[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 35 (Friday, February 21, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8509-8513]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-4061]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[Program Announcement 03035]


Grants for National Academic Centers of Excellence on Youth 
Violence Prevention; Notice of Availability of Funds for Fiscal Year 
2003

A. Authority and Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number

    This program is authorized under sections 301, 391, 392, and 394 of 
the Public Health Service Act, [42 U.S.C. 241, 280b, 280b-1, 280b-1a, 
and 280b-2], as amended. Program regulations are set forth in 42 CFR 
part 52. The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance number is 93.136.

B. Purpose

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announces the 
availability of fiscal year (FY) 2003 funds for a grant for National 
Academic Centers of Excellence on Youth Violence Prevention. This 
program addresses the ``Healthy People 2010'' focus area related to 
Injury and Violence Prevention.
    The purposes of the program are to: (1) Build the scientific 
infrastructure necessary to support the development and widespread 
application of effective youth violence interventions; (2) promote 
interdisciplinary research strategies to address the problem of youth 
violence; (3) foster collaboration between academic researchers and 
communities; and (4) empower communities to address the problem of 
youth violence.
    Measurable outcomes of the program will be in alignment with the 
following performance goal for the National Center for Injury 
Prevention and Control (NCIPC): Increase the capacity of injury 
prevention and control programs to address the prevention of injuries 
and violence.

C. Eligible Applicants

    Assistance will be limited to the following academic health 
centers, defined as public and private nonprofit universities, 
colleges, and university-associated teaching hospitals: Virginia

[[Page 8510]]

Commonwealth University; University of Michigan; University of Puerto 
Rico; University of California, Riverside; and University of 
California, San Diego. Only current recipients of Program Announcement 
00043, National Academic Centers of Excellence on Youth Violence 
Prevention, are eligible to apply. The competition is limited to 
complete the development, collection and analysis of data from core 
program components in surveillance, intervention research, etiological 
research, multi-disciplinary collaboration, community mobilization, and 
training funding established during the first three years for the 
developing centers.

    Note: Title 2 of the United States Code section 1611 states that 
an organization described in section 501c(4) of the Internal Revenue 
Code that engages in lobbying activities is not eligible to receive 
Federal funds constituting an award, grant, or loan.

D. Funding

Availability of Funds

    Approximately $1,900,000 is available in FY 2003 to fund 
approximately five awards. It is expected that the average award will 
be $380,000, ranging from $376,000 to $393,000 (including direct or 
indirect costs). It is expected that the awards will begin on or about 
September 1, 2003, and will be made for a 12-month budget period within 
a project period of up to two years. Funding estimates may change.
    Continuation awards within an approved project period will be made 
on the basis of the availability of funds and the following criteria:
    (1) The accomplishments reflected in the progress report of the 
continuation application indicate that the applicant is meeting 
previously stated objectives or milestones contained in the project's 
annual statement of work. Progress is demonstrated through 
presentations at monitoring workshops.
    (2) The objectives for the new budget period are realistic, 
specific, and measurable.
    (3) The methods described will clearly lead to achievement of these 
objectives.
    (4) The evaluation plan will allow management to monitor whether 
the methods are effective.

Use of Funds

    Provide a budget to include funds for management functions, non-
research activities, and small one-year pilot projects of less than 
$15,000. The budget should include items for development and 
implementation of a community response plan for youth violence, and 
development and implementation of curricula for training of health 
professionals.

Recipient Financial Participation

    Matching funds are not required for this program.

Funding Priority

    Funding priority will be given to current recipients of Program 
Announcement 00043, National Academic Centers of Excellence on Youth 
Violence Prevention. The competition is limited to complete the 
development, collection and analysis of data from core program 
components in surveillance, intervention research, etiological 
research, multi-disciplinary collaboration, community mobilization, and 
training funding established during the first three years for the 
developing centers.
    Interested persons are invited to comment on the proposed funding 
priority. All comments received within 30 days after publication in the 
Federal Register will be considered before the final funding priority 
is established. If the funding priority changes because of comments 
received, a revised announcement will be published in the Federal 
Register, and revised applications will be accepted before the final 
selections are made. Send comments to the Grants Management Specialist 
identified in the ``Where to Obtain Additional Information'' section of 
this announcement.

