[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 203 (Friday, October 20, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54243-54246]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-26140]



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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Funding Notice for Grant Programs Funded Under Title VIII of the 
Public Health Service Act for Fiscal Year 1996

    The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) announces 
that applications will be accepted for fiscal year (FY) 1996 grants 
funded under the authority of title VIII of the Public Health Service 
Act, as amended by the Nurse Education and Practice Improvement 
Amendments of 1992, title II of Public Law 102-408, Health Professions 
Education Extension Amendments of 1992, dated October 13, 1992. These 
grant programs include:

Nursing Special Projects (section 820)
Advanced Nurse Education Programs (section 821)
Nursing Education Opportunities for Individuals from Disadvantaged 
Backgrounds (section 827)
Professional Nurse Traineeships (section 830)
Grants for Nurse Anesthetist (section 831)

    No competitive grant cycles are planned in FY 1996 for the Nurse 
Practitioner/Nurse-Midwifery Programs or for the Nurse Anesthetist 
Education Program.
    This program announcement is subject to reauthorization of this 
legislative authority and to the appropriation of funds. Applicants are 
advised that this program announcement is a contingency action being 
taken to assure that should authority and funds become available for 
this purpose, awards can be made in a timely fashion consistent with 
the needs of the program as well as to provide for even distribution of 
funds throughout the fiscal year. At this time, given a continuing 
resolution and the absence of FY 1996 appropriations for title VIII 
programs, the amount of available funding for these specific grant 
programs cannot be estimated.
    Additional details concerning the administration of these programs 
have been published in the Federal Register at 59 FR 37764, dated July 
25, 1994. You are encouraged to refer to this notice which includes the 
funding preferences and priorities for each of the programs.
    The purpose and eligibility for the grant programs announced in 
this funding notice are listed below:

Nursing Special Projects

    Purpose: Section 820(a) of the PHS Act authorizes the Secretary to 
make grants for the purpose of assisting schools in increasing the 
number of students enrolled in programs of professional nursing.
    Section 820(b) of the PHS Act authorizes the Secretary to make 
grants for the establishment or expansion of nursing practice 
arrangements in noninstitutional settings to demonstrate methods to 
improve access to primary health care in medically underserved 
communities.
    Section 820(c) of the PHS Act authorizes the Secretary to make 
grants for the purpose of providing continuing education for nurses 
serving in medically underserved communities.
    Section 820(d) of the PHS Act authorizes the Secretary to make 
grants for the purpose of providing fellowships to individuals who are 
employed by nursing facilities or home health agencies as nursing 
paraprofessionals.
    The request for initial support may not exceed 3 years.
    Eligibility: Eligible applicants for projects under section 820(a) 
are public and nonprofit private schools of nursing with programs of 
education in professional nursing. To receive support under 820(a) the 
school must agree to make available non-Federal contributions in an 
amount that is at least 10 percent of the project costs for the first 
fiscal year, at least 25 percent of the project costs for the second 
fiscal year, at least 50 percent of the project costs for the third 
fiscal year, and at least 75 percent of the project costs for the 
fourth or fifth fiscal years.
    Eligible applicants for projects under section 820(b) are public 
and nonprofit private schools of nursing. To receive support under 
820(b) the program proposed must be operated and staffed by the faculty 
and students of the school and must be designed to provide at least 25 
percent of the students of the school with a structured clinical 
experience in primary health care.
    Eligible applicants for projects under section 820(c) are public 
and nonprofit private entities.
    Eligible applicants for projects under section 820(d) are public 
and nonprofit private entities that operate accredited programs of 
education in professional nursing, or State-board approved programs of 
practical or vocational nursing. To receive support under 820(d), the 
applicant must agree that, in providing fellowships, preference will be 
given to eligible individuals who (A) are economically disadvantaged 
individuals, particularly such individuals who are members of a 
minority group that is underrepresented among registered nurses; or (B) 
are employed by a nursing facility that will assist in paying the costs 
or expenses. The applicant must also agree that the fellowships 
provided will pay all or part of the costs of (A) the tuition, books, 
and fees of the program of nursing with respect to which the fellowship 
is provided; and (B) reasonable living expenses of the individual 
during the period for which the fellowship is provided.

