Maternal and Child Health Services; Federal Set-Aside Program; Continuing Education and Development Cooperative Agreements

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Health Resources and Services Administration

Maternal and Child Health Services; Federal Set-Aside Program;

Continuing Education and Development Cooperative Agreements

AGENCY: Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), PHS.

ACTION: Notice of availability of funds.

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SUMMARY: The HRSA announces that applications will be accepted for

fiscal year (FY) 1996 funds for Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Special

Projects of Regional and National Significance (SPRANS) Continuing

Education and Development (CED) cooperative agreements to support

national education, information, and public policy projects in maternal

and child health. Awards will be made under the program authority of

section 502(a)(2)(A) of the Social Security Act, the training provision

of the MCH Federal Set-Aside Program. SPRANS training projects may be

awarded only to public or nonprofit private institutions of higher

learning. Within the HRSA, MCH CED cooperative agreements are

administered by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB). Awards

under this announcement are made for grant periods of up to 5 years in

duration.

This program announcement is subject to the appropriation of funds.

Applicants are advised that this program announcement is a contingency

action being taken to assure that should funds become available for

this purpose, they can be awarded in a timely fashion consistent with

the needs of the program as well as to provide for even distribution of

funds throughout the fiscal year. At this time, given a continuing

resolution and the absence of FY 1996 appropriations for the SPRANS

program, the amount of available funding for this specific grant

program cannot be estimated.

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 with

special health care needs. 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

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Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office Washington, DC

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

The PHS strongly encourages all grant recipients to provide a

smoke-free workplace and promote the non-use of all tobacco products.

In addition, Public Law 103-227, the Pro-Children Act of 1994,

prohibits smoking in certain facilities (or in some cases, any portion

of a facility) in which regular or routine education, library, day

care, health care or early childhood development services are provided

to children.

ADDRESSES: Grant application materials for MCH CED cooperative

agreements must be obtained from and submitted to: Chief, Grants

Management Branch, Office of Operations and Management, 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 will use Form PHS 6025-1, approved by OMB

under control number 0915-0060. You must obtain application materials

in the mail.

Federal Register notices and application guidance for MCHB programs

are available on the World Wide Web via the Internet at address: http:/

/www.os.dhhs.gov/hrsa/mchb. Click on the file name you want to download

to your computer. It will be saved as a self-extracting (Macintosh or)

Wordperfect 5.1 file. To decompress the file once it is downloaded,

type in the file name followed by a . The file will expand to a

Wordperfect 5.1 file. If you have difficulty accessing the MCHB Home

Page via the Internet and need technical assistance, please contact

Linda L. Schneider at 301-443-0767 or ``[email protected]''.

DATES: The deadline for receipt of applications for CED cooperative

agreements is June 7, 1996.

Applications will be considered to have met the deadline 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 specified in the ADDRESSES section

will be returned to the applicant.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for technical or programmatic

information should be directed to the contact persons identified below.

Requests for information concerning business management issues should

be directed to: Acting Grants Management Officer (GMO), MCHB, at the

address specified in the ADDRESSES section.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Program Background and Objectives

Under Section 502 of the Social Security Act, 15 percent of the

funds are to be set-aside by the Secretary to support (through grants,

contracts, or otherwise) special projects of regional and national

significance, including research, and training with respect to maternal

and child health and children with special health care needs (including

early intervention training and services development). The MCH SPRANS

set-aside was established in 1981. Support for projects covered by this

announcement will come from the SPRANS set-aside.

Continuing Education and Development (CED) training includes

efforts conducted by an institution of higher learning such as short-

term, non-degree programs, courses, workshops, conferences, symposia,

institutes, and long distance learning strategies; and/or development

or enhancement of curricula, guidelines, standards of practice, and

educational tools/strategies. Continuing Education and Development

focuses on increasing leadership skills of MCH professionals;

facilitating timely transfer and application of new information,

research findings, and technology related to MCH; and updating and

improving the knowledge and skills of health and related professionals

in programs serving mothers and children, including children with

special health care needs (CSHCN). As a result of the CED,

professionals and the public are more adequately prepared to provide

comprehensive services and to provide leadership in advancing the field

to better serve mothers and children.

The undertaking for which applications are being solicited in this

notice is intended to expand on at least one similar project in

resource and policy development--the National Education and Information

Project--conducted since 1989 by the National Center for Education in

Maternal and Child Health, Georgetown University. The general purpose

of that project was to gather, classify, store, and disseminate

information on maternal and child health. Major services included

dissemination of information and education through workshops and

conferences, and production of publications drawn from customized

databases.

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 racial and ethnic minority populations who have had

limited access to care. This means that SPRANS projects are expected to

serve and appropriately involve in project activities individuals from

the populations to be served, unless there are compelling programmatic

or other justifications for not doing so. The MCHB's intent is to

ensure that project interventions are responsive to the cultural and

linguistic needs of special populations, that services are accessible

to consumers, and that the broadest possible representation of

culturally distinct and historically underrepresented groups is

supported through programs and projects sponsored by the MCHB. This

same special emphasis applies to improving service delivery to children

with special health care needs.

In keeping with the goals of advancing the development of human

potential, strengthening the Nation's capacity to provide high quality

education by broadening participation in MCHB programs of institutions

that may have perspectives uniquely reflecting the Nation's cultural

and linguistic diversity, and increasing opportunities for all

Americans to participate in and benefit from Federal public health

programs, a funding priority will be placed on projects from

Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) or Hispanic Serving

Institutions (HSI) in both categories in this notice. An approved

proposal from a HBCU or HSI will receive a 0.5 point favorable

adjustment of the priority score in a 5 point range before funding

decisions are made.

