HCAI outlines Song Brown 2025 application rules, scoring, deadlines and allowable uses

California Health Care Access and Information (HCAI) staff used a public webinar to summarize application requirements, scoring methodology and key deadlines for the Song Brown family nurse practitioner (FNP), physician assistant (PA) and certified nurse‑midwifery (CNM) grant programs, and to answer applicants’ procedural questions. HCAI staff urged applicants to gather payer‑mix and training‑site data, confirm organizational authority to sign grant agreements, and use the early‑submission review to correct incomplete applications.

The Song Brown program “provides funding to education programs, including family nurse practitioner, physician's assistant, registered nurse, primary care residency, and midwifery programs,” said Charles Foust, grant officer for the Song Brown FNP/PA program. He told attendees that Song Brown funds “must be used for the direct education and training of students and to help expand primary care services in California. They are not to be used to supplant other governmental funds.”

Why it matters: Song Brown awards supply education funding intended to expand primary‑care capacity in underserved communities; scoring decisions determine which programs receive those funds. HCAI said accurate training‑site payer‑mix data and graduate practice locations are central to scoring and to post‑award payment setup.

Most important application requirements and deadlines - Applicants must confirm their organization can enter into a grant agreement with HCAI before applying and ensure IRS and accounting information in the eApp…