Advanced Nurse Education Programs

    Purpose: Section 821 of the Public Health Service Act authorizes 
assistance to meet the costs of projects to: (1) Plan, develop and 
operate new programs, or (2) significantly expand existing programs 
leading to advanced degrees that prepare nurses to serve as nurse 
educators or public health nurses, or in other clinical nurse 
specialties determined by the Secretary to require advanced education. 
The period of Federal support should not exceed 3 years.
    Eligibility: To be eligible to receive a grant, a school must be a 
public or nonprofit private collegiate school of nursing and be located 
in a state.

Nursing Education Opportunities for Individuals From Disadvantaged 
Backgrounds

    Purpose: Section 827 of the Public Health Service Act authorizes 
grants to 

[[Page 54244]]
increase opportunities for individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds 
to pursue a nursing education. Students who may have an associate 
degree in nursing would be eligible to receive funding under this 
section if they are financially, educationally or culturally 
disadvantaged.
    For purposes of Grants for Nursing Education Opportunities for 
Individuals from Disadvantaged Backgrounds, ``an individual from a 
disadvantaged background'' is one who: (1) Comes from an environment 
that has inhibited the individual from obtaining the knowledge, skills, 
and abilities required to enroll in and graduate from a school of 
nursing; or (2) comes from a family with an annual income below a level 
based on low-income thresholds according to family size published by 
the U.S. Bureau of Census, adjusted annually for changes in the 
Consumer Price Index, and multiplied by a factor to be determined by 
the Secretary for adaptation to this program (42 CFR 57.2904).
    The following income figures determine what constitutes a low 
income family for purposes of Grants for Nursing Education 
Opportunities for Individuals from Disadvantaged Backgrounds for FY 
1996.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                 Income 
                 Size of parents' family \1\                   level \2\
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1............................................................    $10,000
2............................................................     12,900
3............................................................     15,400
4............................................................     19,700
5............................................................     23,200
6 or more....................................................     26,100
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Includes only dependents listed on Federal income tax forms.        
\2\ Adjusted gross income for calendar year 1994, rounded to $100.      

    Grants may be awarded to eligible applicants to meet the costs of 
special projects to increase nursing education opportunities for 
individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds:

    1. By identifying, recruiting and selecting such individuals;
    2. By facilitating the entry of such individuals into schools of 
nursing;
    3. By providing counseling or other services designed to assist 
such individuals to complete successfully their nursing education;
    4. By providing, for a period prior to the entry of such 
individuals into the regular course of education at a school of 
nursing, preliminary education designed to assist them to complete 
successfully such regular course of education;
    5. By paying such stipends as the Secretary may determine for such 
individuals for any period of nursing education;
    6. By publicizing, especially to licensed vocational or practical 
nurses, existing sources of financial aid available to persons enrolled 
in schools of nursing or who are undertaking training necessary to 
qualify them to enroll in such schools; and
    7. By providing training, information or advice to the faculty of 
such schools with respect to encouraging such individuals to complete 
the programs of nursing education in which the individuals are 
enrolled.
    The period of Federal support should not exceed 3 years.

    Eligibility: Public and nonprofit private schools of nursing and 
other public or nonprofit private entities are eligible for grant 
support.

Professional Nurse Traineeships

    Purpose: Section 830 of the Public Health Service Act authorizes 
the Secretary to award grants to meet the cost of traineeships for 
individuals in advanced-degree programs in order to educate the 
individuals to serve in and prepare for practice as nurse 
practitioners, nurse midwives, nurse educators, public health nurses, 
or in other clinical nursing specialties determined by the Secretary to 
require advanced education. Federal support must be requested annually.
    Eligibility: Eligible applicants are public or private nonprofit 
entities which provide (1) advanced-degree programs to educate 
individuals as nurse practitioners, nurse-midwives, nurse educators, 
public health nurses or as other clinical nursing specialists; or (2) 
nurse-midwifery certificate programs that conform to guidelines 
established by the Secretary under section 822(b).
    Applicants must agree that:
    (a) In providing traineeships, the applicant will give preference 
to individuals who are residents of health professional shortage areas 
designated under section 332 of the Act;
    (b) The applicant will not provide a traineeship to an individual 
enrolled in a master's of nursing program unless the individual has 
completed basic nursing preparation, as determined by the applicant; 
and
    (c) Traineeships provided with the grant will pay all or part of 
the costs of the tuition, books, and fees of the program of nursing 
with respect to which the traineeship is provided and reasonable living 
expenses of the individual during the period for which the traineeship 
is provided.

