HCAI details Song Brown RN and Licensed Midwifery grant changes, deadlines and application steps

The Department of Health Care Access and Information (HCAI) on a Microsoft Teams webinar outlined application guidance, changed slot limits and key deadlines for the 2025 Song Brown registered nurse (RN) and licensed midwifery (LM) grant cycles.

Chris Rowena, lead communications analyst for health workforce development at HCAI, opened the session, saying, “We're thrilled to have you join us today for the Song Brown Registered Nurse and Licensed Midwifery Technical Assistance webinar.” Kasie Cassidy Naval, Song Brown program officer, provided the program overview and led a detailed walkthrough of the HCAI funding portal and the application pages.

The webinar reiterated the program's statutory priorities: graduating clinicians who practice in medically underserved areas, enrolling students from underrepresented groups, locating primary training sites in underserved areas and operating sites where most patients are Medi‑Cal recipients. Naval said, “Song Brown funds education programs, including family nurse practitioner, physician assistant, registered nurses, primary care residency, licensed midwifery, and certified nurse midwifery.”

Why it matters: Song Brown grants are a key state instrument to support clinical training in areas of workforce shortage and to target resources to Medi‑Cal populations. Changes this cycle, clarified on the webinar, affect how applicants request slots and how some demographic data are handled.

Key application dates and process details - Application release: 09/10/2025 at 3:00 p.m. (Pacific). - Early submission review deadline: 10/09/2025 at 3:00 p.m. Applicants who use the early review may receive feedback within about five business days, Naval said. - Final submission deadline: 10/23/2025 at 3:00 p.m. - The application is submitted through the HCAI Funding Portal (the webinar referred to this as the EAP/funding portal). New organizational applicants must register in the portal and allow approximately five business days for organization approval.

Changes and funding limits called out on the webinar - RN existing programs: the maximum number of requested slots is reduced from 30 to 10, at $30,000 per student for the life of the agreement. - RN expansion programs: the maximum expansion slots are reduced from 10 to 5, at $60,000 per student for the life of the agreement. - Capitation (per‑student) rates were not changed; HCAI presented the per‑student amounts as totals for the agreement period rather than annually. - There is no “import” feature this cycle; applicants must reenter prior application data. - Underrepresented in medicine (URM) student data will be collected for reporting but will not be scored this cycle; the total points for existing/expansion applications this year are 50, Naval said. - Maximum funding requests for new programs: RN new up to $1,000,000; LMU (licensed midwifery new) up to $500,000.

Documentation and portal guidance Naval gave a page‑by‑page walkthrough of the portal and required uploads. Applicants must provide authorized grant agreement signatories, payee data (W‑9), training site addresses and NPI numbers for clinical training sites, and student/graduate data for the academic years specified in the application. For RN existing and expansion applicants, HCAI requires Board of Registered Nursing approval letters (file name prefixes APPR_ for existing and EXP_APPR_ for expansion). Naval cautioned that once an application is finally submitted it cannot be edited except through the early submission review process.

Frequently asked items addressed in the Q&A - NPI numbers: training sites must include the site's NPI; graduate NPI numbers are required for certain graduate pathways (entry‑level master's and some midwifery graduates) but not for ADN/BSN graduate reporting if those NPIs do not exist. - New vs. existing applicant status: programs that have not enrolled their first student and have not been a former Song Brown applicant are considered new; programs that have enrolled students remain existing or existing/expansion applicants even if they have not applied in recent years. - Early review feedback: staff will verify completeness and provide portal technical or completeness feedback; HCAI does not score applications at early review. - Slot cap for expansion applications: the maximum an applicant may request in expansion is 5 slots, regardless of prior approvals. - Budget and award totals: Naval described the 2025 competitive cycle as having approximately $2,725,000 in total funds for RN new, existing and expansion programs. She also said an applicant requesting maximum amounts for both existing and expansion could request up to $600,000 combined ($300,000 maximum for existing and $300,000 maximum for expansion in the presentation example).

Resources and follow up HCAI staff pinned links in the webinar chat to the funding portal, RN and LM grant technical assistance guides, the Song Brown glossary (which contains the program definition for “areas of unmet need”), and the NPI registry. The webinar recording and slide deck will be posted to HCAI’s website and available within seven to ten business days. Staff directed applicants with unique or complex questions to email songbrown@hcai.ca.gov.

The webinar combined a substantive application walkthrough with a live Q&A where staff clarified portal mechanics, document naming conventions, and the implications of this cycle’s scoring changes. HCAI encouraged applicants to use the early submission review to check completeness and to allow time for organization and program director profile setup in the funding portal.

For applicants: review the RN and LM technical assistance guides and the Song Brown glossary on the HCAI website, register your organization in the funding portal early, confirm authorized signatories and W‑9/payee details before starting the application, and consider early submission review ahead of the October 9, 2025 3:00 p.m. deadline.

The webinar concluded with reminders of the deadlines and an invitation to subscribe to HCAI’s health workforce updates and to contact SongBrown@hcai.ca.gov for follow‑up questions. The recording and materials will be available on HCAI’s website within seven to ten business days.