[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 83 (Tuesday, April 30, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21258-21260]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-10512]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Health Resources and Services Administration


Special Projects of National Significance: An Evaluation and 
Program Support Center for an HIV Prevention Initiative With HIV-
Infected Individuals in Primary Care Settings

AGENCY: Health Resources and Services Administration, HHS.

ACTION: Notice of availability of funds.

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SUMMARY: The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) 
announces the availability of fiscal year (FY) 2002 funds to be awarded 
under the Special Projects of National Significance (SPNS) program for 
one (1) Evaluation and Support Center (Center) for an HIV Prevention 
Initiative with HIV-infected Individuals in Primary Care Settings. The 
purpose of this new grant initiative is to develop a Center to provide 
advice and technical assistance regarding program refinement and 
evaluation to multi-year projects that will be funded during FY 2003.
    The SPNS program is authorized by Section 2691 of the Public Health 
Service (PHS) Act.
    HRSA expects to make one award of no more than $300,000 per year 
for a 5-year project period to support a Center. This Center will 
initially work with SPNS staff to develop an overall multi-site 
evaluation of the prevention initiative. Subsequently, the Center will 
assist grantees on program development and evaluation issues. This is 
the first SPNS initiative in which an evaluation center will be funded 
1 year before demonstration project sites. This approach will give the 
Center time to create a multi-site evaluation design for the initiative 
and hire staff before demonstration sites are funded.
    During the first year of funding the Center will collaborate with 
SPNS to refine a proposed multi-site evaluation design for a behavioral 
intervention program. The Center will be responsible for describing the 
methods, theoretical framework, and principles of the evaluation 
design, including the criteria to select demonstration project sites. 
The Center also must identify how the multi-site evaluation design 
proposed may affect HIV-related risk behaviors and/or STD/HIV infection 
rates, and develop a technical assistance plan for grantees.
    Throughout the initiative, the SPNS program expects the Center to 
describe the roles and characteristics of the clients, providers, and 
practitioners who participate in the interventions, and the prevention 
interventions used by grantees. In addition, the Center will gather 
information that will describe the effect of integrating proposed 
technological interventions into primary care structures and health 
care systems.
    During year 2, the SPNS program anticipates that the Center will 
spend significant time providing technical assistance to grantees in 
the following areas: proposed program interventions, assessing 
interventions, evaluation, and data compilation. During year 3 the 
Center will continue providing technical assistance on data collection, 
including quality assurance of the data and identifying the barriers to 
the target populations of each grantee site. These tasks will continue 
during year 4 with the Center overseeing the data collection and 
conducting preliminary data analyses. During year 5 the Center will

[[Page 21259]]

conduct a final analysis and complete proposed papers, reports, and 
presentations for dissemination of findings. The Center will also 
collaborate with both the SPNS staff and the project sites to propose 
applicability of findings to other Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS 
Resources Emergency (CARE) Act settings and identify successful 
interventions that can be sustained through provider training. Specific 
deliverables and due dates with regard to all of the above are 
contained in the Program Announcement for the initiative, available 
from the HRSA Grants Assistance Center (GAC), cited below.
    Eligible applicants may include public and private nonprofit 
entities. With regard to this initiative, all applicants must have 
significant experience evaluating HIV prevention, HIV care and 
treatment, and the integration of these endeavors.
    This SPNS Initiative is designed to demonstrate and evaluate 
innovative and replicable HIV service delivery models with regard to 
HIV prevention in clinical settings. The authorizing legislation 
specifies three SPNS program objectives: (1) To support the development 
of innovative models of HIV care; (2) to evaluate the effectiveness of 
innovative program designs; and (3) to promote replication of effective 
models. Therefore, crucial factors in appraising proposals for a Center 
will include, among other factors, the degree to which the applicant's 
proposals address each of the following criteria:

1. Professional Qualifications of Personnel
2. Organizational Capacity
3. Work Plan
4. Product Development Activities
5. Appropriateness and Justification of the Budget
6. Adherence to Program Guidance

DATES: To allow HRSA to plan for the Objective Review Process, letters 
of intent are requested from all applicants. Such letters should be 
sent to: Barbara Aranda-Naranjo, PhD, RN, FAAN, Branch Chief, ATTN: 
2002 HIV Prevention and Care Initiative, Demonstration Project 
Development and Evaluation Branch, Office of Science and Epidemiology, 
HIV/AIDS Bureau, Health Resources and Services Administration, 5600 
Fishers Lane, Room 7C-07, Rockville, MD 20857, or faxed to: 301 443-
4965. Such letters should be received by SPNS within 30 days after the 
publication of this Notice of Availability of Funds in the Federal 
Register. Receipt of these notices of intent will not be routinely 
acknowledged.

