[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 39 (Thursday, February 27, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8975-8980]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-4796]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Health Resources and Services Administration


Special Project Grants and Cooperative Agreements; Maternal and 
Child Health Services; Federal Set-Aside Program; Comprehensive 
Hemophilia Centers, Genetic Services, and Maternal and Child Health 
Improvement Projects

AGENCY: Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).

ACTION: Notice of availability of funds.

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SUMMARY: The HRSA announces that approximately $10.2 million in fiscal 
year (FY) 1997 funds will be available for grants and cooperative 
agreements for the following activities: Maternal and Child Health 
(MCH) Special Projects of Regional and National Significance (SPRANS), 
including genetic disease testing, counseling and information services; 
and special MCH improvement projects (MCHIP) which contribute to the 
health of mothers, children, and children with special health care 
needs (CSHCN). All awards will be made under the program authority of 
section 502(a) of the Social Security Act, the MCH Federal Set-Aside 
Program. Within the HRSA, SPRANS grants are administered by the 
Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB). Grants for SPRANS research and 
training are being announced in a separate notice. No new SPRANS 
hemophilia program grants will be funded in FY 1997.
    Of the approximately $52.1 million available for SPRANS genetics 
and MCHIP activities in FY 1997, about $10.2 million will be available 
to support approximately 63 new and competing SPRANs renewal projects, 
at a cost of about $161,900 per project. The actual amounts available 
for awards and their allocation may vary depending on unanticipated 
program requirements and the volume and quality of applications. Awards 
are made for grant periods which generally run from 1 to 5 years in 
duration. Funds for grants under the MCH Federal Set-Aside Program are 
appropriated by Public Law 104-208.
    The Public Health Service (PHS) is committed to achieving the 
health promotion and disease prevention objectives of Healthy People 
2000, a PHS-led national activity for setting priority areas. The MCH 
Block Grant Federal Set-Aside Program addresses issues related to the 
Healthy People 2000 objectives of improving maternal, infant, child and 
adolescent health and developing service systems for children with 
special health care needs. 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, DC 
20402-9325 (telephone: 202-512-1800).
    The PHS strongly encourages all grant recipients to provide a 
smoke-free workplace and promote the non-use of all tobacco products. 
In addition, Public Law 103-227, the Pro-Children Act of 1994, 
prohibits smoking in certain facilities (or in some cases, any portion 
of a facility) in which regular or routine education, library, day 
care, health care or early childhood development services are provided 
to children.

ADDRESSES: Federal Register notices and application guidance for MCHB 
programs are available on the World Wide Web via the Internet at 
address: http://www.os.dhhs.gov/hrsa/mchb. Click on the file name you 
want to download to your computer. It will be saved as a self-
extracting (Macintosh or) WordPerfect 5.1 file. To decompress the file 
once it is downloaded, type in the file name followed by a . 
The file will expand to a WordPerfect 5.1 file.
    For applicants for SPRANS grants and cooperative agreements who are 
unable to access application materials electronically, a hard copy 
(Revised PHS form 5161-1, approved under OMB clearance number 0937-
0189) may be obtained from the HRSA Grants Application Center. Requests 
should specify the category or categories of activities for which an 
application is requested so that the appropriate forms, information and 
materials may be provided. 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, HRSA Grants Application Center, 40 West Gude 
Drive, Suite 100, Rockville, Maryland 20850. Please indicate the 
appropriate CFDA # for the application being submitted (see table 
below).

