[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]
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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 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.
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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
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
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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
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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,
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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]
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