[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 117 (Tuesday, June 18, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41420-41429]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-15232]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Office of the Secretary

[Account Number: 4154-05]


Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation; Notice Inviting 
Applications for New Awards for a National Poverty Research Center and 
Area Poverty Research Centers for Fiscal Year 2002

AGENCY: The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and 
Evaluation (ASPE), HHS.

ACTION: Announcement of the availability of funds and request for 
applications for a cooperative agreement to establish a National 
Poverty Research Center and Area Poverty Research Centers.

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SUMMARY: ASPE plans to fund one National Poverty Center and three Area 
Poverty Centers. The National Poverty Center will plan and conduct a 
broad program of policy research and mentoring of emerging scholars to 
describe and analyze national, regional and state environment (e.g., 
economics, demographics) and policies affecting the poor, particularly 
those families with children who are poor or at-risk of being poor. 
This research and evaluation program will focus on important and 
emerging social policy issues associated with the nature, causes, 
correlates, and effects of income dynamics, poverty, individual and 
family functioning and child well-being.
    The Area Poverty Centers cooperative agreements are for qualified 
institutions to provide a focused agenda expanding our understanding of 
the causes, consequences and effects of poverty in local geographic 
areas or specific substantive areas, especially in states or regional 
areas of high concentrations of poverty. These cooperative agreements 
are intended to create a research opportunity for scholars and 
institutions otherwise unlikely to participate extensively in HHS 
programs to support the Nation's poverty research effort. It is 
anticipated that investigators supported under the Area Poverty Centers 
will benefit from the opportunity to conduct independent research; that 
the grantee institutions will benefit from participation in the diverse 
extramural programs of HHS; and that students will benefit from 
exposure to and participation in research and be encouraged to pursue 
graduate studies and careers in the social and behavioral sciences with 
a focus on poverty.

Closing Date: The closing date for submitting applications under this 
announcement is August 19, 2002. Please email Audrey Mirsky-Ashby at 
[email protected] by July 18, 2002 to inform the government 
of your intent to submit an application. Include the name of your 
organization and whether you are competing for the National Center 
award or for an Area Center award. Providing notice of intent to submit 
is not a requirement for submitting an application. However, a notice 
of intent to submit will help the federal government in the planning 
for the review process.

ADDRESSES: The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development 
(NICHD) will be servicing these grants for ASPE. Applications should be 
submitted to Michael J. Loewe, Deputy Grants Management Officer, Grants 
Management Branch, National Institute of Child Health and Human 
Development, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 6100 
Executive Boulevard, Room 8A01, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-7510 (Regular 
Mail), Rockville, Maryland 20852 (Express Mail), Phone: (301) 435-6995. 
Administrative questions will be

[[Page 41421]]

accepted and responded to up to ten working days prior to closing date 
of receipt of applications.
    You will receive email confirmation to notify you that your 
application was received within 14 days of the closing date. If you do 
not receive confirmation within 14 days of the closing date, please 
contact Michael J. Loewe at the address provided above.
    The printed Federal Register notice is the only official program 
announcement. Any corrections to this announcement will be published in 
the Federal Register as well as published on the ASPE World Wide Web 
Pages at http://aspe.hhs.gov/funding.htm. Although reasonable efforts 
are taken to assure that the files on the ASPE World Wide Web Page 
containing electronic copies of this Program Announcement are accurate 
and complete, they are provided for information only. The applicant 
bears sole responsibility to assure that the copy downloaded and/or 
printed from any other source is accurate and complete.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Administrative questions should be 
directed to Michael Loewe at the address or phone number listed above. 
Technical questions should be directed to Don Oellerich, HHS, Office of 
Human Services Policy, Telephone: (202) 690-6805. Written technical 
questions should be addressed to Dr. Oellerich at the Department of 
Health and Human Services, ASPE/HSP, 200 Independence Avenue, SW., Room 
404E, Hubert H. Humphrey Building, Washington, DC 20201 or faxed to 
202-690-6562. If you send your question in writing, please call to 
confirm receipt. Technical questions will be accepted and responded to 
up to ten working days prior to the closing date of receipt of 
applications.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This program announcement consists of four 
parts:
    Part I: Background--Legislative authority, Eligible Applicants, 
Project History and Purpose, Available Funds, Matching Requirements, 
and Project and Budget Period; Part II: Awardee Responsibilities for 
the National Poverty Research Center, Awardee Responsibilities for the 
Area Poverty Research Centers, ASPE Responsibilities, Joint 
Responsibilities, Arbitration Procedures, Rights to Data; Part III: The 
Review Process--Intergovernmental Review, Initial Screening, 
Competitive Review and Evaluation Criteria; Part IV: The Application--
General Information, Application Development--The National Center, 
Application Development--Area Poverty Centers, Application Submission, 
Disposition of Applications, Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance 
(CFDA) Number, and Components of a Complete Application.

Part I. Background

A. Legislative Authority

    This cooperative agreement is authorized by Section 1110 of the 
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1310) and awards will be made from funds 
appropriated under Public Law from funds appropriated under the 
Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and 
Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2002 (Public Law 107-116).

B. Eligible Applicants

    For the National Poverty Research Center (also referred to as the 
National Center) the Department seeks applications from universities or 
other post-secondary degree granting entities. (For-profit 
organizations are advised that no cooperative agreement funds may be 
paid as profit to any recipient of a grant or subgrant. Profit is any 
amount in excess of allowable direct and indirect costs of the 
grantee). Eligible applicants for Area Poverty Research Centers (also 
referred to as the Area Centers) are restricted to colleges and 
universities offering baccalaureate or advanced degrees in the social 
and behavioral sciences. Scholars and researchers working in Area 
eligible institutions located in geographic areas where poverty is 
prevalent and concentrated are encouraged to participate in this 
program.