DATES: Potential applicants are invited to request application packages 
for the particular program category in which they are interested, and 
to submit their applications for funding consideration. Deadlines for 
receipt of applications differ for the several categories of grants. 
These deadlines are as follows:

[[Page 8976]]



MCH Federal Set-Aside Competitive Grants and Cooperative Agreements for Genetic Services, and Maternal and Child Health Improvement Projects Anticipated
                                      Deadline, Award, Funding, and Project Period Information, by Category FY 1997                                     
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                                                                                             Est.                                                       
            CFDA No.               Funding source/category      Application deadline      number of    Est. amounts available        Project period     
                                                                                            awards                                                      
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                   Category 1: Grants                                                                   
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93.110(A).......................  Genetic Services........  April 28, 1997..............         21  $ 3.6 million............  3 years.                
93.110(F).......................  Integrated Services for   May 16, 1997................       8-10  900,000..................  3-4 years.              
                                   CSHCN.                                                                                                               
93.110(I).......................  State Fetal/Infant        May 13, 1997................          5  600,000..................  3 years.                
                                   Mortality Review                                                                                                     
                                   Support Centers.                                                                                                     
93.110(U).......................  Data Utilization and      June 30, 1997...............      15-17  1 million................  1-3 years.              
                                   Enhancement for State/                                                                                               
                                   Community                                                                                                            
                                   Infrastructure Building                                                                                              
                                   and Managed Care.                                                                                                    
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                                                           Category 2: Cooperative Agreements                                                           
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93.110(C).......................  Managed Care Policy and   April 11, 1997..............          1  375,000..................  4 years.                
                                   CSHCN.                                                                                                               
93.110(G).......................  Partnership for           April 15, 1997..............          5  1.1 million..............  5 years.                
                                   Information and                                                                                                      
                                   Communications.                                                                                                      
93.110(M).......................  Health, Mental Health     June 3, 1997................          1  200,000..................  4 years.                
                                   and Safety for Schools.                                                                                              
93.110(N).......................  Partners in Program       June 17, 1997...............          1  100,000..................  up to 5 years.          
                                   Planning for Adolescent                                                                                              
                                   Health.                                                                                                              
93.110(P).......................  Health and Safety in      June 3, 1997................          1  175,000..................  3 years.                
                                   Child Care Settings.                                                                                                 
93.110(O).......................  SIDS/OID Program Support  April 18, 1997..............          1  350,000..................  5 years.                
                                   Center.                                                                                                              
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     Applications will be considered to have met the deadline if they 
are either: (1) Received on or before the deadline date, or (2) 
postmarked on or before the deadline date and received in time for 
orderly processing. Applicants should request a legibly dated receipt 
from a commercial carrier or the U.S. Postal Service, or obtain a 
legibly dated U.S. Postal Service postmark. Private metered postmarks 
will not be accepted as proof of timely mailing. Late applications will 
be returned to the applicant.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for technical or programmatic 
information should be directed to the contact persons identified below 
for each category covered by this notice. Requests for information 
concerning business management issues should be directed to: Sandra 
Perry, Grants Management Officer (GMO), Maternal and Child Health 
Bureau, 5600 Fishers Lane, Room 18-12, Rockville, Maryland 20857, 
telephone: 301-443-1440.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Program Background and Objectives

    Section 502 of the Social Security Act, as amended by the Omnibus 
Budget Reconciliation Act (OBRA) of 1989, requires that 12.75 percent 
of amounts appropriated for the Maternal and Child Health Services 
Block Grant in excess of $600 million are set aside by the Secretary of 
Health and Human Services (HHS) for special Community Integrated 
Service Systems (CISS) projects authorized under Section 501(a)(3) of 
the Act. Of the remainder of the total appropriation, Section 502(a) of 
the Act requires that 15 percent of the funds be retained by the 
Secretary to support (through grants, contracts, or otherwise) special 
projects of regional and national significance, research, and training 
with respect to maternal and child health and children with special 
health care needs (including early intervention training and services 
development); for genetic disease testing, counseling, and information 
development and dissemination programs; for grants (including funding 
for comprehensive hemophilia diagnostic treatment centers) relating to 
hemophilia without regard to age; and for the screening of newborns for 
sickle cell anemia, and other genetic disorders and follow-up services. 
The MCH SPRANS set-aside was established in 1981. Support for projects 
covered by this announcement will come from the SPRANS set-aside.
    Availability of FY 1997 funds for MCH research and training grants 
is being announced separately from other SPRANS grants this year in 
order to help potential applicants better distinguish among very large 
numbers of SPRANS categories and subcategories. No new SPRANS 
hemophilia program grants will be funded in FY 1997.

