Office of Minority Health; Cooperative Agreement for Family and Community Violence; Prevention Demonstration Program; Notice of Availability of Funds and Request for Application

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Public Health Service

RIN: 0905-2A56

Office of Minority Health; Cooperative Agreement for Family and

Community Violence; Prevention Demonstration Program; Notice of

Availability of Funds and Request for Application

Introduction

The Office of Minority Health (OMH) announces the availability of

Fiscal Year 1994 funds to support a cooperative agreement with a

consortium of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).

Specifically, the intent of this project is to design, develop,

implement, and test a series of models that may be effective in

preventing minority male related violence in such communities.

Models developed under this project should address behavioral

patterns and environmental influences that may precipitate violence

within the family or the community. Such factors may contribute to

dysfunctional patterns of individual behavior or dysfunctional

relationships within families. They include breakdowns in family

structure, alcoholism and drug abuse, lack of economic and job

opportunities, educational deficiencies, poverty, and crime. With

respect to domestic violence, these issues may include spousal and

child abuse and rape; transmission of violent behavior to subsequent

generations; societal and family relationships.

Multi-purpose family support systems are planned through both

linkages and consortiums of campus based centers and participating

official and private community based organizations providing a range of

prevention and service interventions. Interventions will be directed

toward several different target populations including primary school

(k-5), junior high school (6-8), and high school as well as young

adults, adults, parents, and the elderly. They will involve, but not be

limited to certain common strategies such as target group focused

education; individual counseling, treatment and individually relevant

assistance; and referral to public and private agencies, which includes

the college and university based family support center or the

participating professionals, institutions and organizations within the

community. The provider system encompasses colleges and university

students and faculty, parents, school officials and teachers, a large

array of professionals and official community agencies. The system is

designed to utilize and expand the expertise of these educational

institutions and other community resources in the areas to be

addressed. The consortium consists of 16 Historically and Predominantly

Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and a number of key public and

private entities functioning together to improve the lives of

individuals residing throughout the communities in which they live.

The Public Health Service (PHS) is committed to achieving the

health promotion and disease prevention objective of Healthy People

2000, a PHS-led national activity to reduce morbidity and mortality and

to improve the quality of life. This announcement is related to the

priority area of Violence and Abusive Behavior, which includes the

following sub-areas: homicide, suicide, weapon-related deaths, child

abuse and neglect, spousal abuse, assault injuries, suicide attempts by

adolescents, physical fighting among youth, weapon-carrying youth and

comprehensive violence programs.

Authority

This project is authorized under, section 1707(d)(1), Public Health

Service Act.

Eligible Applicant

Approximately $4,250,000 is available to support a family and

community violence prevention effort. Assistance will be provided to

Central State University of Wilberforce, Ohio, which will serve as the

lead entity for the consortium of 16 Historical and Predominately Black

Colleges and Universities, specifically the Consortium for Practicum

and Research on Minority Males/Minority Males Consortium (MIN-MALES.

The Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Minority Health has

determined that this consortium is uniquely qualified to receive this

award because it is a pre-existing proven consortium which can respond

rapidly to the OMH requirement to complete the award process this

fiscal year. Each institution participating in this existing consortium

is already actively involved in on-campus or in neighborhoods/community

based projects that are designed to remedy minority male and family

educational and health problems. Furthermore, all participating

institutions are working in an official and coordinated capacity to

focus specifically on violence-related problems faced by minority

communities. In addition, the consortium members are geographically

distributed in such a manner that allows them to access and service a

large and diverse number of racial and ethnic minorities.

They have established functional working relationships with

community-based organizations, churches, schools, prisons, etc. * * *

which demonstrates the existence of a viable network with cultural

competence and existing outreach mechanisms targeting multiple racial

and ethnic family populations. This consortium is uniquely prepared by

virtue of its expertise, geographic distribution and existing network

to implement a model family domestic violence program expeditiously. No

other applications will be solicited.

Availability of Funds

Approximately $4,250,000 (indirect and direct costs) will be

available in Fiscal Year 1994 to fund this cooperative agreement. The

project is expected to begin on September 30, 1994, for a 12 month

budget period within a project period not to exceed 3 years.

Continuation awards within the project period will be made on the basis

of satisfactory progress and availability of funds. The funding

estimate above may vary and is subject to change.

Background

Violent and abusive behavior exacts a large toll on the physical

and mental health of Americans. Child abuse, spouse abuse, and other

forms of intrafamilial violence continue to threaten the health of

thousands of American families, particularly minorities.