C. Project History and Purpose

    These awards (cooperative agreements) replace the current 
cooperative agreements with the Joint Center for Poverty Research 
(JCPR) at Northwestern University and the University of Chicago, and 
the Institute for Research on Poverty (IRP) at the University of 
Wisconsin. The mission of the poverty centers includes (1) expanding 
the knowledge of the causes and consequences of poverty as well as 
policy responses to ameliorate poverty and its impacts on Americans, 
(2) providing a core of multidisciplinary researchers, as well as a 
national network of scholars who focus their research on poverty and 
the poor (3) developing and training of future social science 
researchers whose work focuses on poverty and the poor, (4) 
continuation of work on the improvement of methods and data to permit a 
fuller understanding of the causes and consequences of poverty and the 
social policies and programs meant to alleviate it, and (5) maintaining 
a network for the dissemination of findings to the policy and research 
communities through newsletters, working papers, special reports and 
briefings. (Information on the current centers is available on their 
respective websites: www.jcpr.org and www.ssc.wisc.edu/irp) We expect 
the Centers funded under this announcement to provide leadership 
through innovative basic and applied research, long-term policy options 
and evaluation, and mentoring to increase the number and diversity of 
poverty scholars. The winning applicant(s) will be expected to carry 
out a program that continues a strong scholarly tradition and concern 
for poverty. There are no specific projects that must be continued from 
the current Centers under this award.

D. Available Funds

    The Assistant Secretary has available a total of $2,000,000 for the 
first year of awards for a national poverty research center and for the 
area poverty research centers. ASPE anticipates providing approximately 
one award of approximately $1 million for a National Poverty Research 
Center and three awards of between $300,000 and $400,000 each for the 
Area Poverty Research Centers. If additional funding becomes available 
in fiscal year 2002, other centers may be funded. Although multiple 
awards are anticipated, nothing in this announcement restricts the 
ability of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation to make 
one award or to make lesser award(s).

E. Matching Requirements

    Awardees must provide at least 5 percent of the total approved cost 
of the project. The total approved cost of the project is the sum of 
the federal share and the nonfederal share. The non-federal share may 
be met by cash or in-kind contributions, although applicants are 
encouraged to meet their matching requirements through cash 
contributions. For example, an awardee with a project with a total 
budget (both direct and indirect costs) of $400,000 may request up to 
$380,000 in federal funds. Matching requirements cannot be met with 
funds from other federally-funded programs.
    If a proposed project activity has approved funding support from 
other funding sources, the amount, duration, purpose, and source of the 
funds should be indicated in materials submitted under this 
announcement. If completion of the proposed project activity is

[[Page 41422]]

contingent upon approval of funding from other sources, the 
relationship between the funds being sought elsewhere and from ASPE 
should be discussed in the budget information submitted as a part of 
the abstract. In both cases, the contribution that ASPE funds will make 
to the project should be clearly presented.

F. Project and Budget Period

    ASPE expects to fund the National Poverty Research Center(s) for a 
period of five (5) years and the Area Poverty Research Centers for a 
period of three (3) years. The first year funding for national poverty 
research center will be up to $1,000,000 (combined direct and indirect 
funding). We expect a total funding of approximately $5 million over 
the five-year funding period. The first year of funding for Area 
Centers will be between $300,000 and $400,000 (combined direct and 
indirect funding). We expect a total funding of $3 million over the 
three-year period. Cooperative Agreements are assistance mechanisms and 
subject to the same administrative requirements as grants; however, 
they are different from both a grant and a contract. Compared to a 
grant, they allow more involvement and collaboration by the government 
in the affairs of the project, but provide less direction of project 
activities than a contract. The Terms of Award are in addition to, not 
in lieu of, otherwise applicable guidelines and procedures.
    Applications are to include separate budget estimates for each of 
the five or three years, if they expect funding levels to be 
substantially different in subsequent years. Legislative support for 
continued funding of the Centers cannot be guaranteed and future year 
funding is subject to future appropriations and approval of the 
Assistant Secretary. ASPE expects, however, that the Centers will be 
supported during future fiscal years at an annual level of effort 
commensurate with the initial period.
    The award pursuant to this announcement will be made on or about 
September 15, 2002.

Part II--Responsibilities of the Awardee and the Federal Government in 
the Establishment and Operation of a National Poverty Research Center 
and Area Poverty Research Centers

