Amendment I (04/10/2012):
This announcement has been updated with information on the LOI and the application submission Deadline. Updates occur on pages 4, 11-14.
3/22/2012—The following Comments, questions and answers are being added (Source of questions are emails and calls to the Program):
1. Letter of Intent (LOI) deadline extended to April 13, 2012, 5:00 p.m., Eastern Standard Time. Also provided contact name and address for LOI submissions.
2. Application deadline extended to May 4, 2012, 5:00 p.m., Eastern Standard Time.
3. In the RFA, I did not see any specific information/guidelines for the project narrative pertaining to font type, size, text spacing, etc. Is this all automatically programmed into the application or are their specific parameters that need to be followed?
Answer: Please refer to page 13. A Project Narrative must be submitted with the application forms. The project narrative must be uploaded in a PDF file format when submitting via Grants.gov. The narrative must be submitted in the following format:
• Maximum number of pages: 50. If your narrative exceeds the page limit, only the first pages which are within the page limit will be reviewed.
• Font size: 12 point unreduced, Times New Roman
• Double spaced
• Page margin size: One inch
• Number all narrative pages; not to exceed 50 pages.
4. In the Project Narrative Section of the RFA, it appears that the following sections should be contained within the Project Work Plan: Goals, Objectives, Activities, Timeline. However, the page limit specifications do not seem to align. The RFA states that the Project Work Plan can be a maximum of 8 pages, but the page limit specifications for the Goals, Objectives, Activities, and Timeline add up to great than 8 pages. Can you provide guidance as to which guidelines we should follow? Is the Project Work Plan its own section of the Project Narrative?
Answer: Please disregard the 8 page limit. The Correct number of pages for the Project Work Plan is 22, which includes the pages set aside for the Goals, Objectives, Activities and Timeline.
5. Is there a maximum page limit for the whole proposal?
Answer: 50 pages with no more than 15 attachments.
6. When it says 5 tribal health departments, does that mean 5 separate tribes or can it be five health departments (clinics, wellness centers, etc.) within one tribe?
Answer: The purpose of the application is to provide Capacity Building Assistance. In Priority Area 2 (pages 6-7) the term a minimum of 5 Tribal health departments is used, this is correct. Please refer to the Special Requirements Section of the FOA (page 11) for further clarification.
7. Would it be possible for you to provide a Webex for Indian Health Service nutrition, health promotion, and health education staff (most will be staff at local sites)? It would be helpful if the Webex were midafternoon on a Tuesday or Friday in March. Would March 20, 23, or 27 at 2:00 or 3:00 p.m. be workable for you? We would expand the Webex to include a group larger than those involved the coalition project.
Answer: The program appreciates the invitation to participate but is unable to do so. Participation in a call to discuss a funding opportunity that is open competition would not be appropriate. It could be seen as providing an unfair advantage to a select group of applicants. The program is happy to respond to potential applicant questions via email. We will make the answers available in a Q & A sheet that will be accessible by all.
8. The Urban Indian Health Institute is a Tribal Epidemiology Center focused on the needs of *urban* AI/AN. Given our urban focus, are we an eligible organization for this RFA?
Answer: Yes, Please refer to pages 9-10 of the application for eligible applicants. Please also refer to the Special Requirement Section of the Application (page 11) to further explore your ability to meet the requirements of this FOA.
9. Can the tribe apply directly?
Answer: Yes, Please refer to pages 9-10 of the application for eligible applicants. Please also refer to the Special Requirement Section of the Application (page 11) to further explore your ability to meet the requirements of this FOA.
10. In reviewing the announcement for the Capacity Building Assistance to Improve Health in Tribal Populations funding opportunity, it appears as though this is not a grant for tribes to do the work in their own programming, but for them to act as technical assistants to other tribes/entities. Is this a correct understanding of the announcement?
Answer: Yes
11. The RFA for the latest version of Capacity Building Assistance to Improve Health in Tribal Populations says that an LOI is requested by April 2, 2012 [now April 13, 2012]. Is this up to date, and if so, where should it be submitted?
