Amendments to this announcement can be found in red.
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR)
A Systematic Approach to Teach and Improve Environmental Medicine (TIEM)
Announcement Type: New
Funding Opportunity Number: CDC-RFA-TS08-801
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number: 93.161; Health Program for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
Key Dates:
Application Deadline: June 13, 2008
Executive Summary: The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) Environmental Medicine Program (EMP) was developed as a national resource for the delivery of evidence-based health education tools, methods and strategies to deliver messages, education, and training to health professionals, state public health partners, and community groups to improve environmental health outcomes at the local, state, and national level. The purpose of the Environmental Medicine Program (EMP) is to (1) coordinate professional development and activities across ATSDR divisions and offices; (2) develops educational materials in support of environmental medicine; (3) establishes overall program goals and objectives; (4) provides leadership in professional development, implementation, and evaluation of the internal and external professional health education activities. Environmental Medicine Program also (5) works as an integral partner with division branches to ensure that environmental medicine activities incorporate toxicological and emergency preparedness perspectives into their basic message and (6) provides expertise and service to site-specific activities across ATSDR. This program announcement supports the Environmental Medicine Program overarching primus as well as purpose (2) and (4).
I. Funding Opportunity DescriptionAuthority: This program is authorized under Section 104(i)(14) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) of 1980, as amended by the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA) of 1986 [42 U.S.C. 9604(i)(14)].
Background: Physicians have a vital role in the prevention and treatment of diseases related to environmental hazards such as chronic exposures to toxicants in the environment, acute poisonings by chemicals, and injuries due to hazards in the built environment. These topics are rarely part of traditional medical training. As a result, many physicians lack the knowledge, skills, and ability to assess many common environmentally caused conditions encountered in medical practice. A recent survey of Wisconsin pediatricians showed that “while 91% expressed an interest and need to learn more about environmental medicine topics, only 12.7% had actually received training in basic skills like taking an environmental history.” [Trasande L; Schapiro ML; Falk R; Haynes KA; Behrmann A; Vohmann M; et al. “Pediatrician attitudes, clinical activities, and knowledge of environmental health in Wisconsin,” Wisconsin Medical Journal 105(2): 45-49, 2006.] Further, a 2002 survey of practicing pediatricians showed that 53.5% had encountered a patient they believed had been seriously affected by an environmental exposure. [Kilpatrick N; Frumkin H; Trowbridge J; Escoffrey C; Geller R; Rubin L; et al. “The environmental history in pediatric practice: a study of pediatricians’ attitudes, beliefs, and practices,” Environmental Health Perspectives 111(8): 823-827, 2002.] Therefore, there exists a substantial need for a broad-based, integrated effort to provide environmental medicine education. The educational entry points of interest are medical schools, residency programs, for physicians in training.
Purpose: The purpose of the program is to undertake a systemic approach to teaching and improving environmental medicine practice and physician competency to care for patients impacted by environmentally related disease. This announcement seeks to strengthen environmental medicine practice by: (1) Offering a cooperative agreement to engage and support primary care medical specialty associations to take leadership in improving the environmental medicine content and learning experiences offered in medical schools and residency programs. (2) Developing and incorporating instructional content in environmental medicine to strengthen and supplement existing courses taught in medical school and residency programs through a Limited Implementation Strategy. This strategy could focus on didactic skill development in environmental medicine practice through supplementing a series of select and existing curriculum topics. (3) Developing and implementing an Expand Implementation Strategy that increases the number of medical schools and residency programs participating, nationally, and increases the complicity of the environmental medicine educational offerings. Through a body system framework that is consistent with current medical teaching, clinical problem-oriented scenarios should be developed for each primary care medical specialty. These scenarios may be used in medical school clinical rotations or residency programs.
ATSDR’s Division of Toxicology and Environmental Medicine is well versed not only in toxicology but also on the particular chemical hazards found in the United States. The Divisions’ Environmental Medicine Program (EMP) has expertise in physician education and in environmental medicine/public health topics. ATSDR proposes a cooperative agreement initiative with one or more collaborative medical organizations that are national in scope, has demonstrated expertise in medical school curriculum design, developing medical education teaching materials, implementing and evaluating new medical education curriculum. The applicant must also demonstrate capacity in maintaining long-standing relationships with medical schools, residency programs, and national primary care medical specialty organizations so that improvements in environmental medicine education and medical practice can be made nationally.