Eligible Applicants

    Any public or private entity, including an Indian tribe or tribal 
organization (as defined at 25 U.S.C. 450b), is eligible to apply for 
grants or cooperative agreements for project categories covered by this 
announcement. As noted in the FUNDING CATEGORIES section below, based 
on the subject matter of particular categories or subcategories, 
applications may be encouraged from or preference for funding given to 
applicants with a specified area of expertise.

Funding

    Two categories of SPRANS awards are open for competition in FY 
1997: (1) grants; and (2) cooperative agreements.

Category 1: Grants

    Grants in the following 4 subcategories will be awarded in FY 1997:
Subcategory 1.1: Genetic Services (CFDA #93.110A)
     Narrative Description of this Competition: The purpose of 
these grants is to improve the quality, availability, accessibility, 
and utilization of genetic services as an integral component of 
comprehensive maternal and child health care. Grants will be awarded 
competitively to support projects on priority topics specified below.
     Estimated Amount of this Competition: $3.6 million.
     Number of Expected Awards: 21.
     Funding Priorities and/or Preferences: Priority topics for 
projects include: (1) Genetics in primary care; (2) genetic services 
networks; (3) comprehensive care for Cooley's Anemia; (4) genetic 
services for populations with ethnocultural barriers

[[Page 8977]]

