[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 32 (Wednesday, February 16, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-3548]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: February 16, 1994]


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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]
BILLING CODE 4160-15-P