This cooperative agreement initiative would require three phases of activity over a five-year program period.
In Year – 2, the grantee will address assessment findings and move to the development, and formative evaluation of environmental medicine curricula materials needed specific to the training level and target audience. This would involve partnerships with specialty organizations to help with the materials development and partnerships with medical organizations serving the target audience to provide formative evaluation of the materials.
The environmental medicine materials developed could adopt the following formats to address audience types at each level of development for future physicians:
1.
Basic science materials for medical school – Brief teaching modules on important topics in environmental medicine could be created and inserted into already existing basic science courses. Following an analysis of needs these materials may include (a) a teaching module on basic toxicology that would address the elementary principles of toxicology, introduce basic toxidromes and toxicodynamics and discuss the use of known antidotes. Such content could be added to pharmacology courses. (b) A brief introduction to environmental public health could be added to public health courses if taught as part of basic science curricula.2.
Clinical Rotations and Residency courses – As part of the lectures given during clinical rotations and residencies, specifically designed lectures using a body system framework that is consistent with current medical teaching, clinical problem-oriented scenarios might be developed for each primary care medical specialty. These lectures could include such topics as taking an environmental exposure history, common clinical presentations of such exposures as lead, mercury, and pesticides (for children and adults), environmental risk communication, impact of global warming on infectious disease, and protecting children from environmental toxicants and physical hazards in the environment. For residency programs, a toxicology module specific to the toxicant could be added as an appendix to these new clinically based scenarios.
This program addresses the “Healthy People 2010” focus area(s) of “Healthy People in Every Stage of Life” and “Healthy People in Healthy Places.” A description of the CDC Health Protection Goals is located on the CDC Web site at http://www.cdc.gov/about/goals.htm
Measurable outcomes of the program will be in alignment with two (or more) of the following performance goal(s) for the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR): HHS Goal 19, which is to “Emphasize healthy living and prevention of disease, illness, and disability. The relevant sub-goals are (a) reduce unhealthy behaviors and other factors that contribute to the development of chronic diseases, and (e) increase consumer and patient use of health care quality information.” The program will also be in alignment the ATSDR OMB PART Objective 3 to, “Mitigate the risks of human health effects at toxic waste sites with documented exposures” and the impact measures cited for this program by ATSDR/DTEM as the following:
This announcement is only for non-research activities supported by ATSDR. 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/regs/hrpp/researchDefinition.htm
Activities:
Awardee activities for this program are as follows:
The purpose of this announcement is to undertake phase one of a systemic approach to improving physician competency to care for patients having environmentally related diseases. The applicants’ effort will result in a plan to:
In a cooperative agreement, ATSDR staff is substantially involved in the program activities, above and beyond routine grant monitoring.
ATSDR activities for this program are as follows:
Type of Award: Cooperative Agreement
ATSDR’s involvement in this program is listed in the Activities Section above.
Award Mechanism: T03; Combined Undergraduate and Graduate Training Program
Fiscal Year Funds: 2008
Approximate Current Fiscal Year Funding: $ 186,000
Approximate Total Project Period Funding: $ 1,000,000 (This amount is an estimate, and is subject to availability of funds. This estimate includes direct and indirect costs.)
Approximate Number of Awards: One
Approximate Average Award: $ 186,000 (This amount is for the first 12-month budget period, and includes both direct and indirect costs.)
Floor of Individual Award Range: None
Ceiling of Individual Award Range: $ 200,000
Anticipated Award Date: August 29, 2008
Budget Period Length: 12 months
Project Period Length: up to 5 years
Throughout the project period, ATSDR’s commitment to continuation of awards will be conditioned on the availability of funds, evidence of satisfactory progress by the recipient (as documented in required reports), and the determination that continued funding is in the best interest of the Federal government.