to care; (5) comprehensive care for infants with Sickle Cell disease 
identified through State newborn screening programs; and (6) genetics 
in managed care.
     Application Deadline: April 28, 1997.
     Contact Person: Jane Lin-Fu, M.D., telephone: 301-443-
1080.
Subcategory 1.2: Integrated Services for Children with Special Health 
Care Needs (CFDA #93.110F)
     Narrative Description of this Competition: The purpose of 
this competition is to demonstrate innovative and nationally replicable 
models of community-based services in two areas: (1) Reduction of 
barriers to service integration for young children with special health 
care needs and their families. Funded activities will demonstrate 
successful community approaches for resolving Federal Interagency 
Coordinating Council (FICC) identified barriers to community services 
for young children with disabilities and their families. Projects will 
demonstrate and make recommendations on replicable community-wide 
strategies in one or more of the following areas: (a) Coordination of 
program eligibility requirements; (b) coordinated financing of 
services; (c) shared data and information systems; and (d) coordination 
of early intervention services with the medical home. All models are 
expected to involve substantive coordination and participation with 
medical/health homes and the broad system of community services 
required by Part H of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act 
(IDEA).
    (2) Promoting the accessibility of ``medical homes'' (i.e., ongoing 
source of health/medical care) for CSHCN and their families through 
family/professional partnerships. Funded activities will support 
partnership arrangements between families and community health 
providers/managed care organizations, and demonstrate that these 
partnerships can be used to establish or expand quality primary and 
specialty care and supportive services through collaborative working 
relationships with other health, mental health, education, social 
services, and ancillary networks.
     Estimated Amount of this Competition: $900,000.
     Number of Expected Awards: 8-10.
     Funding Priorities and/or Preferences: Proposals must be 
developed, implemented, and demonstrated at the community level and in 
partnership with community programs. Preference will be given to public 
and private community-based providers and programs; community/State 
agency partnerships; and community coalitions. Special consideration 
will be given to established community coalitions with existing 
projects and models related to this competition, including the member 
communities of the ``Communities Can'' coalition, a national coalition 
of public/private community partnerships serving CSHCN. (A list of 
member communities is included in the application kit.) For area (2), 
preference for funding will be given to managed care companies and 
community-based organizations serving culturally diverse, underserved 
populations.
     Evaluation Criteria: See CRITERIA FOR REVIEW; applications 
will be reviewed, in addition, on the basis of the extent to which 
they: (a) demonstrate substantive involvement of the medical home; (b) 
show evidence of substantive family/professional partnership in all 
aspects of the project; (c) show potential for national dissemination 
and replication; (d) show evidence of partnership with the broad early 
intervention community; and (e) leverage the resources of other local, 
state, and federally funded initiatives.
     Application Deadline: May 16, 1997.
     Contact Person: Bonnie Strickland, Ph.D., or Diana 
Denboba, telephone: 301-443-2370.
Subcategory 1.3: State Fetal/Infant Mortality Review Support Centers 
(CFDA #93.110I)
     Narrative Description of this Competition: This initiative 
is designed to support State MCH agencies, or their designees, to 
stimulate and promote Fetal and Infant Mortality Review Programs in 
communities in order to enhance needs assessment and quality 
improvement efforts. Projects will support training and technical 
assistance activities that would be targeted to the particular needs 
within the State. State centers would work collaboratively with the 
national center located at the American College of Obstetricians and 
Gynecologists.
     Estimated Amount of this competition: $600,000.
     Number of Expected Awards: 5.
     Funding Priorities and/or Preferences: Preference for 
funding will be given to Title V programs or their designees.
     Evaluation Criteria: See CRITERIA FOR REVIEW; application 
guidance materials will specify final criteria.
     Application Deadline: May 13, 1997.
     Contact Person: Ellen Hutchins, Sc.D., telephone: 301-443-
9534.
Subcategory 1.4: Data Utilization and Enhancement for State/Community 
Infrastructure Building and Managed Care (CFDA #93.110U)
     Narrative Description of this Competition: The purpose of 
these grants is to enable State MCH and CSHCN programs to enhance the 
use of qualitative and quantitative analytic methods in local problem 
solving for MCH populations. Awards are intended to supplement or 
complement existing data utilization activities and to foster and 
strengthen continuing collaboration among State and local public health 
agencies, private sector efforts and academic institutions. This 
initiative is specifically designed to assist States, local 
communities, and supporting entities in the following categories: (1) 
Developing, adapting and integrating a sentinel model and system to 
assess the benefits and risks to the health status of children and 
families resulting from State and private sector health, welfare reform 
and, specifically, managed care efforts in terms of quantitative and 
qualitative measures focused upon needs assessments, outcome measures, 
systems performance, quality, efficacy, effectiveness and efficiency; 
(2) analyzing the economic implications of maternal and child health 
programs with the objective of augmenting the capacity of State and 
local policy staff to use, interpret and conduct economic assessments; 
and (3) enhancing the use of information technologies in State and 
local MCH/CSHCN programs and agencies.
     Estimated Amount of this Competition: $1 million.
     Number of Expected Awards: 15-17.
    Funding Priorities and/or Preferences: Special consideration will 
be given to proposals seeking to identify and track emerging issues 
resulting from health care structural, financial, and demographic 
changes (e.g., health care and welfare reform, managed care waivers, 
population income shifts, etc.).
     Evaluation Criteria: See CRITERIA FOR REVIEW; application 
guidance will specify final criteria.
     Application Deadline: June 30, 1997.
     Contact Person: Russ Scarato, telephone: 301-443-0701.

Category 2: Cooperative Agreements

    Cooperative agreements in 6 subcategories will be awarded in FY 
1997.
    It is anticipated that substantial Federal programmatic involvement 
will

[[Page 8978]]

