Long-term care innovation grant program opens 

The first round of grant applications opened

 Thursday for $30 million aimed at improving long-term care in Wisconsin.

The Department of Health Services will award between $25,000 and $2 million to projects benefiting people who use home and community-based services, their providers and their families.

“We’re putting these funds to work here in Wisconsin to improve our home and community-based services,” DHS Secretary-designee Karen Timberlake said in a statement.

The first round of applications will close Sept. 12, with a second round opening before February. There could be a third round, depending on available dollars.

The program is one of the initiatives funded with dollars the state is receiving under the American Rescue Plan Act to improve long-term care.