III.1. Eligible Applicants
Eligible applicants that can apply for this funding opportunity are listed below:
Applications may be submitted by public non-profit medical organizations, medical membership organization, or medical school consortium that are national in scope, has demonstrated expertise in medical school curriculum design, developing medical education teaching materials, implementing and evaluating new medical education curriculum. The applicant must also demonstrate capacity in maintaining long-standing relationships with medical schools, residency programs, and national primary care medical specialty organizations so that improvements in environmental medicine education and medical practice can be made nationally.
This program will undertake a systemic approach to improving physician competency to care for patients impacted by environmentally related disease. In accordance with 42 U.S.C. 9604(i)(14), this ATSDR authority limits award of grants and cooperative agreements to organizations engaged in health and medical education. In compliance with this authority, this announcement seeks to strengthen medical education nationally in the area of environmental medicine practice specifically among medical students and newly educated primary care physicians. To reach this audience, ATSDR seeks to engage national level medical organizations with the leadership capacity, scope of influence, medical expertise, and experience in the business of improving medical education and the practice of medicine within the U.S. medical care system. Such organizations are national medical associations engaged in primary health care delivery, medical school consortiums engaged in medical education, or associations of medical schools that have the capacity to generate wide spread adoption of environmental medicine content and learning experiences offered in medical schools and primary care medical residency programs. Through such national organizations, the field of environmental medicine can be stimulated to grow at all levels of the health and medical care system. Physician and physician extenders in a national medical care system must be appropriately trained to deliver an array of environmental medicine services needed by the U.S. population that may face chronic or acute chemical exposures and the associated health effects. Specifically, national organizations are more capable of driving system level change and capacity development nationally as well as providing increased technical assistance to support local capacity to respond effectively to concerns in contaminated communities across the nation.
This new project will stimulate medical education sector leadership and collaboration with ATSDR’s Environmental Medicine Program (EMP) to build knowledge competency of primary care providers to recognize the human health effects of hazardous substances exposure and to adopt medical practices that apply that knowledge as they evaluate, diagnose, treat, and counsel individuals potentially exposed to hazardous substances. Specifically, this project will focus on achieving medical practice adoption outcome measures in four areas of practice. These are: 1) patient assessment, 2) treatment, 3) public health actions, and 4) patient education.
III.2. Cost Sharing or Matching
Cost sharing or matching funds are not required for this program.
III.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.
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.
IV.1. Address to Request Application Package
To apply for this funding opportunity use the application forms package posted in Grants.gov.
Electronic Submission:
ATSDR strongly encourages the applicant to submit the application electronically by utilizing the forms and instructions posted for this announcement on www.Grants.gov, the official Federal agency wide E-grant Web site. Only applicants who apply on-line are permitted to forego paper copy submission of all application forms.
Registering your organization through www.Grants.gov is the first step in submitting applications online. Registration information is located in the “Get Registered” screen of www.Grants.gov. While application submission through www.Grants.gov is optional, we strongly encourage you to use this online tool.
Please visit www.Grants.gov at least 30 days prior to filing your application to familiarize yourself with the registration and submission processes. Under “Get Registered,” the one-time registration process will take three to five days to complete; however, as part of the Grants.gov registration process, registering your organization with the Central Contractor Registry (CCR) annually, could take an additional one to two days to complete. We suggest submitting electronic applications prior to the closing date so if difficulties are encountered, you can submit a hard copy of the application prior to the deadline.
If access to the Internet is not available, or if there is difficulty accessing the forms on-line, contact the CDC Procurement and Grants Office Technical Information Management Section (PGO-TIMS) staff at 770-488-2700 and the application forms can be mailed.
IV.2. Content and Form of Submission
Application:
A project narrative must be submitted with the application forms. All electronic narratives must be uploaded in a PDF file format when submitting via Grants.gov. The abstract must be submitted in the following format, as if submitting a paper application:
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. All electronic narratives must be uploaded in a PDF file format when submitting via Grants.gov. The narrative must be submitted in the following format, as if submitting a paper application:
The narrative should address activities to be conducted over the entire project period and must include the following items in the order listed:
1.
