[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 79 (Monday, April 27, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19095-19096]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-9517]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Health Resources and Services Administration


Healthy Start Program

AGENCY: Health Resources and Services Administration, HHS.

ACTION: General notice.

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    Background: This notice supplements the 2008 HRSA announcement 
(HRSA 09-130 and 09-131) of the availability of fiscal year (FY) 2009 
funding for new and competing continuation applications for Healthy 
Start. Healthy Start, authorized under Section 330H of the Public 
Health Service Act, strengthens communities to effectively address the 
causes of infant mortality, low birth weight and other poor perinatal 
outcomes for women and infants. Recently, new guidance became available 
with regard to funding FY 2009 Healthy Start programs.
SUMMARY: Following the Senate Appropriations Committee's 
recommendation, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) 
will give funding preference during the FY 2009 competition to current 
and former Healthy Start grantees with expiring or recently expired 
project periods.
    This new guidance continues guidance from Congress that began in FY 
2002. During the FY 2001 Healthy Start Initiative: Eliminating 
Disparities in Perinatal Health Open Competition, several grantees were 
approved but unfunded. Subsequently, Congress noted that the phasing 
out of these grants would cause a major disruption in services for 
pregnant women and infants in communities with high infant mortality 
and poor perinatal outcomes. For FY 2002, Congress, under The 
Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2002 (Pub. L. 107-116), Departments 
of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related 
Agencies Appropriations Act, 2002, allocated additional funding for 
these grants but stipulated that these new funds were to be used to 
``give preference to current and former grantees with expiring or 
recently expired project periods, including grantees that did not 
receive funding but whose grant applications were approved but not 
funded during fiscal year 2001.'' HRSA honored this request and funded 
the remaining approved unfunded grantee applicants in February 2002.
    This preference language has continued in each Healthy Start 
competition since 2002. With the 2005 Healthy Start competition, 
Congress, through The Consolidated Appropriations Act (Pub. L. 108-447, 
HR 108-792), once again gave ``preference to current and former 
grantees with expiring or recently expired project periods.'' In 2006, 
the Conference report HR 109-200, accompanying the Departments of 
Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies 
Appropriation Act, 2006, (Pub. L. 109-149, HR 109-300) continued the 
preference language. This year's FY 2009 Senate Appropriations 
Committee report states that ``The healthy start initiative was 
developed to respond to persistently high rates of infant mortality in 
this Nation. The initiative was expanded in fiscal year 1994 by a 
special projects program, which supported an additional seven urban and 
rural communities to implement infant mortality reduction strategies 
and interventions. The Children's Health Act of 2000 fully authorized 
this initiative as an independent program. The Committee urges HRSA to 
give preference to current and former grantees with expiring or 
recently expired project periods.'' (S. Rept. 110-410)

[[Page 19096]]


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Maribeth Badura, Director, Division of 
Healthy Start and Perinatal Services, Maternal and Child Health Bureau, 
HRSA, Room 18-12, Parklawn Building, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, 
Maryland 20857; telephone (301) 443-0543; e-mail [email protected].

    Dated: April 21, 2009.
Marcia K. Brand,
Deputy Administrator.
[FR Doc. E9-9517 Filed 4-24-09; 8:45 am]
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