U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Title: Connecting Schools with Community-Based Organizations to Increase HIV Testing Among Youth, Especially Youth at Highest Risk for HIV Infection
Announcement Type: Competing Supplement
Funding Opportunity Number: TBD
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number: TBD CFDA -
Key Dates: August 21, 2008
I. Funding Opportunity Description
Purpose: The purpose of this announcement is to provide supplemental support to a grantee funded by the Division of Adolescent and School Health (DASH)under the following category of Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) #DP06-601 for program expansion:
·
Category 3: Preventing HIV Infections by Providing CBA to Organizations that Serve Youth at High Risk for HIV Infection.
With the supplemental funding, the grantee will create a guidance document for school health staff (counselors, nurses, psychologists, and social workers) on how to work with community-based organizations to increase HIV testing among youth, especially youth at highest risk for HIV infection. The document would cover topics such as:
·
How community-based organizations work.·
Identifying opportunities for schools to collaborate with and link to community-based organizations (referrals for services, shared trainings, educational opportunities, etc.).·
Promoting testing opportunities through partnerships with community-based organizations.·
Understanding any legal implications for school staff referring youth to community-based organizations.·
Working with school administrators, local school boards, and other school district leaders on promoting linkages between schools and community-based organizations.
The goal of this project is to connect schools with community-based organizations to increase HIV testing among youth, especially youth at highest risk for HIV infection. The supplement is for program expansion.
Activities:
Awardee activities for this program are as follows:
·
Develop a guidance document for school health staff (counselors, nurses, psychologists, and social workers) on how to work with community-based organizations to increase HIV testing among youth, especially youth at highest risk for HIV infection. The workplan should include the activities applicant will undertake to develop the guidance document. Applicant should indicate how this supplement will complement the program logic model developed under FOA #DP06-601. Applicant is encouraged to identify and provide up to five letters of support from partners with complementary expertise that will increase the likelihood the guidance document will be relevant to and adopted by the target audience.·
Disseminate and promote the guidance to the target audience (school health staff).·
Disseminate and promote the guidance among other NGO grantees funded through “National Programs to Build the Capacity of Societal Institutions That Influence Youth Behavior” (FOA #DP06-601).·
Provide technical assistance and capacity building assistance around implementation of recommendations in the guidance document.·
Collaborate with CDC on program development, implementation, evaluation, and dissemination of findings or lessons learned from these activities, including development of success stories.
CDC Activities include, but are not limited to the following activities:
·
Provide and periodically update information related to the purposes or activities of this program announcement.·
Coordinate with national, state, and local education, health, social service, and other relevant agencies and organizations to plan and implement strategies designed to prevent health risks among youth and promote positive health, social, and academic outcomes.·
Provide assistance to grantees with program planning to: (a) assure consistency of their operational plan with the intent of the program announcement, including refinement and use of logic models, SMART objectives, evaluation reports and other public tools and resources; and (b) avoid duplication of activities by grantees funded within the same category.·
Provide assistance with evaluation of program activities, including reviewing and providing feedback on operational plans and linking grantees to additional evaluation technical assistance.
II. Award Information
Type of Award: Cooperative Agreement
Award Mechanism: Competing Supplement (Limited Competition)
Fiscal Year Funds: 2008
Approximate Current Fiscal Year Funding: $275,000
Approximate Total Project Period Funding: $275,000 (This amount is an estimate, and is subject to availability of funds. This figure includes all direct and indirect costs.)
Approximate Number of Awards: 1
Approximate Average Award: $275,000 (This amount is for the 12-month budget period, and includes both direct and indirect costs.)
Floor of Individual Award Range: $275,000
Ceiling of Individual Award Range: $275,000
Anticipated Award Date: September 30, 2008
Budget Period Length: 12 months
Project Period Length: 1 year
1. Eligible Applicants: Eligible applicants that can apply for this funding opportunity are grantees funded by the Division of Adolescent and School Health (DASH) under the following categories of Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) #DP06-601:
·
Category 3A: Preventing HIV Infections by Providing CBA to Organizations That Serve Youth at High Risk for HIV Infection: Young Men Who Have Sex with Men (YMSM), Especially African American and Latino Maleso
American Psychological Association (APA)
·
Category 3B: Preventing HIV by Providing CBA to Organizations That Serve Youth at High Risk for HIV Infection: African American and Latina Femaleso
Advocates for Youtho
AIDS Alliance for Children, Youth, and Familieso
Girls, Inc.