be required in these cooperative agreements. This means that after 
award, awarding office staff provide technical assistance and guidance 
to, or coordinate and participate in, certain programmatic activities 
of award recipients beyond their normal stewardship responsibilities in 
the administration of grants. Federal involvement may include, but is 
not limited to, planning, guidance, coordination and participation in 
programmatic activities. Periodic meetings, conferences, and/or 
communications with the award recipient are held to review mutually 
agreed upon goals and objectives and to assess progress. Details on the 
scope of Federal programmatic involvement in cooperative agreements 
included in this Notice, consistent with HRSA grants administration 
policy, are included in the application guidance kit for each 
cooperative agreement subcategory.
Subcategory 2.1: Managed Care Policy and CSHCN (CFDA #93.110C)
     Narrative Description of this Competition: This 
cooperative agreement will support a national policy center to 
implement strategic planning to assure the availability and 
accessibility of comprehensive, community-based, culturally competent, 
and family-centered care to CSHCN and their families in a managed care 
environment. The center supported by this agreement will advance the 
state of the art and foster the ability of leaders in the field to 
interact. It will: (1) Analyze existing national epidemiologic studies 
of CSHCN (currently defined as children who have or are at increased 
risk for chronic physical, developmental, behavioral, or emotional 
conditions and who also require health and related services of a type 
or amount beyond that required by children generally); (2) monitor 
access to necessary medical, health and related services for CSHCN who 
are privately insured, underinsured or uninsured, in consultation with 
State and community providers, Medicaid agencies and families; and (3) 
support analyses of the work of national workgroups addressing critical 
issues for CSHCN in areas such as quality of care, cost and utilization 
of services, and provider networks; (4) analyze the impact on CSHCN of 
legislative and policy changes at the national, state and local levels; 
and (5) utilize the full range of available data and information to 
make recommendations for the successful integration of managed care 
into the community system of services for CSHCN and their families.
     Estimated Amount of this Competition: $375,000.
     Number of expected Awards: 1.
     Funding Priorities and/or Preference: Preference will be 
given to organizations with proven national experience and an existing 
infrastructure for policy analysis at the national level on issues 
related to chronic care in the emerging managed care system.
     Application Deadline: April 11, 1997.
     Contact Person: Irene Forsman, M.S., R.N. 301-443-9023.
Subcategory 2.2: Partnership for Information and Communications (PIC) 
(CFDA #93.110G)
     Narrative Description of this Competition: The PIC program 
enhances communication between the MCHB and governmental, professional 
and private organizations representing leaders and policy makers 
concerned with issues related to maternal and child health. It 
facilitates dissemination of new maternal and child health related 
information to these policy and decision makers and provides those 
individuals and organizations with a means of communicating issues 
directly to the Maternal and Child Health program and to each other. 
Presently, this program consists of organizations representing State 
Title V programs; State legislators; private business, particularly 
self-insured businesses; philanthropic organizations; municipal health 
policy makers; county health policy makers; parent organizations; and 
other national membership organizations.
     Estimated Amount of this Competition: $1.1 million.
     Number of Expected Awards: 5.
     Funding Priorities and/or Preferences: For FY 1997, 
preference for funding will be given to national membership 
organizations representing State Governors and their staffs; State 
Health Officers; nonprofit and for-profit managed care organizations; 
and coalitions of organizations promoting the health of mothers and 
infants.
     Application Deadline: April 15, 1997.
     Contact Person: Stuart Swayze, M.S.W., telephone: 301-443-
2917.
Subcategory 2.3: Health, Mental Health and Safety for Schools (CFDA 
#93.110M)
     Narrative Description of this Competition: This 
cooperative agreement, a collaborative effort by HRSA and the Centers 
for Disease Control and Prevention, will support a process that will 
result in development of advisory guidelines for assuring basic health 
and safety in Kindergarten-12 grade school settings. The standards will 
be developed through a consensus process, which relies upon exchanges 
among groups of experts in specific topical areas to determine the 
state of the science and art. The guidelines will consolidate the best 
features of the array of guidelines, recommendations, and standards 
presently in existence. They will be made available to the field as a 
model for State health and education agencies and school districts to 
adopt or adapt. This initiative is based upon the process used to 
develop the National Health and Safety Performance Standards: 
Guidelines for Out of Home Child Care, which are currently helping 
States and communities to determine appropriate child care settings. As 
with the Child Care guidelines, this initiative is expected to be a 
collaborative effort among those organizations concerned with health, 
safety and schools.
     Estimated Amount of this Competition: $200,000.
     Number of Expected Awards: 1.
     Funding Priorities and/or Preferences: Preference for 
funding will be given to organizations which have credibility in the 
education community and the capacity to address all aspects of health 
services, health education, and injury and violence prevention in the 
school environment.
     Application Deadline: June 3, 1997.
     Contact Person: Stephanie Bryn, M.Ph., telephone: 301-443-
3513.
Subcategory 2.4: Partners in Program Planning for Adolescent Health 
(CFDA #93.110N)
     Narrative Description of this Competition: This 
cooperative agreement is part of a process to involve organizations 
having an historic interest in adolescent health in developing the 
programming of HRSA's Office of Adolescent Health (OAH). The OAH will 
collaborate with these organizations in seeking policy guidance from 
and providing programmatic information to their memberships. 
Organizations currently receiving support under this program are the 
American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association, 
the American Bar Association, and the National Association of Social 
Workers. This competition will allow for expansion of this 
collaboration.
     Estimated Amount of this Competition: $100,000.
     Number of Expected Awards: 1.
     Funding Priorities and/or Preferences: For FY 1997, 
preference for funding will be given to national membership 
organizations representing the professional discipline of nursing.

