[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 131 (Friday, July 7, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42006-42008]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-17179]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[Program Announcement 00137]


HIV/AIDS Prevention Program Development and Technical Assistance 
Collaboration for Faith Communities in Countries Targeted by the 
Leadership and Investment in Fighting the Epidemic (LIFE) Initiative; 
Notice of Availability of Funds

A. Purpose

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announces the 
availability of fiscal year (FY) 2000 funds for a cooperative agreement 
program for HIV/AIDS Prevention Program Development and Technical 
Assistance Collaboration with Countries Targeted by the LIFE 
(Leadership and Investment in Fighting an Epidemic) Initiative.
    In July 1999, the Administration announced the LIFE initiative to 
address the global AIDS pandemic. The LIFE initiative, an effort to 
expand and intensify the global response to the growing AIDS pandemic 
and its serious impact, is part of the United States (U.S.) 
Government's participation in the International Partnership Against 
HIV/AIDS in Africa (IPAA). A central feature of the LIFE initiative is 
a $100 million increase in U.S. support for sub-Saharan African 
countries and India, which are working to prevent the further spread of 
HIV and to care for those affected by this devastating disease. This 
additional funding is a critical step by the U.S. Government in 
recognizing the impact that AIDS continues to have on individuals, 
families, communities, and nations and responding to the imperative to 
do more. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through its 
agency the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is 
administering $35 million of the $100 million allocated to the LIFE 
initiative by Congress.
    The purpose of this program is to support HIV/AIDS prevention 
program development and technical assistance for faith communities in 
countries designated by the U.S. Congress under the LIFE Initiative. At 
present, those countries are Botswana, Cote D'Ivoire, Kenya, South 
Africa, Uganda, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Malawi, 
Tanzania, Nigeria, Senegal, Zambia and India. The countries targeted 
represent those with the most severe epidemic and the highest number of 
new infections. They also represent countries where the potential for 
impact is greatest and where U.S. government agencies are already 
active.
    The goals of the program are to address and support three program 
elements of the LIFE initiative: (1) Primary Prevention, (2) Capacity 
and Infrastructure Development, and (3) Community and Home-Based Care 
and Treatment. This program calls for the delivery of HIV/AIDS 
prevention programs development, and technical assistance to the LIFE 
countries through a variety of recipient activities. The result will be 
enhancement of the skills of faith leaders from LIFE country national 
AIDS programs in strategic planning, implementation, evaluation, and 
communication relating to HIV/AIDS prevention, capacity building, and 
care programs.

B. Eligible Applicants

    Assistance will be provided only to a U.S. national or regional 
minority organization (NRMO). Eligible applicants must meet these 
criteria:
    1. Have been granted tax-exempt status under Section 501 (c)(3), 
evidenced by an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) determination letter.
    2. Have a minimum of one year of documented experience in operating 
and centrally administering a coordinated program to integrate HIV 
prevention education and services into faith communities.

    Note:  Public Law 104-65 states that an organization described 
in section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 that 
engages in lobbying activities is not eligible to receive Federal 
funds constituting an award, grant, cooperative agreement, contract, 
loan or any other form.

C. Availability of Funds

    Approximately $500,000 is available in FY 2000 to support Phase I 
and Phase II of this award. It is expected that the award will begin on 
or about September 30, 2000 and will be made for a 12-month budget 
period within a project period of up to 3 years. Funding estimates may 
change.
    Continuation awards within an approved project period will be made 
on the basis of satisfactory progress as evidenced by required reports 
and the availability of funds.

D. Program Requirements

    In conducting activities to achieve the purpose of this program, 
the recipient will be responsible for the activities under 1. Recipient 
Activities, and CDC will be responsible for the activities listed under 
2. CDC Activities. It is anticipated that in the first year of the 
project, the recipient will perform the activities listed below in 
Phase I in at least three of the LIFE countries listed in Section A 
``Purpose''. The recipient may target more than, but not less than 
three LIFE countries.

