[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 244 (Wednesday, December 18, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66688-66692]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-32074]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------


DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Program Announcement for Grant Programs Administered by the 
Division of Disadvantaged Assistance, Bureau of Health Professions for 
Fiscal Year 1997

    The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) announces 
that applications will be accepted for two grant programs for fiscal 
year (FY) 1997 under the authority of title VII of the Public Health 
Service (PHS) Act (herein referred to as the Act). These programs 
include:

Grants for Health Careers Opportunity Program (HCOP) (section 740, PHS 
Act, 42 CFR, part 57, subpart S)
Grants for the Minority Faculty Fellowship Program (MFFP) (section 
738(b), PHS Act)

    For the Health Careers Opportunity Program, it is anticipated that 
$7 million will be available to support approximately 38 competitive 
(new and renewal) projects. The average cost for each competitive award 
is estimated to be $184,210.
    For the Minority Faculty Fellowship Program, it is estimated that 
$200,000 will be available to support approximately 6 fellowship 
awards. The average cost for each fellow is estimated to be $35,000.

Health Careers Opportunity Program (HCOP) (Catalog of Federal Domestic 
Assistance No. 93.822)

    Eligibility and Purpose: Section 740 authorizes the Secretary to 
make grants to and enter into contracts with schools of allopathic 
medicine, osteopathic medicine, public health, dentistry, veterinary 
medicine, optometry, pharmacy, allied health, chiropractic and 
podiatric medicine, and public and non-profit private schools which 
offer graduate programs in clinical psychology and other public or 
private nonprofit health or educational entities to carry out programs 
which assist individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds to enter and 
graduate from such schools.
    Grant funds may be used to:
    (1) Identify, recruit, and select individuals from disadvantaged 
backgrounds for education and training in a health profession;
    (2) Provide, for a period prior to the entry of such individuals 
into the regular course of education of such a school, preliminary 
education designed to assist them to complete successfully, such 
regular course of education at such a school or referring such 
individuals to institutions providing such preliminary education;
    (3) Facilitate the entry of such individuals in health and allied 
health professions schools;
    (4) Provide counseling or other services designed to assist such 
individuals to successfully complete their education at such a school; 
and
    (5) Inform such individuals of sources of financial aid available 
to assist them in their health professions education.
    Applicants must carry out at least 2 of the five purposes, even if 
grant funds are requested or awarded for only one of them. It is 
permissible to request grant support for only one of the purposes if 
other purposes are financed with non-Federal funds. The project period 
of Federal support will not exceed 3 years.

Comprehensive HCOP Programs

    HHS encourages the consolidation into one proposal HCOP grants 
among existing HCOP projects in the same institution or among entities 
in a geographic area of the applicant institution. Grant funds may also 
support comprehensive HCOP programs-involving formal linkages among 
several community-based entities and educational institutions in a 
defined geographic area to achieve an educational continuum. 
Comprehensive HCOP programs may include: A designated geographic area 
with recognized minority/disadvantaged demographics; a program building 
on existing strengths; and formal linkages among educational 
institutions, community health care entities, and community 
organizations.

Eligible Student Participants

    Individuals participating in HCOP programs must:
    (1) Be from disadvantaged backgrounds;
    (2) Have completed the junior year of high school (or its 
equivalent);
    (3) Be a resident of the United States and either a U.S. citizen, a 
U.S. national, an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence in 
the U.S., a citizen of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana 
Islands, or a citizen of the Republic of Palau, or a citizen of the 
Republic of the Marshall Islands, or a citizen of the Federated States 
of Micronesia; and
    (4) Must be enrolled and in good standing at the grantee 
institution or participating school(s).
    Review Criteria: The review of applications will take into 
consideration the following factors:
    (1) The degree to which the proposed project adequately provides 
for the requirements in 42 CFR, Sec. 57.1805;
    (2) The number and types of individuals who can be expected to 
benefit from the project;
    (3) The administrative and management ability of the applicant to 
carry out the proposed project in a cost effective manner, including 
the validity of the proposed methodology, attainability of objectives, 
their measurability and outcomes;
    (4) The adequacy of the staff and faculty, including experience and 
academic background relevant to the training of disadvantaged 
background students;
    (5) The appropriateness of budget for assuring effective use of 
Federal funds; and
    (6) The potential of the project to continue without further 
support under this program.
    Statutory Funding Priorities: Section 740 provides that the 
Secretary shall give funding priority to the following schools:

