[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 80 (Tuesday, April 26, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-10012]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: April 26, 1994]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
RIN 0905-ZA33

 

Cooperative Agreement for a Training and Technical Assistance 
Center To Support the Comprehensive Community Mental Health Services 
Grant Program for Children and Adolescents with Serious Emotional 
Disturbances

AGENCY: Center for Mental Health Service, Substance Abuse and Mental 
Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), HHS.

ACTION: Notice of availability of funds and request for applications.

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SUMMARY: The Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) intends to 
support one cooperative agreement for a Technical Assistance Center 
(hereafter referred to as the TA Center) to provide training and 
technical assistance in support of the Comprehensive Community Mental 
Health Services for Children and Adolescents with Serious Emotional 
Disturbances Program (Request for Applications No. SM 93-02 and 94-01) 
which is part of the CMHS Child, Adolescent, and Family Mental Health 
Services Program. The TA Center will provide expert assistance to the 
eleven current grantees of that initiative, to the seven to ten new 
grantees projected for fiscal year (FY) 1994, and to new grantees in 
future years, as applicable. Assistance will be provided to grantees in 
planning, developing, and operating systems of care. This assistance 
must be delivered through at least three regional entities that will be 
organized by the TA Center, and will use the expertise available among 
existing Child, Adolescent, and Family Mental Health Services Program 
grantees to the maximum extent possible to provide on-site, telephonic, 
and written consultation. A cooperative agreement is being used to 
permit maximum utilization of the knowledge and skills of CMHS staff in 
the conduct of this project, and to assure that the activities of the 
TA Center are appropriately coordinated with related CMHS training, 
technical assistance, and evaluation activities as well as with related 
technical assistance activities of the Annie E. Casey and the Robert 
Wood Johnson Foundations' Mental Health Services Initiative for Youth, 
among others.
    This notice consists of three parts:
    Part I covers information on the legislative authority and the 
applicable regulations and policies related to this CMHS cooperative 
agreement program.
    Part II describes the programmatic goals, target population, 
project requirements and discusses eligibility, availability of funds, 
period of support and the receipt date for applications.
    Part III describes special requirements of the program, the 
application process, the review and award criteria and lists contacts 
for additional information.

Part I--Legislative Authority and Other Applicable Regulations and 
Policies

    Statutory Authority: Cooperative Agreements awarded under this RFA 
are authorized under Section 565(b) of the Public Health Service Act, 
as amended (42 U.S.C. 290ff-4(b)).
    Applicable Federal Regulations: Federal regulations at title 45 CFR 
parts 74 and 92, generic requirements concerning the administration of 
grants, are applicable to these awards.
    PHS Grants Policy Statement: Grants must be administered in 
accordance with the PHS Grants Policy Statement (Rev. April 1, 1994).
    Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number: The Catalog of 
Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) number for this program is 93.104.
    Reporting Requirements: Interim and final progress reports and 
financial status reports will be required and specified to awardees in 
accord with PHS Grants Policy requirements.
    Healthy People 2000: The Public Health Service (PHS) is committed 
to achieving the health promotion and disease prevention objectives of 
Healthy People 2000. This Request for Applications (RFA) is related to 
priority area 6, Mental Health Disorders. Specific subsections include: 
6.3, ``Reduce to less than 10 percent the prevalence of mental 
disorders among children and adolescents,'' and 6.14, ``Increase to at 
least 75 percent the proportion of providers of primary care for 
children who include assessment of cognitive, emotional, and parent-
child functioning, with appropriate counseling, referral, and follow-
up, in the clinical practices.''1
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    \1\Potential Applicants may obtain a copy of Healthy People 2000 
(Full Report; Stock Number 017-001-00474-0) or Healthy People 2000 
(Summary Report; Stock Number 017-001-00473-1) through the 
Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, 
DC 20402-9325 (Telephone 202-783-3238).
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    Promoting Non-use of Tobacco: Studies have clearly established that 
the use of tobacco products increases mortality and morbidity, not only 
for the primary users of these products but for those in close 
proximity to the user. Statistics published by the National Cancer 
Institute indicate that cigarette smoking and chewing of tobacco are 
responsible for as many as 1,500 deaths per day in the United States. 
Recent studies conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency 
indicate that prolonged exposure to second-hand smoke significantly 
increases the probability of developing heart and lung disease. 
Therefore, the PHS strongly encourages all grant recipients to provide 
a smoke-free workplace and promote the non-use of all tobacco products. 
This is consistent with the PHS mission to protect and advance the 
physical and mental health of the American people.

