Support Funding for Title VII Health Professions Programs

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Title VII Funding Background

Title VII of the Public Health Service Act authorizes a variety of grants for students, programs, and institutions to improve the racial and ethnic diversity, geographic distribution, and quality of the health care workforce. Title VII provides funding for the only federal programs designed to train providers in interdisciplinary settings to respond to the needs of special and underserved populations, as well as increase minority representation in the health care workforce. Title VII funding provides direct financial support to schools for the educational training of occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants.

The FY2006 Labor-HHS bill dramatically reduced funding for Title VII health professions programs, resulting in a 51 percent overall cut below FY2005. These funding levels were maintained in the FY 2007 Joint Funding Resolution, causing programs across the nation to cease their activities.. At a time of serious health professions shortages, reducing this resource has already had devastating effects to the country’s neediest communities.

AOTA Position

The Health Professionals and Nursing Education Coalition (HPNEC), of which AOTA is a strong member, urges Congress to fund Title VII at appropriate levels for FY2008. AOTA and HPNEC have requested Congress to restore Title VII funds at $300 million. By restoring funding to these programs to this level, we will enable them to continue to improve the distribution, quality, and diversity of the health professions workforce.

Action Needed

Congress is proceeding with the appropriations process with hopes that they will complete the Labor-HHS-Ed Appropriations bill later this summer. As in years past, this process likely could take all year. We must ensure that appropriate funding is determined during the appropriations committee hearing process through the time it is passed on the House and Senate floors. Contact your members of Congress and ask for their support to fund Title VII programs at the $300 million level for FY2008. Use the attached Web email form, and feel free to add text to the form to make it personal.