[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 81 (Thursday, April 25, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31751-31754]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-08899]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention


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

AGENCY: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Department of 
Health and Human Services (HHS).

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), located 
within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), announces the 
2024 Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) Lark 
Galloway-Gilliam for Advancing Health Equity Award Challenge (REACH 
Lark Award Challenge). This biennial challenge was established in 2019 
to recognize extraordinary individuals, organizations, or community 
coalitions associated with the REACH program whose work has contributed 
to the implementation of culturally tailored interventions that advance 
health equity, reduce health disparities, and increase community 
engagement to address preventable risk behaviors (e.g., tobacco use, 
poor nutrition, and physical inactivity).

DATES: The Challenge will accept applications from April 29, 2024, 
through June 21, 2024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stormie Israel, 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: 770-488-2964, Email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Racial and ethnic disparities in health 
remain pervasive across the United States. CDC administers REACH, a 
national program that provides funding to State and local health 
departments, tribes, universities, and community-based organizations. 
Since REACH was established in 1999, the program has demonstrated 
success in addressing these disparities and advancing 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.
    The intent of this challenge is to recognize individuals, 
organizations, or community coalitions associated with

[[Page 31752]]

the REACH program that meaningfully assisted with and carried out 
culturally tailored interventions that advance health equity, reduce 
health disparities, and increase community engagement to address 
preventable risk behaviors (e.g., tobacco use, poor nutrition, physical 
inactivity, and inadequate access to clinical services) in populations/
groups disproportionately affected by chronic disease; including, 
African American/Black, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, 
Hispanic or Latino, and Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander 
persons. 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 employed by individuals, organizations, or community 
coalitions applying or nominated for this award.
    Subject of Challenge Competition: The CDC's National Center for 
Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion is conducting this 
Challenge under the America Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully 
Promote Excellence in Technology, Education, and Science (COMPETES) 
Reauthorization Act of 2010, as amended (15 U.S.C. 3719).
    The ``applicant'' refers to each individual, organization, or 
community coalition that submits an application or nomination. The 
``nominee'' refers to each individual or organization/community 
coalition who is nominated, whether self-nominated or nominated by a 
separate individual or organization.
    Applicants will be asked to respond to a series of questions 
related to how the nominee assisted with and carried out culturally 
tailored interventions to advance health equity, reduce health 
disparities, and increase community engagement to address preventable 
risk behaviors (e.g., tobacco use, poor nutrition, physical inactivity, 
and inadequate access to clinical services) in populations or groups 
disproportionately affected by chronic disease, including African 
American/Black, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Hispanic or 
Latino, and Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander persons.
    Award Approving Official: Mandy K. Cohen, MD, MPH, Director, 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Administrator, Agency 
for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.

Eligibility Rules for Participating in the Challenge

    The REACH Lark Award Challenge is open to the public. To be 
eligible for this award, nominees must meet the following eligibility 
requirements:
    (1) Shall have completed the application (for self-nominees) or 
have had an application submitted on their behalf (for those nominated 
by others) 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 a former or current REACH 
recipient (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 on REACH-related work with a 
current or previously funded REACH recipient;
    (3) Shall not have been a REACH Lark Award Challenge recipient in 
any previous year;
    (4) Shall be either:
    a. A U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident, eighteen years of 
age or older, if the nominee is an individual or group of individuals; 
or
    b. Incorporated in and maintain a primary place of business in the 
United States, if the nominee is an entity; where 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;
    (5) Shall not be a federal entity or federal employee acting within 
the scope of their employment;
    (6) Shall not be an employee of or contractor of CDC;
    (7) Shall not use federal funds from a grant or cooperative 
agreement to develop COMPETES Act challenge applications for this 
challenge, if the applicant is a federal grantee;
    (8) Shall 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, if the applicant is a federal contractor;
    (9) Shall not be deemed ineligible because an individual or team 
applicant or nominee 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) By participating, the applicant represents, warrants, and 
agrees that the entry contains accurate information. If an applicant is 
nominating another individual, organization, community coalition (e.g., 
not self-nominating), the applicant must provide acknowledgement in 
writing that the nominee consents to being nominated.
    (11) Applicants and nominees must agree to be recognized if 
selected as a winner and agree to participate in an interview with CDC 
staff to provide information that may be used by CDC staff to write a 
success story that describes the intervention(s) that advanced health 
equity. Winners and their intervention(s) may be recognized, and the 
success story may be made public, including but not limited to press 
releases, the challenge website, and Division of Nutrition, Physical 
Activity, and Obesity and CDC Resources, and other publicly available 
platforms (e.g., social media, CDC website, etc.).
    (12) By participating in this challenge, applicants agree to assume 
any and all risks related to participating in the challenge. Applicants 
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.
    Applicants and nominees who are not selected for the award may be 
asked for permission for CDC to share information about successful 
interventions that promoted health equity on CDC's Division of 
Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity website, the CDC website, 
social media, or other platform generally with appropriate attribution 
to the applicant or nominee.

Registration Process for Participants

    To participate and submit an application, interested parties should 
go to https://www.challenge.gov. The application requires responses to 
questions related to eligibility, followed by three questions related 
to the nominee's work; the answer to each of the three questions should 
be no longer than 300 words. Applicants can also submit supplemental 
materials that demonstrate the nominee's work and/or impact. 
Supplemental materials are not to exceed 10 total pages. Examples of 
supplementary materials include PDF of online content and other forms 
of written materials (e.g., news articles, evaluation reports, or 
success stories).

