[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 161 (Monday, August 19, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42910-42912]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-21057]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Health Resources and Services Administration


Program Announcement and Review Criteria for a Cooperative 
Agreement To Support Innovative Projects Relating to Public Health 
Education and Services

    The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) announces 
that applications will be accepted for a Cooperative Agreement for 
fiscal year 1996 with a professional association located in the 
Washington, D.C. area with an established relationship with the 
accredited schools of public health. Such an association should be 
recognized as a National representative of schools of public health; 
have proprietary information concerning student enrollment, graduates, 
faculty and curricula in schools of public health; and have access to 
the leadership in schools of public health. The purpose of the 
Cooperative Agreement is to support a program of innovative projects 
which would demonstrate the sharing of expertise between public health 
faculty and public health practitioners in States and communities, to 
both improve public health and health care services at the State and 
community level and provide meaningful feedback to schools of public 
health concerning the efficacy of their curricula in educating and 
training the public health workforce. This Cooperative Agreement is 
solicited under the authority of Title III, section 301, of the Public 
Health Service Act, as amended. Section 301 authorizes the award of 
grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements to public and non-profit 
entities for several purposes, including the demonstration of 
innovative models.
    Up to $750,000 may be available to fund one Cooperative Agreement 
in fiscal year 1996 and up to $1,000,000 for each of the succeeding 
four years. The Cooperative Agreement will be awarded for a project 
period of up to five years, funded each fiscal year depending on 
performance and the availability of appropriate funds.

Background

    As part of its overall mission, HRSA is responsible for providing 
national leadership to assure that high quality health care and 
services are provided to the most vulnerable populations in the Nation 
and to improve the basic and continuing education of public health 
professionals to assess, develop and assure that a high level of health 
care services are available to these populations. In carrying out this 
responsibility for the education of public health professionals, HRSA 
works collaboratively with educational institutions--especially schools 
of public health--and with professional organizations to develop and 
implement improved basic and continuing education curricula to assure 
competent public health practice and leadership in the United States.
    At the present time there are 27 accredited schools of public 
health in the United States. These schools represent the primary 
educational system that trains personnel needed to operate the Nation's 
local, State and Federal public health agencies. They address issues of 
disease prevention and health promotion, emphasize teaching and 
research focused on epidemiology; biostatistics; occupational and 
environmental health; health services administration, including health 
policy development, health services delivery, etc.; and the behavioral 
sciences, including health education, nutrition, maternal and child 
health, health promotion, etc.
    It has been recognized that the quality of public health personnel 
plays a critical role in the promotion of health, prevention and 
control of disease, and the management of health resources. The schools 
of public health's principal purpose is to promote and improve the 
education and training of professional public health personnel.
    An area of major concern to HRSA is the lack of individuals trained 
and prepared to manage and/or provide services in community settings. 
It is these settings where a majority of HRSA funding and attention is 
directed, because it is at the community-level that our most vulnerable 
populations need care. The disconnect between public health training 
and community settings where these individuals are needed continues to 
be a significant problem in public health and for the efficient 
delivery of HRSA-sponsored care and services.
    A second major concern is the proliferation of managed care 
programs and their impact on HRSA-sponsored organizations. There is a 
clear gap between the thrust of managed care (both its services 
orientation and funding policies) and the traditional provision of care 
and services by HRSA grantees. This gap is exacerbated by the lack of 
trained individuals who understand managed care and are capable of 
using this understanding in the HRSA grantee community.
    HRSA also is concerned over the low number of faculty, students and 
practitioners from minority backgrounds in academic and practice 
settings. The

[[Page 42911]]

Schools of Public Health can play a crucial role in alleviating these 
shortcomings, especially in training minority and disadvantaged public 
health workers. HRSA is proposing to develop a range of activities 
utilizing the strengths of the schools of public health to alleviate 
the identified as well   as emerging concerns. This cooperative 
agreement could serve as an incentive to the academic public health 
community to become more involved in public health practice issues and 
increase the number of minority professionals working in public health 
settings, and introduce cultural diversity training into the curriculum 
in schools of public health.

