[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 181 (Wednesday, September 18, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49108-49110]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-20162]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention


Announcement of Requirements and Registration for The REACH Lark 
Galloway-Gilliam Nomination for Advancing Health Equity (REACH Lark 
Award)

AGENCY: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Department of 
Health and Human Services (HHS).
    Award Approving Official: Robert R. Redfield, M.D., Director, 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and

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Administrator, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) located 
within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announces the 
launch of the REACH Lark Galloway-Gilliam Nomination for Advancing 
Health Equity Award (REACH Lark Award). Racial and ethnic disparities 
in health remain pervasive across the United States. Over the last 20 
years, the Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) 
program has demonstrated success in addressing these disparities and 
promoting health equity by engaging with diverse communities and 
implementing culturally tailored interventions. For more information 
about the REACH Program, visit https://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpao/state-local-programs/reach/index.htm.
    This award honors extraordinary individuals, organizations, or 
community coalitions associated with the REACH program that have made 
significant advances in the science and/or practice of improving health 
equity, and the elimination of health disparities at the national, 
state, or local levels. The intent of the challenge is to recognize 
efforts made by individuals or teams that meaningfully engage 
communities to remove barriers to health by addressing factors such as 
race, ethnicity, education, income, location, and other social 
determinants of health. To support the science and practice of 
improving health equity, this challenge can help further the goals of 
the REACH program by documenting and further disseminating the 
innovative or unique interventions that led to reduced health 
disparities achieved by those applying for this award.

DATES: The Challenge will accept nominations from December 1, 2019 
through January 28, 2020.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Delia Sikes, Division of Nutrition, 
Physical Activity, and Obesity, National Center for Chronic Disease 
Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention, 4770 Buford Hwy. NE, Mailstop S107-5, Atlanta, GA 30341, 
Telephone: 770-488-5035, Email: [email protected]; subject line of 
email: REACH Lark Award.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Subject of Challenge Competition

    The challenge is authorized by Public Law 111-358, the America 
Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in 
Technology, Education and Science Reauthorization Act of 2010 (COMPETES 
Act).
    Applicants will be asked to describe how they assisted with and/or 
successfully implemented culturally tailored interventions that 
ultimately led to reduced health disparities in chronic conditions 
including hypertension, heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, or obesity and 
associated risk behaviors of physical inactivity, poor nutrition, or 
smoking. This challenge will highlight how diverse communities were 
engaged to address health disparities and achieve one of the following 
listed below:
    (1) Address preventable risk behaviors (tobacco use, poor nutrition 
and physical inactivity); or
    (2) Link community and clinical efforts to increase access to 
healthcare and preventive care programs at the community level; or
    (3) Support implementation, evaluation and dissemination of 
practice- and evidence-based strategies related to tobacco, nutrition, 
physical activity, or community-clinical linkages.

Eligibility Rules for Participating in the Competition

    To be eligible to be recognized for this award under this 
challenge, an individual or team--
    (1) Shall have completed the application for the competition under 
the rules promulgated by HHS/CDC;
    (2) Shall have complied with all the requirements under this 
section and satisfy one of the following requirements:
    a. Be a currently- or previously-funded CDC REACH recipient that 
has not previously received the REACH Lark Award in any year; or
    b. Be a technical assistance provider to former or current REACH 
recipients (Current and past REACH recipients can be found at: https://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpao/state-local-programs/reach/index.htm); or
    c. Be a partner organization, part of a partner network, or 
coalition members that collaborated with current or previously funded 
REACH recipients;
    (3) Shall be a U.S. citizen or legal resident thirteen years of age 
or older. In the case of a private entity, shall be incorporated in and 
maintain a primary place of business in the United States, and in the 
case of an individual, whether participating singly or in a group, 
shall be a citizen or permanent resident of the United States. The 
United States means a State, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth 
of Puerto Rico, and any other territory or possession of the United 
States; and
    (4) Shall not be a Federal entity or Federal employee acting within 
the scope of their employment.
    (5) Shall not be an HHS employee working on their applications or 
submissions during assigned duty hours;
    (6) Shall not be an employee of or contractor at/within CDC;
    (7) Federal grantees may not use Federal funds to develop COMPETES 
Act challenge applications for this challenge.
    (8) Federal contractors may not use Federal funds from a contract 
to develop COMPETES Act challenge applications or to fund efforts in 
support of a COMPETES Act challenge submission.
    (9) An individual or team shall not be deemed ineligible because 
the individual or team used Federal facilities or consulted with 
Federal employees during a competition if the facilities and employees 
are made available to all individuals and entities participating in the 
competition on an equitable basis.
    (10) Each individual or team who applies is referred to as the 
``Applicant'' and by participating in this challenge, represents, 
warrants, and agrees that the entry contains accurate information.
    (11) Must agree to be recognized and agree to participate in an 
interview to develop a success story that describes the intervention(s) 
that promoted health equity. Applicants may be recognized on the 
Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity, CDC website and/
or the CDC website generally. For instance, interventions used by 
certain applicants that promote health equity may be written into a 
success story, placed on the Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, 
and Obesity website, and/or CDC website, and attributed to the 
applicants.
    (12) By participating in this challenge, individuals and 
organizations agree to assume any and all risks related to 
participating in the challenge. Individuals or organizations also agree 
to waive claims against the Federal Government and its related 
entities, except in the case of willful misconduct, when participating 
in the challenge, including claims for injury; death; damage; or loss 
of property, money, or profits, and including those risks caused by 
negligence or other causes.
    (13) No cash prize will be awarded. The selected nomination will 
receive a plaque and recognition.

