This FOA establishes eligibility, procedures, and requirements for the FY2020 WWSDP. Applicants must be nonprofit organizations who have been established for the purpose of training and providing service dogs. Pass-through entities will not be considered. The prime objective of the WWSDP is to support service members and/or veterans across diverse geographic regions and population demographics by funding nonprofit organizations committed to advancing the service dog industry through continued learning, innovative training programs, and superior industry standards.
Beginning in FY2015, Congress appropriated $1,000,000 for the WWSDP to fund a competitive grants program. This program continues in FY2020 under the authority of the Defense Health Program, Operations & Maintenance, Therapeutic Service Dog Training Program. The Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) is authorized by 10 U.S.C. 2113(g)(1)(A) to make grants to any nonprofit entity. Historically, USU has solicited grant applications from nonprofit institutions committed to connecting service dogs with service members and veterans. USU received $1,000,000 in FY2015, $5,000,000 in FY2016 and FY2017, and $10,000,000 in FY2018 and FY2019 to carry out this program. USU intends to award multiple, 12-month grants, subject to availability of funding, to eligible nonprofit organizations to continue this program in FY2020.
USU plans to award approximately $10,000,000 in grants to successful applicants for the FY2020 WWSDP. The number of grants to be awarded and the amount of funding per grant is to be determined based upon the quality of the applications and availability of funds. Since the program’s inception, USU has awarded annual grants with funding amounts of approximately $251,500 per award with awards ranging from $45,000 to $1,536,000. Funding provided through this FOA is not intended to finance new programs or initiatives, but to support existing operations and programs. The planned period of performance for the FY2020 WWSDP is April 2020 through April 2021. Past recipients of WWSDP grants are eligible to apply and compete for FY2020 WWSDP grants; however, applications for renewal or supplementation of existing awards will not be considered.
The WWSDP is limited to nonprofit organizations subject to 26 U.S.C. 501(c)(3) of the tax code. Applicants must be nonprofit organizations who have been established for the purpose of training and providing service dogs. A service dog is defined as any dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability, including a physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, or other mental disability. All service dogs must be evaluated for readiness through a Public Access Test such as the Assistance Dogs International (ADI) Public Access Certification Test (PACT). Pass-through entities will not be considered. Organizations must be able to tailor a comprehensive plan which describes their operations of a program that provides assistance dogs to service members and/or veterans with disabilities. WWSDP applicants must meet all of the following eligibility criteria by the application deadline stated herein. Failure to do so will preclude USU from making an award to the applicant.
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