Purpose

    There are three purposes for this cooperative agreement: (1) To 
provide assistance in curricula development and related initiatives 
that will help deal with the need for better educated and culturally 
sensitive entry-level and mid-level public health practitioners in 
public health practice settings; (2) to strengthen and institutionalize 
practice oriented linkages between the Schools of Public Health and the 
public health practice community so that individuals are better trained 
to meet the needs of HRSA-sponsored grantees in community settings; and 
(3) to develop curricula and other training mechanisms to help deal 
with the shortfall in individuals with an understanding of managed care 
who can apply this understanding to the HRSA grantee community.
    The Washington, D.C. area is specified as the location of the 
Cooperative Agreement recipient because of the Federal interests 
requiring substantive involvement of Federal officials in developing 
the training and technical assistance program, proximity to Federal 
expertise, and scarce Federal resources for travel. The project would 
be expected to initiate such activities as:
    1. Establish a Steering Committee for the development and pilot 
testing of activities to provide technical assistance to public health 
practice sites. For example, utilizing the combined technical expertise 
of HRSA and schools of public health to evaluate health promotion and 
disease prevention programs at community health centers and maternal 
and child health clinics within health departments.
    2. Analysis of pedagogical methods to accomplish educational 
objectives for adult learners. For example, what curricula and 
distribution mechanisms could be developed to provide distance learning 
for nurses in county health departments or migrant health centers.
    3. Improvement of outcome measures for HRSA public health programs, 
e.g: outcomes measures for the delivery of health services, patient 
health status, and patient satisfaction.
    4. Establishment of linkages with public health practice 
organizations, e.g.: working with managed care organizations and local 
health departments to provide quality school health services, or 
coordinating a health improvement project involving foundation funding, 
local health departments and community-based providers.
    5. Development of curricula by working with health care delivery 
projects funded by HRSA, e.g.: HIV/AIDS, organ transplantation, health 
care for the homeless, migrant health care, maternal and child health, 
to create an academic public health practice linkage to promote disease 
prevention and health promotion concepts.
    6. Improvement of public health research on community populations 
to highlight both public health education and the efficient delivery of 
health services. For example, develop demonstration projects which 
include a population-based analysis of community preventive health care 
needs and the development of demonstration programs to address 
identified needs.
    7. Development of an internship program for students in schools of 
public health to learn about the federal public health system. For 
example, developing an internship and mentoring program for masters of 
public health and masters of health sciences students during their 
academic preparation.

Federal Involvement

    The Cooperative Agreement mechanism is being used for this project 
to allow for substantive Federal programmatic involvement in the 
development of the details of the Cooperative Agreement.
    Substantive Federal programmatic involvement will occur through 
Federal membership on the Steering Committee representing the Health 
Resources and Services Administration, including the Bureau of Health 
Professions, Bureau of Health Resources Development, Bureau of Primary 
Health Care, Maternal and Child Health Bureau, and the Office of Public 
Health Practice. The involvement primarily would be in the following 
areas:
     Participation in the identification of emerging health 
management practice issues for technical assistance purposes;
     Identification of HRSA programmatic issues for special 
attention through the Cooperative Agreement;
     Identification of appropriate consultation for the 
proposed projects;
     Assistance in defining the objective, method, evaluation 
and use of project results and translation into the knowledge, skills, 
and attributes for educational objectives;
     Assistance in ensuring appropriate linkages with public 
health practice and health care delivery sites;
     Assistance in creating linkages to appropriate 
professional associations in the Washington, D.C. area;
     Participation in the review and selection of contracts and 
agreements developed in implementing the project; (and)
     Participation in monitoring the implementation, conduct 
and results of projects implemented under the Cooperative Agreement.

Eligibility for Funding

    Entities eligible for funding under this Cooperative Agreement 
must:
    1. be a recognized professional association representing schools of 
public health, and
    2. be located in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.

National Health Objectives for the Year 2000

    The Public Health Service (PHS) 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 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; to promote the non-use of all 
tobacco products; and to promote Public Law 103-227, the Pro-Children 
Act of 1994, which prohibits smoking in certain facilities that receive 
Federal funds in which education, library, day care,

[[Page 42912]]

health care, and early childhood development services are provided to 
children.

Review Criteria

    Applications received will be reviewed by an ad hoc review panel 
using the following criteria:
     The degree to which the proposal contains clearly stated, 
realistic, cross-cutting, achievable, and measurable objectives;
     The extent to which the proposal includes an integrated 
methodology compatible with the scope of project objectives, including 
collaborative relationships with relevant institutions and professional 
associations;
     The administrative and management capability of the 
applicant to carry out the Cooperative Agreement; and
     The extent to which budget justifications are complete, 
appropriate, and cost-effective.

Application Requests

    Eligible entities interested in receiving materials regarding this 
program should notify HRSA. Materials will be sent only to those 
entities making a request. Requests for proposal instructions and other 
questions should be directed to: Mr. John R. Westcott, Grants 
Management Officer, Bureau of Health Professions, HRSA, 5600 Fishers 
Lane, Room 8C-26, Rockville, Maryland 20857, Telephone: (301) 443-6880.

Completed applications must be returned to the Grants Management 
Officer at the above address.
    Questions concerning programmatic aspects of the Cooperative 
Agreement must be directed to:

Ronald B. Merrill, M.H.A., Chief, Public Health Branch, Division of 
Associated, Dental and Public Health Professions, Bureau of Health 
Professions, HRSA, 5600 Fishers Lane, Room 8C-09, Rockville, Maryland 
20857, Telephone: (301) 443-6896
Alexander F. Ross, Sc.D., Office of Public Health Practice/HRSA, 
Parklawn Building, Room 14-15, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, Maryland 
20857, Telephone: (301) 443-4034

Paperwork Reduction Act

    The standard application form PHS 6025-1, HRSA Competing Training 
Grant Application, have been approved by the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction Act. The OMB clearance 
number is 0915-0060.
    The deadline date for receipt of application is September 3, 1996. 
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.
    This program is not subject to the provisions of Executive Order 
12372, Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs (as implemented 
through 45 CFR part 100). This program is also not subject to the 
Public Health System Reporting Requirements.

    Dated: August 13, 1996.
Ciro V. Sumaya,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 96-21057 Filed 8-16-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4160-15-M