Essentials for Childhood (EfC): Preventing Adverse Childhood Experiences through Data to Action

Purpose/Summary

Preventing adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and promoting positive childhood experiences (PCEs) has the potential to reduce leading causes of death, mental health challenges, health risk behaviors such as substance use, and verified reports of child abuse and neglect. Preventing ACEs and promoting PCEs also has the potential to increase productivity and educational attainment and save billions of dollars each year.

The goals of this NOFO are for recipients to:

• Enhance a state-level surveillance infrastructure that ensures the capacity to collect, analyze, and use ACE and PCE data to inform prevention strategy implementation;
• Implement data-driven, comprehensive, evidence-based ACEs primary prevention strategies and approaches, focusing on health equity (e.g., with a specific intent to reach groups that have been economically or socially marginalized or under-resourced communities); and
• Conduct ongoing data-to-action activities to inform changes or adaptations to existing prevention strategies or the selection and implementation of additional prevention strategies.

Additionally, recipients are asked to:

• Leverage multisector partnerships and resources to improve and sustain ACE and PCE surveillance infrastructure that collects, uses, and disseminates data on ACEs and PCEs, including data that identify health inequities, to inform the implementation of ACE prevention strategies across the state
• Advance health equity by implementing comprehensive strategies and approaches that create the context in which ACEs occur

Achieving these goals will increase the state’s capacity to monitor and use data to understand the prevalence of ACEs and PCEs, risk and protective factors, and ACEs-related health outcomes critical to improving public health. All recipients will receive funding to achieve the three goals of the award. Applicants can apply for optional enhanced funding to conduct these additional activities: (1) collect ACEs data using syndromic surveillance approaches, (2) implement ACEs primary prevention strategies at the local level, and/or (3) link state and local data on the social determinants of health to youth-based ACEs data.

Eligibility

Eligible Applicants:

• State governments
• County governments
• City or township governments
• Special district governments
• Independent school districts
• Public and State controlled institutions of higher education
• Native American tribal governments (federally recognized)
• Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities
• Native American tribal organizations (other than recognized tribal governments)
• Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
• Nonprofits without 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
• Private institutions of higher education
• For profit organizations other than small businesses
• Small businesses
• Others (see “Additional Information on Eligibility” for clarification)
• Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in “Additional Information on Eligibility”

Additional Eligibility Categories:

• Government Organizations:
  • State governments or their bona fide agents (includes the District of Columbia)
  • Local governments or their bona fide agents
  • Territorial governments or their bona fide agents in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianna Islands, American Samoa, Guam, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau
  • State-controlled institutions of higher education
  • American Indian or Alaska Native tribal governments (federally recognized or state-recognized)
• Nongovernment Organizations
  • American Indian or Alaska native tribally designated organizations

Additional Information on Eligibility:

• All applicants may apply for the enhanced activities (optional). Applicants applying for the enhanced activities will be required to do one or more additional activities as described in the capacity sections of this NOFO.
• Applicants applying for the enhanced activities must clearly state their intent to apply for these activities in the project abstract. Funding for these activities will not be considered if it is not clearly stated in the project abstract.

Funding

This notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) is expected to fund up to 12 recipients to address state-specific needs related to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). This NOFO builds upon previous funding for Essentials for Childhood and Preventing ACEs: Data to Action by continuing to use data to inform the implementation of evidence-based strategies and approaches to ensure safe, stable, nurturing relationships and environments for all children.

Informational Webinar

CDC held an informational webinar on April 21, 2023, from 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm (EST) for organizations interested in applying.

• Informational Call Slide Show [2 MB, 54 Pages]

• Informational Call Audio Recording [Recording starts at 12 seconds]
  
• Informational call transcript [84 KB]
• Frequently Asked Questions [533 KB, 25 Pages]

Letter of Intent

A letter of intent (LOI) is requested, but not required, and should be sent by May 9, 2023, via email to oic9@cdc.gov. The purpose of an LOI is to allow CDC to plan for the review of submitted applications. Please refer to the NOFO for the information that should be included in the LOI.