Part II--Programmatic Goals, Target Population, Project Requirements, 
Eligibility and Application Receipt Date

    Program Goals: The primary goal of this cooperative agreement is to 
support the individual CMHS Comprehensive Community Mental Health 
Services for Children and Adolescents with Serious Emotional 
Disturbance grantees in their efforts to develop and implement local 
systems of care that are consonant with the overall program goals. A 
secondary goal is to serve the entire field of children's mental health 
services by developing a variety of practical and needed materials 
(e.g., manuals, monographs) as well as efficient and effective methods 
for providing training and technical assistance.
    These goals are consistent with health care reform initiatives 
(e.g., providing quality mental health services and reducing 
unnecessary inpatient care) and support the Department of Health and 
Human Services Secretary's themes of fostering independence through 
empowering the people, preventing future problems, and improving 
services to our customers.
    Target Population: The TA Center must make its formal training and 
technical assistance activities available to CMHS Comprehensive 
Community Mental Health Services for Children and Adolescents with 
Serious Emotional Disturbance grantees and to any organization 
participating in activities funded by the grant. Materials developed by 
the TA Center will be distributed to a wider audience of child mental 
health service providers as resources permit. All materials developed 
must reflect cultural competencies and be gender appropriate.
    Project requirements: The proposals must address in detail the 
following required activities, including the resources to be expended 
in each area:
     Create at least three organizations in separate regions of 
the country (hereafter referred to as Hubs) to provide training, 
consultation and on-going support (on-site as necessary) to CMHS 
Comprehensive Community Mental Health Services for Children and 
Adolescents with Serious Emotional Disturbance grantees and to any 
organization participating in activities funded by the grant to 
implement a full array of community-based mental health services within 
an organized system of care.
    Each Hub will act independently on operational issues while 
maintaining a close, interdependent relationship with the other Hubs on 
strategic and long-term issues. Each Hub will be responsible for 
training and technical assistance activities for a defined geographic 
region and will develop its own network of consultants (although some 
consultants may be ``shared'' among the Hubs). In addition, a ``focus 
area'' will be developed in each Hub that will define, at least in 
part, the specific types of expertise that the Hub concentrates on. 
CMHS strongly encourages applicants to consider one or more of the 
following as focus areas: mental health services in rural areas, 
cultural competence, systems integration, and clinical services issues.
    Hubs will be located in appropriate geographic settings that will 
permit them to serve as effective catalysts for system of care 
development. Each of the regional Hubs will be expected to develop 
formal collaborative relationships with appropriate regional 
representatives of the other child-serving agencies including child 
welfare, education, juvenile justice, and any mental health and public 
health knowledge synthesis and transfer initiatives in the region.
    Hubs must be capable of providing technical assistance, either 
directly or through consultants, on the entire range of service issues 
that grantees are required to address. In addition to the substantive 
content, the Hubs will also devote attention to developing community 
leaders. They will establish mentoring relationships between experts on 
a specific issue and their peers who are grappling with similar issues. 
They will establish on-going connections with clinical training 
institutions and will utilize the expertise of senior clinicians 
connected with such institutions and programs.
    As part of its training and technical assistance activities 
provided through the Hubs, the TA Center may also organize national 
and/or regional meetings of CMHS Comprehensive Community Mental Health 
Services for Children and Adolescents with Serious Emotional 
Disturbance grantees for training and technical assistance purposes.
     Develop monographs and other materials related to 
children's and adolescents' mental health services where they do not 
currently exist, and as needed by grantees.
    The TA Center must develop substantive reference and resource 
materials (e.g., bibliographies, manuals) to facilitate the cross 
fertilization of innovative practices throughout the service sites as 
well as for broader use by the services community. Plans for 
reproduction and distribution of such materials should be indicated.
     Establish a steering committee of external representatives 
to coordinate TA Center activities with existing Federal and non-