A. Awardee Responsibilities for the National Poverty Research Center

    The Awardee should develop and conduct a program which 
appropriately balances core infrastructure, research, mentoring of 
emerging scholars, and dissemination activities directed to 
understanding the economic security and well-being of individuals, 
families and children. The Awardee should have the primary and lead 
responsibility to define objectives and approaches, and to plan 
research, conduct studies, analyze data, and publish results, 
interpretations, and conclusions of its work. Occasionally, Center 
staff will be expected to comment on research plans, provide critical 
commentary on research products, perform statistical policy analyses, 
and participate in other quick-response activities to support ASPE's 
research, evaluation, and policy analysis functions. (Without 
compromising academic freedom, Center staff will be expected to comply 
with special requests when the Administration requires 
confidentiality.) HHS will not interfere with nor infringe upon the 
academic freedom associated with the university setting.
    To assure the quality of its research, dissemination, and mentoring 
program, and to assure a careful examination of the output of the 
Center within the academic community, the Center must establish and 
maintain a formal tie with a university, including links with all 
appropriate departments within that university. The Center must have a 
major presence at a single site (university or city); however, 
innovative arrangements among universities and with individual scholars 
at other universities also may be proposed. Particularly encouraged are 
arrangements with universities and researchers based in areas of high 
concentrations of poverty.
    The program should focus on tracking and analyzing changes in state 
and national policies and their influences on individual, child, and 
family outcomes. Specifically, ASPE has identified five priority areas 
the applicant should address, at a minimum: (1) Strategies to encourage 
work, self-reliance, parental responsibility, community strengthening, 
and child well-being, (2) the changing labor market and its influence 
on low-income families with children, (3) nonmarital child-bearing, 
teen pregnancy, and healthy marriage, (4) health disparities across 
sub-populations, and (5) state and regional level policy, programs and 
interventions, particularly those targeted to geographic concentrations 
of the poor, to enhance self-sufficiency and well-being.
    While these are ASPE priorities, applications also may address 
other important aspects of poverty, for example: the implications of 
health and disability status for poverty policy; concerns for the well-
being of individual adults in poverty, and the interaction between 
income security programs, like welfare and tax credits, and service 
programs such as child care, child development, child welfare services, 
and education.
    The overall program will develop and disseminate knowledge about 
these and related issues. Activities will include tracking, evaluating, 
and analyzing state and local government initiatives to reduce poverty, 
encourage economic mobility, and alleviate the ill effects of low 
income and family dysfunction. Activities also should examine 
alternative public and private approaches.
    The awardee will perform the following specific tasks:
1. Research Program
    The Center will be expected to plan, initiate and maintain a 
research program of high caliber. It must meet the tests of social 
science rigor and objectivity. The program will strive for respect from 
the academic and policy communities (over a broad range of the 
political spectrum) for its scientific quality, fairness, and policy 
relevance. This program should include an appropriately balanced agenda 
of basic and applied, quantitative and qualitative field work, and 
primary and secondary analyses. The research program should include 
supporting the work of members of the Center staff and other affiliated 
researchers. In addition, it should provide intellectual leadership in 
the national research community by establishing links with a broad 
range of other scholars, through visiting and postdoctoral 
appointments, research assistanceships, and an extramural program of 
nonresident grants. While graduates of the poverty center institutions 
can be found in many colleges and universities around the country and 
many maintain an affiliation with their Center, effort needs to be made 
to recruit and support outside poverty researchers from institutions 
that do not have the capacity to maintain a program of poverty 
research. It is important that applicants demonstrate clear plans to 
reach out to researchers at universities that traditionally have not 
had the capacity to foster a program of poverty research and the 
training of poverty researchers. In addition, awardees must commit to 
working cooperatively with the area centers funded under this 
announcement.
    The research program should include multi-disciplinary and multi-
method approaches to increasing the understanding of the issues beyond 
what is possible from analysis within the framework of a single 
discipline or

[[Page 41423]]

method. At a minimum, the proposed staff should possess competency in 
quantitative and qualitative methodologies, economics, sociology, 
public policy/administration, and other related disciplines. 
Furthermore, it also is appropriate, for example, to engage in 
activities to make advances in research techniques, where they are 
needed for or related to primary objectives of the Center. Planning and 
execution of the research program shall always consider the policy 
implications of research findings in a non-partisan manner. The Center 
should link research to public and private efforts to improve the lives 
of low-income individuals and families. The research and its 
dissemination will be of value to all levels of policy making--federal, 
state, and local government--as well as the general research community. 
A national advisory committee (discussed below) should periodically 
review the research agenda to assure its policy relevance, utility, and 
scope.
2. Mentoring Emerging Scholars
    The Center is expected to develop and expand a diverse corps of 
emerging scholars/researchers who focus their analytical skills on 
research and policy issues central to its mission. The Center will be 
expected to financially support the work of graduate research 
assistants, PhD candidates, postdoctoral scholars, and other research 
scholars, and to make efforts to reach out to those emerging scholars 
affiliated with institutions that traditionally have not had the 
capacity to mentor students as poverty researchers.
3. Dissemination
    Making knowledge and information available to the academic and 
policy communities is to be another integral feature of the Center's 
responsibilities. The awardee will maintain a dissemination system of 
periodic newsletters, research papers, and occasional books intended 
both for the research and policy communities. In addition, the awardee 
will be expected to organize workshops, lectures, seminars, and other 
ways of sharing current research activities and findings. Applicants 
are encouraged to propose use of innovative methods of disseminating 
data and information. Applications should show a sensitivity to the 
different dissemination strategies which may be appropriate for 
different audiences--such as policy makers, practitioners, and 
academics.

B. Awardee Responsibilities for Area Poverty Research Centers

    The purpose of the Area Poverty Research Centers is to support 
interdisciplinary research leading to an understanding and reduction of 
poverty, income inequality and its correlates. Applicants are invited 
to propose multi-level, integrated research projects that will shed 
light on the complex interactions of the social and physical 
environment, and mediating behavioral factors which determine poverty 
and income inequality. Area Centers are expected to create an 
environment conducive to interdisciplinary collaborations among social 
and behavioral scientists and affected communities with the goal of 
improving well-being of individuals, families and children. The 
successful applicant(s) should develop and conduct a program which 
appropriately balances core infrastructure, research, the mentoring of 
emerging scholars, and dissemination activities directed to 
understanding the well-being of individuals, families and children. 
Although not required, applicants are encouraged to take advantage of 
defined geographic areas of study and existing data.
    ASPE has identified five priority areas the applicant may address: 
(1) Strategies to encourage work, self-reliance, parent responsibility, 
community strengthening, and child well-being, (2) the changing labor 
market and its influence on low-income families with children, (3) 
nonmarital child-bearing, teen pregnancy, and healthy marriage, (4) 
income inequality and health disparities across sub-populations, and 
(5) state- and local-level policy, programs and interventions, 
particularly those targeted to geographic concentrations of poverty, to 
enhance self-sufficiency and wellbeing. Applications also may address 
other important aspects of poverty such as the implications of health 
and disability status for poverty policy; concerns for the well-being 
of individual adults in poverty, and the interaction between income 
security programs, like welfare and tax credits, and service programs 
such as child care, child development, child welfare services, and 
education. Additional areas of interest to ASPE that applicants may 
want to consider include: Women and children, welfare and work; poverty 
and mental health; and resiliency. In addition to these priority areas 
identified for the national and area centers, applicants for area 
center awards may wish to focus more specifically on issues germane to 
their local environment and while these are ASPE priorities, 
applications also may address other important aspects of poverty. ASPE 
strongly encourages studies in state and regional areas of concentrated 
poverty.
    The awardees will perform the following tasks:
1. Research Program
    The Area Poverty Research Centers will be expected to plan, 
initiate and maintain a research program of high caliber. It may 
include small-scale, new or ongoing social, behavioral, and/or policy-
related research projects, including pilot research projects and 
feasibility studies; development, testing, and refinement of research 
techniques; secondary analysis of available data sets; and similar 
research projects that demonstrate research capability. Each Center 
will be expected to carry out at least two projects, as well as develop 
or expand the Center's presence on campus and in the broader research 
community.
2. Mentoring Emerging Scholars
    The Area Poverty Research Centers are expected to develop and 
expand a diverse corps of emerging scholars/researchers who focus 
career goals on policy, research and programs focused on poverty 
populations. The Area Poverty Research Centers will be expected to 
develop an awareness and interest in students of the opportunities in 
poverty policy and research through such activities as research 
internships, seminars and related experiences. Applicants should 
demonstrate how students will benefit from exposure to and 
participation in the ongoing research of Area Poverty Research Center 
faculty and staff and be encouraged to pursue graduate studies and 
careers in the social and behavioral sciences with a focus on poverty-
related studies.
3. Dissemination
    Making knowledge and information available to the academic and 
policy communities is to be another integral feature of the Area 
Poverty Research Center's responsibilities. It will be expected to 
develop and maintain a dissemination system. Applicants are encouraged 
to propose use of innovative methods of disseminating data and 
information. Applications should show a sensitivity to the different 
dissemination strategies which may be appropriate for different 
audiences--such as policy makers, practitioners, and academics.

