Rural Community Hubs for Chronic Care Innovation Grant Program

The funding opportunity is the Request for Application for the Rural Health Transformation Hub Leadership Opportunity for Rural Community Hubs for Chronic Care Innovation. It is being administered by the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky as part of Kentucky's Rural Health Transformation Plan, which is funded through a cooperative agreement from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services. In this structure, the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky acts as a statewide convening and implementation partner and administers locally driven subawards, while the state remains the prime federal award recipient and keeps final authority over program requirements, approvals, and allowable uses of funds. The initiative is designed to reduce fragmentation across chronic disease prevention and management efforts by bringing together programs, resources, technology tools, and community partners into coordinated, community-led regional hubs. The purpose of this RFA is to select Rural Community Hub Lead Organizations in the Big Sandy, Lake Cumberland, and Purchase Area Development Districts. The selected organization in each district will serve as the central coordinating entity for a Rural Community Hub. The hub lead is expected to convene multisector partners, guide shared strategy, support coordinated implementation, and help strengthen local systems for prevention and management of chronic conditions, with an initial focus on obesity and diabetes. The opportunity emphasizes community-driven systems change, evidence-informed initiative design, cross-sector planning, data-informed learning, and practical coordination across health care, public health, and community-based settings. The RFA anticipates up to one award per Area Development District under this competition, for up to three awards total. During Phase 1, which runs from July 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027, the hub lead organization must establish governance and operational structures, identify or assign staff, conduct outreach, onboard required technology, convene at least ten cross-sector partners representing all counties in the selected district, and onboard at least twenty hub partners overall. The organization must also collaborate with partners, the Foundation, and state staff to design two to four evidence-informed obesity and diabetes initiatives, develop implementation workplans and budgets for each approved initiative, and serve as the pass-through entity for initiative-level subawards in compliance with federal subrecipient rules. Reporting, financial documentation, performance tracking, and oversight responsibilities are central to the role. The RFA also states that technical assistance will be provided by the Foundation and the state, but that support does not replace the awardee's own programmatic, financial, and compliance obligations. Funding for Phase 1 may include up to 500000 dollars per Area Development District for hub stand-up and operations and up to 3000000 dollars per Area Development District for chronic disease initiatives focused on obesity and diabetes prevention. That means the anticipated maximum support tied to one selected district is up to 3500000 dollars during the first project period, subject to final approval, allowable cost rules, and budget review. The document makes clear that all funding amounts are estimates for planning purposes only and that the Foundation may award less than the maximum amount or make no award in a given district. Funds may be used only for allowable, reasonable, and allocable costs under the CMS notice of funding opportunity, 2 CFR Part 200, the approved CMS budget, and the terms of the subaward. No cost share or match requirement is stated in the RFA. Eligibility is limited to non-profit or public-benefit entities with demonstrated organizational capacity to serve as an Area Development District level convener. Eligible types include non-profit organizations including 501(c)(3) organizations, public or quasi-public entities including local or regional governmental entities, and academic or research institutions operating on a non-profit basis. For-profit entities are explicitly ineligible. Applicants must reside within the Area Development District for which they are applying and maintain ongoing operations there. Organizations with operations in more than one district may submit only one application and may apply to serve only one district. Additional organizational requirements include possessing a Unique Entity Identifier through SAM.gov, being in good standing with the Kentucky Secretary of State, maintaining a compliant financial management system and internal controls under federal rules, not appearing on federal exclusion lists, and demonstrating at least three years of operating experience with physical presence in the selected district. Applications must be submitted electronically through the SurveyMonkey application survey no later than June 1, 2026 at 6:00 PM EDT. The application includes seven sections and a total of 62 questions, including five uploaded attachments. Required attachments are a one-page cover letter, two letters of commitment submitted as one consolidated PDF, the most recent Form 990 or financial statement, a Phase 1 Workplan, and a Phase 1 Budget and Budget Narrative prepared using the required budget template and submitted as a consolidated PDF. The workplan must address the Phase 1 scope of work and demonstrate readiness to lead the hub. Applications are reviewed using a 100-point scoring framework covering strategic alignment and vision, organizational profile and populations served, workforce and operational capacity, community partnerships and collaboration, grant management and financial capacity, readiness to lead the hub, and budget quality. The RFA schedule includes release on April 21, 2026, questions due April 29, 2026, FAQs published May 5, 2026, anticipated award notification on June 30, 2026, and an anticipated Phase 1 start date of July 1, 2026. Later phases are described as running from October 1, 2027 through September 30, 2031 if funded, but the RFA does not state that this specific competition recurs on a regular annual schedule. Questions about the RFA are directed to RCHgrant@healthy-KY.org, and the Foundation's main phone line shown in the document is 877-326-2583.

Demonstrate strong cross-sector convening ability clear ADD-level presence and readiness to manage subawards under federal compliance requirements with a detailed and feasible Phase 1 workplan