[[Page 66689]]

    1. Schools which previously received HCOP grants and increased 
their first-year enrollment of individuals from disadvantaged 
backgrounds by at least 20 percent over that enrollment in the base 
year 1987 (for which the applicant must supply data) by the end of 3 
years from the date of the award of the HCOP grant; and
    2. Schools which had not previously received an HCOP grant that 
increased their first-year enrollment of individuals from disadvantaged 
backgrounds by at least 20 percent over that enrollment in the base 
year 1987 (for which the applicant must supply data) over any period of 
time (3 consecutive years).
    Administrative Funding Priorities: The following funding priorities 
were established in fiscal year 1990 after public comment at 55 FR 
11264, dated March 27, 1990, and is being continued in FY 1997, with 
the exception that wording related to alternative means of documenting 
enrollment in terms of increases and retention rates for disadvantaged 
students has been deleted. Progress in these areas is considered as a 
part of the merit review process for this program and applicants will 
be informed of relevant benchmarks in application materials.
    Funding priorities will be given to HCOP applications from:
    (1) Health professions schools that have a disadvantaged student 
enrollment of 20 percent or more; and (2) to schools of allied health 
offering baccalaureate or higher level programs in physical therapy, 
physician assistant, respiratory therapy, medical technology or 
occupational therapy that have a disadvantaged student enrollment of 20 
percent or more among those programs.
    Statutory Allocation of Funds: Section 740 provides that the 
Secretary shall obligate amounts in accordance to the following:
    (A) 70 percent shall be obligated for grants or contracts to 
institutions of higher education.
    (B) 10 percent shall be obligated for community-based programs.
    (C) Not more than 5 percent may be obligated for grants and 
contracts having the primary purpose of informing individuals about the 
existence and general nature of health careers.

Minority Faculty Fellowship Program (MFFP) (Catalog of Federal Domestic 
Assistance No. 93.923)

    Purpose: The purpose of the MFFP is to increase the number of 
underrepresented minority faculty members in health professions 
schools, by providing fellowships to individuals who have the potential 
for teaching, administering programs, or conducting research as faculty 
members. To be eligible for a grant, an institution must demonstrate 
that it has or will have the commitment and ability to: (1) identify, 
recruit, and select underrepresented minorities in the health 
professions; (2) provide fellows with the techniques and skills needed 
to secure a tenured faculty position at the applicant school, including 
competence in: pedagogical skills, research methodology, development of 
research grant proposals, writing and publication skills, working with 
minority populations; (3) assist fellows in their preparation for an 
academic career, including the provision of mentors; and (4) provide 
health services to medically underserved communities. Fellows must work 
under the direct supervision of a senior level faculty member engaged 
in the disciplines mentioned above. The institution must offer the 
fellow a teaching position at the institution upon successful 
completion of the program.
    The period of Federal support will not exceed one year for each 
fellowship award to an applicant institution, but a fellowship award to 
an individual recipient must be for a minimum of two years. HRSA does 
not contribute to the support of the fellow in the second year. The 
applicant institution (school) will be required to support the fellow 
for the second year at a level not less than the total of Federal and 
institutional funds awarded for the first year.
    The fellowship award includes a stipend in an amount not exceeding 
50 percent of the regular salary of a similar faculty member, or 
$30,000, whichever is less. Grant awards are to support fellow costs 
only and are limited to stipend, tuition and fees, and travel. Stipends 
must be paid by the grantee institution in accordance with its usual 
institutional payment policy, schedule and procedures. Stipend funds 
may be supplemented through other resources. Direct financial 
assistance to fellows may not be received concurrently with any other 
Federal education award (fellowship, traineeship, etc.), except for 
educational assistance under the Veterans Readjustment Benefits Act 
(``GI Bill''). Loans from Federal funds are not considered Federal 
awards. Any fellow who continues to receive full institutional salary 
is not eligible for stipend support from these grant funds.
    Eligible Applicants: Eligible applicants are schools of allopathic 
medicine, osteopathic medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine, 
optometry, podiatric medicine, pharmacy, public health, clinical 
psychology, and other public or private nonprofit health or educational 
entities.
    The Applicant Institution Shall Agree to the Following Assurances:
    * Provide an assurance that the applicant institution will make 
available (directly through cash donations) $1 for every $1 of Federal 
funds received under the fellowship.
    * Provide an assurance that institutional support will be provided 
for the individual for a second year at a level not less than the total 
amount of Federal and institutional funds provided in the year in which 
the grant was awarded;
    * Provide an assurance that the fellowship recipient is from a 
minority group underrepresented in the health professions; has at a 
minimum, appropriate advanced preparation (such as a master's or 
doctoral degree in a health profession) and special skills necessary to 
enable that individual to teach and practice;
    * Provide an assurance that the recipient of the fellowship will be 
a member of the faculty of the applicant institution; and
    * Provide an assurance that the recipient of the fellowship has not 
been a member of the faculty of any school at any time during the 18-
month period preceding the date on which the individual submits a 
request for the fellowship.
    Fellowship recipients must also:
    * Have completely satisfied any other obligation for health 
professional service which is owed under an agreement with the Federal 
Government, State Government, or other entity prior to beginning the 
period of service under this program; and
    * Be a resident of the United States and either a U.S. citizen, a 
U.S. national, an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence in 
the U.S., a citizen of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana 
Islands, or a citizen of the Republic of Palau, or a citizen of the 
Marshall Islands, or a citizen of the Federated States of Micronesia.
    Breach of Fellowship Funds: The school will be required to return 
fellowship funds received if it does not honor the terms of the 
fellowship award. Such sums must be paid within 1 year from the day the 
Secretary determines that the breach occurred. If payment is not 
received by the payment date, additional interest, penalties and 
administrative charges will be assessed in accordance with Federal Law 
(45 CFR 30.13).
    Review Criteria: The review of applications will take into 
consideration the following review criteria:
    1. The extent to which the institution demonstrates that it has the 
commitment and ability to identify,