E. Program Requirements

    In conducting activities to achieve the purpose of this program, 
the recipient will be responsible for the following activities:
    (1) Demonstrated expertise in:
    (a) Research in risk and protective factors for youth violence and/
or development and evaluation of preventive interventions for youth 
violence.
    (b) Capacity to develop and facilitate implementation of a multi-
disciplinary and multi-organizational community response plan for youth 
violence.
    (2) Provide evidence of capacity to develop, deliver, and maintain 
a training curriculum for health care professionals.
    (3) Provide a director (Principal Investigator) who has specific 
authority and responsibility to carry out the project. The director 
must report to an appropriate institutional official, e.g., dean of a 
school or vice president of a university. The director must have no 
less than 30 percent effort devoted solely to this project.
    (4) Demonstrate working relationships with outside agencies and 
other entities which will allow for implementation of any proposed 
intervention activities.
    (5) Provide evidence of involvement of a multi-disciplinary and 
multi-organizational group of specialists or experts in primary care, 
behavioral and/or preventive medicine, epidemiology, law and criminal 
justice, behavioral and social sciences, and/or public health as needed 
to complete the plans of the center.
    (6) Demonstrate through documentation that full working partners 
must have established curricula and graduate training programs in 
disciplines relevant to youth violence prevention (e.g., epidemiology, 
criminology, social sciences, and behavioral sciences).
    (7) Demonstrate an established relationship with youth violence 
prevention programs through letters of commitment. Also include 
established relationships with organizations/individual leaders in 
communities where youth violence related injuries occur at high rates. 
A letter from an appropriate public health agency in support of the 
proposed center is required.

F. Content

Letter of Intent (LOI)

    An LOI is not required for this program.

Applications

    The Program Announcement title and number must appear in the 
application. 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 50 pages, double spaced, 
printed on one side, with one inch margins, and unreduced 12-point 
font.
    The narrative should consist of, at a minimum, a Plan, Objectives, 
Methods, Evaluation and Budget. The plan should:
    (1) Provide the infrastructure for, and conduct interdisciplinary 
research relevant to, youth violence.
    (2) Support the surveillance of youth violence in the grantees' 
specific communities.
    (3) Develop, evaluate, and more broadly implement effective 
violence prevention strategies.
    (4) Offer mentoring and training initiatives to prepare 
professionals from various backgrounds to address the issue of youth 
violence.

[[Page 8511]]

    (5) Create partnerships with communities to develop plans to 
address youth violence.

G. Submission and Deadline

Application Forms

    Submit the original and two copies of PHS 398 (OMB Number 0925-
0001) and adhere to the instructions on the Errata Instruction Sheet 
for PHS 398. Forms are available at the following Internet address: 
http://www.cdc.gov/od/pgo/forminfo.htm.
    If you do not have access to the Internet, or if you have 
difficulty accessing the forms on-line, you may contact the CDC 
Procurement and Grants Office Technical Information Management Section 
(PGO-TIM) at: (770) 488-2700. Application forms can be mailed to you.

Submission Date, Time, and Address

    The application must be received by 4 p.m. Eastern Time, April 7, 
2003. Submit the application to: Technical Information Management--
PA03035, CDC Procurement and Grants Office, 2920 Brandywine 
Road, Atlanta, GA 30341-4146.
    Applications may not be submitted electronically.

CDC Acknowledgement of Application Receipt

    A post card will be mailed by PGO-TIM, notifying you that CDC has 
received your application.

Deadline

    Applications shall be considered as meeting the deadline if they 
are received before 4 p.m. Eastern Time on the deadline date. 
Applicants sending applications by the United States Postal Service or 
commercial delivery services must ensure that the carrier will be able 
to guarantee delivery of the application by the closing date and time. 
If an application is received after closing due to (1) carrier error, 
when the carrier accepted the package with a guarantee for delivery by 
the closing date and time, or (2) significant weather delays or natural 
disasters, CDC will upon receipt of proper documentation, consider the 
application as having been received by the deadline.
    Applications that do not meet the above criteria will not be 
eligible for competition and will be discarded. The applicant will be 
notified of their failure to meet the submission requirements.