Grants for Nurse Anesthetists

    Purpose: Section 831 of the Public Health Service Act authorizes 
the Secretary to award grants to (1) cover the costs of traineeships 
for licensed registered nurses to become nurse anesthetists 
(traineeships); (2) cover the costs of projects to develop and operate, 
maintain or expand programs for the education of nurse anesthetists 
(education programs)--There Will Be No Competing Cycle in FY 1996 for 
the Education Program; and (3) provide financial assistance to 
certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNA) who are faculty members 
in accredited programs to enable such nurse anesthetists to obtain 
advanced education relevant to their teaching functions (faculty 
fellowships). For traineeship or faculty fellowship grants, applicants 
must compete for Federal support annually.
    Eligibility: Eligible applicants for Grants for Nurse Anesthetists 
are public or private nonprofit institutions which provide registered 
nurses with full-time nurse anesthetist training and are accredited by 
an entity or entities designated by the Secretary of Education.

National Health Objectives for the Year 2000

    The Public Health Service urges applicants to submit work plans 
that address specific objectives of Healthy People 2000. 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, D.C. 20402-9325 (Telephone 202-783-3238).

Education and Service Linkage

    As part of its long-range planning, HRSA will be targeting its 
efforts to strengthening linkages between U.S. Public Health Service 
education programs and programs which provide comprehensive primary 
care services to the underserved.

Smoke-Free Workplace

    The Public Health Service strongly encourages all grant recipients 
to provide a smoke-free workplace and to promote the non-use of all 
tobacco products and Public Law 103-227, the Pro-Children Act of 1994, 
prohibits smoking in certain facilities that receive Federal funds in 
which education, library, day care, health care, and early childhood 
development services are provided to children.

[[Page 54245]]


Application Availability

    Application materials are available on the World Wide Web at 
address: http://www.os.dhhs.gov/hrsa/. Click on the file name you want 
to download to your computer. It will be saved as a self-extracting 
WordPerfect 5.1 file.
    Applications can also be obtained from the Bureau of Health 
Professions (BHPr) Electronic Bulletin Board. Use your computer and 
modem to call (301) 443-5913. Set your modem parameters to 2400 baud, 
parity to none, data bits to 8, and stop bits to 1. Set your terminal 
emulation to ANSI or VT-100. After November 1, 1995, the BHPr BBS will 
be able to accept phone speeds up to 28,000 bps.
    You may also access the BHPr Bulletin Board through the FedWorld 
Bulletin Board. Dial (703) 321-3339. If you have not used FedWorld 
before, then at the initial prompt, type NEW instead of your user ID. 
At the prompts, establish your first and last name, then your password. 
At the  quit to prompt  scroll, RETURN to continue prompt, press 
the ENTER key.
    At the There is mail in your mailbox, RETURN to continue prompt, 
press the ENTER key. The system will take you to the FedWorld mail 
menu. At the Please select an option from above and press : 
prompt, enter U. This will take you to the Utilities and FedWorld 
Modules Menu.
    At the Please select an option from above and press : 
prompt, enter D. This will take you to the Gateway System Menu.
    At the Please select an option from above and press : 
prompt, enter D for Connect to Govt Sys/Database. At the Select a 
System # to connect, ? for entire Gateway list, or X to exit prompt, 
enter 111. You will then see the Establishing connection to BHPr-
BBS(HHS) * * * message. Within 15 seconds, the system will log you into 
the BHPr BBS.
    If you need further help with the FedWorld gateway system, please 
contact their technical support on (703) 487-4608 weekdays from 10 am 
to 4 pm.
    Once you have accessed the BHPr Bulletin Board, you will be asked 
for your first and last name. It will also ask you to choose a 
password. Remember Your Password! The first time you logon you 
``register'' by answering a number of other questions. The next time 
you logon, BHPr's Bulletin Board will know you.
    Press (F) for the (F)iles Menu and (L) to (L)ist Files. Press (L) 
again to see a list of numbered file areas. To see a list of files in 
any area, type the number corresponding to that area. Competitive 
application materials for grant programs administered by the Bureau of 
Health Professions are located in the File Area item ``B'' titled 
Grants Announcements.
    To (R)ead a file or (D)ownload a file, you need to know its exact 
name as listed on BHPr's Bulletin Board. Press (R) to (R)ead a file and 
type the name of the file. Press (D) to (D)ownload a file to your 
computer. You need to know how your communications software 
accomplishes downloading.
    When you have completed your tour of BHPr's Bulletin Board for this 
session, press (G) for (G)oodbye and press .
    For assistance in accessing the system or for any technical 
questions about BHPr's Bulletin Board, please call Mr. Larry DiGiulio, 
Systems Operator for BHPr BBS at (301) 443-2850 or 
``[email protected]''.
    Questions regarding grants policy and business management issues 
should be directed to Mrs. Brenda Selser, Chief, Residency and Advanced 
Grants Sections ([email protected]) or Ms. Wilma Johnson, 
Acting Chief, Centers and Formula Grants Section 
([email protected]), Grants Management Branch, Bureau of 
Health Professions, Health Resources and Services Administration, 
Parklawn Building, Room 8C-26, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, Maryland 
20857. If you are unable to obtain the application materials from the 
BHPr Bulletin Board, you may obtain application materials in the mail 
by sending a written request to the Grants Management Branch at the 
address above. Written requests may also be sent via FAX (301) 443-6343 
or via the internet addresses listed above. Completed applications 
should be returned to the Grants Management Branch at the above 
address. Please see Table 1 for specific name and phone number for each 
grant program.
    If additional programmatic information is needed, please contact 
the Division of Nursing, Bureau of Health Professions, Health Resources 
and Services Administration, Parklawn Building, Room 9-36, 5600 Fishers 
Lane, Rockville, Maryland 20857. Please see Table 1 for specific names 
and phone numbers for each grant program.

