For the purpose of this part and any Notice of Funds Availability issued under this part:

Applicant means an eligible entity that submits an application for an RVCP grant as announced in a Notice of Funds Availability.

Community-based organization means a group that represents a community or a significant segment of a community and is engaged in meeting community needs.

Eligible entity means a community-based organization or local or State government entity. An eligible entity will be identified as the legal entity whose employer identification number is on the Application for Federal Assistance (SF 424), even if only a particular component of the broader entity is applying for the RVCP grant.

Grantee means recipient of an RVCP grant.

Limited access to health care means residing in an area identified by the Health Resources and Services Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as “medically underserved” or having a “medically underserved population.”

Local government means a county, municipality, city, town, township, or regional government or its components.

Minority group member means an individual who is Asian American; Black; Hispanic; Native American (including American Indian, Alaskan Native, and Native Hawaiian); or Pacific-Islander American.

Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA) means a Notice published by VA in the Federal Register alerting eligible entities of the availability of RVCP grants and containing important information about the RVCP grant application process in accordance with §64.8.

Participant means a veteran or a member of a veteran's family who receives services for which an RVCP grant is awarded.

Rural means an area classified as “rural” by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Rural Veterans Coordination Pilot (RVCP) refers to the pilot grant program authorized by section 506 of the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010.

State government means any of the fifty States of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, any territory or possession of the United States, or any agency or instrumentality of a State government.

Underserved communities are areas that meet one or more of the following criteria:

(1) Have a high proportion of minority group representation;

(2) Have a high proportion of individuals who have limited access to health care; or

(3) Have no active duty military installation that is reasonably accessible to the community.

VA means the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Veteran means a person who served in active military, naval, or air service, who was discharged or released under conditions other than dishonorable.

Veteran who is transitioning from military service to civilian life means a veteran who is separating from active military, naval, or air service in the Armed Forces to return to life as a civilian and such veteran's date of discharge or release from active military, naval, or air service was not more than 2 years prior to the date on which the RVCP grant was awarded.

Veteran's family means those individuals who reside with the veteran in the veteran's primary residence. These individuals include a parent, a spouse, a child, a step-family member, an extended family member, and individuals who reside in the home with the veteran but are not a member of the family of the veteran.

(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 501, 523 note)