ODEP published a Funding Opportunity Announcement for Phase 1 of the Retaining Employment and Talent after Injury/Illness Network (RETAIN) Demonstration Projects. A partnership between the SSA, the Department of Labor’s ETA and ODEP, RETAIN will test the impact of early intervention strategies that improve stay-at-work/return-to-work outcomes of individuals who experience an injury or illness while employed. RETAIN projects will address both on-the-job and off-the-job injuries and illnesses.
The RETAIN Demonstration Projects are structured in two phases. During Phase 1, up to $2.5 million will be available for each of approximately eight states to complete planning and start-up activities and launch a pilot. Pending the availability of funding, at the end of 18 months up to four Phase 1 awardees will competitively receive up to $19.75 million each to implement RETAIN projects at full scale.

Applications for Phase 1 are due on July 23, 2018. A prospective applicant teleconference is scheduled for Thursday, June 7, 2018 at 3pm ET. Dial in information for the teleconference and additional information about RETAIN are available on the ODEP website. The full Funding Opportunity Announcement is posted on grants.gov.