Background: The grantee should present a brief discussion demonstrating an understanding of the issues in developing, supporting, and implementing change in medical school curriculum, residency program curricula needs, etc.2.
Target Education Levels for Primary Care Physician Education in Environmental Medicine: An explanation of perceived populations needs (e.g., medical students and residents) and opportunities for physician education improvement via medical schools and residency programs for environmental medicine content enhancements.3.
Advisory Committee: The applicant should discuss the strategies it would employ to convene an advisory committee or consortium to focus on medical schools and residency programs for environmental medicine curriculum integration into existing medical education programs and adoption of new environmental medicine content by medical education institutions. Discuss the committee’s role in these efforts.4.
Project Goals and Objectives: This section should provide clearly stated project objectives that are realistic, measurable, and related to program requirements cited in the “Purpose” section. The goals and objectives should be in alignment with the measurable outcomes cited in the “Purpose” section.5.
Activities and Timeline: The activities of the project should be clearly presented to demonstrate a sufficient time allocation, and chronology or sequence of events to be conducted. The activities should provide specificity and demonstrate feasibility of the proposed activities in the form of a plan of work and timeline for accomplishing the project activities as describe in the “Purpose” section of this announcement. The section should illustrate project-planning components such as participants and roles, recruitment, milestone schedule, and recommendations for achieving systemic improvement in physician Environmental Medicine competencies.6.
Plan for Collaboration: this section should be divided into two parts.a.
Capacity to engage and support medical schools, residency programs, primary care medical specialty associations, etcb.
The intent and scope of partnership involvement in the activities that the applicant intends to undertake with key constituent groups and ATSDR partner networks.1.
Plan, conduct, and evaluate clinical practice in environmental medicine and health education initiatives for professional audiences.2.
Provide consultative services in the clinical practice of environmental medicine and health education activities for professional audiences.3.
Develop and deliver resources that support clinical practice in environmental medicine for medical school and residency programs.1.
Describe the applicant’s agency and the projects’ position within the organizational structure.2.
This section should address the qualification, experience, and responsibilities of each individual working on the project. Adequate time and effort necessary to provide effective leadership should be demonstrated by the project lead. Any new staffing requirements should be addressed with inclusion of a recruitment plan and position descriptions. Vitas or resumes should be provided for all existing staff.1.
Environmental Medicine Curricula Education Assessment: In collaboration with its partners, the applicant will assess the environmental medicine educational (EM) needs within each target audience or education level for physician preparation, the current level of adaptation to environmental medicine topics, if any. The capacity for environmental medicine materials development in-house, and the level of support needed to accomplish the development or adaptation of EM content could also be assessed by the applicant. The assessment will be completed and findings reported by the close of year – 1. Reporting resources for this topic are highlighted below.2.
Impact/Outcome Assessment: The project evaluation plan should also address the evaluation strategies and methods necessary to measure impacts and outcomes of the project interventions. It should present measures for the overall project and its impact and outcome, such as achievement of stated program objectives and effect of the project on the medical schools and residency programs. Other project measures may be changes in the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors or practices of the target physician population or medical education institutions. To the extent possible, the evaluation measures must be objective and quantitative and relate to the performance goals stated in “Purpose” section of this announcement. For resource information on this topic, refer to “Framework for Program Evaluation in Public Health” at www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/rr/rr4811.pdf, “Introduction to Program Evaluation for Public Health Programs: A Self-Study Guide” at www.cdc.gov/eval/evalguide.pdf, or other resources on the CDC Web site at www.cdc.gov/eval/index.htm.Additional information submitted via Grants.gov should be uploaded in a PDF file format, and should be named:
No more than six (6) electronic attachments should be uploaded per application.
The agency or organization is required to have a Dun and Bradstreet Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number to apply for a grant or cooperative agreement from the Federal government. The DUNS number is a nine-digit identification number, which uniquely identifies business entities. Obtaining a DUNS number is easy and there is no charge. To obtain a DUNS number, access the Dun and Bradstreet website or call 1-866-705-5711.
Additional requirements that may request submission of additional documentation with the application are listed in section “VI.2. Administrative and National Policy Requirements.”