C. ASPE Responsibilities

    ASPE will be involved with each Center in jointly establishing 
broad

[[Page 41424]]

research priorities and planning strategies to accomplish the 
objectives of this announcement. ASPE, or its representatives, will 
provide the following types of support to the Center: (1) Consultation 
and technical assistance in planning, operating, and evaluating the 
Center's program of research, mentoring and dissemination activities, 
(2) information about HHS programs, policies, and research priorities, 
(3) assistance in collaborating with appropriate federal, state and 
local governmental officials in the performance of program activities, 
(4) assistance in identifying HHS information and technical assistance 
resources pertinent to the Center's success, (5) assistance in the 
transfer of information to appropriate federal, state, and local 
entities, (6) review of Center activities and feedback to ensure that 
objectives and award conditions are being met, (7) ASPE will coordinate 
activities amongst the centers to ensure, to the extend possible, the 
optimal use of resources and expertise. APSE retains the right, 
however, to withhold annual renewals to the awardee, if technical 
performance requirements are not met.

D. Joint Responsibilities

    Each awardee, jointly with ASPE, will appoint an outside advisory 
committee, funded under this agreement. Each committee will be selected 
to provide assistance to both the national center and each area center 
in formulating the research agenda and advice on carrying it out. 
Efforts will be made in selecting this committee to assure a broad 
range of academic disciplines and political viewpoints. For the 
national center the committee will be composed of approximately six to 
ten nationally recognized scholars and practitioners. (For a list of 
the current Advisory Committee members for the two Poverty Centers see 
their respective websites: http://www.jcpr.org <http://www.jcpr.org and http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/irp <http://www.ssc.wisc.edu.) This committee will meet once or twice a 
year rotating between Washington, DC and the Center location. For each 
area center, the committee will be made up of three to four scholars 
and practitioners and will include the director of the national center. 
It is expected that the area center's advisory committee will meet once 
a year.

E. Arbitration Procedures

    Both parties are expected to work in a collegial fashion to 
minimize misunderstandings and disagreements. They should explore every 
alternative to prevent impasses, including consultation with the 
advisory committee established under section D., but agreement between 
the awardee and ASPE staff cannot be reached on significant 
programmatic or scientific-technical issues that might arise after the 
award, an arbitration panel should be formed. The panel will consist of 
one person appointed by the awardee, one person appointed by ASPE, and 
a third person appointed by these two members. The decision of the 
arbitration panel, by majority vote will be binding. These special 
arbitration procedures in no way affect the awardee's right to appeal 
an adverse action in accordance with HHS regulations at 45 CFR part 16.

F. Rights to Data

    The awardee will retain custody of and have primary rights to the 
data developed under this award, subject to government rights to access 
consistent with current HHS and ASPE regulations. The awardee should 
make reasonable efforts, however, to provide other researchers 
appropriate and speedy access to research data from this project and 
establish public use files of research data developed under this award.

Part III. The Review Process

A. Intergovernmental Review

    State Single Point of Contact (Executive Order 12372). The 
Department of Health and Human Services has determined that this 
program is not subject to Executive Order No. 12372, Intergovernmental 
Review of Federal Programs, because it is a program that is national in 
scope and the only impact on State and local governments would be 
through subgrants. Applicants are not required to seek 
intergovernmental review of their applications within the constraints 
of Executive Order 12372.

B. Initial Screening

    Each application submitted under this program announcement will 
undergo a pre-review to determine that (1) the application was received 
by the closing date and submitted in accordance with the instructions 
in this announcement, (2) the applicant is eligible for funding (see 
Part I, Section B), and (3) is within the page limit (see Part IV, 
Section A). Note that applications exceeding the page limit will not be 
reviewed further and will be ineligible for funding.

