[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 162 (Thursday, August 21, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50592-50593]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-21115]



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Part II





Department of Health and Human Services





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Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration



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Proposed Changes in Announcement of SAMHSA Discretionary Grant Funding 
Opportunities; Notices

  Federal Register / Vol. 68, No. 162 / Thursday, August 21, 2003 / 
Notices  

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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration


Proposed Changes in Announcement of SAMHSA Discretionary Grant 
Funding Opportunities

    Authority: Sections 509, 516, and 520A of the Public Health 
Service Act.
AGENCY: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, HHS.

ACTION: Notice of proposed changes in announcement of SAMHSA 
discretionary grant funding opportunities.

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SUMMARY: Beginning in Fiscal Year (FY) 2004, the Substance Abuse and 
Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) plans to change its 
approach to announcing and soliciting applications for its 
discretionary grant programs. This notice describes the proposed 
changes and invites public comment on those changes. This notice will 
be followed by proposed text for four standard grant announcements 
(Services Grants, Infrastructure Grants, Best Practices Planning and 
Implementation Grants, and Service to Science Grants). Comments are 
invited on the proposed standard grant announcements, as well.

DATES: Submit written comments on this proposal by October 20, 2003.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments regarding 
SAMHSA's proposed changes in the announcement of discretionary grant 
funding opportunities to: Office of Policy, Planning and Budget, 
SAMHSA, Attn: Jennifer Fiedelholtz by fax (301-594-6159) or e-mail 
([email protected]). Please include a phone number in 
your e-mail, so that SAMHSA staff may contact you if there are 
questions about your comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jennifer Fiedelholtz of the Office of 
Policy, Planning and Budget, SAMHSA, by fax (301-594-6159) or e-mail 
([email protected]). If you would like a SAMHSA staff 
person to call you about your questions, please state this in an e-mail 
or fax request and provide a telephone number where you can be reached 
between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m., Eastern Standard Time.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    In recent years, SAMHSA has announced funding opportunities for 30-
40 discretionary grant programs each year. Despite similarities among 
these programs, the program requirements described in each grant 
announcement varied significantly. Some of this variation was necessary 
due to differences in program goals and objectives. However, much of 
the variation was unnecessary and significantly limited the ability of 
potential applicants to anticipate, plan, and lay the essential 
groundwork for proposed grant projects. The large number of unique 
grant announcements published each year also required the allocation of 
substantial staff resources to development of grant announcements. 
SAMHSA believes that these staff resources could be better used for 
post-award project management and monitoring.
    Starting in FY 2004, SAMHSA plans to change its approach to 
announcing and soliciting applications for its discretionary grants. 
SAMHSA plans to issue four standard grant announcements that will 
describe the general program design and provide application 
instructions for four types of grants--Services Grants, Infrastructure 
Grants, Best Practices Planning and Implementation Grants, and Service-
to-Science Grants. These standard grant announcements will be posted on 
SAMHSA's web page and will be available from SAMHSA's clearinghouses on 
an ongoing basis. The standard announcements will be used in 
conjunction with brief Notices of Funding Availability (NOFAs) that 
will announce the availability of funds for specific grant funding 
opportunities within each of the standard grant programs (e.g., 
Homeless Treatment grants, Statewide Family Network grants, or HIV/AIDS 
and Substance Abuse Prevention Planning Grants).
    SAMHSA expects that use of these four standard grant announcements 
will result in the following benefits:
    [sbull] The field of potential applicants will be able to more 
effectively anticipate the program requirements for SAMHSA's grant 
funding opportunities and will be better able to anticipate and plan 
their proposed grant projects. As a result, applicants will be able to 
prepare more thorough grant applications, and grantees will be better 
prepared to begin their grant projects in a timely manner after awards 
are made.
    [sbull] SAMHSA's funding opportunities will be published in a more 
timely manner, with funding opportunities, application deadlines and 
awards distributed more evenly throughout the fiscal year.
    [sbull] SAMHSA will be able to more clearly and consistently 
articulate its mission to external stakeholders.
    [sbull] SAMHSA will be able to use its staff resources more 
efficiently and effectively.
    The four grant announcements address the following core aspects of 
SAMHSA's mission:
    1. Services Grants provide funding to implement substance abuse and 
mental health services.
    2. Infrastructure Grants support identification and implementation 
of systems changes but are not designed to fund services.
    3. Best Practices Planning and Implementation Grants help 
communities and providers identify practices to effectively meet local 
needs, develop strategic plans for implementing/adapting those 
practices and pilot-test practices prior to full-scale implementation.
    4. Service to Science Grants document and evaluate innovative 
practices that address critical substance abuse and mental health 
service gaps but that have not yet been formally evaluated.
    These four grant announcements were designed around several of 
SAMHSA's core grant programs, including Targeted Capacity Expansion 
Grants, State Incentive Grants, and Community Action Grants.
    The Notices of Funding Availability (NOFAs) announcing the 
availability of funds for specific grant funding opportunities will be 
published separately in the Federal Register, on the Federal grants Web 
site (http://www.grants.gov) and on the SAMHSA Web site. The NOFAs 
will:
    [sbull] Identify any specific target population or issue for the 
specific grant funding opportunity,
    [sbull] Identify which of the four standard announcements 
applicants must use to prepare their applications,
    [sbull] Specify total funding available for the first year of the 
grants and the expected size and number of awards,
    [sbull] Specify the application deadline,
    [sbull] Note any specific program requirements for each funding 
opportunity, and
    [sbull] Include any limitations or exceptions to the general 
provisions in the standard announcement.
    SAMHSA expects that the NOFAs will be brief. Because a primary goal 
of this effort is to increase the field's ability to anticipate funding 
opportunities and program requirements, special program requirements 
and deviations from the standard announcements should be few in number 
and limited to only those that are necessary, given the nature of the 
specific funding opportunity. For example, Homeless Treatment grants 
would likely require applicants not only