Federal initiatives addressing the mental health needs of children and 
adolescents as well as any future private or public efforts in this 
area.
    It is essential that all activities undertaken in this cooperative 
agreement be carried out with maximum opportunity for input and 
participation from representatives of the affected stakeholders. The TA 
Center must have a steering committee that will provide advice and 
consultation in the development of technical assistance strategies, the 
establishment of priorities, and the charting of new directions. The 
committee will be comprised of 12 to 14 members and meet at least once 
a year to review TA Center activities and make recommendations 
regarding strategic directions. The steering committee will include 
representatives of the child mental health services grant project 
directors, CMHS staff, the project directors from the three CASSP-
sponsored TA Centers, recognized experts in the delivery of mental 
health services to children and adolescents, representatives of the 
national family advocacy groups and other key stakeholders in the 
public, private, and academic sectors. It will reflect the diverse 
racial and ethnic minority groups served by this program, and will 
contain an appropriate gender balance. The steering committee will be 
chaired by the project director of the TA Center who will select 
members subject to the approval of CMHS program staff.
     Establish an internal governance structure to translate 
steering committee input into strategic plans for the central 
organization and the Hubs.
    The TA Center must have a plan for the organization and management 
of the TA Center itself and for the organization and management of the 
Hubs. An executive committee (or similar entity) must be established by 
the TA Center to guide the operations of the Hubs, establish 
priorities, chart new directions, assure the completion of required 
tasks, guide policy development, and process feedback from the field 
(evaluation) on Hub operations. The CMHS staff collaborator will be 
included as a member of this body.
     Conduct an ongoing formative evaluation of the TA Center's 
activities with a primary focus on the efficiency and effectiveness of 
the regional Hubs.
    The TA Center must conduct an ongoing formative evaluation of its 
activities. In this context, formative evaluation means ongoing 
activities designed to provide information on the program for the 
primary purpose of improving program operations and effectiveness. 
Included should be information on who will conduct evaluation 
activities, what those activities will be, and how the results of the 
evaluation activities will be used to improve services provided. The 
activities should include a management information system capable of 
providing reasonably comprehensive information on the technical 
assistance activities of each of the Hubs.
     Develop a plan for prioritizing activities if resources 
are not sufficient to meet all requests for technical assistance.
    At times, the TA Center may be unable to comply with competing 
requests for technical assistance. Therefore, it must have a plan for 
making rational choices between or among competing requests.
    Eligibility: Applications may be submitted by public organizations, 
such as units of State or local governments, and by private nonprofit 
organizations such as community-based organizations, universities, 
colleges, and hospitals.
    Availability of Funds: It is estimated that up to $1.4 million will 
be available to support 1 award under this announcement in fiscal year 
(FY) 1994. The actual funding level will depend upon the availability 
of appropriated funds.
    Period of Support: Support may be requested for an initial period 
of up to 4 years. Annual awards will be made subject to continued 
availability of funds and progress achieved.
    Application Receipt and Review Schedule:
    The schedule for receipt and review of applications is as follows: 

------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Receipt of                                           Earliest start 
   applications      Initial review    Council review         date      
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June 24, 1994....  Aug. 1994........  Sept. 1994......  Sept. 30, 1994. 
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Consequences of Late Submission: Applications received after the 
above receipt date will not be accepted and will be returned to the 
applicant without review.
    The DRG system requires that applications must be received by the 
published application receipt date(s). However, an application received 
after the deadline may be acceptable if it carries a legible proof-of-
mailing date assigned by the carrier and the proof-of-mailing date is 
not later than one week prior to the deadline date. Private metered 
postmarks are not acceptable as proof of timely mailing. If the receipt 
date falls on a weekend, it will be extended to the following Monday; 
if the date falls on a national holiday, it will be extended to the 
following work day.

