National Center for Benefits Outreach & Enrollment

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This competitive funding opportunity will be for one cooperative agreement to fund the National Center for Benefits Outreach and Enrollment (NCBOE) which will provide technical assistance to States, AAAs, and other community service providers to provide outreach and benefits enrollment assistance, particularly to older individuals with greatest economic need, for Federal and state programs. The NCBOE was establish in 2006 when Congress amended the Older Americans Act with language directing AoA (now part of ACL) to work with an experienced entity to: (i) maintain and update web-based decision support and enrollment tools and integrated, person-centered systems designed to inform older individuals about the full range of benefits for which the individuals are eligible; (ii) utilize cost-effective strategies to find older individuals with greatest economic need and enroll the individual in the programs for with they are qualified; (iii) create and support efforts for Aging and Disability Resource Centers (ADRCs), and other public and private state and community -based organizations, including faith-based organizations and coalitions, to serve as benefit enrollment centers for the programs; (iv) develop and maintain an information clearinghouse on best practices and cost-effective methods for finding and enrolling older individuals with greatest economic need; and (v) provide training and technical assistance on effective outreach, screening, enrollment and follow-up strategies. In addition, the NCBOE grantee is expected to coordinate efforts to inform older Americans and beneficiaries with disabilities about the benefits available under Federal and state programs, with an emphasis on providing information on the Low-Income Subsidy and Medicare Savings Program benefits, and to serve as a technical assistance resource center for the MIPPA state grantees involving SHIPs, AAAs, ADRCs, and Benefits Enrollment Centers. The National Center for Benefits Outreach and Enrollment will be awarded as a single cooperative agreement with a federal share of up to $11,000,000 per year for a total project period of up to three (3) years contingent upon availability of federal funds.

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