[[Page 66690]]

recruit, and select underrepresented minority faculty, and its ability 
to provide health services to rural or medically underserved 
populations;
    2. The extent to which the institution's training program will 
provide the fellow with the preparation, training and skills needed to 
secure an academic career. Training may include: Pedagogical skills, 
program administration, grant writing and publication skills, research 
methodology and development of research grant proposals, and community 
service abilities;
    3. The degree to which the institution's senior faculty are 
involved in the training and preparation of fellows pursuing an 
academic career, and the potential of the institution to continue the 
program without Federal support beyond the approved project period; and
    4. The extent to which the institution meets the eligibility 
requirements set forth in section 738(b) of the Public Health Service 
Act.

Definitions

    The following definitions were established after public comment of 
56 FR 22440, dated May 15, 1991.
    ``Minority'' means an individual whose race/ethnicity is classified 
as American Indian or Alaskan Native, Asian or Pacific Islander, Black, 
or Hispanic.
    ``Underrepresented Minority'' means, with respect to a health 
profession, racial and ethnic populations that are underrepresented in 
the health profession relative to the number of individuals who are 
members of the population involved. This definition encompasses Blacks, 
Hispanics, Native Americans, and, potentially, various subpopulations 
of Asian individuals.
    Applicants must evidence that any particular subgroup of Asian 
individuals is underrepresented in a specific discipline.
    The following definitions were established in OMB Directive No. 15.
    ``American Indian or Alaskan Native'' means a person having origins 
in any of the original people of North America, and who maintain 
cultural identification through tribal affiliation or community 
recognition. This definition applies to the Health Careers Opportunity 
Program.
    ``Asian or Pacific Islander'' means a person having origins in any 
of the original people of the Far East, Southeast Asia, the Indian 
subcontinent, or the Pacific Islands. This area includes, for example, 
China, India, Japan, Korea, the Philippine Islands, and Samoa.
    ``Black'' means a person having origins in any of the black racial 
groups of Africa.
    ``Hispanic'' means a person of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, 
Central or South American or other Spanish culture or origin, 
regardless of race.
    Following are additional definitions as defined in section 799.
    ``Accredited'' when applied to a school of medicine, optometry, 
podiatry, pharmacy, public health or chiropractic, or a graduate 
program in health administration, clinical psychology, clinical social 
work, or marriage and family therapy, means a school or program that is 
accredited by a recognized body or bodies approved for such purpose by 
the Secretary of Education, except that a new school or program that, 
by reason of an insufficient period of operation, is not, at the time 
of application for a grant or contract under this title, eligible for 
accreditation by such a recognized body or bodies, shall be deemed 
accredited for purposes of this title, if the Secretary of Education 
finds, after consultation with the appropriate accreditation body or 
bodies, that there is reasonable assurance that the school or program 
will meet the accreditation standards of such body or bodies prior to 
the beginning of the academic year following the normal graduation date 
of the first entering class in such school or program.
    ``Graduate program in health administration'' and ``graduate 
program in clinical psychology'' means an accredited graduate program 
in a public or nonprofit private institution in a State that provides 
training leading, respectively, to a graduate degree in health 
administration or an equivalent degree and a doctoral degree in 
clinical psychology or an equivalent degree.
    ``Schools of allied health'' means a public or nonprofit private 
college, junior college, or university or hospital-based educational 
entity that:
    (1) Provides, or can provide, programs of education to enable 