H. Evaluation Criteria

Application

    Applicants are required to provide measures of effectiveness that 
will demonstrate the accomplishment of the various identified 
objectives of the grant. Measures of effectiveness must relate to the 
performance goal stated in the purpose section of this announcement. 
Measures must be objective and quantitative and must measure the 
intended outcome. These measures of effectiveness must be submitted 
with the application and will be an element of evaluation.
    Applications will be reviewed by CDC staff for completeness and 
responsiveness as outlined under the eligible applicants section. 
Incomplete applications and applications that are not responsive will 
be returned to the applicant without further consideration.
    Applications which are complete and responsive may be subjected to 
a preliminary evaluation (streamlined review) by a peer review 
committee, the Injury Research Grant Review Committee (IRGRC), to 
determine if the application is of sufficient technical and scientific 
merit to warrant further review by the IRGRC. CDC will withdraw from 
further consideration applications judged to be noncompetitive and 
promptly notify the principal investigator/program director and the 
official signing for the applicant organization. Those applications 
judged to be competitive will be further evaluated by a dual review 
process.
    All awards will be determined by the director of the NCIPC based on 
priority scores assigned to applications by the IRGRC, recommendations 
by the secondary review committee of the Science and Program Review 
Subcommittee of the Advisory Committee for Injury Prevention and 
Control (ACIPC), consultation with NCIPC senior staff, and the 
availability of funds.
    1. The primary review will be a peer review conducted by the IRGRC. 
All applications will be reviewed for scientific merit using current 
National Institutes of Health (NIH) and CDC criteria (a scoring system 
of 100 to 500 points) to evaluate the methods and scientific quality of 
the application. Factors to be considered will include:
    a. Plan for the development of infrastructure and conduct of 
interdisciplinary research relevant to youth violence (25 percent).
    (1) The application will specifically aim to address all the goals 
of the program, for example, the long-term objectives and intended 
accomplishments for the proposed center in relation to the problem of 
preventing youth violence and self-directed violence among the young. 
If the aims of the application are achieved, how will prevention of 
youth violence be advanced? What will be the effect of the center's 
activities on violence prevention efforts within the center's target 
community or region (e.g., surveillance)?
    (2) The extent to which the evaluation plan will allow for the 
measurement of progress toward the achievement of stated objectives of 
the proposed center.
    (3) Qualifications, adequacy, and appropriateness of personnel to 
accomplish the proposed activities. Project director: Is the proposed 
center director appropriately trained and well-suited to carry out this 
work? Is the work proposed appropriate to the experience level of the 
proposed director and other key faculty and staff?
    (4) Adequacy of institutional support and arrangements to ensure 
successful implementation of activities of the proposed centers, 
including arrangements for the center director's time commitment and 
authority, and documentation of relationships and understanding of 
roles and responsibilities between partner institutions and community 
organizations.
    b. Implement effective violence prevention strategies (20 percent).
    Adequacy of plans to conduct pilot projects relevant to the field 
of violence prevention including: adequacy of the setting and 
participants for the project, relevance of outcome measurements, 
expected results, and appropriateness of time lines, cost, and plans 
for translation/dissemination.
    c. Create partnerships with communities to develop plans to address 
youth violence (20 percent).
    Adequacy of plans and arrangements to develop and implement a 
community response to the problem of youth violence. Incorporate 
diverse perspectives (i.e., health and mental health professionals, 
educators, the media, parents, young people, police, criminal/juvenile 
courts, legislators, public health specialists, and business leaders). 
Documentation of agreements and clear understanding of roles and 
responsibilities of partner organizations.
    d. Training initiatives to prepare professionals from various 
backgrounds to address the issue of youth violence (20 percent).
    Adequacy of plans and arrangements to develop and implement 
curricula for training of health care professionals on violent behavior 
identification, assessment, intervention with high risk youth. 
Integrate this curriculum into medical, nursing, and other health 
professional training program.
    e. Research Factors (15 percent).
    (1) Significance. Does this study address an important problem? If 
the