Answer: It is. Please reference pages 12-13.
12. Will there be a conference call to discuss the announcement before the LOI is due?
Answer: There will be no conference call.
Table of Contents
Part 1. Overview Information
Part 2. Full Text of the Announcement
Section I. Funding Opportunity Description
Section II. Award Information
Section III. Eligibility Information
Section IV. Application and Submission Information
Section V. Application Review Information
Section VI. Award Administration Information
Section VII. Agency Contacts
Section VIII. Other Information
PART 1. OVERVIEW INFORMATION
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Federal Agency Name: Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Funding Opportunity Title: Capacity Building Assistance to Improve Health in Tribal Populations
Announcement Type: New
Agency Funding Opportunity Number: CDC-RFA-OT12-1201
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number: 93.283
Key Dates
To receive notification of any changes to CDC-RFA-OT12-1201 return to the synopsis page of this announcement at: www.grants.gov and click on the “Send Me Change Notification Emails” link. An email address is needed for this service.
Letter of Intent Deadline: April 13, 2012, 5:00 p.m., Eastern Standard Time
Application Deadline: May 4, 2012, 5:00 p.m., Eastern Standard Time
This announcement is only for non-research activities supported by CDC. If research is proposed, the application will not be reviewed. For the definition of research, please see the CDC Web site at the following Internet address:
http://www.cdc.gov/od/science/integrity/docs/cdc-policy-distinguishing-public-health-research-nonresearch.pdf.
PART 2. FULL TEXT
I. Funding Opportunity Description
Statutory Authority
a. Authority: Section 317 (k) (2) of the Public Health Service Act, [42 U.S.C. section 247b (k) (2)], as amended.
Background
American Indian and Alaska Native, (AI/AN) communities are among the most underrepresented and health disparate communities in the United States. A renewed focus of Healthy People 2020 is identifying, measuring, tracking and reducing health disparities. Health departments and other entities providing public health services to AI/AN populations across the United States are central to reducing health disparities and could substantially benefit from capacity building assistance (CBA). CBA is a core public health function that includes training for skills building, technical assistance for public health program improvement, information transfer for packaging and disseminating information, and technical assistance for translating science and innovation to programs in the field. The CBA benefits could lead to improvements in the tribal health workforce, organizational systems and resources, collaborative work with health departments and culturally proficient policies and programs to conduct effective public health services. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) understands the need to ensure that Tribal health agencies and departments receive culturally appropriate CBA that can help them improve and deliver successful public health services, and thereby, lead to increases in protective and healthy behaviors and improved population-level health. Two high priority areas that currently align with CDC’s priorities are accreditation readiness and Winnable Battles. CDC's Winnable Battles are public health priorities with large-scale impact on health and with known, effective strategies to address them. By identifying priority strategies and clear targets and by working closely with the AI/AN, we can make significant progress in reducing health disparities and the overall health burden from these diseases and conditions.
Some of the Winnable Battles areas are listed below:
· Food Safety
· Healthcare-associated Infections
· HIV in the U.S.
· Motor Vehicle Injuries
· Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity,
· Teen Pregnancy; and
· Tobacco
Top health priorities cited by AI/AN community members related to Winnable Battles include the following: drug and alcohol abuse, heart disease, diabetes, cancer and intentional and non-intentional injury. However, conditions in AI/AN communities often challenge the ability to address such priorities. For example, addressing obesity as a risk factor for heart disease and diabetes can face obstacles such as unsafe facilities for physical activity, inadequate staffing that results in poor maintenance and condition of equipment necessary for exercise, and lack of access to healthy foods which by default encourage use of commodity foods.
CBA can help tribal health departments understand, assess and prepare for accreditation. Such assistance can lead to corrective actions and the implementation of policies, systems and standard operating procedures that improve quality and quantity of public health services. In addition, tribal health departments will benefit from CBA in implementing and evaluating effective policy and program practices as they relate to Winnable Battles or to other public health concerns (e.g., high rates of suicide, depression, substance abuse) that can be adapted to AI/AN communities for improvements in public health.
