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Premium Pay for Workforce Recruitment and Retention

AHS is currently processing final program evaluation reports and financial reconciliation reports from grantees.

In March 2022, Governor Scott authorized $60 million for certain health care and social service employers to provide premium pay for workforce recruitment and retention. These funds have been made available to the State of Vermont through the Federal Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Fund and Section 9817 of the American Rescue Plan Act.  The Agency of Human Services (AHS) is administering this program. 

See the 140 health care and social service employers awarded premium pay grants during the first round of funding in 2022, and the 41 that received grants during the second round in spring 2023.

Note: Premium Pay for Independent Direct Support Providers is being administered by ARIS Solutions. 

 

GRANT YEAR-END REPORTING FOR ALL GRANTEES (both round 1 and 2)

Close-out report submissions should include three components:

1- Evaluation reporting for April-June 2023 - All providers except DA/SSAs can choose either Apr-June 2023 12-week option for non-DA/SSA  OR  Apr-June 2023 full quarter option for non-DA/SSA. DA/SSAs can choose either Apr-June 2023 12-week option for DA/SSA  OR  Apr-June 2023 full quarter option for DA/SSA.

2- Any outstanding financial reporting - No required format, see below for minimum requirements

3- Reporting Certifications: To be signed and submitted along with any financial reporting.

 

ROUND 2 GRANT APPLICATION

A second round of funding was made available to applicants in early 2023, with three additional employer types invited to apply until February 27. These employer types are 1) primary care practices, 2) dentists' offices or dental facilities, 3) therapeutic community residences.

Employers from the first ten eligible provider groups were allowed to apply for the second round of funding if they did not receive a grant during the first round. For the second round, employers must have a demonstrated need for a grant.

Applicant materials included: 

Applicants were encouraged to start by taking two steps:

1) Register at sam.gov (if your organization doesn't already have an account) and ensure the account is set to public. Then make note of your unique entity identifier. You will need to enter it with your premium pay application.

2) Fill out the “FTE Summary Spreadsheet.” Applicants can download and complete one of two options:

(please note that a small number of applicants have reported that their version of excel does not properly display "employee type" options in Steps 2 and 3 of the spreadsheet links above; if this is the case, applicants can download a more basic version of the spreadsheet here - 12-week or full-quarter)

They were then able to register for an account and log-in to complete their application.

 

ROUND 1 REPORTING INSTRUCTIONS

Evaluation Reporting

Evaluation reporting will help policymakers better understand the impact of the program and can inform future policies and programs.

Financial Reporting

Financial reporting ensures program integrity. The cadence depends on whether grantees elected to receive a lump sum or quarterly grant.

  • All grantees - You are now able to log in to your account and submit: 1) documentation of incurred eligible expenses, 2) signed Reporting Certifications.
    • Before submitting your financial reporting, please make sure you have:
      1. Documentation of incurred eligible expenses: you may choose any format that meets the minimum requirements below. 
      2. A signed and completed certifications document using this form: Premium Pay Reporting Certifications
    • At a minimum, we expect the uploaded financial reports to include:
      1. Names of employees or unique identifiers for each employee who received premium pay (Note: If you have more than one employee with the same name, please make sure you include additional unique identifiers for those individuals, such as employee number or birthdate)
      2. Date(s) each employee was paid
      3. How much each employee was paid
      4. Grand total of how much premium pay was disbursed
    • Ideally, the reports will also include:
      1. Subtotals of how much was paid to each employee
      2. Subtotals of how much was paid on each date
    • Including all the information above in an easy-to-understand format will enable state staff to more quickly review and approve your documentation and issue your next payment.
  • Lump sum recipients - Spend grant funds within 90 days of grant payment date; submit financial report no later than 14 days after 90-day period. 
  • Quarterly recipients - Submit financial reports within two weeks of end of quarter (e.g. report on grant funds expended from October 1 through December 31 by January 16)
    • Reports must be received by AHS to calculate and distribute the next quarterly payment.
    • Failure to submit quarterly report on time may result in grantees not receiving the next quarterly payment until after the next quarterly reporting cycle.
  • See September webinar slide deck or video (links in "Additional Support" below) for more information.

    OTHER RESOURCES

    Program Documents

    Additional Support

     

    Grantees: please add AHS.WorkforceGrant at Vermont dot gov to your contact list to ensure grant emails don't go to your junk email box. You can also login to your application/grant account.

     

    Can't find answers to your question in the materials above?

    Submit an inquiry through the program’s Question Submission Form.