·
Category 3C: Preventing HIV Infections by Providing CBA to Organizations That Serve Youth at High Risk for HIV Infection: Youth in Juvenile Justiceo
ETR Associates
·
Category 3D: Preventing HIV Infections by Providing CBA to Organizations That Serve Youth at High Risk for HIV Infection: Runaway and Homeless Youtho
National Network for Youth (NNY)
2. Reasons for Limited Competition
The intent of this funding opportunity is to provide capacity building assistance to organizations that serve youth at high risk for HIV infection within four specific populations, including Young Men Who Have Sex with Men, especially African American and Latino Males, African American and Latina Females, Youth in Juvenile Justice Facilities and/or Alternatives Schools, and Runaway and Homeless Youth. Funding eligibility is limited to national nongovernmental organizations already funded by DASH for HIV prevention. Specifically, eligibility is limited to six (6) national non-governmental organizations that are funded for HIV prevention education activities under Category 3 of FOA DP06-601.
National non-profit organizations that reach community-based organizations that service youth at high risk for HIV infection are the most appropriate groups to develop and implement the work under this cooperative agreement because they have the:
• Ability reach community-base HIV prevention youth serving organizations
• Capacity to work directly with African American and Hispanic/Latino males and females at high risk for HIV infection
• Capability to identity and collaborate with organizations that work with young men who have sex with men, especially African American and Hispanic/Latino males
• Ability to represent and work with Runaway and Homeless youth from across the country.
3. Other:
If a funding amount greater than the ceiling of the award range is requested, the application will be considered non-responsive and will not be entered into the review process. The applicant will be notified that the application did not meet the submission requirements.
4. Special Requirements:
If the application is incomplete or non-responsive to the special requirements listed in this section, it will not be entered into the review process. The applicant will be notified the application did not meet submission requirements.
To apply for this funding opportunity use application form PHS 5161-1.
Electronic Submission:
CDC requires grantees to submit their request for supplemental funding through www.Grants.gov. If you encounter any difficulties submitting your request through www.Grants.gov, please contact CDC’s Technical Information Management Section at (770) 488-2700 prior to the submission deadline. If you need further information regarding the application process, please contact Barbara René Benyard at
(770) 488-2757. For programmatic information, please contact Victor Medrano, NGO Program Team Lead at (770) 488-6159.
The application package can be downloaded from www.Grants.gov. Applicants are able to complete it off-line, and then upload and submit the application via the www.Grants.gov website. E-mail submissions will not be accepted. If the applicant has technical difficulties in www.Grants.gov, customer service can be reached by E-mail at http://www.grants.gov/CustomerSupport or by phone at 1-800-518-4726 (1-800-518-GRANTS). The Customer Support Center is open from 7:00a.m. to 9:00p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday.
2. Application:
A Project Abstract must be submitted with the application forms. The abstract must be submitted in the following format:
The Project Abstract must contain a summary of the proposed activity suitable for dissemination to the public. It should be a self-contained description of the project and should contain a statement of objectives and methods to be employed. It should be informative to other persons working in the same or related fields and insofar as possible understandable to a technically literate lay reader. This Abstract must not include any proprietary/confidential information.
A project narrative must be submitted with the application forms. The narrative must be submitted in the following format:
The narrative should address activities to be conducted over the entire project period and must include the following items in the order listed:
o
Describe your organization’s previous capacity in working with and providing assistance to schools and school health staff on how to work with community-based organizations. Describe your organization’s previous capacity in addressing HIV prevention education and youth, especially youth at highest risk for HIV infection. Describe your organization’s previous experience with promoting HIV testing among youth.o
Include the name, location, and type of organizations; a synopsis of the CBA provided and how it relates to building the specific capacities; and evaluation results.
Include a workplan with the following elements (a sample workplan template is available at http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/FOA-801/doc/Workplan%20Template.doc):
o
Goals (broad statements of program purpose describing the expected long-term effect(s) of a program), in this case, addressing the proposed program’s impact on schools’ ability to work with community-based organizations to increase HIV testing among youth, especially youth at highest risk for HIV infection.o
Program objectives written in SMART format (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-phased); rationale for each proposed objective; primary person/agency responsible for accomplishing the objective; measures of objective accomplishments; and data sources to measure objective accomplishment.o
Activities planned to address each proposed objective, noting the primary person/agency responsible for accomplishing each activity.o
Describe how your organization will work with targeted school health staff to assess needs prior to development of the guidance document.o
Describe how your organization would expect to disseminate and promote the guidance document to encourage adoption of its recommendations.o
Describe how your organization will provide technical assistance, capacity building assistance, professional development and follow-up support, and/or guidance on recommendations made in the guidance document.o
Distinguish between your current DP06-601 workplan and the new work under this supplement.o
Provide a chart illustrating the timeline of activities (the order and timing of key project activities) as they relate to the proposed goals and objectives.
