Special Project Grants; Maternal and Child Health Services; Federal Set-Aside Program; Collaborative Health, Education and Human Services Systems Interprofessional Education and Training

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Public Health Service

Special Project Grants; Maternal and Child Health Services;

Federal Set-Aside Program; Collaborative Health, Education and Human

Services Systems Interprofessional Education and Training

AGENCY: Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).

ACTION: Notice of availability of funds.

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SUMMARY: The Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB), HRSA, announces

that fiscal year (FY) 1994 funds are available for grants to create

collaborative health, education, and human service systems for children

and their families, including children with special health care needs.

Awards will be made under the program authority of section 502(a) of

the Social Security Act, the Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Federal

Set-Aside Program, which authorizes MCH Special Projects of Regional

and National Significance (SPRANS), including special MCH improvement

projects (MCHIP) which contribute to the health of children with

special health care needs (CSHCN) and their families.

Approximately $600,000 will be available to support up to 2 grants

at a maximum of $300,000 per award per year for up to 4 years. Funds

for the MCH Federal Set-Aside Program are appropriated by Public Law

103-112. A Federal Register notice announcing the availability of funds

for other SPRANS categories will be published in the near future.

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

health promotion and disease prevention objectives of Healthy People

2000, a PHS-led national activity for setting priority areas. The MCH

Block Grant Federal Set-Aside Program addresses issues related to the

Healthy People 2000 objectives of improving maternal, infant, child and

adolescent health and developing service systems for children at risk

of chronic and disabling conditions. Potential applicants may obtain a

copy of Healthy People 2000 (Full Report: Stock No. 017-001-00474-0) or

Healthy People 2000 (Summary Report: Stock No. 017-001-00473-1) through

the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office Washington,

DC 20402-9325, (telephone: 202 783-3238).

ADDRESSES: Grant applications must be obtained from and submitted to:

Chief, Grants Management Branch, Office of Program Support, Maternal

and Child Health Bureau, Health Resources and Services Administration,

room 18-12, Parklawn Building, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, Maryland

20857, (301) 443-1440. Applicants for these projects will use

application Form PHS 5161-1 with revised face page DHHS Form 424,

approved by OMB under control number 0937-0189.

DATES: The application deadline date is March 18, 1994. Competing

applications will be considered to be on time if they are either:

(1) Received on or before the deadline date, or

(2) Postmarked on or before the deadline date and received in time

for orderly processing. Applicants should request a legibly dated

receipt from a commercial carrier or the U.S. Postal Service, or obtain

a legibly dated U.S. Postal Service postmark. Private metered postmarks

will not be accepted as proof of timely mailing.

Late applications or those sent to an address other than indicated

in the ADDRESS section will be returned to the applicant.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For programmatic or technical

information contact Merle G. McPherson, M.D., 5600 Fishers Lane, room

18A-27, telephone: 301 443-2350. Requests for information concerning

business management issues should be directed to Mrs. Maxine Toense,

Grants Management Branch, telephone: 301 443-1440.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Program Background and Objectives

Grants covered by this announcement will be supported by SPRANS

funds set aside under the Maternal and Child Health Services Block

Grant in the category of special MCH improvement projects (MCHIP) which

contribute to the health of CSHCN and their families. The purpose of

these grants is to help eliminate overlap and fragmentation of services

to children and their families through creation of new community

service systems, working together with health, education and social

service professionals. Applications are solicited for projects which:

(1) Demonstrate the ability of health, social service and education

professionals to work together in communities to foster successful

physical, social and emotional growth for children and their families;

(2) Assist in the development of curricula at institutions of

higher learning, based on best practices learned in community settings;

and

(3) Disseminate a collaborative model of personnel training and

service delivery at the regional, State and national levels.

Grantees are expected to work collaboratively with the Commission

on Leadership in Interprofessional Education to field test model

curricula. The Commission, an organizational unit of the Association of

Teacher Educators which grew out of a March, 1990, symposium

cosponsored by MCHB, the American Association of Colleges for Teacher

Education, and the American Academy of Pediatrics, focuses on the study

of ways to produce a new generation of interprofessionally oriented

leaders in health, teaching, administration, social work, and other

human service professions whose members possess the knowledge, skills

and values needed to create new community service systems for children

and their families.

Preference for funding will be given to applicants with prior

experience linking health, education and social service professionals

together with policy makers in State and local health and education

agencies and private sector organizations to solve complex problems

facing children and their families that require collaboration. This

means that approved applicants with such experience will be funded

ahead of other categories or groups of applicants.

Applicants will use guidelines adapted from the FY 1993 SPRANS

Field-Initiated Project subcategory to prepare their applications.

These guidelines will be included with the grant application materials.

Information in this announcement, such as application receipt dates,

will supersede that contained in the guidelines.