1. Recipient Activities

Phase I
    a. Provide technical assistance to faith community leaders in LIFE 
countries to explore the benefits, challenges, and rewards of embracing 
the HIV/AIDS epidemic as an issue within their respective communities.
    b. Provide technical assistance to help these faith leaders in LIFE 
countries develop needs assessments to evaluate opportunities for and 
barriers to adopting HIV/AIDS prevention as an issue within their 
communities.
    c. Provide technical assistance to help these faith leaders assess 
resources and linkages available to serve the needs identified in the 
needs assessments. Such resources and linkages may include materials, 
peer-to-peer training opportunities and/or technical assistance. These 
training and technical assistance opportunities may include placements 
that bring faith leaders from LIFE countries to U.S. churches 
identified to have model programs, as well as opportunities to bring 
faith

[[Page 42007]]

leaders from LIFE countries to the U.S. for conferences, meetings, 
partnership development, and/or developmental experiences identified as 
having relevance to faith-based HIV prevention and care issues.
    d. Provide technical assistance to faith leaders from LIFE 
countries to develop strategic plans which outline priorities, 
projects, and supporting capital and human resources as identified in 
the faith leaders' community mobilization needs assessments. This 
activity should include facilitating the identification of any gaps in 
available resources and linkages, work requirements to adapt existing 
resources to be effective and relevant, and any new resources needed.
    e. Collaborate with faith leaders in LIFE countries in the 
selection of strategic plan activities to be performed in Phase II of 
this cooperative agreement.
    f. In collaboration with other partners of the IPAA, the recipient 
organization will develop a monitoring and evaluation plan to document, 
monitor, and record process and input/output indicators of successful 
activities under this cooperative agreement that are consistent with 
CDC plans for the global monitoring and evaluation framework supporting 
the LIFE Initiative, and include such evaluation information in the 
required annual progress reports.
Phase II
    a. Provide technical assistance to facilitate and coordinate 
activities selected from the strategic plans.
    b. In collaboration with other partners of the IPAA, the recipient 
organization will develop a monitoring and evaluation plan to document, 
monitor, and record process and input/output indicators of successful 
activities under this cooperative agreement that are consistent with 
CDC plans for the global monitoring and evaluation framework supporting 
the LIFE Initiative, and include such evaluation information in the 
required annual progress reports.

2. CDC Activities

    a. Provide technical assistance and expertise toward development of 
faith leaders' needs assessments and strategic plans.
    b. Assess progress of recipient activities during Phase I and II of 
the program, and provide technical assistance where appropriate.
    c. Provide technical assistance in determining recipient activities 
for Phase II of this cooperative agreement.

E. Application Content

    Use the information in the Program Requirements, Other 
Requirements, and Evaluation Criteria sections to develop the 
application content. Your application will be evaluated on the criteria 
listed, so it is important to follow them in laying out your program 
plan. The narrative should be no more than 20 double-spaced pages, 
printed on one side, with one inch margins, and unreduced font. Pages 
should be numbered and a complete index to the application and its 
appendixes must be included. Begin each separate section on a new page. 
The original and each copy of the application set must be submitted 
unstapled and unbound. The following format should be used when 
developing your narrative.

Format

a. Abstract
b. Assessment of Need and Justification for the Program
c. Program plan and narrative
d. Organizational capability
e. Staffing Plan
f. Management and Evaluation of Program
g. Budget

F. Submission and Deadline

    Submit the original and two copies of PHS 5161-1 (OMB Number 0937-
0189). Forms are available at the following Internet address: http://www.cdc.gov/od/pgo/forminfo.htm. Forms are in the application kit. On 
or before August 21, 2000, submit the application to the Grants 
Management Specialist identified in the ``Where to Obtain Additional 
Information'' section of this announcement.
    Deadline: Applications shall be considered as meeting the deadline 
if they are either:
    (a) Received on or before the deadline date; or
    (b) Sent on or before the deadline date and received in time for 
submission to the independent review group. (Applicants must 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: Applications which do not meet the criteria in 
(a) or (b) above are considered late applicat-ions, will not be 
considered, and will be returned to the applicant.