Registration Process for Participants

    To compete for this award, individuals and entities may submit an 
application. Interested parties should go to https://www.cdc.gov/
nccdphp/

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dnpao/state-local-programs/reach/index.htm or https://www.challenge.gov. On these sites, applicants will find the guidelines 
for participating. Applying will require applicants to provide a free-
text written statement of 500 words or less that describes the unique 
and innovative approach that led to reduced health disparities in 
chronic disease.

Amount of the Prize

    A maximum of one (1) Applicant (individual or team) will receive a 
plaque (``Winner''). While the winner may be invited to meetings by CDC 
or non-federal individuals/organizations from outside the agency, 
attendance at such events is not required as a condition of accepting 
the Prize. No cash prize will be awarded. The selected applicant will 
receive a plaque and recognition.

Basis Upon Which Winner Will Be Selected

    CDC- or non-federal individuals from outside the agency will 
facilitate a panel of three to five experts consisting of CDC staff and 
other national experts to review the applications and select a winning 
entry from all eligible entries based on the following judging 
criteria:
     The extent to which the applicant's work shows alignment 
with CDC Office of Minority Health and Health Equity (OMHHE) health 
equity goals to decrease health disparities, address social 
determinants of health, and promote access to high quality preventive 
healthcare. (20 points)
     The extent to which the applicant's work addressed health 
issues, including hypertension, heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, and/or 
obesity, and/or addressed the following preventable risk behaviors: 
Tobacco use, poor nutrition, or physical inactivity. (20 points)
     The extent to which the applicant's work demonstrated 
success in systems improvement that impacted health outcomes in one or 
more of the following areas: Access to quality care, education, 
employment, income, community environment, housing, and public safety. 
(20 points)
     The extent to which the applicant's work provided a unique 
or innovative solution to improving outcomes for groups most affected 
by health disparities, specifically, African Americans/Blacks, American 
Indians/Alaska Natives, Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Native 
Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders. (20 points)
     The extent to which the applicant engaged members of the 
community across different sectors and successfully demonstrated the 
development and/or implementation and/or evaluation of the work within 
the community related to groups most affected by health disparities. 
(20 points)
    Judges will use a point system out of 100 to select the winner 
putting equal emphasis on the bases discussed above. In addition to the 
500 word or less free-text written statement, applicants can also 
submit evidence that demonstrates that the criteria were met through 
publications, links to online content, and other forms of written 
material.
    After the selection process has been completed, up to 9 applicants 
(inclusive of the winner) may be asked to participate in a post-
challenge telephone discussion about the interventions used by the 
individual or team to successfully promote health equity and reduce 
health disparities. Themes from these discussions may be shared 
publicly to provide additional information to promote innovative and 
unique interventions that led to reduced health disparities.

Additional Information

    The challenge website may post the number of applications received 
but will not include confidential or proprietary information about 
individual applicants. The information submitted by applicants will not 
be posted on the website. Information collected from applicants will 
include general details, such as the business name, address, and 
contact information of the nominee. This type of information is 
generally publicly available.
    Information for the Winner, such as the name of the individual or 
team, location, priority population, and health outcomes will be shared 
through press releases, the challenge website, and Division of 
Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity and CDC Resources. Details 
regarding the Winner and its application may be shared with the public 
as part of a success story.
    The award is named in honor of Lark Galloway-Gilliam, the founding 
Executive Director of Community Health Councils, Inc. (CHC). CHC began 
in 1992 to support planning, resource development, and policy education 
in response to the growing health crisis in the South Los Angeles area 
and other under-resourced and marginalized communities throughout LA 
County. Lark led the CHC team to engage communities and strengthen the 
connections among organizations in order to improve health, eliminate 
disparities, and achieve health equity. Under Lark's leadership, CHC 
became an expert in health equity in Los Angeles, across California, 
and the country. Lark also served in several leadership roles, 
including the first president of the National REACH Coalition, the MLK 
Medical center Advisory Board, and the IP3 Board of Directors for 
Community Commons.

Compliance With Rules and Contacting Challenge Winners

    Applicants and the Challenge Winner (and all members of the team, 
if a team is selected as the Winner) must comply with all terms and 
conditions of these Official Rules, and winning is contingent upon 
fulfilling all requirements herein. The Winner will be notified by 
email, telephone, or mail after the date of the judging.

Privacy

    If applicants choose to provide HHS/CDC with personal information 
by registering or filling out the submission form through the 
Challenge.gov website, that information is used to respond to 
Contestants in matters regarding their submission, announcements of 
entrants, finalists, and winners of the Contest. Information is not 
collected for commercial marketing. Winners are permitted to cite that 
they won this contest.

General Conditions

    HHS/CDC reserves the right to cancel, suspend, and/or modify the 
Challenge, or any part of it, for any reason, at HHS/CDC's sole 
discretion.
    Participation in this Challenge constitutes an applicants' full and 
unconditional agreement to abide by the Challenge's Official Rules 
found at www.Challenge.gov.

    Authority:  15 U.S.C. 3719.

    Dated: September 12, 2019.
Sandra Cashman,
Executive Secretary, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2019-20162 Filed 9-17-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4163-18-P