Evaluation Protocol

An MCH discretionary project, including a SPRANS, is expected to

incorporate a carefully designed and well planned evaluation protocol

capable of demonstrating and documenting measurable progress toward

achieving the project's stated goals. The protocol should be based on a

clear rationale relating the project activities, the project goals, and

the evaluation measures. Wherever possible, the measurements of

progress toward goals should focus on health outcome indicators, rather

than on intermediate measures such as process or outputs. A project

lacking a complete and well-conceived evaluation protocol

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as part of the planned activities will not be funded.

Project Review and Funding

Within the limit of funds determined by the Secretary to be

available for the activities described in this announcement, the

Secretary will review applications for funds as competing applications

and may award Federal funding for projects which will, in her judgment,

best promote the purpose of Title V of the Social Security Act, with

special emphasis on improving service delivery to women and children

from culturally distinct populations; best address achievement of

Healthy Children 2000 objectives related to maternal, infant, child and

adolescent health and service systems for children at risk of chronic

and disabling conditions; and otherwise best promote improvements in

maternal and child health.

Criteria for Review

The criteria which follow are used, as pertinent, to review and

evaluate applications for awards under all SPRANS cooperative agreement

categories announced in this notice. Further guidance in this regard is

supplied in application guidance materials.

--The quality of the project plan or methodology.

--The need for the training.

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

maternal and child health and/or improvement of the health of children

with special health care needs;

--The extent to which the project is responsive to policy concerns

applicable to MCH grants and to program objectives, requirements,

priorities and/or review criteria for specific project categories, as

published in program announcements or guidance materials.

--The extent to which the estimated cost to the Government of the

project is reasonable, considering the anticipated results.

--The extent to which the project personnel are well qualified by

training and experience for their roles in the project and the

applicant organization has adequate facilities and personnel.

--The extent to which, insofar as practicable, the proposed activities,

if well executed, are capable of attaining project objectives.

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

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

administration of the MCH Block Grant, State primary care plans, public

health, and prevention programs, and other related programs in the

respective State(s).

--The extent to which the application is responsive to the special

concerns and program priorities specified in this notice.

Award Categories

For FY 1996, CED cooperative agreements will be awarded in two

categories: one concerned with resource, educational and analytic

activities; and the other concerned with population-focused analytic

and related activities.

There will be substantial Federal programmatic involvement in these

cooperative agreements. This means that after award, awarding office

staff provide technical assistance and guidance to, or coordinate and

participate in, certain programmatic activities of award recipients

beyond their normal stewardship responsibilities in the administration

of grants. Federal involvement may include, but is not limited to,

planning, guidance, coordination and participation in programmatic

activities. Periodic meetings, conferences, and/or communications with

the award recipient are held to review mutually agreed upon goals and

objectives and to assess progress. Additional details on the scope of

Federal programmatic involvement in cooperative agreements, consistent

with HRSA grants administration policy, will be included in the

application guidance for these cooperative agreements.

Purpose

The purpose of these cooperative agreements is to support a program

of continuing education and development (CED) through interrelated

national education, information and public policy projects in maternal

and child health. This effort would build on the National Education and

Information Project, which has been conducted by the National Center

for Education in Maternal and Child Health, at Georgetown University.

The cooperative agreements seek to improve the health status of mothers

and children through:

--Development and dissemination of new information,

--Initiation or demonstration of new or improved ways of delivering

care or otherwise enhancing the capacity of Title V and related

programs to provide or assure the provision of appropriate services, or

--Advancing the knowledge, skills and leadership of personnel in

specialities relevant to MCH.

Based on state-of-the-art analysis, the continuing education

offered is intended to develop or improve standards, practices or

delivery of health care for the MCH population, and may be provided

through such activities as workshops, seminars, institutes, and other

relevant activities.

Awardees for these cooperative agreements will be expected to work

closely with a national maternal and child health clearinghouse and

with each other in handling referrals of inquiries and requests for

publications and other information.

Categories/Priorities

The following two categories of cooperative agreements will be

funded through this announcement:

--Category I: Resource, educational, and analytic activities to assist

in policy formulation and program development across target

populations. These would focus on such functional areas as child health

supervision, nutrition, oral health, injury prevention, immunizations,

mental health, community systems, financing, and economics.

--Category II: Population-focused education and analytic, and related

activities to assist in policy formulation and program development to

advance a national agenda concentrating on the following maternal and

child health subpopulations: perinatal and women, infancy and early

childhood, and middle childhood and adolescence. These would focus on

such issues as those relating to program content, systems development,

accountability/quality improvement, and special concerns noted earlier.

Project Period

Project durations are up to 5 years.

Contact

For programmatic or technical information, contact Woodie Kessel,

M.D., telephone 301-443-2340, or David Heppel, M.D., telephone 301-443-

2250.

Public Comment

The categories, priorities, special considerations and preferences

described above are not being proposed for public comment this year. In

July 1993, following publication of the Department's Notice of Proposed

Rulemaking to revise the MCH special project grant regulations at 42

CFR 51a, the public was invited for a 60-day period to submit comments

regarding all aspects of the SPRANS application and

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review process. In responding to those comments, the Department noted

the practical limits on Secretarial discretion in establishing SPRANS

categories and priorities owing to the extensive prescription in both

the statute and annual Congressional directives.

Comments on this SPRANS notice which members of the public wish to

make are welcome at any time and may be submitted to: Director, MCHB,

at the address listed in the ADDRESSES section. Suggestions will be

considered when priorities are developed for the next solicitation.

Eligible Applicants

MCH training awards may be made only to public or nonprofit private

institutions of higher learning.

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: April 22, 1996.

Ciro V. Sumaya,

Administrator.

[FR Doc. 96-10425 Filed 4-25-96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4160-15