Application Deadline Date: June 13, 2008
Explanation of Deadlines: Applications must be received in the CDC Procurement and Grants Office by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on the deadline date.
Applications must be submitted electronically at www.Grants.gov. Applications completed on-line through Grants.gov are considered formally submitted when the applicant organization’s Authorizing Organization Representative (AOR) electronically submits the application to www.Grants.gov. Electronic applications will be considered as having met the deadline if the application has been successfully submitted electronically by the applicant organization’s AOR to Grants.gov on or before the deadline date and time.
When submission of the application is done electronically through Grants.gov (http://www.grants.gov), the application will be electronically time/date stamped and a tracking number will be assigned, which will serve as receipt of submission. The AOR 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. The application face page will be returned by HHS/CDC with a written explanation of the reason for non-acceptance. The applicant will be notified the application did not meet the submission requirements.
IV.4. Intergovernmental Review of Applications
Executive Order 12372 does not apply to this program.
IV.5. Funding Restrictions
Restrictions, which must be taken into account while writing the budget, are as follows:
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. The indirect cost rate agreement should be uploaded as a PDF file with “Other Attachment Forms” when submitting via Grants.gov.
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.
IV.6. Other Submission Requirements
A letter of intent is not applicable to this funding opportunity announcement.
Application Submission Address:
Electronic Submission:
HHS/CDC strongly encourages applicants to submit applications electronically at www.Grants.gov. 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 Grants.gov Web site. E-mail submissions will not be accepted. If the applicant has technical difficulties in Grants.gov, customer service can be reached by E-mail at support@grants.gov 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.
HHS/CDC recommends that submittal of the application to Grants.gov should be prior to the closing date to resolve any unanticipated difficulties prior to the deadline. Applicants may also submit a back-up paper submission of the application. Any such paper submission must be received in accordance with the requirements for timely submission detailed in Section IV.3. of the grant announcement. The paper submission must be clearly marked: “BACK-UP FOR ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION.” The paper submission must conform to all requirements for non-electronic submissions. If both electronic and back-up paper submissions are received by the deadline, the electronic version will be considered the official submission.
The applicant must submit all application attachments using a PDF file format when submitting via Grants.gov. Directions for creating PDF files can be found on the Grants.gov Web site. Use of file formats other than PDF may result in the file being unreadable by staff.
V.1. Criteria
Applicants are required to provide measures of effectiveness that will demonstrate the accomplishment of the various identified objectives of the cooperative agreement. Measures of effectiveness must relate to the performance goals stated in the “Purpose” section of this announcement. Measures must be objective and quantitative and must measure the intended outcome. The measures of effectiveness must be submitted with the application and will be an element of evaluation.
The application will be evaluated against the following criteria:
1. Proposed Project Plan—50 Percent
a. Background (10 Percent): Did the grantee demonstrate a clear understanding of the issues in developing, supporting, and implementing change in medical school curriculum, residency program curricula needs, etc.
b. Target Populations and Their Needs in Environmental Medicine (15 Percent): Did the grantee adequately describe its populations of interest? How well did the grantee describe the medical school and residency program populations?
Where environmental medicine curricula needs described for each audience type?
Did the grantee describe any relevant data sources to support their explanations?
c. Advisory Committee (5 Percent):
Did the grantee sufficiently describe the strategies it would employ to convene an advisory committee focused on medical schools residency programs of interest, their needs for environmental medicine adoption, and utilization and education materials developed?
Was the committee’s role in assessing the target populations and their needs, will defined?
d.
Project Goals and Objectives including Timelines (15 Percent):Did the grantee provide clearly stated project objectives that are realistic, measurable, and related to program requirements cited in the “Purpose” section? Are the grantee goals and objectives in alignment with the measurable outcomes cited in the “Purpose” section?
Did the grantee provide time lined activities? Are they clearly presented to demonstrate a sufficient time allocation, and chronology or sequence of events to be conducted?
The activities should provide specificity and demonstrate feasibility of the proposed activities in the form of a plan of work and timeline for accomplishing the project activities as describe in the “Purpose” section of this announcement. Did the grantee use the Purpose section as guide to the formulation of their proposed activities?
