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