o
Provide an evaluation plan for this supplement that is complementary to and consistent with the overall evaluation plan of your organization’s FOA #DP06-601 project, and that is sufficiently rigorous to assess achievement of the desired outcomes.o
Provide process and outcome evaluation indicators for each measurable objective of the proposed plan. The indicators and measures must be in alignment with the DASH program goals for FOA DP06-601.o
Provide a data collection, analysis, and management plan.o
Describe a plan to disseminate data findings and evaluation results.
o
Describe how your organization will collaborate with CDC and other NGO partners. Applicant is encouraged to identify and provide letters of support from up to five partners with complementary expertise that it plans to work with to increase the likelihood the guidance document will be relevant to and adopted by the target audience.o
Describe your organization’s previous experience in connecting school-based HIV and other sexually transmitted disease prevention efforts with community-based organizations to increase HIV testing among youth, especially youth at highest risk for HIV infection.
o
For anticipated project staff, including consultants and contractors, identify their specific roles (e.g., project leadership, management and supervision, planning, technical assistance, professional development and follow-up support, evaluation, staff support).o
Attach CV’s of existing and newly proposed staff, consultants, and contractors as an appendix.o
Include an organizational chart and describe the management and staffing of your organization generally and as it relates to this project.
Applicants are required to provide measures of effectiveness that will demonstrate the accomplishment of the proposed goals and objectives. Measures of effectiveness must be aligned with the goals of the supplement outlined in the Purpose section of this announcement and should also be aligned with DASH program goals. Indicators and measures must be as objective as possible, quantitative and qualitative, and must measure the intended outcome(s). The measures of effectiveness must be submitted with the application and will be an element of evaluation of the application.
o
Provide a detailed budget and line-item justification for all operating expenses that are consistent with the proposed program objectives and activities. Include any staff or trainee travel and attendance for one person to attend the annual DASH partner meeting, location to be determined. Please budget for a 4-day meetingo
The recommended guidance for completing a detailed justified budget can be found on the CDC Web site, at the following Internet address: http://www.cdc.gov/od/pgo/funding/budgetguide.htm
Additional information may be included in the application appendices. The appendices will not be counted toward the narrative page limit. This additional information includes:
The applicant must submit all application attachments using a PDF file format when submitting via www.Grants.gov. Directions for creating PDF files can be found on the www.Grants.gov website. Use of file formats other than PDF may result in the file being unreadable by staff.
Application Deadline Date: August 21, 2008
Explanation of Deadlines: Applications must be received in the CDC Procurement and Grants Office by 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time on the deadline date. Your application will be electronically time/date stamped, which will serve as receipt of submission. Applicants will receive an e-mail notice of receipt when HHS/CDC receives the application.
This announcement is the definitive guide on application content, submission address, and deadline. It supersedes information provided in the application instructions. If the application submission does not meet the deadline above, it will not be eligible for review, and will be discarded by HHS/CDC. The applicant will be notified that the application did not meet the submission requirements.
4. Other Submission Requirements
If requesting indirect costs in the budget, a copy of the indirect cost rate agreement is required. If the indirect cost rate is a provisional rate, the agreement should be less than 12 months of age.
