[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 125 (Friday, June 28, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Page 54006]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-14227]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Community Living


Intent to Award a Single-Source Supplement for the Expanding ACL 
Innovation Lab

AGENCY: Administration for Community Living, HHS.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Administration for Community Living (ACL) announces the 
intent to award a single-source supplement to the current cooperative 
agreement held by the National Council on Aging for the ACL Innovation 
Lab (``the Lab'') program. The purpose of the Lab is to support 
research, demonstration, and evaluation efforts related to falls 
prevention amongst older adults and older adults with disabilities.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information or comments 
regarding this program supplement, contact Shannon Skowronski, U.S. 
Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Community 
Living, Center for Policy and Evaluation, Office of Performance and 
Evaluation; telephone (202) 795-7438 email 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The primary activities of the ACL Innovation 
Lab include:
     Developing a taxonomy for falls prevention research.
     Funding a cohort of sub-awards to community-based entities 
across the nation to conduct research to understand and measure the 
extent to which existing interventions reduce falls and risk factors.
     Developing a secure, dynamic system to house the data 
collected and evidence developed by sub-awardees.
     Serving as a national focal point for technical assistance 
that supports the delivery and scaling of effective falls prevention 
interventions across the aging network.
    The supplement for FY 2024 will be approximately $4,441,320 and 
will not be used for projects or activities outside the scope of the 
approved award. The supplement will provide sufficient resources for:
     increasing the number and geographic reach of sub-awards 
to community-based entities.
     providing enhanced technical assistance, with a particular 
focus on individually tailored supports for sub-awardees, data 
collection, navigating and securing Institutional Review Board 
approval, and expanding dissemination.
    Program Name: ACL Innovation Lab.
    Recipient: The National Council on Aging.
    Period of Performance: September 1, 2023 through August 31, 2026 
(fully-funded).
    Award Amount: Approximately $4,441,320.
    Award Type: Cooperative Agreement Supplement.
    Statutory Authority: Older Americans Act of 1965, sections 201 and 
411, as amended through Pub. L. 116-131 (42 U.S.C. 3011, 42 U.S.C. 
3032).
    Basis for Award: The National Council on Aging (NCOA) is currently 
funded to serve as the first-ever ACL Innovation Lab (``the Lab'') for 
the period of September 1, 2023 through August 31, 2026. Since project 
implementation began in September 2023, the grantee has accomplished a 
great deal. This supplement will enable the grantee to carry their work 
even further, providing additional sub-grants and enhanced technical 
assistance to advance falls prevention efforts across the nation.
    The NCOA is uniquely positioned to complete the work called for 
under this project. NCOA's primary partners on this project include 
Impact Genome and a Research Advisory Committee, comprised of experts 
in the fields of falls prevention, community-based participatory 
research, and related areas.
    Establishing an entirely new grant project for this program would 
be potentially disruptive to efforts currently underway. The Lab was 
authorized in 2020, but not funded and established until FY2023. Work 
is currently underway to build a solid foundation and infrastructure 
for the Lab. If this supplement were not provided, this would make it 
difficult to build the comprehensive and dynamic infrastructure needed 
to advance the goals and efforts of this program for years to come. 
Building a parallel infrastructure this early in the process would 
likely result in duplication of effort. In addition, it has become 
evident that sub-awardee technical assistance needs will exceed initial 
estimates. Providing this supplement to NCOA will allow for the greater 
realization of Congress' intent in Titles II and IV of the Older 
Americans Act (OAA), which calls for the establishment of a Research, 
Demonstration, and Evaluation Center (``the Lab'') for the purposes of 
``[conducting] research, research dissemination, evaluation, 
demonstration projects, and related activities . . .; ``[providing] 
assessment of the programs and interventions authorized under [the 
OAA]; and ``[increasing the repository of information on evidence-based 
programs and interventions available to the aging network . . .'' 
(Title II) and supporting ``applied social research, aligned with 
evidence-based practice, and analysis to improve access to and delivery 
of services for older individuals . . .'' (Title IV).

    Dated: June 24, 2024.
Alison Barkoff,
Principal Deputy Administrator for the Administration for Community 
Living, performing the delegable duties of the Administrator and 
Assistant Secretary for Aging.
[FR Doc. 2024-14227 Filed 6-27-24; 8:45 am]
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