Does the project narrative or an attached table illustrate the requested project-planning components such as participants and roles, recruitment, milestone schedule, and recommendations for achieving systemic improvement in physician Environmental Medicine competencies?
e. Plan for Collaboration (5 Percent):
Did the project plan give sufficient detail to determine the grantees expertise in engaging and supporting medical schools, residency programs, primary care medical specialty associations? Did the grantee provide letters of support in the attachments as examples?
Did the grantees planning statements denote the intent and scope of partnership recruitment and their involvement in the activities that the applicant intends to undertake? Are there letters of support in the attachments denoting collaborative participation and to what level? Is the approach to establish new or further develop the existing partnerships reasonable?
Did the grantee describe any planed involvement with NCEH/ATSDR partner networks involved in the planning and/or implementation of any aspects of this project? Do partner’s roles and responsibilities appear to be appropriate? Do they seem to have the capacity to carry out assigned activities?
2. Capacity to Influence Clinical Practice in Environmental Medicine—(20 Percent):
a. Did the grantee adequately demonstrate expertise in planning, curricula development, and evaluating clinical practice activities, nationally?
Did the grantee reflect any expertise in environmental medicine and health education initiatives planning, curricula development, and dissemination accomplishments?
Did the grantee provide any evidence as proof of their national capabilities? Did the grantee describe any long-standing relationships with medical schools, residency programs, or medical specialty associations at the regional or national levels?
b. Did the grantee adequately demonstrate expertise in providing consultative services for clinical practice and curricula development for national medical specialty associations or residency programs?
Did the grantee describe any long-standing relationships in providing consultative services in the clinical practice and curricula development for national medical specialty associations or residency programs?
c. Did the grantee adequately demonstrate expertise in develop and deliver resources that support clinical practice in environmental medicine for medical school and residency programs at the regional or national levels?
3. Proposed Personnel— (15 Percent)
a. Did the grantee describe its agency and the projects’ position within the organizational structure? Did the grantee provide an organization chart?
b.
Do the staff members have appropriate experience in
developing, marketing, and disseminating medical school or
residency program curricula? Are the staff roles clearly
defined? Did the grantee present adequate time and effort
necessary to provide effective leadership by the project
lead?
Did the grantee describe how job/position vacancies would be
addressed? Any new staffing requirements should be
addressed with the inclusion of a recruitment plan and
position descriptions. Was a recruitment plan described by
the grantee? Vitas or resumes should be provided for all
existing staff; this is a requirement.
4. Evaluation Plan— (15 Percent):
a. Environmental Medicine Curricula Education Needs Assessment: In collaboration with its partners, did the grantee describe a plan to develop and test an assessment tool capable of assessing the environmental medicine educational (EM) needs within each target audience, the current level of adaptation to environmental medicine topics, if any? Did the grantee present any notions or concepts that would explain how they would determine the in-house capabilities to develop environmental medicine materials within medicals schools and residency programs?
b. Impact/Outcome Assessment: The project evaluation plan should also address the evaluation strategies and methods necessary to measure impacts and outcomes of the project interventions. Did the grantee provide measures of effectiveness in the project narrative? Did the grantee describe any other measures such as overall project and its impact and outcome of proposed activities? Is the evaluation plan realistic, obtainable, and measurable?
Did the grantee present any other project measures that would assess the target audience such as changes in the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors or practices of the target population/audience?
To the extent possible, the evaluation measures must be objective and quantitative and relate to the performance goals stated in “Purpose” section of this announcement. Did the grantee address this requirement?
5. Proposed Budget—(Not Scored)
Is the budget reasonable, clearly justified with a budget narrative, and consistent with the intended use of cooperative agreement funds?
V.2. Review and Selection Process
Applications will be reviewed for completeness by the Procurement and Grants Office (PGO) staff, and for responsiveness jointly by Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) and PGO. Incomplete applications and applications that are non-responsive to the eligibility criteria will not advance through 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. The review panel will consist of employees from CDC (75 percent of the panel) and ATSDR (25 percent of the panel). The objective review process will follow the policy requirements as stated in the GPD 2.04. Applications will be funded in order by score and rank determined by the review panel.