C. Competitive Review and Evaluation Criteria

    Applications for the National Center that pass the initial 
screening will be evaluated and rated by a panel of at least three 
independent experts on the basis of specific evaluation criteria, which 
are detailed below. Applications for the Area Centers that pass the 
initial screening will be evaluated and rated by a federal review 
panel. The panel will use the evaluation criteria listed below to score 
each application. The evaluation criteria were designed to assess the 
quality of the proposed project and to determine the likelihood of its 
success. The evaluation criteria are closely related and are considered 
as a whole in judging the overall quality of an application. Points are 
awarded only to applications that are responsive to the evaluation 
criteria within the context of this program announcement. These review 
results will be the primary element used by the ASPE in making funding 
decisions. HHS reserves the option to discuss applications with other 
federal or state staff, specialists, experts, and the general public. 
Comments from these sources, along with those of the reviewers, will be 
kept from inappropriate disclosure and may be considered in making an 
award decision.
    Selection of the successful applicant(s) will be based on the 
technical and financial criteria laid out in this announcement. 
Reviewers will determine the strengths and weaknesses of each 
application in terms of the evaluation criteria listed below, provide 
comments and assign numerical scores--out of a possible 100 points. The 
review panel will prepare a summary of all applicant scores and 
strengths/weaknesses and recommendations and submit it to the ASPE for 
final decisions on the award. The point value following each criterion 
heading indicates the maximum numerical relative weight that each 
section will be given in the review process. An unacceptable rating on 
any individual criterion may render the application unacceptable. 
Consequently, applicants should take care to ensure that all criteria 
are fully addressed in the applications.
    Applications will be reviewed using the following evaluation 
criteria. Note that there are separate criteria for the National Center 
and the Area Centers. Please be sure to refer to Part IV, section B, 
application development.

Evaluation Criteria for the National Center

(1) Quality of the Staffing Proposal and Proposed Organizational 
Arrangements (30 points)

    Reviewers will judge applicant's director/principal investigator 
and staff on research experience, demonstrated research skills, 
administrative skills,

[[Page 41425]]

public administration experience, and relevant technical expertise. 
Raters may consider references on prior research projects. Director and 
staff time commitments to the Center also will be a factor in the 
evaluation. Whether the applicant can maintain a single location for 
research, teaching, and scholarship is an important consideration. 
Furthermore, reviewers will rate the applicant's pledge and ability to 
work in collaboration with other scholars in search of similar goals, 
especially the area centers. Applicants will be judged on the nature 
and extent of the organizational support for research, mentoring 
scholars, and dissemination in topical areas related to the Center's 
central priorities. Applicants will be judged on their plans to reach 
out to researchers at universities that traditionally have not had the 
capacity to foster a program of poverty research and the training of 
poverty researchers. In addition, awardees must commit to working 
cooperatively with the area centers funded under this announcement. 
Reviewers will evaluate the commitment of the university (and proposed 
institutional unit that will contain the Center) to assess its ability 
to support all three major Center activities: (1) Scholarly, policy 
relevant research including plans for an extramural research program; 
(2) the mentoring and development of emerging scholars interested in 
poverty, families, children, and public policy; and (3) dissemination 
of research and other information to a broad and disparate set of 
academic, research, and policy communities. Reviewers also will 
evaluate the applicant's demonstrated capacity to work with a range of 
government agencies.

(2) Quality of the Research Agenda (30 points)

    Reviewers will judge this section on the basis of whether the 
research agenda is scientifically sound and policy relevant. They also 
will consider whether the applicant is likely to make significant 
contributions to understanding poverty, families, child outcomes, and 
what governments can do to make the lives of adults, children and 
families more secure, healthier, and open to opportunity, and whether 
the approach extends beyond and builds upon the past 35 years of 
poverty research. The discussion and research proposed must address the 
major themes of this announcement (Strategies to encourage work, self-
reliance, parental responsibility, community, and child well-being; the 
changing labor market and its influence on low-income families with 
children; nonmarital child-bearing, teen pregnancy, and healthy 
marriage; health disparities; and state and regional level policy, 
programs and interventions, particularly those targeted to geographic 
concentrations of the poor, to enhance self-sufficiency and well-
being). Concise plans for research projects in the near term (one or 
two years) as well as a five-year agenda are important. Reviewers will 
rate applications on their plans to conduct policy-relevant research 
and interact with various levels of government to research and evaluate 
significant government initiatives and policies in a nonpartisan 
manner. In addition, applicants also will be judged on their 
dissemination plans--including convening conferences and workshops and 
communicating with a broad audience of academics, policymakers, and 
practitioners. Applicants will also be judged on the extent to which 
the proposed application addresses issues related to the concentration 
of poverty.

(3) Training and Mentoring Emerging Scholars (20 points)

    The applicant evaluation will consider proposed efforts to develop 
and expand a diverse corps of emerging scholars and researchers. The 
ratings will consider the proposed mentoring and support given to 
graduate research assistants, PhD candidates, postdoctoral students, 
and other research scholars. The evaluation will include an assessment 
of plans to integrate the training of research scholars and expose them 
to policy research activities at ASPE. Reviewers will consider efforts 
to reach emerging scholars at institutions that have not had the 
capacity to mentor students as poverty researchers.

(4) Appropriateness of the Budget To Carry out the Planned Staffing and 
Activities (20 points)

    Ratings will consider whether: (a) The budget assures an efficient 
and effective allocation of funds to achieve the objectives of this 
solicitation, (b) the applicant has additional funding from other 
sources, including the host institution. When additional funding is 
contemplated, applicants should note whether the funding is being 
donated by the institution, is in-hand from another funding source, or 
will be applied for from another funding source. Information concerning 
how the applicant will meet the matching requirement will be evaluated. 
The budget should include travel for advisory board members.

Evaluation Criteria for the Area Centers

(1) Approach (35 points)

    Are the conceptual framework, design, methods, and analyses 
adequately developed, well-integrated, and appropriate to the aims of 
the project? Does the applicant acknowledge potential problem areas and 
consider alternative tactics? Does the applicant present an adequate 
proposal to interest students in graduate studies or careers in 
poverty-related work, especially in geographic areas of concentrated 
poverty? Does the application make clear the procedures for the 
protection of human subjects?

(2) Significance (20 points)

    Does this study(ies) address an important problem? If the aims of 
the application are achieved, how will knowledge be advanced? What will 
be the effect of these studies on the concepts or methods that drive 
this field? Will projects focus on areas of state or regional 
concentrations of poverty?