G. Evaluation Criteria

    Each application will be evaluated individually against the 
following criteria by an independent review group appointed by CDC.
1. Assessment of Need and Justification (20 points)
    Extent to which the applicant demonstrates understanding of the 
requirements, problems, objectives, complexities, and interactions 
required of the cooperative agreement.
2. Program Plan and Narrative (20 points)
    a. Degree to which proposed objectives are clearly stated, 
realistic, measurable, time-phased, related to the purpose of this 
project, and regularly monitored and evaluated.
    b. Degree to which applicant provides a narrative that includes a 
working outline of the planned needs assessment, survey instrument 
draft, final report draft outline, names of potential contacts to be 
interviewed for the research portion of the needs assessment, and a 
working outline of the strategic plan.
3. Organizational Capacity (20 points)
    a. Degree to which the applicant provides evidence of the ability 
to carry out the proposed project and the extent to which the applicant 
documents (1) the capability to achieve objectives similar to those of 
this project, and (2) success in mobilizing leaders of African American 
faith communities to integrate HIV prevention education and services 
into faith communities.
    b. Degree to which applicant demonstrates the use of established 
mechanisms for communicating HIV/AIDS prevention information to members 
of faith communities.
    c. degree to which applicant has capacity to identify and develop 
effective prevention information networks and dissemination systems.
    d. degree to which applicant describes the use of established 
networks of contacts and knowledge of U.S. faith-based institutions, 
people, and resources in order to identify people and programs 
domestically for technical assistance and capacity building in targeted 
LIFE countries.
4. Staffing Plan (20 points)
    Extent to which professional personnel involved in this project are 
qualified, including evidence of past achievements relevant to this 
project.
5. Management and Evaluation of Program (20 points)
    Degree to which the applicant documents the adequacy of plans for 
administering and evaluating the project.

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6. Budget (not scored)
    Extent to which the estimated cost of the project (the budget) is 
reasonable.

H. Other Requirements

Technical Reporting Requirements

    Provide CDC with the original plus two copies of:
    1. annual progress reports;
    2. financial status report, no more than 90 days after the end of 
the budget period; and
    3. final financial and performance reports, no more than 90 days 
after the end of the project period.
    Send all reports to the Grants Management Specialist identified in 
the ``Where to Obtain Additional Information'' section of this 
announcement.
    The following additional requirements are applicable to this 
program. For a complete description of each, see Attachment I in the 
application kit.

AR-4  HIV/AIDS Confidentiality Provisions
AR-9  Paperwork Reduction Act Requirements
AR-10  Smoke-Free Workplace Requirements
AR-12  Lobbying Restrictions
AR-14  Accounting System Requirements

I. Authority and Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number

    This program is authorized under section 317(k)(2) of the Public 
Health Service Act, 42 U.S.C. section 247b(k)(2). The Catalog of 
Federal Domestic Assistance number is 93.941, HIV Demonstration, 
Research, Public and Professional Education Projects.

J. Where To Obtain Additional Information

    This and other CDC announcements can be found on the CDC home page 
Internet address--http://www.cdc.gov. Click on ``Funding'' then 
``Grants and Cooperative Agreements.''
    To receive additional written information and to request an 
application kit, call 1-888-GRANTS (1-888 472-6874). You will be asked 
to leave your name and address and will be instructed to identify the 
Announcement number of interest.
    If you have questions after reviewing the contents of all the 
documents, business management technical assistance may be obtained 
from: Julia L. Valentine, Grants Management Specialist, Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Procurement and Grants Office, 
Room 3000, 2920 Brandywine Road, Mailstop E-15, Atlanta, GA 30341-4146, 
Telephone: (770) 488-2732, E-mail: [email protected].
    For program technical assistance, contact: Leo Weakland, Deputy 
Coordinator, Global AIDS Activity (GAA), National Center for HIV, STD, 
and TB Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 
1600 Clifton Road, M/S E-07, Atlanta, GA 30333, Telephone number (404) 
639-8016, Email address: [email protected].

    Dated: June 30, 2000.
Henry S. Cassell III,
Acting Director, Procurement and Grants Office, Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention (CDC).
[FR Doc. 00-17179 Filed 7-6-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P