individuals to become allied health professionals or to provide 
additional training for allied health professionals;
    (2) Provides training for not less than a total of 20 persons in 
the allied health curricula (except that this subparagraph shall not 
apply to any hospital-based educational entity);
    (3) Includes or is affiliated with a teaching hospital; and
    (4) Is accredited by a recognized body or bodies approved for such 
purposes by the Secretary of Education or which provides to the 
Secretary satisfactory assurance by such accrediting body or bodies 
that reasonable progress is being made toward accreditation.
    ``Schools of medicine, dentistry, osteopathic medicine, pharmacy, 
optometry, podiatric medicine, veterinary medicine, public health, and 
chiropractic'' means an accredited public or nonprofit private school 
in a State that provides training leading, respectively, to degrees of 
doctor of medicine, dentistry, osteopathy, a degree of bachelor of 
science in pharmacy, degrees of doctor of pharmacy, doctor of 
optometry, doctor of podiatric medicine, doctor of veterinary medicine, 
a graduate degree in public health, a degree of doctor of chiropractic 
medicine, or appropriate equivalent degrees for the above training, and 
including advanced training related to such degrees provided by any 
such school.
    ``State'' includes the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the 
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana 
Islands, the Republic of Palau, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, 
the Federated States of Micronesia, Virgin Islands, Guam and American 
Samoa.

Other Definitions

    ``Community-based Program'' means a program with organizational 
headquarters located in and which primarily serves: a Metropolitan 
Statistical Area, as designated by the Office of Management and Budget; 
a Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Department of Commerce designated 
non-metropolitan economic area or a county; or Indian tribe(s) as 
defined in 42 CFR 36.102(c), i.e., an Indian tribe, band, nation, 
rancheria, Pueblo, colony or community, including an Alaskan Native 
Village or regional or village corporation.
    ``Funding Priority'' means a favorable adjustment of aggregate 
review scores of individual approved applications when they meet 
specific criteria.
    For the Health Careers Opportunity Program, ``health professions 
schools'' mean schools of allopathic medicine, dentistry, osteopathic 
medicine, pharmacy, optometry, podiatric medicine, veterinary medicine, 
public health, chiropractic, or graduate programs in clinical 
psychology and health administration.
    As defined in 42 CFR 57.1804(c) (1) and (2), an ``individual from a 
disadvantaged background'' means an individual 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 health professions

[[Page 66691]]

school or from a program providing education or training in an allied 
health profession 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 the Census, adjusted annually for changes in the 
Consumer Price Index and adjusted by the Secretary for use in all 
health professions programs. The following income figures determine 
what constitutes a low-income family for purposes of these Health 
Careers Opportunity Program grants for fiscal year 1997:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                 Income 
                  Size of parents' family \1\                     level 
                                                                   \2\  
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.............................................................   $10,200
2.............................................................    13,200
3.............................................................    15,700
4.............................................................    20,200
5.............................................................    23,800
6+............................................................   26,700 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Includes only dependents listed on Federal income tax forms.        
\2\ Adjusted gross income for calendar year 1995, rounded to nearest    
  $100.                                                                 