[[Page 8979]]

Other professional disciplines may be the focus of future competitions.
     Application Deadline: June 17, 1997.
     Contact Person: Trina Menden Anglin, M.D., Ph.D., 
telephone: 301-443-4026.
Subcategory 2.5: Health and Safety in Child Care Settings (CFDA 
#93.110P)
     Narrative Description of this Competition: This 
cooperative agreement supports the development and implementation of 
State-based programs to expand the number of public (public health 
nurses, nurse practitioners, physicians, nutritionists, dentists, 
mental health providers, and others) and private sector (managed care 
supported outreach staff and others) health professionals trained to 
serve as health care consultants to child care programs. This project 
will serve as a national model; it is an outgrowth of the MCHB-
sponsored National Health and Safety Performance Standards: Guidelines 
for Out-of-Home Child Care Programs and will support promotion of 
healthy development and increased access to preventive health services 
and safe physical environments for all children.
     Estimated Amount of this Competition: $175,000.
     Number of Expected Awards: 1.
     Application Deadline: June 3, 1997.
     Contact Person: Jane Coury, telephone: 301-443-4566.
Subcategory 2.6: SIDS and Other Infant Death Program Support Center 
(CFDA #93.110O)
     Narrative Description of this Competition: This 
cooperative agreement will fund population-based activities (e.g., 
systems analysis, epidemiology, health promotion) in support of 
development of community-based services to reduce as much as possible 
the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and other infant 
deaths, to appropriately support families when an infant death does 
occur, and will analyze standardized information about infant deaths in 
the hope of discovering factors which can be ameliorated to reduce the 
risk of a future infant death. Particular program elements will include 
risk reduction, peer support programs, services for hard to reach 
populations, and monitoring and reporting on SIDS and other infant 
deaths. The awardee will identify commonalities among processes 
addressing fatal events in the MCH population and determine if and how 
these activities could be combined to allow a more coherent approach to 
addressing community mortality and morbidity.
     Estimated Amount of this Competition: $350,000.
     Number of Expected Awards: 1.
     Application Deadline: April 18, 1997.
     Contact Person: Paul Rusinko, telephone: 301-443-2115.

Special Concerns

    In keeping with the goals of advancing the development of human 
potential, strengthening the Nation's capacity to provide high quality 
education by broadening participation in MCHB programs of institutions 
that may have perspectives uniquely reflecting the Nation's cultural 
and linguistic diversity, and increasing opportunities for all 
Americans to participate in and benefit from Federal public health 
programs, HRSA will place a funding priority on projects from 
Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) or Hispanic Serving 
Institutions (HSI) in all categories and subcategories in this notice 
for which applications from academic institutions are encouraged. This 
is in conformity with the Federal Government's policies in support of 
White House Initiatives on Historically Black Colleges and Universities 
(Executive Order 12876) and Educational Excellence for Hispanic 
Americans (Executive Order 12900). An approved proposal from a HBCU or 
HSI will receive a 0.5 point favorable adjustment of the priority score 
in a 4 point range before funding decisions are made.