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to provide substance abuse and mental health services for homeless 
individuals, but also to link with housing and other support services 
needed by homeless individuals.
    Applicants will need to have both the NOFA and the appropriate 
standard announcement to prepare their applications. Both documents 
will be provided, along with application materials, in the application 
kits available from SAMHSA's clearinghouses as well as on SAMHSA's Web 
site.
    SAMHSA anticipaters that the four standard grant announcements will 
be used for the majority of its grant funding opportunities. However, 
there will be some funding opportunities that do not fit the standard 
announcements. In those instances, separate stand-alone grant 
announcements will be published and provided to applicants as they have 
been in the past (i.e., in the Federal Register, on the SAMHSA Web 
site, on the Federal grants Web site, and through SAMHSA's 
clearinghouses).
    The proposed text for each of the four standard announcements and a 
sample NOFA are provided in separate notices that follow immediately 
after this notice. In particular, SAMHSA welcomes comment on the 
following issues:
    1. Is the difference between the standard announcement and a NOFA 
clear?
    2. Are the programmatic requirements for each standard announcement 
clear?
    3. Are the goals/objectives for each type of standard grant clear?
    4. If you are a potential applicant for a SAMHSA grant, do you 
believe you will be able to use the standard announcement with the NOFA 
to prepare your application? Will the ability to anticipate 
programmatic requirements improve your ability to prepare a solid 
application? Is the additional benefit ``worth'' the ``cost'' of having 
to use two different documents to prepare your application?


    Note: Past applicants for SAMHSA grant programs may notice 
significant formatting differences between these standard 
announcements and previous SAMHSA grant announcements. For example, 
the headings for the different sections of the grant announcements 
have changed. These formatting differences reflect a new, mandatory 
outline for all Federal grant solicitations and are not related to 
the new approach to SAMHSA's grant announcements. These formatting 
changes are part of a Federal government-wide effort to make it 
easier for applicants to apply for Federal financial assistance. 
SAMHSA endorses this effort and notes that all information 
previously provided in SAMHSA grant announcements is provided in the 
new announcements, although it may be in a different location or 
under a different heading.


    Dated: August 13, 2003.
Anna Marsh,
Acting Executive Officer.
[FR Doc. 03-21115 Filed 8-20-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4162-20-P