Purpose
The purpose of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to provide financial assistance to applicants serving tribal health departments (or their equivalents) so these organizations can provide Capacity Building Assistance, (CBA) to improve tribal health department quality, effectiveness, and efficiency in the delivery of public health services. Specifically, assistance will be provided in the following two Priority Areas: (1) capacity building assistance to prepare for public health department accreditation, and (2) capacity building assistance to implement model program and policy practices that address Winnable Battles that are culturally appropriate to AI/AN populations and address highest priority public health needs. Please reference CDC’s Winnable Battles at (http://www.cdc.gov/winnablebattles/).
Through this funding announcement, CDC seeks to fund eligible national non-profit organizations whose mission it is to improve the health status of native people and provide CBA to Tribal health departments (or their equivalents).
This FOA addresses the “Healthy People 2020” focus area of Public Health Infrastructure (available at http://www.healthypeople.gov) and the CDC Office for State, Tribal, Local and Territorial Support’s mission to increase the capacity and performance of the public health system. In addition, this FOA supports CDC’s national health protection goals and the elimination of health disparities in AI/AN communities.
Program Implementation
Recipient Activities
Program Activities – Applicants may choose to propose work in either of the following two Priority Areas. However, the applicants must submit a separate or unique application per each of the Priority Areas.
· Priority Area 1: Tribal Health Department Accreditation
The purpose of this Priority Area is to assist tribal health departments in preparing for voluntary public health department accreditation (see http://www.cdc.gov/ostlts/accreditation/index.html for information on National Voluntary Accreditation for Public Health Departments).
o Activities for this area of work may include, but are not limited to, the following:
a. Educate on benefits of meeting accreditation standards by collaborating and engaging with other interested parties, developing and disseminating information and communications to constituents, and/or providing strategic linkages with other major public health practice improvement efforts.
b. Develop, implement, and evaluate technical assistance resources and activities that support tribal public health agency performance improvement.
c. Identify and explore, through practice-driven evaluation or field-based efforts, questions or topics that are critical to the success of a national accreditation program for tribal public health departments.
d. Describe plan to work with and gain the cooperation of tribal health and state health departments in the provision of CBA for accreditation readiness. Include in this collaboration efforts of other entities, such as tribal epidemiology centers, that could strengthen the project.
e. Develop an evaluation plan for determining the effectiveness of CBA for accreditation readiness.
f. Develop and evaluate technical assistance resources that guide tribal public health agencies in developing the accreditation prerequisites (community health assessment, community health improvement plan, and agency-wide strategic plan).
g. Develop technical assistance and guidance to assist tribal public health agencies in planning for accreditation including assistance with developing timeline and “roadmap” to an applicable accreditation program application.
o Priority Area 2: CDC Winnable Battles
The purpose of this Priority Area is to assist Tribal health departments in adapting prevention program practices, models, interventions or policies that could be implemented to improve public health in AI/AN communities and that address CDC’s Winnable Battles (http://www.cdc.gov/winnablebattles) most relevant to high priority public health needs for AI/AN communities
o Activities for this Priority Area of work may include, but are not limited to the following:
a. Identify and select a minimum of two prevention program practices, models, interventions or policies that could be implemented to improve public health in AI/AN communities and that address CDC’s Winnable Battles. Criteria for the successful implementation of prevention program practices include: evidence of successful reduction in disease burden, evidence of cultural sensitivity and proficiency for AI/AN populations, and anecdotal information and recommendations from the field on effectiveness and adaptability. Identification of prevention program practices, models, interventions or policies could also include a solicitation from tribal health departments for best examples of these. In addition, the applicant could enter into sub-contractual relationships with entities that have developed these prevention program practices, models, interventions or policies to package, disseminate, or provide peer-to-peer technical assistance and training to Tribal health departments.
b. Review existing materials, tools, publications, studies and curricula and where appropriate, repackage or further refine for cultural appropriateness and national dissemination.
c. Develop a national dissemination plan to ensure that tribal health departments have knowledge of and access to these prevention program practices, models, interventions or policies.