In 1986, an estimated 1.6 million children nationwide experienced

some form of abuse or neglect. Physical abuse accounted for the

greatest portion of abuse incidents. Studies suggest that between 2

million and 4 million women are physically battered each year by their

partners. On an annual basis, more than 1 million women seek medical

assistance for injuries caused by battering. Also, the vast majority of

domestic homicides are preceded by episodes of violence. Domestic

violence is a major context for suicide attempts, substance abuse, and

mental illness among women and 45 percent of mothers of abused children

are themselves battered women.

The characteristics of homicides indicate a clear and consistent

pattern of friend and family violence. Half of the yearly 23,000

homicide victims in the United States die at the hands of an

acquaintance. For example, family members are responsible for 20

percent of the deaths whereas casual acquaintances are responsible for

30 percent.

During 1985, the Surgeon General and the U.S. Public Health Service

provided a national focus on violence as a leading public health

problem in the United States. Since that time, public health

perspectives in preventing death and disability due to violent and

abusive behavior have emerged across the country.

Violence in America is a public health problem that takes its

greatest toll on young minority males. Minority males have the highest

rates of contact with the criminal justice system of any group in the

nation. In 1987, more than half of all prison inmates in the nation

were Black or Hispanic males. Problems confronting minority males are

those particularly associated with poverty, violence, single parent

households, school drop-out rates, delinquency, unemployment, access to

higher education and health status. The American Council on Education

recently reported that African American Male enrollment in colleges and

universities declined by five percent, while the enrollment among

Hispanic males remained constant, between 1990-1992.

Purpose

The purpose of this cooperative agreement is to design, implement,

and assess the use of a consortium to conduct model centers for the

development and demonstration of interventions related to minority

male, family and community violence.

Program Requirements

The consortium will design, implement, and assess Minority Male,

Family and Community Violence Prevention Models which maximize the

leadership of minority institutions of higher education in: (1)

Organizing a total ``town and gown'' initiative with respect to both

their own functions and responsibilities and those of entities to be

involved throughout the community, e.g., primary/secondary schools,

churches, public agencies; (2) The life centers should at a minimum

conduct the following:

Assess local community resources dedicated to address

problems of family and community violence.

Coordinate with local violence efforts currently in place

to minimize duplication of efforts and to maximize use of local

resources.

Specifically, though not exclusively, address the problem

of interpersonal family violence by designing and implementing an

educational/prevention intervention.

Design and implement a student assessment project to

identify students from dysfunctional families and to delineate positive

and negative coping strategies.

(3) developing educational experiences, preventive measures and

therapeutic interventions designed to address the issues of

dysfunctional males and families; and (4) formulating methods and

strategies for execution of the initiatives through a variety of

avenues within the minority institutions of higher education and

throughout the community. This initiative seeks to address the

escalating national problems experienced by dysfunctional families and

individuals in the minority community. These national problems are

precipitated by such conditions as breakdowns in family structures,

alcoholism and drug abuse, educational deficiencies, poverty, crime,

and violence.

The consortium will establish a maximum of sixteen (16) Family Life

Centers on the campuses of minority institutions of higher education. A

complete organizational structure will be developed for initiatives to

be executed through this program with respect to both the minority

institutions of higher education and community components involved

including methodologies and strategies for their operation. The

consortium will develop and test the interventions and other

programmatic content for all facets of the program that are internal

and external to the minority institutions of higher education. These

include, methods of their delivery and the competencies necessary for

all students and professionals involved (mentor, counselors, faculty,

etc.) in carrying out the interventions.

Use of Cooperative Agreement: A cooperative agreement will be

awarded because of the anticipated substantial programmatic involvement

by OMH staff. OMH will take the lead programmatic responsibility for

this activity and will work in collaboration with other PHS and DHHS

co-sponsoring entities. Substantial programmatic involvement is as

follows:

(1) OMH shall arrange an initial orientation meeting to discuss and

finalize a project management plan, to clarify roles and

responsibilities of the consortium and OMH staff, to establish clear

lines of communication, to introduce the consortium participants to

other PHS and DHHS co-sponsors, and to discuss and review a workplan.

(2) OMH staff shall provide technical assistance and oversight as

necessary for the overall design, implementation and assessment of the

project activity.

(3) OMH staff shall provide technical assistance to the consortium

in the design, development, and implementation of the evaluation plans

and strategies.