1. Criteria
The application will be evaluated against the following criteria:
o
To what extent does the applicant describe its organization’s previous capacity in working with and providing assistance to schools and school health staff on how to work with community-based organizations? To what extent does the applicant describe its organization’s previous capacity in addressing HIV prevention education and youth, especially youth at highest risk for HIV infection? To what extent does the applicant describe its organization’s previous experience with promoting HIV testing among youth? (5 points)o
To what extent does the applicant include the name, location, and type of organizations; a synopsis of the CBA provided and how it relates to building the specific capacities; and evaluation results? (5 points)
o
Does the applicant provide goals (broad statements of program purpose describing the expected long-term effect(s) of a program), in this case, addressing the proposed program’s impact on schools’ ability to work with community-based organizations to increase HIV testing among youth, especially youth at highest risk for HIV infection? (3 points)o
To what extent does the applicant provide program objectives written in SMART format (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-phased); rationale for each proposed objective; primary person/agency responsible for accomplishing the objective; measures of objective accomplishments; and data sources to measure objective accomplishment? (5 points)o
To what extent does the applicant provide activities planned to address each proposed objective, noting the primary person/agency responsible for accomplishing each activity? (9 points)o
To what extent does the applicant describe how its organization will work with targeted school health staff to assess needs prior to development of the guidance document? (4 points)o
To what extent does the applicant describe how its organization would disseminate and promote the guidance document to encourage adoption of its recommendations? (5 points)o
To what extent does the applicant describe how its organization will provide technical assistance, capacity building assistance, professional development and follow-up support, and/or guidance on recommendations made in the guidance document? (4 points)o
To what extent does the applicant distinguish between its current DP06-601 workplan and the new work under this supplement? (3 points)o
Does the applicant provide a Gantt chart illustrating the timeline of activities (the order and timing of key project activities) as they relate to the proposed goals and objectives? (2 points)
o
To what extent does the applicant provide an evaluation plan for this supplement that is complementary to and consistent with the overall evaluation plan of its organization’s FOA #DP06-601 project, and that is sufficiently rigorous to assess achievement of the desired outcomes? (5 points)o
To what extent does the applicant provide process and outcome evaluation indicators for each measurable objective of the proposed plan? To what extent are the indicators and measures in alignment with the DASH program goals? (5 points)o
To what extent does the applicant provide a data collection, analysis, and management plan? (5 points)o
To what extent does the applicant describe a plan to disseminate data findings and evaluation results? (5 points)
o
To what extent does the applicant describe how it will collaborate with CDC and other NGO partners to increase the likelihood the guidance document will be relevant to and adopted by the target audience? (10 Points)o
To what extent does the applicant describe its previous experience in connecting school-based HIV and other sexually transmitted disease prevention efforts with community-based organizations to increase HIV testing among youth, especially youth at highest risk for HIV infection? (10 Points)
o
To what extent does the applicant identify the specific roles of staff proposed for this project (e.g., project leadership, management and supervision, planning, technical assistance, professional development, and follow-up support, evaluation, staff support)? (7 points)o
Does the applicant include CV’s of existing and newly proposed staff, consultants, and contractors? (4 points)o
Does the applicant include an organizational chart that describes the management and staffing of its organization generally and as it relates to this project? (4 points)
o
To what extent does the applicant provide a detailed and clear budget and justification that is consistent with the proposed program objectives and activities?
2. Review and Selection Process
Applications will be reviewed for completeness by the Procurement and Grants Office (PGO) staff and for responsiveness jointly by the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP) and PGO. Incomplete applications and applications that are non-responsive to the eligibility criteria will not advance to the review process. Applicants will be notified the application did not meet submission requirements.
An objective review panel will evaluate complete and responsive applications according to the criteria listed in the “V.1. Criteria” section above.
1. Award Notices
The successful applicant will receive a Notice of Award (NoA) from the CDC Procurement and Grants Office. The NoA shall be the only binding, authorizing document between the recipient and CDC. The NoA will be signed by an authorized Grants Management Officer and emailed to the program director and a hard copy mailed to the recipient fiscal officer identified in the application. Unsuccessful applicants will receive notification of the results of the application review by mail.
2. Reporting Requirements
The applicant must adhere to the reporting requirements established under Funding Opportunity Announcement #DP06-601. See Section VI.3. Reporting Requirements of FOA DP06-601 for the original reporting requirements.
VII. Agency Contacts
CDC encourages inquiries concerning this announcement.
For general questions, contact:
CDC Procurement and Grants Office
2920 Brandywine Road
Atlanta, GA 30341
Telephone: 770-488-2700
For program technical assistance, contact:
Victor Medrano, NGO Program Team Lead
CDC Division of Adolescent and School Health
4700 Buford Highway NE, MS K-31
Telephone: (770) 488-6159
E-mail: vmedrano@cdc.gov
For financial, grants management, or budget assistance, contact:
Barbara René Benyard
Grants Management Specialist
CDC Procurement and Grants Office
2920 Brandywine Road, MS E-14
Telephone: (770) 488-2757
E-mail: bnb8@cdc.gov
CDC Home Page: http://www.cdc.gov
CDC Funding Web Page: http://www.cdc.gov/od/pgo/funding/FOAs.htm
CDC Forms Web Page:
http://www.cdc.gov/od/pgo/funding/grants/app_and_forms.shtm