(3) Qualifications of Principal Investigator and Mentoring (20 points)

    Is the principal investigator appropriately trained and well suited 
to carry out this work? Is the work proposed appropriate to the 
experience level of the principal investigator and other researchers 
(if any)? Do the investigators have direct contact with students? The 
reviewers will consider proposed efforts to expose and engage students 
in poverty related research and encourage the pursuit of advanced 
studies and/or careers in public policy and programs which address the 
needs of the poverty population.

(4) Environment (15 points)

    Does the proposed Area Center build upon an existing institutional 
infrastructure? Do the proposed studies take advantage of features of 
the community or employ useful collaborative arrangements? Is there 
evidence of institutional support? Does the Area Center have any 
outside funding?

(5) Adequacy and Appropriateness of Overall Budget and the Allocation 
of Resources Across Administrative, Research and Other Areas (10 
points)

    Ratings will reflect whether: (a) The budget assures an efficient 
and effective allocation of funds to achieve the objectives of this 
solicitation, (b) the applicant has additional funding from other 
sources, including the host institution. When additional funding is 
contemplated, applicants should note

[[Page 41426]]

whether the funding is being donated by the institution, is in-hand 
from another funding source, or will be applied for from another 
funding source. Information concerning how the applicant will meet the 
matching requirement will be evaluated. The budget should include 
travel for advisory board members.

Part IV--The Application

A. General Information

    This part contains information on the preparation of an application 
for submission under this announcement, the forms necessary for 
submission. Potential applicants should read this part carefully in 
conjunction with the information provided in Part II. In general, ASPE 
seeks organizations who can demonstrate the ability to provide quality 
policy research, training of emerging scholars, and working with 
federal, state and local governments. Applicants for funding should 
reflect, in the program narrative section of the application, how they 
will be able to fulfill the responsibilities and requirements described 
in the announcement. Applications for the National Center should 
specify in detail how administrative arrangements will be made to 
minimize start-up and transition delays. Applications which do not 
address all three major tasks discussed in Awardee Responsibilities in 
Part II (research program, mentoring emerging scholars, dissemination) 
will not be considered for award. The applicant must have experience 
working with governmental agencies--federal, state, or local. It is 
expected that the applicant will have additional funding and 
arrangements with other organizations and institutions, including the 
host institution(s). The applicant should make all current and 
anticipated related funding arrangements explicit in the application.
    In order to be considered for an award under this program 
announcement, an application must be submitted on the forms supplied 
and in the manner prescribed by ASPE. Application materials including 
forms and instructions are attached to this announcement. Additional 
copies are available from Michael J. Loewe or may be obtained 
electronically from the ASPE world wide web site at http://www.ASPE.hhs.gov/programs/oa/form.htm. Each application package must 
include an original and two copies of the complete application. All 
pages of the narrative must be sequentially numbered and unbound.
    Applications must be received in the following format:
    1. 12 point font size
    2. Double line spacing
    3. 1 inch top, bottom, left, and right margins
    4. Page limit of 100 pages for the National Center (excluding 
appendices); 50 pages for the Area Centers (excluding appendices)
    5. Applications that are not received in the format described above 
and/or exceed the page limit, will not be reviewed. Applicants are 
requested to be concise. Applicants are encouraged not to attach or 
include bound reports or other documents.

B. Application Development--National Center

    Content and Organization of Technical Application (see ``Components 
of a Complete Application''). The application must begin with the 
required application forms and a three to five page overview and 
summary of the application. Staff resumes should be included in a 
separate appendix.
    The national poverty center will provide a leadership role in 
furthering our understanding of the causes and consequences of poverty 
and the policy and program interventions to ameliorate poverty and its 
impacts on individuals, families and children. The national center will 
provide the organizational infrastructure to provide leadership in 
shaping a national agenda for poverty-related research and provide the 
necessary supports for basic and applied research, reaching out and 
supporting the broader research community, mentoring emerging scholars, 
dissemination of findings and securing additional financial support. 
The applicant should provide a five-year strategic plan for 
accomplishing this agenda. The plan should build upon and move forward 
from the accumulated knowledge of the past 35 years of poverty related 
research and past and future social, demographic, economic and policy 
trends. The plan should set out a concrete plan for addressing ASPE's 
priorities as well as additional areas of exploration that the 
applicant may propose.
    The central core of the application is the strategic plan, and it 
must contain four sections, presented in the following order:
(1) Research Agenda
    A prospectus for a five-year research agenda, outlining the major 
research themes to be investigated over the next five years, including 
the five listed in this announcement. In particular, the prospectus 
will describe the activities planned for each of the research priority 
issues outlined in Part II, Awardee Responsibilities and other 
additional priority research topics proposed by the applicant. The 
prospectus should discuss the kind of research activities that are 
needed to anticipate future policy debates on important social issues--
poverty and child well-being, in particular--and the role of the 
proposed Research Center in carrying out those activities. The 
prospectus should clearly build upon the foundation of the past 35 
years of poverty research and anticipated trends and policy 
developments. It may, of course, also discuss research areas and issues 
that were not mentioned in that analysis if the author or authors of 
the application feel there have been gaps in past research, or that new 
factors have begun to affect or soon will begin to affect national 
social policy. The prospectus should include descriptions of individual 
research projects that will be expected in the Center's first year of 
operation. It also should be specific about long-term research themes 
and projects. The lines of research described in the prospectus should 
be concrete enough that project descriptions in subsequent research 
plan amendments can be viewed as articulating a research theme 
discussed in the prospectus. An application that simply contains an ad 
hoc categorization of an unstructured set of research projects--as 
opposed to a set of projects which strike a coherent theme--will be 
judged unfavorably. Note: Once a successful applicant has been selected 
and the national Advisory Committee appointed, they and ASPE will 
review the research agenda and determine research priorities. The 
Center will submit to ASPE a revised research plan that summarizes the 
deliberations and priorities. The research plan will be periodically 
reviewed and revised as necessary. The application should discuss a 
proposed research planning process, including involvement of the 
national advisory committee and other advisors.
(2) Staff and Organizational Data
    This application should include a staffing and organizational 
proposal for the Research Center, including an analysis of the types of 
background needed among staff members, the Center's organizational 
structure, and linkages with the host university and other 
organizations. It is in this second section that the application should 
specify how it will assure a genuinely interdisciplinary approach to 
research, and where appropriate, the necessary links to university 
departments, other organizations and scholars engaged in research, and 
government policy