(4) OMH staff shall review and approve all consortium evaluation

plans and strategies prior to implementation.

(5) OMH staff shall provide non-financial assistance to the

consortium to arrange an annual meting and to provide briefings

regarding programmatic outcomes, evaluation plans, strategies,

agreement, and to provide expertise regarding the identification of

evolving areas of concern affecting the minority populations.

Technical Assistance

OMH will collaborate with representatives of the Consortium in the

identification of specific areas of intervention activities and the

development of research areas. The following document has been provided

by OMH to the Consortium: Healthy People 2000

Application Content

In a narrative form, the applicant shall submit sufficient

supporting evidence to satisfy all items in the ``Evaluation

Criteria''. This information should be presented using the PHS

Application form PHS 5161 (Approved by OMB under control no 0937-0189).

The application submitted under this cooperative agreement will contain

multiple subparts addressing the individual contributions of consortium

members. It is anticipated that the application received will contain

technical proposal(s) that may cover up to a three-year period.

Evaluation Criteria

A. The application will be evaluated according to the following

criteria:

1. The extent to which the proposed family community violence

intervention model(s) will address the needs of the targeted minority

populations as expressed by clear and measurable goals and objectives;

the reasonableness of the effort required to incorporate the model into

the long-term institutional goals as expressed by letters of long-term

institutional commitment. (40%)

2. The appropriateness of the proposed model design, purpose,

methodology, scope, assessment, and timetable. (40%)

3. Evidence for collaborative effort within the consortium and with

other significant participants such as community based organizations.

(5%)

4. Adequacy of resources; including background and training of key

personnel and percentage effort allocation to achieve stated objectives

and goals. (10%)

5. Potential for the proposed interventions and reports to lead to

publishable results. (5%)

6. Budget and Cost-effectiveness; the extent to which the total

budget is reasonable and will be adequate to achieve stated project

goals. The budget cost of the project to the Government must be

reasonable. (Not Scored)

Contacts: For program information, contact Mr. Michael A. Douglas,

Project Officer, Division of Policy Coordination, Office of Minority

Health, 5515 Security Lane, Suite 1000, Rockville, Maryland, 20852,

telephone number (301) 443-9923. For grants management information,

contact Ms. Carolyn A. Williams, Grants Management Officer, Division of

Grants Management, Office of Minority Health, 5515 Security Lane, Suite

1000, Rockville, Maryland, 20852, telephone number (301) 594-0758.

Application Deadline: The application deadline is June 15, 1994.

Guide for Grants and Contracts: The Public Health Service strongly

encourages all grant recipients to provide a smoke-free workplace and

promote the non-use of all tobacco products. This is consistent with

the PHS mission to protect and advance the physical and mental health

of the American people.

State Reviews: Executive Order 12372 sets up a system for State and

local review of proposed Federal assistance applications. Applicants

(other than federally-recognized Indian tribal governments) should

contact their State Single Points of Contact (SPOCs) as early as

possible to alert them to the prospective applications and receive any

necessary instructions on the State process. A current list of SPOCs is

included in the application kit. SPOCs will have 60 days to provide

comments. SPOC comments must be received by July 15, 1994. The Office

of Minority Health does not guarantee to accommodate or explain State

process recommendations after that date. SPOC comments are to be sent

to: Office of Minority Health, Grants Management Officer, Rockwall II

Building, suite 1000, 5515 Security Lane, Rockville, MD 20852.

Public Health System Reporting Requirement: This program is subject

to Public Health Systems Requirements. Under these requirements, a

community-based nongovernmental applicant must prepare and submit a

Public Health System Impact Statement (PHSIS) (Approved by OMB under

control no. 0937-0195). The PHSIS is intended to provide information to

State and local health officials to keep them apprised of proposed

health services grant applications submitted by community-based

nongovernmental organizations within their jurisdictions.

Community-based nongovernmental applicants are required to submit

the following information to the head of the appropriate State and

local health agencies in the area(s) to be impacted no later than the

Federal application receipt due date: (a) a copy of the face page of

the applications (SF 424), (b) a summary of the project (PHSIS), not to

exceed one page, which provides: (1) a description of the population to

be served, (2) a summary of the services to be provided, (3) a

description of the coordination planned with the appropriate State or

local agencies.

(The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance number is 93.105).

Dated: March 29, 1994.

Audrey F. Manley,

Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Minority Health.

[FR Doc. 94-11753 Filed 5-13-94; 8:45 am]

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