[[Page 8512]]

aims of the application are achieved, how will scientific knowledge be 
advanced? What will be the effect of these studies on the concepts or 
methods that drive this field?
    (2) Approach. 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 project include plans 
to measure progress toward achieving the stated objectives? Is there an 
appropriate work plan included?
    (3) Innovation. Does the project employ novel concepts, approaches, 
or methods? Are the aims original and innovative? Does the project 
challenge or advance existing paradigms, or develop new methodologies 
or technologies?
    (4) Investigator. Is the principal investigator appropriately 
trained and well-suited to carry out this work? Is the proposed work 
appropriate to the experience level of the principal investigator and 
other significant investigator participants? Is there a prior history 
of conducting injury-related research?
    (5) Environment. Does the scientific environment in which the work 
will be done contribute to the probability of success? Does the 
proposed research take advantage of unique features of the scientific 
environment or employ useful collaborative arrangements? Is there 
evidence of institutional support? Is there an appropriate degree of 
commitment and cooperation of other interested parties as evidenced by 
letters detailing the nature and extent of the involvement?
    (6) Study Samples. Are the samples sufficiently rigorously defined 
to permit complete independent replication at another site? Have the 
referral sources been described, including the definitions and 
criteria? What plans have been made to include women and minorities and 
their subgroups as appropriate for the scientific goals of the 
research? How will the applicant deal with recruitment and retention of 
subjects?
    (7) Dissemination. What plans have been articulated for 
disseminating findings?
    (8) Measures of Effectiveness. The Peer Review Panel shall assure 
that measures set forth in the application are in accordance with CDC's 
performance plans. How adequately has the applicant addressed these 
measures?
    f. Budget and justification (reviewed, but not scored). The extent 
to which the proposal demonstrates appropriateness and justification of 
the requested budget relative to the activities proposed.
    g. Performance Goal (reviewed, but not scored). The application 
must be aligned with the following performance goal for the National 
Center for Injury Prevention and Control: Increase the capacity of 
injury prevention and control programs to address the prevention of 
injuries and violence.
    h. Human Subjects Protection (reviewed, but not scored). Does the 
application adequately address the requirements of Title 45 CFR part 46 
for the protection of human subjects? Not scored; however, an 
application can be disapproved if the research risks are sufficiently 
serious and protection against risks is so inadequate as to make the 
entire application unacceptable.
    i. Does the application adequately address the CDC Policy 
requirements regarding the inclusion of women, ethnic, and racial 
groups in the proposed research? (reviewed, but not scored). This 
includes:
    (1) The proposed plan for the inclusion of both sexes and racial 
and ethnic minority populations for appropriate representation.
    (2) The proposed justification where representation is limited or 
absent.
    (3) A statement as to whether the design of the study is adequate 
to measure differences when warranted.
    (4) A statement as to whether the plans for recruitment and 
outreach for study participants include the process of establishing 
partnerships with community(ies) and recognition of mutual benefits.
    2. The secondary review will be conducted by the Science and 
Program Review Subcommittee (SPRS) of the ACIPC. The ACIPC federal 
agency experts will be invited to attend the secondary review and will 
receive modified briefing books (i.e., abstracts, strengths and 
weaknesses from summary statements, and project officer's briefing 
materials). ACIPC federal agency experts will be encouraged to 
participate in deliberations when applications address overlapping 
areas of research interest, so that unwarranted duplication in 
federally-funded research can be avoided and special subject area 
expertise can be shared. The NCIPC Division Associate Directors for 
Science (ADS) or their designees will attend the secondary review in a 
similar capacity as the ACIPC federal agency experts to assure that 
research priorities of the announcement are understood and to provide 
background regarding current research activities. Only SPRS members 
will vote on funding recommendations, and their recommendations will be 
carried to the entire ACIPC for voting by the ACIPC members in closed 
session. If any further review is needed by the ACIPC, regarding the 
recommendations of the SPRS, the factors considered will be the same as 
those considered by the SPRS.
    The committee's responsibility is to develop funding 
recommendations for the NCIPC Director based on the results of the 
primary review, the relevance and balance of proposed research relative 
to the NCIPC programs and priorities, and to assure that unwarranted 
duplication of federally-funded research does not occur. The secondary 
review committee has the latitude to recommend to the NCIPC Director, 
to reach over better ranked proposals in order to assure maximal impact 
and balance of proposed research. The factors to be considered will 
include:
    a. The results of the primary review including the application's 
priority score as the primary factor in the selection process.
    b. The relevance and balance of proposed research relative to the 
NCIPC programs and priorities.
    c. The significance of the proposed activities in relation to the 
priorities and objectives stated in ``Healthy People 2010,'' the 
Institute of Medicine report, ``Reducing the Burden of Injury,'' and 
the ``CDC Injury Research Agenda.''
    d. Budgetary considerations.