[[Page 41427]]

makers. The applicant should identify the director (or principal 
investigator) and key senior research staff. Full resumes of proposed 
staff members should be included as a separate appendix to the 
application. In addition, the author(s) of the application and the role 
which he or she (they) will play in the proposed Poverty Research 
Center must be specified. The time commitment to the Center and other 
commitments for each proposed staff member should be indicated. The 
kinds of administrative and tenure arrangements, if any, the applicant 
proposes to make should also be discussed in this section. The 
applicant should discuss the financial arrangements for supporting 
affiliates, resident scholars, etc. If the application envisions an 
arrangement of several universities or institutions, this section will 
describe the specifics about the relationships, including leadership, 
management, and administration. It should pay particular attention to 
discussing how a focal point for research, teaching, and scholarship 
will be maintained given the arrangement proposed. Briefly discuss the 
role, selection procedure, and expected contribution of the national 
advisory committee. The applicant should describe plans for outreach to 
the Area Centers in addition to discussing efforts to assure a smooth 
transition between the current National Poverty Centers and this 
project.
(3) Training and Mentoring Emerging Scholars
    A training and mentoring proposal describing how students will 
benefit from exposure to and participation in the ongoing research of 
the area center faculty and staff and how students will be encouraged 
to pursue graduate studies in the social and behavioral sciences with a 
focus on poverty related studies. The applicant should discuss the 
financial arrangements for supporting research assistants, post-
doctoral students, etc. The applicant should present any past 
experience and future plans for engaging emerging scholars from 
institutions that have not traditional had the capacity to mentor 
poverty scholars. The discussion should include the expected number and 
types of emerging scholars to be supported and the level of support 
anticipated.
(4) Budget Narrative
    A budget summary narrative which links the core infrastructure, 
research, mentoring, outreach, and dissemination program to the Center 
funding level. This section should discuss how the five-year budget 
supports proposed research, training, and dissemination activities and 
should link the first year funding to a five-year plan. The discussion 
should include the appropriateness of the level and distribution of 
funds to the successful completion of the research, training, and 
dissemination plans. Given the limited amount of funds available for 
this award, applicants are encouraged to use these funds as partial, 
core support for the proposed Center and to seek additional support 
from other sources. The availability, potential availability or hope 
for other funds (from the host university, other universities, 
foundations, states, other federal agencies, etc.) and the uses to 
which they would be put, should be documented in this section. 
Applications which show funding from other sources that supplement 
funds from this grant will be given higher scores than if they have no 
extra financial support or a plan for securing such support.

C. Application Development--Area Poverty Centers

    Content and Organization of Technical Application (see ``Components 
of a Complete Application''). The application must begin with the 
required application forms and a three to five page overview and 
summary of the application. Staff resumes should be included in a 
separate appendix. The central core of the application must contain 
four sections, presented in the following order:
(1) Key Trends and Past Research Analysis
    A brief analysis of the key trends (e.g., social, demographic, 
economic) and past research related to the area center's proposed focus 
which provides a basis for the proposed Area Center research agenda. It 
should examine the nature, causes, and correlates of one or two of the 
trends as they relate to the Area center's focus, as appropriate. The 
analysis should demonstrate the applicant's grasp of the policy and 
research significance of recent and future social trends as well as the 
past research.
(2) Research Agenda
    A prospectus for a three-year research agenda, outlining the major 
research themes to be investigated over the next three years, including 
the five listed in this announcement. In particular, the prospectus 
will describe the activities planned for each of the research priority 
issues proposed by the Area Center; those either drawn from the listing 
of priority areas or proposed by the applicant. The prospectus should 
discuss the kind of research activities that will inform public policy 
in the priority issues selected and the role of the proposed Area 
Research Center in carrying out those activities. The prospectus should 
follow from the key trends and research analysis section. The 
prospectus should include detailed descriptions of the individual 
research projects that will be expected to be initiated in the Center's 
first year of operation; including the conceptual framework, design, 
data, methods and proposed analyses. It also should be specific about 
the longer-term research themes and projects. The lines of research 
described in the prospectus should be concrete enough that project 
descriptions in subsequent research plan amendments can be viewed as 
articulating a research theme discussed in the prospectus. An 
application that simply contains an ad hoc categorization of an 
unstructured set of research projects--as opposed to a set of projects 
which strike a coherent theme--will be judged unfavorably.

    Note: Once a successful applicant has been selected ASPE will 
review the longer term research agenda with the Area Center and 
jointly determine future research priorities. The research plan will 
be periodically reviewed and revised as necessary. The application 
should briefly discuss a proposed research planning process, 
including involvement of an outside advisory committee and other 
advisors, and participation with other National and Area centers 
awarded as part of this grant program.

(3) Staff and Organizational Data
    This application should include a staffing and organizational 
proposal for the Area Center, including an analysis of the types of 
background needed among staff members, the Area Center's organizational 
structure, and linkages with the host university and other 
organizations. It is in this third section that the application should 
specify how it will assure a genuinely interdisciplinary approach to 
research, and where appropriate, the necessary links to university 
departments, other organizations and scholars engaged in research, and 
government policy making. The applicant should identify the director 
(or principal investigator) and key senior research staff. Full resumes 
of proposed staff members should be included as a separate appendix to 
the application. The time commitment to the Area Center and other 
commitments for each proposed staff member should be indicated.
    If the application envisions an arrangement of several universities 
or

