complete CHW Supervisor training that meets the National C3 Council Standards.  
• Have sufficient staff and capacity to plan, implement, and evaluate the proposed approach in alignment with the grant goals.  
• Have a history of collaborating with multi-sector partners to achieve sustainable change. 
• Have experience collecting quantitative and qualitative data to facilitate evaluation and performance outcome reporting, and/or have a plan to request DHS technical assistance in this area. 
• Fiscal, accounting, management, and information technology staff for the overall project. 
• In good standing with DHS and able to comply with all DHS reporting, fiscal, and audit requirements. 

Letter of intent  

We recommend but do not require a letter of intent to submit an application in response to this grant funding. Letters of intent allow DHS to better understand the geographic distribution of interest across Wisconsin’s rural areas and helps DHS prepare for application reviews and plan for grantee training and technical assistance. 

The letter of intent should be provided through this survey by July 1, 2026.

Application submission

This application must be completed by 11:59 p.m. on August 7, 2026. Only complete applications submitted through this survey will be considered.  

Applications must include: 

• Responses to the statements in the Application Questions section. Any information beyond the page limit will not be read, reviewed, or scored.  

• Proposed budget and justification 

• Letters of support from each partner with an active role in the project, if known and applicable at the time of application. 

The budget, justification, and letters of support do not count toward the narrative response word limit. 

Organizations may request technical assistance for preparing their applications from the University of Wisconsin-Population Health Institute, Wisconsin Office of Rural Health, and Wisconsin Collaborative for Healthcare Quality. Technical assistance can be requested for describing local health needs using community data, accessing information to quantify the local health context, project evaluation planning, and/or developing performance measures. These partners have no input on funding decisions. To learn more, send a request to RHTP-evaluation@wisc.edu. 

Applicants should reach out directly to DHS at DHSRuralHealth@dhs.wisconsin.gov for questions regarding technical difficulties with the application submission process. Note: questions about the funding opportunity, including eligibility requirements, budgets, allowable and unallowable expenses, and related topics, must be submitted by July 1, 2026, and will be answered through published FAQs.   

This program is supported by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award totaling $203,670,005.21 with 100 percent funded by CMS/HHS. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by CMS/HHS, or the U.S. Government.