VI.1. Award Notices
Successful applicants 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.
VI.2. Administrative and National Policy Requirements
Successful applicants must comply with the administrative requirements outlined in 45 CFR Part 74 and Part 92, as appropriate. The following additional requirements apply to this project:
Additional information on the requirements can be found on the CDC Web site at the following Internet address: http://www.cdc.gov/od/pgo/funding/Addtl_Reqmnts.htm.
CDC Assurances and Certifications can be found on the CDC Web site at the following Internet address: http://www.cdc.gov/od/pgo/funding/grants/foamain.shtm
For more information on the Code of Federal Regulations, see the National Archives and Records Administration at the following Internet address: http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/cfr-table-search.html
VI.3. Reporting Requirements
The applicant must provide CDC with an annual interim progress report via www.grants.gov:
1. The interim progress report is due no less than 90 days before the end of the budget period. The progress report will serve as the non-competing continuation application, and must contain the following elements: a. Standard Form (“SF”) 424S Form. b. SF-424A Budget Information-Non-Construction Programs. c. Budget Narrative. d. Indirect Cost Rate Agreement. e. Project Narrative. f. Status of Current Budget Period Activities. g. New Budget Period Program Proposed Activities. h. Additional Requested Information: Year – 1 Assessment Report or other annual reporting requirements stipulated in the activities section of this announcement are considered reports appropriate for this requirement. For resource information on preparing reports, refer to “Framework for Program Evaluation in Public Health” at www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/rr/rr4811.pdf, “Introduction to Program Evaluation for Public Health Programs: A Self-Study Guide” at www.cdc.gov/eval/evalguide.pdf, or other resources on the CDC Web site at www.cdc.gov/eval/index.htm.
Additionally, the applicant must provide CDC with an original, plus two hard copies of the following reports:
2. Financial status report and annual progress report, no more than 90 days after the end of the budget period.These reports must be submitted to the attention of the Grants Management Specialist listed in the “VII. Agency Contacts” section of this announcement
CDC encourages inquiries concerning this announcement.
For general questions, contact:
CDC Procurement and Grants Office
2920 Brandywine Road, MS E-14
Atlanta, GA 30341
Telephone: 770-488-2700
For program technical assistance, contact:
James (Jim) Tullos, Project Officer
1600 Clifton Road, N.E., MS F-32
Atlanta, Georgia, 30333
Telephone: 770-488-3498
E-mail: JTullos@cdc.gov
For financial, grants management, or budget assistance, contact:
Lisa R. Williams, Grants Management Specialist
CDC Procurement and Grants Office
2920 Brandywine Road, MS K-70
Telephone: 770-488-2897
E-mail: LWilliams2@cdc.gov
CDC Telecommunications for the hearing impaired or disabled is available at: TTY 770-488-2783.
VIII. Other Information
Other CDC funding opportunity announcements can be found on the CDC Web site, Internet address: http://www.cdc.gov/od/pgo/funding/FOAs.htm.
Applicants may access the application process and other awarding documents using the Electronic Research Administration System (eRA Commons). A one-time registration is required for interested institutions/organizations at http://era.nih.gov/ElectronicReceipt/preparing.htm
Program Directors/Principal Investigators (PD/PIs) should work with their institutions/organizations to make sure they are registered in the eRA Commons.
1. Organizational/Institutional Registration in the eRA Commons
2. Project Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI) Registration in the eRA Commons: Refer to the NIH eRA Commons System (COM) Users Guide.
Note that if a PD/PI is also an HHS peer-reviewer with an Individual DUNS and CCR registration, that particular DUNS number and CCR registration are for the individual reviewer only. These are different than any DUNS number and CCR registration used by an applicant organization. Individual DUNS and CCR registration should be used only for the purposes of personal reimbursement and should not be used on any grant applications submitted to the Federal Government.
Several of the steps of the registration process could take four weeks or more. Therefore, applicants should check with their business official to determine whether their organization/institution is already registered in the eRA Commons. HHS/CDC strongly encourages applicants to register to utilize these helpful on-line tools when applying for funding opportunities.
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