Time does not permit a formal comment period on the category and

preferences described above. Any comments which members of the public

wish to make should be submitted to: Chief, Grants Management Branch,

at the address listed in the ADDRESSES section.

Special Concerns

In its administration of the MCH Services Block Grant, the MCHB

places special emphasis on improving service delivery to women and

children from culturally identifiable populations who have been

disproportionately affected by barriers to accessible care. This means

that SPRANS projects are expected to serve and appropriately involve in

project activities members of ethnoculturally distinct groups, unless

there are compelling programmatic or other justifications for not doing

so. The MCHBs intent is to ensure that project outcomes are of benefit

to culturally distinct populations and to ensure that the broadest

possible representation of culturally distinct and historically

underserved groups is supported through programs and projects sponsored

by the MCHB.

Projects supported under SPRANS are expected to be part of

community-wide, comprehensive initiatives, to reflect appropriate

coordination of primary care and public health activities, and to

target HRSA resources effectively to fill gaps in the Nations health

system for at-risk mothers and children. This applies especially to

projects in the 15 communities in the Nation which have received grants

from HRSA under the Administrations Healthy Start initiative. Grantees

in these communities providing services related to activities of a

Healthy Start program are expected to coordinate their projects with

the Healthy Start program efforts. Healthy Start communities include:

Aberdeen Area Indian Nations, NE/ND/SD; Baltimore, MD; Birmingham, AL;

Boston, MA; Chicago, IL; Cleveland, OH; Detroit, MI; Lake County, IN;

New Orleans, LA; New York, NY; Oakland, CA; Philadelphia, PA;

Pittsburgh, PA; PeeDee Region, SC; and Washington, DC.

Grants/Amounts: Up to $600,000 of SPRANS funds will be available to

support up to two projects at a maximum of $300,000 per award for a

one-year period. Awards are made for grant periods of up to four years.

Review Criteria

The following general criteria are used, as pertinent, to review

and evaluate for funding all applications for SPRANS grants and

cooperative agreements:

--The quality of the project plan or methodology.

--The need for the services, research, training or technical

assistance.

--The cost-effectiveness of the proposed project relative to the number

of persons proposed to be benefitted, served or trained, considering,

where relevant, any special circumstances associated with providing

care or training in various areas.

--The extent to which the project will contribute to the advancement of

MCH and/or CSHCN services.

--The extent to which rapid and effective use of grant funds will be

made by the project.

--The effectiveness of procedures to collect the cost of care and

service from third-party payment sources (including government

agencies) which are authorized or under legal obligation to make such

payment for any service (including diagnostic, preventive and treatment

services).

--The extent to which the project will be integrated with the

administration of the Maternal and Child Health Services block grants,

State primary care plans, public health, and prevention programs, and

other related programs in the respective State(s).

--The soundness of the project's management, considering the

qualifications of the staff of the proposed project and the applicant's

facilities and resources.

--The extent to which the project gives special emphasis to improving

service delivery to women and children from culturally identifiable

populations who have been disproportionately affected by barriers to

accessible care and ensures that members of culturally distinct groups

are appropriately represented in the activities of approved grants and

cooperative agreements.

--In communities with Healthy Start projects, a commitment by

applicants whose projects are related to activities of a Healthy Start

program to coordinate their projects with Healthy Start program

efforts.

--The strength of the project's plans for evaluation.

--The strength of the applicant's prior experience linking health,

education and social service professionals together with policy makers

in State and local health and education agencies and private sector

organizations to solve complex problems facing children and their

families that require collaboration.

In addition to the above criteria, other special review criteria

are used to assess grants announced in this notice. As detailed in the

guidance enclosed with the application packet, these special review

criteria focus closely on the quality of each element of the program

narrative section of the application: the problem; contributing

factors; project goals; outcome objectives; methodology; tracking of

project implementation; monitoring and evaluations; use of project

information; capabilities of the applicant; budget and justification;

and the overall significance of the project.

Eligible Applicants

Any public or private entity, including an Indian tribe or tribal

organization (as defined at 25 U.S.C. 450b), is eligible to apply for

grants in the MCHIP category.

Public Health System Reporting Requirements

This program is subject to the Public Health System Reporting

Requirements (approved under OMB No. 0937-0195). Under these

requirements, the community-based nongovernmental applicant must

prepare and submit a Public Health System Impact Statement (PHSIS). 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 application (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 and local health agencies.

Executive Order 12372

The MCH Federal set-aside program has been determined to be a

program which is not subject to the provisions of Executive Order 12372

concerning intergovernmental review of Federal programs.

The OMB Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance number is 93.110.

Dated: December 6, 1993.

William A. Robinson,

Acting Administrator.

[FR Doc. 94-3548 Filed 2-15-94; 8:45 am]

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