Evaluation Protocol

    A maternal and child health discretionary grant project, including 
any SPRANS project, is expected to incorporate a carefully designed and 
well planned evaluation protocol capable of demonstrating and 
documenting measurable progress toward achieving the project's stated 
goals. The protocol should be based on a clear rationale relating the 
grant activities, the project goals, and the evaluation measures. 
Wherever possible, the measurements of progress toward goals should 
focus on health outcome indicators, rather than on intermediate 
measures such as process or outputs. A project lacking a complete and 
well-conceived evaluation protocol as part of the planned activities 
may not be funded.

Project Review and Funding

    Within the limit of funds determined by the Secretary to be 
available for the activities described in this announcement, the 
Secretary will review applications for funds under the specific project 
categories in the FUNDING CATEGORIES section above as competing 
applications and may award Federal funding for projects which will, in 
her judgment, best promote the purpose of title V of the Social 
Security Act; best address achievement of Healthy Children 2000 
objectives related to maternal, infant, child and adolescent health and 
service systems for children at risk of chronic and disabling 
conditions; and otherwise best promote improvements in maternal and 
child health.

Criteria for Review

    The criteria which follow are used, as pertinent, to review and 
evaluate applications for awards under all SPRANS grants and 
cooperative agreement project categories announced in this notice. 
Further guidance regarding review criteria is supplied in application 
materials, which will specify final criteria.

--The quality of the project plan or methodology.
--The extent to which the project will contribute to the advancement of 
maternal and child health and/or improvement of the health of children 
with special health care needs;
--The extent to which the project is responsive to policy concerns 
applicable to MCH grants and to program objectives, requirements, 
priorities and/or review criteria for specific project categories, as 
published in program announcements or guidance materials.
--The extent to which the estimated cost to the Government of the 
project is reasonable, considering the anticipated results.
--The extent to which the project personnel are well qualified by 
training and/or experience for their roles in the project and the 
applicant organization has adequate facilities and personnel.
--The extent to which, insofar as practicable, the proposed activities, 
if well executed, are capable of attaining project objectives.
--The adherence of the project's evaluation plan to the requirements of 
the EVALUATION PROTOCOL.
--The extent to which the project will be integrated with the 
administration of the Maternal and Child Health Services block grants, 
State primary care plans, public health, and prevention programs, and 
other related programs in the respective State(s).
--The extent to which the application is responsive to the special 
concerns

[[Page 8980]]

and program priorities specified in this notice.

Funding of Approved Applications

    Final funding decisions for SPRANS grants and cooperative 
agreements are the responsibility of the Director, MCHB. In considering 
scores for the ranking of approved applications for funding, 
preferences may be exercised for groups of applications, e.g., 
applications from geographical areas without previously funded projects 
in a particular category vs. applications from areas with previously 
funded projects. Within any category of approved projects, special 
consideration may be given, i.e., the score of an individual project 
may be favorably adjusted, if the project addresses specific priorities 
or categorical areas identified as meriting special consideration.

Public Health System Reporting Requirements

    This program is subject to the Public Health System Reporting 
Requirements (approved under OMB No. 0937-0195). Under these 
requirements, the community-based nongovernmental applicant must 
prepare and submit a Public Health System Impact Statement (PHSIS). The 
PHSIS is intended to provide information to State and local health 
officials to keep them apprised of proposed health services grant 
applications submitted by community-based nongovernmental organizations 
within their jurisdictions.
    Community-based nongovernmental applicants are required to submit 
the following information to the head of the appropriate State and 
local health agencies in the area(s) to be impacted no later than the 
Federal application receipt due date:
    (a) A copy of the face page of the application (SF 525).
    (b) A summary of the project (PHSIS), not to exceed one page, which 
provides:
    (1) A description of the population to be served.
    (2) A summary of the services to be provided.
    (3) A description of the coordination planned with the appropriate 
State and local health agencies.

Executive Order 12372

    The MCH Federal set-aside program has been determined to be a 
program which is not subject to the provisions of Executive Order 12372 
concerning intergovernmental review of Federal programs.

    The OMB Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance number is 93.110.

    Dated: February 20, 1997.
Ciro V. Sumaya,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 97-4796 Filed 2-26-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4160-15-P