Amount of the Prize

    No cash prize will be awarded. A maximum of two applicants (one

[[Page 31753]]

individual and one organization/community coalition) associated with 
the REACH program will be a recipient of the 2024 REACH Lark Award. 
Recipients of the REACH Lark Award will receive a plaque (``Winner''). 
While the winners may be invited to meetings by CDC, attendance at such 
events is not required as a condition of accepting the award.

Basis Upon Which Winners Will Be Selected

    CDC's Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity's 
(DNPAO's) Office of Policy Partnerships and Communication (OPPC) will 
select three to five judges based on their knowledge of the REACH 
program, the science and practice of achieving health equity, and the 
elimination of health disparities at the national, state, or local 
levels. Judges may include REACH program senior advisors, other CDC 
employees, or nonfederal individuals from outside the agency. 
Participating as a previous REACH Lark Award judge does not disqualify 
an individual or organization from being an award recipient for the 
2024 challenge. Conflict of interest issues related to Judges will be 
handled, per the COMPETES Act (15 U.S.C. 3719(k)(2)).
    Judges will review the applications and select up to two award 
recipients (one individual and one organization or community coalition) 
from all eligible entries based on:
    (1) Community Context and Challenge(s)--The following questions 
address the challenges of the community in which the nominee works/
worked. (10 points)
    (a) Describe the priority population with whom the nominee worked. 
(5 points)
    Scoring will be based on the extent to which the nominee worked to 
address chronic disease risk factors among priority populations 
experiencing health disparities for chronic diseases including the 
following: Black or African American people, American Indian/Alaska 
Native people, Hispanic or Latino people, Asian people, and/or Native 
Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander people.
    (b) Describe the preventable risk factors associated with chronic 
diseases (hypertension, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and/or obesity) 
that the nominee addressed. (5 points)
    Scoring will be based on the extent to which the risk factor(s) 
addressed align with the REACH program's goals of advancing health 
equity. Information about past REACH programs can be found here: 
https://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpao/state-local-programs/reach/past_programs/index.htm. Examples of risk factors that align with the 
goals of the REACH program include poor nutrition, physical inactivity, 
inadequate access to clinical services, and tobacco use.
    (c) Describe any relevant additional community characteristics/
challenges that will help the judges understand the context of the 
community in which the nominee worked. (Not scored).
    (2) Strategies--The following questions pertain to strategies used 
by the nominee to address the challenge(s) discussed above. (30 points)
    (a) Describe the strategies that the nominee used to address 
challenges and how the nominee's work aligns with the CDC REACH 
program's goals of advancing health equity. (15 points)
    Scoring will be based on the extent to which the nominee's work 
contributed to developing, implementing, and/or evaluating strategies 
that were:

(1) Evidence-based or practice-based (5 points)
(2) Culturally tailored and designed to reduce health inequities (5 
points)
(3) Supportive of policy, systems, and/or environmental change (5 
points)

    (b) Describe how the nominee's work actively and effectively 
engaged members of the community and partners across different sectors, 
such as, but not limited to transportation, healthcare, agriculture, 
emergency food systems, and faith-based and community-based 
organizations. (15 points)
    Scoring will be based on the extent to which the nominee engaged 
members of the community and partners across different sectors in 
identifying and implementing strategies.
    (3) Impact--The following questions pertain to the impact of the 
nominee's work on addressing preventable risk factors in a 
population(s)/group(s) disproportionately affected by chronic diseases. 
(20 points)
    (a) Describe the impact of the nominee's work on addressing 
preventable risk factors in populations/groups disproportionately 
affected by chronic diseases. (20 points)
    (i) To the extent possible, provide quantitative data that support 
impact statements (e.g., number of people served by a strategy, number 
of people reporting a behavior change, health outcome data if 
available, etc.).
    (ii) Provide qualitative data from community members, partners, co-
workers, etc., (e.g., success stories, testimonials, etc.) that provide 
insight into the impact of nominee's work.
    Scoring will be based on the extent to which the nominee's work 
resulted in progress toward addressing preventable risk factors in the 
population(s)/group(s) identified in Section 1. While quantitative data 
is not required, nominations that include quantitative and qualitative 
data are more likely to paint a more complete picture of the nominee's 
contributions and their impact on the community.
    Judges will use the point system outlined in the judging criteria 
above to select the winner(s).

Additional Information

    Information about the winners, such as the name and location of the 
individual, organization, or community coalition, priority population 
served, and health outcomes addressed may be shared through press 
releases, the challenge website, and Division of Nutrition, Physical 
Activity, and Obesity and CDC Resources, and other publicly available 
platforms (e.g., social media, CDC website, etc.) Details regarding the 
winners and their applications may be shared with the public as part of 
recognition efforts.
    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 Los 
Angeles County. Lark led the CHC team to engage communities and 
strengthen the connections among organizations to improve health, 
eliminate disparities, and advance health equity. Lark also served in 
several leadership roles, including the first president of the National 
REACH Coalition, the MLK Medical Center Advisory Board, and the 
Institute for People, Place, and Possibility (IP3) Board of Directors 
for Community Commons.

Compliance with Rules and Contacting Challenge Winners

    Applicants, nominees, and the REACH Lark Award Challenge winners 
must comply with all terms and conditions of these Official Rules and 
winning is contingent upon fulfilling all requirements herein. The 
winners 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 application form through the 
Challenge.gov website, that information will only be used to respond to 
contestants in matters regarding their submission,

[[Page 31754]]

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

    CDC reserves the right to cancel, suspend, and/or modify the 
Challenge, or any part of it, for any reason, at 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 https://www.Challenge.gov.
    Authority: 15 U.S.C. 3719.

Noah Aleshire,
Chief Regulatory Officer, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2024-08899 Filed 4-24-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P