EFFECTIVE DATE: Applications must be received in the HRSA GAC by the 
close of business June 12, 2002, to be considered for competition. 
Applications will meet 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 submission to the objective review 
panel. A legibly dated receipt from a commercial carrier or U.S. Postal 
Service will be accepted instead of a postmark. Private metered 
postmarks shall not be accepted as proof of timely mailing. 
Applications received after the deadline will be returned to the 
applicant.

ADDRESSES: The official grant application kit and guidance materials 
for this announcement may be obtained from: The HRSA Grants Application 
Center, Attn: CFDA 93.928, 2002 HIV Prevention and Care Initiative, c/o 
The Login Group, Inc., 901 Russell Avenue, Suite 450, Gaithersburg, MD 
20879; telephone: 877-477-2123.
    Applicants must obtain the Guidance in order to prepare 
applications. Please mail completed applications to the HRSA Grants 
Application Center, as per above. Applicants for grants will use 
Revised Form PHS 5161-1, approved under OMB Control No. 0937-0189. This 
form may also be downloaded from the DHHS Program Support Center (PSC) 
website at: http://forms.psc.gov/forms/. All applications submitted to 
the SPNS program will be reviewed and rated by an objective review 
panel.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Additional information regarding 
business, administrative, and fiscal issues related to the awarding of 
grants under this Notice may be requested from Ms. Mary Douglas, Grants 
Management Specialist, HIV/AIDS Bureau, Health Resources and Services 
Administration, 5600 Fishers Lane, Room 7-89, Rockville, MD 20857; 
telephone 301-443-1262; fax 301-594-6096; e-mail address 
[email protected].
    Additional information related to technical and program issues 
regarding the overall SPNS Program may be requested from Faye E. 
Malitz, M.S., Branch Chief, Attn: 2002 HIV Prevention and Care 
Initiative, Epidemiology and Data Analysis Branch, Office of Science 
and Epidemiology, HIV/AIDS Bureau, Health Resources and Services 
Administration, 5600 Fishers Lane, Room 7-90, Rockville, MD 20857; 
telephone 301-443-3259; fax 301-594-2511; e-mail address 
[email protected].
    Technical assistance regarding this funding announcement, may be 
requested from John Hannay, Special Program Consultant, Demonstration 
Program and Evaluation Branch, HIV/AIDS Bureau, Health Resources and 
Services Administration, 5600 Fishers Lane, Parklawn Building, Room 7C-
07, Rockville, MD 20857; voicemail 301-443-0232; fax 410-730-6061; e-
mail address [email protected].
    Healthy People 2010 Objectives: The PHS encourages applicants to 
address at least one of the Healthy People 2010 objectives related to 
HIV and AIDS in their work plans. Potential applicants may obtain a 
copy of Healthy People 2010 (Full Report) or Healthy People 2010 
(Summary Report) through the Superintendent of Documents, Government 
Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402-9325 (website: http://www.access. 
gpo.gov; telephone: 202-512-1800).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:   
    HIV prevention efforts to date have focused primarily on reducing 
the risk of infection among persons who are not infected with HIV. The 
programs of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have 
generally focused on individuals not infected who engage in ``high 
risk'' sexual and drug using activities. However, recent research 
suggests that HIV-infected individuals also engage in risky activities.
    These behaviors are frequent and appear to be increasing among HIV-
infected populations. Several factors may be contributing to this 
trend. People using risk reduction behaviors may be tiring of doing so 
after more than 15 years of hearing prevention messages. Furthermore, 
treatment advances that have dramatically improved the health and 
quality of life for people infected with HIV may be leading persons to 
believe that transmission risk is low or HIV disease is easily managed.
    Interventions targeting HIV-infected men and women are therefore 
needed. SPNS wants to know how HIV providers in primary care settings 
can contribute to the prevention of treatment resistant re-infection 
among persons who are already infected as well as the prevention of 
infections among those not infected who engage in ``high risk'' 
activities. Studies have shown that clinician-delivered prevention 
interventions can be effective with an array of other health issues. 
Furthermore, clinicians can often link patients needing intensive or 
ongoing behavioral interventions to other prevention services in the 
community. Recommendations for clinicians on how to incorporate risk 
screening and brief