I. Other Requirements

Technical Reporting Requirements

    Provide CDC with original plus two copies of:
    1. Annual progress reports including a data requirement that 
demonstrates measures of effectiveness.
    2. Financial status report, no more than 90 days after the end of 
each budget period.
    3. Final financial and performance reports, no more than 90 days 
after the end of the project period.
    4. At the completion of the project, the grant recipient will 
submit a brief summary, 2,500 to 4,000 words written in non-scientific 
[laymen's] terms, highlighting the findings and their implications for 
injury prevention programs, policies, environmental changes, etc. The 
grant recipient will also include a description of the dissemination 
plan for research findings. This plan will include publications in 
peer-reviewed journals and ways in which research findings will be made 
available to stakeholders outside of academia (e.g., state injury 
prevention program staff, community groups, public health injury 
prevention practitioners, and others). CDC will

[[Page 8513]]

place the summary report and each grant recipient's final report with 
the National Technical Information Service (NTIS) to further the 
agency's efforts to make the information more available and accessible 
to the public.
    Send all reports to the Grants Management Specialist identified in 
the ``Where to Obtain Additional Information'' section of this 
announcement.

Additional Requirements

    The following additional requirements are applicable to this 
program. For a complete description of each, see Attachment I of the 
program announcement, as posted on the CDC Web site.

AR-1 Human Subjects Requirements.
AR-2 Requirements for Inclusion of Women and Racial and Ethnic 
Minorities in Research.
AR-9 Paperwork Reduction Act Requirements.
AR-10 Smoke-Free Workplace Requirement.
AR-11 Healthy People 2010.
AR-12 Lobbying Restrictions.
AR-13 Prohibition on Use of CDC Funds for Certain Gun Control 
Activities.
AR-20 Conference Support.
    Executive Order 12372 does not apply to this program.

J. Where To Obtain Additional Information

    This and other CDC announcements, the necessary applications, and 
associated forms can be found on the CDC Web site, Internet address: 
http://www.cdc.gov.
    Click on ``Funding'' then ``Grants and Cooperative Agreements.''
    For general questions about this announcement, contact: Technical 
Information Management, CDC Procurement and Grants Office, 2920 
Brandywine Rd., Atlanta, GA 30341-4146, Telephone: (770) 488-2700.
    For business management and budget assistance, contact: Nancy 
Pillar, Grants Management Specialist, Procurement and Grants Office, 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2920 Brandywine Road, Room 
3000, Atlanta, GA 30341-4146, Telephone: (770) 488-2721, E-mail 
address: [email protected].
    For program technical assistance, contact: Candice Jackson, Project 
Officer, Division of Violence Prevention, National Center for Injury 
Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 
4770 Buford Highway, NE, MS K60, Atlanta, GA 30341-3724, Telephone: 
(770) 488-1571, E-mail address: [email protected].

    Dated: February 13, 2003.
Sandra R. Manning,
CGFM Director, Procurement and Grants Office, Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 03-4061 Filed 2-20-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P