    ``Metropolitan Statistical Area'' means a city of 50,000 or more 
population; or a Census Bureau defined urbanized area of at least 
50,000 population, provided that the component county/counties have a 
total population of at least 100,000 (75,000 in New England).
    For the Minority Faculty Fellowship Program, ``minority'' means an 
individual from a racial or ethnic group that is under-represented in 
the health professions, as defined in section 738.
    ``Stipend'' means a level of support for pre-doctoral students for 
participation in programs that meet specific HCOP requirements. The 
stipend level is $40 a day based on the actual number of days a 
participant attends classes. The time period covered is the first day 
of classes to the end of final examination week for each quarter or 
semester. Stipends may also be given for a minimum of 6 weeks or a 
maximum of 8 weeks in a summer program. A stipend may not be provided 
between the end of the academic year and the beginning of a summer 
program.
    ``Structured Program'' means a formal educational program of a 
specified length with a specially designed curriculum or set of 
activities in which designated trainees are required to participate 
(e.g., summer and/or academic year enrichment program which focus on 
such areas as mathematics, science, learning/communication skills, 
professional school entrance exams, and the like).

Other Information

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).

Academic and Community Partnerships

    As part of its cross-cutting program priorities, HRSA will be 
targeting its efforts to strengthening linkages between U.S. Public 
Health Service health professions 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.

Application Availability

    Application materials are available on the World Wide Web at 
address: ``http//www.hrsa.dhhs.gov/bhpr/grants.html''. In Fiscal Year 
1997, the Bureau of Health Professions (BHPr) will use Adobe Acrobat to 
publish the grants documents on the Web page. In order to download, 
view and print these grants documents, you will need a copy of Adobe 
Acrobat Reader. This can be obtained without charge from the Internet 
by going to the Adobe Web page (``http://www.adobe.com'') and 
downloading the version of the Adobe Acrobat Reader which is 
appropriate for your operating system, i.e., Windows, Unix, Macintosh, 
etc. A set of more detailed instructions on how to download and use the 
Adobe Acrobat Reader can be found on the BHPr Grants Web page under 
``Notes on this WWW Page.''
    If additional programmatic information is needed, please contact 
the Division of Disadvantaged Assistance, Bureau of Health Professions, 
Health Resources and Services Administration, Parklawn Building, Room 
8A-09, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, Maryland 20857. Questions 
regarding grants policy and business management issues should be 
directed to the Grants Management Branch in Room 8C-26 at the above 
address. Please refer to Table 1 for specific BHPr contact names and 
phone numbers.
    For applicants who are unable to access application materials 
electronically, a hard copy will be provided by contacting the HRSA 
Grants Application Center. The Center may be contacted by: Telephone 
Number: 1-888-300-HRSA, FAX Number: 301-309-0579, E-mail Address: 
[email protected]
    Completed applications should be returned to: Grants Management 
Officer (CFDA#), HRSA Grants Application Center, 40 West Gude Drive, 
Suite 100, Rockville, Maryland 20850.

                                                     Table 1                                                    
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                           Grants management contact    Programmatic contact e-                 
  PHS Section number title CFDA number         e-mail: wjohnson              mail: bbrooks                      
               regulation                 @hrsa.dhhs.gov  FAX: (301)  @hrsa.dhhs.gov  FAX: (301)   Deadline date
                                                   443-6343                    443-5242                         
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
740 Health Careers Opportunity Program    Wilma Johnson (301) 443-    Mario A. Manecci, MPH,              2/7/97
 93.822 42 CFR part 57 subpart S.          6880.                       (301) 443-4493.                          
738(b) Minority Faculty Fellowship        Wilma Johnson (301) 443-    Lucille Revels (301) 443-           2/7/97
 Program 93.923.                           6880.                       4493.                                    
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


[[Page 66692]]

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 each of 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.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    The standard application form PHS 6025-1 (Revised 9/96), HRSA 
Competing Training Grant Application, and General Instructions have 
been approved by the Office of Management and Budget under the 
Paperwork Reduction Act. The OMB Clearance Number is 0915-0060.
    These programs are not subject to the provisions of Executive Order 
12372, Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs (as implemented 
through 45 CFR part 100). These programs are also not subject to the 
Public Health System Reporting Requirements.

    Dated: December 12, 1996.
Ciro V. Sumaya,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 96-32074 Filed 12-17-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4160-15-P