[[Page 21260]]

intervention messages into regular office visits are currently under 
development by the joint efforts of CDC, HRSA, the National Institutes 
of Health, and the Infectious Disease Society of America.
    Availability of Funds: The SPNS program is authorized by Section 
2691 of the PHS Act. Grants may be awarded directly to public and non-
profit private entities, including community-based organizations. The 
program has $1.5 million dollars available for this Center initiative, 
at $300,000 per year for 5 years. The budget and project periods for 
approved and funded projects will begin on or about September 1, 2002. 
Funds must be requested for all 5 years of the initiative.
    All applicants funded should recognize that this initiative is not 
designed to provide continuous support once the initiative is complete 
and evaluated. Applicants are strongly encouraged to secure non-SPNS 
funding support during their initiative if the evaluation suggests that 
the Center is effective and merits continuation.
    Eligible Applicants: The statute, Section 2691(a) specifies that 
grants may be awarded to public and non-profit private entities to fund 
special programs for the care and treatment of people with HIV disease. 
Eligible applicants may include, but are not limited to, State, local, 
or tribal public health, mental health, housing, or substance abuse 
departments; public or non-profit hospitals and medical facilities; 
faith-based and community-based service organizations (e.g., AIDS 
service organizations, federally-qualified health centers, family 
planning centers, AIDS anti-discrimination and advocacy organizations, 
homeless assistance providers, hemophilia centers, community mental 
health centers, substance abuse treatment centers, urban and tribal 
Indian health centers or facilities, migrant health centers, etc.), 
institutions of higher education (e.g., Historically Black Colleges and 
Universities, Hispanic Serving Institutions, and Tribal Colleges and 
Universities), and national service provider and/or policy development 
associations and organizations.
    Allowable Costs: The basis for determining allocable and allowable 
costs to be charged to PHS grants is set forth in 45 CFR Part 74 and 45 
CFR Part 92 for State, local, or tribal governments. The four separate 
sets of cost principles prescribed for public and private non-profit 
recipients are: Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-87 for 
State, local or tribal governments; OMB Circular A-21 for institutions 
of higher education; 45 CFR Part 74, Appendix E for hospitals; and OMB 
Circular A-122 for non-profit organizations. Further information on 
allowable costs is contained in the Guidance.
    Reporting and Other Requirements: In addition to deliverables 
described in guidance materials, the successful applicant under this 
notice must submit two semi-annual activity summary reports, in 
accordance with provisions of the general regulations which apply under 
45 CFR Part 74.51 ``Monitoring and Reporting of Program Performance'' 
(with the exception of State and local governments to which 45 CFR Part 
40 reporting requirements apply), and comply with audit requirements of 
OMB Circular A-133. Further, the PHS also strongly encourages all award 
recipients to provide a smoke-free workplace and to promote the non-use 
of all tobacco products. In particular, 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.
    Public Health System Reporting Requirements: This program is also 
subject to the PHS Reporting Requirements which have been approved by 
the OMB under No. 0937-0195. Under these requirements, any community-
based, non-governmental applicant must prepare and submit a Public 
Health System Impact Statement (PHSIS). The PHSIS is intended to keep 
State and local health officials appraised of proposed health services 
grant applications submitted from within their jurisdictions. 
Instructions on this matter are contained in the Guidance for this 
initiative, available from the GAC, previously cited.
    Executive Order 12372: The SPNS Grant Program is subject to the 
provisions of Executive Order 12372, concerning intergovernmental 
review of Federal Programs, as implemented by 45 CFR part 100. 
Executive Order 12372 allows States the option of setting up a system 
for reviewing applications from within their States for assistance 
under certain Federal programs. The application packages to be made 
available under this notice will contain a listing of States which have 
chosen to set up a review system and will provide a State Single Point 
of Contact (SPOC) for the review. Applicants (other than federally 
recognized Indian tribes) should contact their SPOCs as early as 
possible to alert them to the prospective applications and receive any 
necessary instructions on the State process. For proposed projects 
serving more than one State, the applicant is advised to contact the 
SPOC of each affected State. The due date for State process 
recommendations under E.O. 12372 is 60 days after the application due 
date. HRSA does not guarantee that it will accommodate or explain its 
responses to State process recommendations received after that date. 
(See ``Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs,'' Executive Order 
12372, and CFR part 100, for a description of the review process and 
requirements.)
    Audit Requirements: Applicants are required to comply with 
requirements of OMB Circular A-133. For additional information on this 
topic, contact the Grants Management Specialist at 301-443-1262.

    The OMB Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance number for the 
Special Projects of National Significance is 93.928.

    Dated: April 3, 2002.
Elizabeth M. Duke,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 02-10512 Filed 4-29-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4165-15-P