[[Page 41428]]

institutions, this section will describe the specifics about the 
relationships, including leadership, management, and administration. It 
should pay particular attention to discussing how a focal point for 
research, teaching, and scholarship will be maintained given the 
arrangement proposed. The application also should briefly discuss the 
role, selection procedure, and expected contribution of an outside 
advisory committee.
(4) Training and Mentoring Emerging Scholars
    A training and mentoring proposal describing how students will 
benefit from exposure to and participation in the ongoing research of 
the Area Center faculty and staff and how students will be encouraged 
to pursue graduate studies in the social and behavioral sciences with a 
focus on poverty related studies. This section should discuss the 
financial arrangements for supporting students and research assistants, 
if any. The discussion should include the expected number and types of 
emerging scholars to be supported and the level of support anticipated.
(5) Budget Narrative
    A budget summary narrative which links the core infrastructure, 
research, training, and dissemination program to the Center funding 
level. This section should discuss how the three-year budget supports 
proposed research, training, and dissemination activities and should 
link the first year funding to a three-year plan. The discussion should 
include the appropriateness of the level and distribution of funds to 
the successful completion of the research, training, and dissemination 
plans. Given the limited amount of funds available for this award, 
applicants are encouraged to use these funds as partial, core support 
for the proposed Center and applicant having or seeking additional 
support from other sources. The availability, potential availability or 
hope for other funds (from the host university, other universities, 
foundations, states, other Federal agencies, etc.) and the uses to 
which they would be put, should be documented in this section. We 
encourage applications to pursue or plan to pursue supplemental 
funding.

D. Application Submission

    1. Mailed applications postmarked after the closing date will be 
classified as late.
    2. Deadline. The closing (deadline) date for submission of 
applications is [insert 60 days Mailed applications should be 
considered as meeting the announced deadline if they are either 
received on or before the deadline date or sent on or before the 
deadline date and received by ASPE in time for the independent review 
to: Michael J. Loewe, Deputy Grants Management Officer, Grants 
Management Branch, National Institute of Child Health and Human 
Development, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 6100 
Executive Boulevard, Room 8A01, Bethesda Maryland 20892-7510 (Regular 
Mail), Rockville Maryland 20852 (Express Mail), Phone: (301) 435-6995 
Fax: (301) 402-0915.
    Applicants must ensure that a legibly dated, machine produced 
postmark of a commercial mail service is affixed to the envelope/
package containing the application. To be acceptable as proof of timely 
mailing, a postmark from a commercial mail service must include the 
logo/emblem of the commercial mail service company and must reflect the 
date the package was received by the commercial mail service company 
from the applicant. Private Metered postmarks should not be acceptable 
as proof of timely mailing. (Applicants are cautioned that express/
overnight mail services do not always deliver as agreed.)
    Applications hand-carried by applicants, applicant couriers, or by 
other representatives of the applicant should be considered as meeting 
an announced deadline if they are received on or before the deadline 
date, between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. EST, at the U.S. 
Department of Health and Human Services, Grants Management Branch 
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, U.S. 
Department of Health and Human Services, 6100 Executive Boulevard, Room 
8A01 Bethesda Maryland 20892-7510 (Regular Mail), Rockville Maryland 
20852 (Express Mail) ) The address must appear on the envelope/package 
containing the application with the note ``Attention: ( Michael J. 
Loewe, Deputy Grants Management Officer `` (Applicants are cautioned 
that express/overnight mail services do not always deliver as agreed.)
    Applications transmitted by fax or through other electronic means 
will not be accepted regardless of date or time of submission or 
receipt.
    3. Late applications. Applications that do not meet the criteria 
above are considered late applications. NICHD should notify each late 
applicant that its application will not be considered in the current 
competition.
    4. Extension of deadlines. NICHD may extend an application deadline 
when circumstances such as acts of God (floods, hurricanes, etc.) 
occur, or when there are widespread disruptions of the mail service, or 
in other rare cases. Determinations to extend or waive deadline 
requirements rest with Michael J. Loewe , Deputy Grants Management 
Officer, Grants Management Branch, National Institute of Child Health 
and Human Development.

C. Disposition of Applications

    1. Approval, disapproval, or deferral. On the basis of the review 
of the application, the Assistant Secretary will either (a) approve the 
application as a whole or in part; (b) disapprove the application; or 
(c) defer action on the application for such reasons as lack of funds 
or a need for further review.
    2. Notification of disposition. The Assistant Secretary for 
Planning and Evaluation will notify the applicants of the disposition 
of their applications. If approved, a signed notification of the award 
will be sent to the business office named in the ASPE checklist.
    3. The Assistant Secretary's Discretion. Nothing in this 
announcement should be construed as to obligate the Assistant Secretary 
for Planning and Evaluation to make any awards whatsoever. Awards and 
the distribution of awards among the priority areas are contingent on 
the needs of the Department at any point in time and the quality of the 
applications that are received.

D. The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number

    The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number is 93.239.

E. Components of a Complete Application

    A complete application consists of the following items in this 
order:
    1. Application for Federal Assistance (Standard Form 424);
    2. Budget Information--Non-construction Programs (Standard Form 
424A);
    3. Assurances--Non-construction Programs (Standard From 424B);
    4. Table of Contents;
    5. Budget Justification for Section B Budget Categories;
    6. Proof of Non-profit Status, if appropriate;
    7. Copy of the applicant's Approved Indirect Cost Rate Agreement, 
if necessary;
    8. Project Narrative Statement, organized in five sections, 
addressing the following topics (See Part IV, Section B):
    (a) Key Trend Analysis
    (b) Research Agenda Prospectus
    (c) Staff and Organizational Data

[[Page 41429]]

    (d) Summary of Past Work
    (e) Budget Appropriateness
    9. Any appendices or attachments;
    10. Certification Regarding Drug-Free Workplace;
    11. Certification Regarding Debarment, Suspension, or other 
Responsibility Matters;
    12. Certification and, if necessary, Disclosure Regarding Lobbying;
    13. Supplement to Section II--Key Personnel;
    14. Application for Federal Assistance Checklist.

    Dated: June 10, 2002.
William Raub,
Principal Deputy for Secretary for Planning and Evaluation.
[FR Doc. 02-15232 Filed 6-17-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4110-60-P