SMILE Workforce Initiative Grant

Kim Elmore
kelmore@deltadentalnj.com

Delta Dental of New Jersey Foundation Grants provide funding to organizations that focus on workforce development and recruitment of dental assistants and dental hygienists to provide dental care in underserved communities throughout New Jersey and Connecticut.

The Foundation supports new or established programs that:

• Are State-approved and adhere to state regulations or are in the process of seeking state approval
• Are continuous and sustainable programs, and have the support and commitment from your overall organization
• Where applicable, have received approval from the Department of Education and/or Department of Labor
• Follow the NELDA model, with radiology and infection control, including Radiation Health and Safety (RHS) exam, Infection Control Exam (ICE), and Anatomy, Morphology and Physiology (AMP) exam (The NELDA model is preferred, not required)
• Establish or expand dental assisting programs through:
  • Exposing middle or high school students to the dental field
  • Increase the number of dental assistants and/or dental hygienists working in a public health setting, including Federally Qualified Health Clinics, community clinics, and hospitals
  • Building a strong dental assisting and/or dental hygiene workforce in underserved communities
  • Improve access to dental care in communities by recruiting and rebuilding depleted dental assistant or dental hygiene staff

Eligible programs include nonprofit organizations, schools, universities, FQHCs or other organizations that are supporting dental hygiene and/or dental assisting programs and their students or are promoting dental careers to middle and high school students.

Funding starts at $15,000 and may go up to $100,000 for single year grants. Multi-year grants up to 3 years will be considered.

Links to additional guidance and the online application portal are available on the program website.