Application Forms

    The standard application form PHS 6025-1, HRSA Competing Training 
Grant Application, General Instructions and supplement for these grant 
programs have been approved by the Office of Management and Budget 
under the Paperwork Reduction Act. The OMB Clearance Number is 0915-
0060.

Deadline Dates

    The deadline dates for receipt of applications for these grant 
programs are shown in Table 1. Applications will be considered to be 
``on time'' if they are either:
    (1) Received on or before the established deadline date, or
    (2) Sent on or before the established deadline date and received in 
time for orderly processing. (Applicants should request a legibly dated 
U.S. Postal Service postmark or obtain a legibly dated receipt from a 
commercial carrier or U.S. Postal Service. Private metered postmarks 
shall not be acceptable as proof of timely mailing.)
    Late applications not accepted for processing will be returned to 
the applicant. In addition, applications which exceed the page 
limitation and/or do not follow format instructions will not be 
accepted for processing and will be returned to the applicant.

                                                     Table 1                                                    
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                      Deadline  
  PHS Title VIII section No./    Grants management contact/phone     Programmatic contact/phone       date for  
    program title/CFDA No.          No.(FAX:  (301) 443-6343)         No.(FAX:  (301) 443-8586)       competing 
                                                                                                    applications
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
820, Nursing Special Projects-- Ms. Wilma Johnson (301) 443-6880  Ms. Elaine Cohen (301) 443-6193.      12/15/95
 93.359.                                                                                                        
821, Advanced Nurse Education-- Ms. Brenda Selser (301) 443-6960  Dr. Thomas P. Phillips (301) 443-     02/01/96
 93.299.                                                           6333.                                        
827, Nursing Education          Ms. Wilma Johnson (301) 443-6880  Ms. Helen Lotsikas (301) 443-         12/15/95
 Opportunities for Individuals                                     5763.                                        
 from Disadvantaged                                                                                             
 Backgrounds--93.178.                                                                                           
830, Professional Nurse         Ms. Wilma Johnson (301) 443-6880  Ms. Marcia Starbecker (301) 443-      12/15/95
 Traineeships--93.358.                                             6193.                                        

[[Page 54246]]
                                                                                                                
831,\1\ Nurse Anesthetist       Ms. Wilma Johnson (301) 443-6880  Ms. Marcia Starbecker (301) 443-     12/15/95 
 Programs--93.124, 93.916,                                         6193.                                        
 93.907.                                                                                                        
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ No competing cycle in FY 1996 for Nurse Anesthetist Education Programs.                                     


    These title VIII grant programs are not subject to the provisions 
of Executive Order 12372, Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs 
(as implemented through 45 CFR part 100). Also, these grant programs 
are not subject to the Public Health System Reporting Requirements.

    Dated: October 17, 1995.
Ciro V. Sumaya,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 95-26140 Filed 10-19-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4160-15-P