Part III--Special Requirements, Review/Award Criteria and Contacts for 
Additional Information

    Letter of Intent: Organizations planning to submit an application 
in response to this announcement are requested to submit a letter of 
intent at least 30 days prior to the receipt date. Such notification is 
used by the Center for Mental Health Services for review and program 
planning. This letter is voluntary and does not obligate the person/
organization to submit an application. The letter should be no longer 
than one page and should succinctly indicate:

--The number and title of the RFA
--The name of the potential applicant organization, city and state
--The name and affiliation of the proposed project director, i.e., the 
individual who will be assigned to coordinate the development and 
conduct of the project
--The overall scope of the proposed project, including a brief 
description of the likely goals and objectives

    Letters of intent should be directed to: Barbara J. Silver, Ph.D., 
Acting Director, Office of Extramural Policy and Review, Center for 
Mental Health Services, 5600 Fishers Lane, room 18C-07, Rockville, 
Maryland 20857, Attn: RFA/Letter of Intent.
    Coordination with Other Federal/Non-Federal Programs: Applicants 
seeking support under this announcement are encouraged to coordinate 
with other programs. Program coordination helps to maximize the impact 
of available resources and to eliminate duplication of services. 
Applicants should identify the coordinating organizations by name and 
address and describe the process used (to be used) for coordinating 
efforts. Letters of commitment specifying the kind(s) and level of 
support from organizations (both Federal and non-Federal) that have 
agreed to work with the applicant should be placed in an appendix to 
the application.
    Public Health System Reporting Requirements: This program is not 
subject to the Public Health System Reporting Requirements.
    Intergovernmental Review (E.O. 12372): This program is not subject 
to the intergovernmental review requirements of E.O. 12372 as 
implemented through DHHS regulations at 45 CFR part 100.
    Role of Federal Staff in Cooperative Agreements: The Cooperative 
Agreement mechanism includes substantial postaward Federal programmatic 
participation in the conduct of the project. It is anticipated that 
CMHS staff participation in this program will be substantial. Such 
involvement may include:
    Provision of extensive technical assistance; work with TA Center 
staff to insure that TA Center's activities are coordinated with other 
CMHS, SAMHSA, and Federal technical assistance and information 
dissemination activities; consultation on and participation in the 
redesign or modification of the TA Center activities; negotiation of 
the relative level of effort devoted to each required activity; 
consultation on, and participation in, specific projects; arrangement 
of meetings designed to support the activities of the TA Center; 
membership on policy steering or other working groups established to 
facilitate accomplishment of the project goals; authorship or co-
authorship of publications to make results of the project available to 
other programs.
    Role of Grantee in Cooperative Agreements: The grantee is expected 
to comply with all aspects of the terms and conditions for the 
cooperative agreement, to cooperate with guidance provided by CMHS, and 
to respond to requests from CMHS staff in a timely fashion.
    Application Procedures: All applicants must use application form 
PHS 5161-1 (Rev. 7/92), which contains Standard Form 424 (face page). 
The following information should be typed in Item Number 10 on the face 
page of the application form:

RFA: SM 94-08: TA Center on Children's MH Services

    Grant application kits (including form PHS 5161-1 with Standard 
Form 424, complete application procedures, and accompanying guidance 
materials for the narrative approved under OMB No. 0937-0189, as well 
as a copy of RFA No. SM 94-01, ``Grants for Comprehensive Community 
Mental Health Services for Children and Adolescents with Serious 
Emotional Disturbances'' and the accompanying document, ``Guidance for 
the Program Narrative'') may be obtained from: Grants Management 
Officer, Center for Mental Health Services, room 15-87, Parklawn 
Building, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, Maryland 20857, (301) 443-4456.
    Applicants must submit: (1) An original copy signed by the 
authorized official of the applicant organization, with the appropriate 
appendices; and (2) two additional, legible copies of the application 
and all appendices to the following address: Center for Mental Health 
Services Programs, Division of Research Grants, NIH, Westwood Building, 
room 240, 5333 Westbard Avenue, Bethesda, Maryland 20892*.
    * If an overnight carrier or express mail is used, the Zip 
Code is 20816.
    Review Process: Applications submitted in response to this RFA will 
be reviewed for technical merit in accordance with established PHS/
SAMHSA peer review procedures for grants.
    Applications that are accepted for review will be assigned to an 
Initial Review Group (IRG) composed primarily of non-Federal experts. 
Notification of the IRG's recommendation will be sent to the applicant 
upon completion of the initial review. In addition, the IRG 
recommendations on technical merit of applications will undergo a 
second level of review by the CMHS National Advisory Council, whose 
review may be based on policy considerations as well as technical 
merit. Applications may be considered for funding only if the advisory 
council concurs with the IRG's recommendation for approval.
    Review Criteria: The points noted in the parentheses for each 
criterion indicate the maximum number of points the reviewers may 
assign to that criterion. These points will be used to calculate a raw 
score for each application. The raw score will be converted to the 
official priority score.
    The following criteria will be included in the technical merit 
review of applications:
Significance of the Project (35)
 Demonstrated understanding of community-based systems of care 
for children and their families
 Appropriateness of the applicant's proposed project to the 
goals of the announcement/program
 Consistency of the proposed project relative to the state of 
the art with respect to providing technical assistance to community-
based organizations
Adequacy and Appropriateness of Prihect Plans (35)
 In terms of the applicant's stated goals and objectives;
 In terms of the proposed level of staffing and resources
 In terms of the project management plan
 In terms of the implementation plan
 In terms of sensitivity of the project to cultural competence 
and gender issues
Adequacy and Appropriatiness of Evaluation Plans (10)
 In terms of the applicant's stated goals and objectives;
 In terms of the proposed staffing and resources
 In terms of the project management plan
 In terms of the implementation plan
 In terms of the Center's goals and objectives
Appropriateness of Staffubg, Project Organization, and Resources (20)
 Qualifications and experience of the project director and 
other key personnel
 Adequacy of available resources (e.g., facilities, equipment)
 Feasibility of the project
 Capability and experience of the applicant organization with 
similar projects
 Adequacy of support for the project from other relevant 
organizations
 Appropriateness of the proposed budget for each of the 
requested years

    Award Decision Criteria: Applications recommended for approval by 
the Initial Review Group and the appropriate advisory council will be 
considered for funding on the basis of their overall technical merit as 
determined through the review process. Other award criteria will 
include:

 Availability of funds
 Coordination with other Federal/non-Federal programs

CONTACTS FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Questions concerning program 
issues may be directed to: Gary De Carolis, Chief, Child, Adolescent, 
and Family Branch, Division of Demonstration Programs, Center for 
Mental Health Services, 5600 Fishers Lane, Room 11C-09, Rockville, 
Maryland 20857, (301) 443-1333.
    Questions regarding grants management issues may be directed to: 
Carole Edison, Grants Management Officer, Center for Mental Health 
Services, 5600 Fishers Lane, room 15-87, Rockville, MD 20857 (301) 443-
4456.

    Dated: April 20, 1994.
Richard Kopanda,
Acting Executive Officer, SAMHSA.
[FR Doc. 94-10012 Filed 4-25-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4162-20-P