[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 12 (Tuesday, January 20, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2992-2996]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-1217]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration


Fiscal Year (FY) 1998 Funding Opportunities

AGENCY: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, HHS.

ACTION: Notice of Funding Availability.

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SUMMARY: The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration 
(SAMHSA) Center for Mental Health Services announces the availability 
of FY 1998 funds for grants and cooperative agreements for the 
following activities. These activities are discussed in more detail 
under Section 4 of this notice. This notice is not a complete 
description of the activities; potential applicants must obtain a copy 
of the Guidance for Applicants (GFA) before preparing an application.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                               Estimated                        
                                                                 Application     funds      Estimated    Project
                            Activity                               deadline    available      No. of     period 
                                                                               (millions)     awards            
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Circles of Care................................................     04/03/98         $2.4          6-8    3 yrs.
Consumer-Operated Service Program..............................     04/09/98          5.0            9    4 yrs.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Note: SAMHSA also published a notice of available funding 
opportunities in FY 1998 in the Federal Register (Vol. 63, No. 3) on 
Tuesday, January 6, 1998.

    The actual amount available for awards and their allocation may 
vary, depending on unanticipated program requirements and the volume 
and quality of applications. Awards are usually made for grant periods 
from one to three years in duration. FY 1998 funds for activities 
discussed in this announcement were appropriated by the Congress under 
Public Law No. 105-78. SAMHSA's policies and procedures for peer review 
and Advisory Council review of grant and cooperative agreement 
applications were published in the Federal Register (Vol. 58, No. 126) 
on July 2, 1993.
    The Public Health Service (PHS) is committed to achieving the 
health promotion and disease prevention objectives of Healthy People 
2000, a PHS-led national activity for setting priority areas. The 
SAMHSA Centers' substance abuse and mental health services activities 
address issues related to Healthy People 2000 objectives of Mental 
Health and Mental Disorders; Alcohol and Other Drugs; Clinical 
Preventive Services; HIV Infection; and Surveillance and Data Systems. 
Potential applicants may obtain a copy of Healthy People 2000 (Full 
Report: Stock No. 017-001-00474-0) or Summary Report: Stock No. 017-
001-00473-1) through the Superintendent of Documents, Government 
Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402-9325 (Telephone: 202-512-1800).
    General Instructions: Applicants must use application form PHS 
5161-1 (Rev. 5/96; OMB No. 0937-0189). The application kit contains the 
GFA (complete programmatic guidance and instructions for preparing and 
submitting applications), the PHS 5161-1 which includes Standard Form 
424 (Face Page), and other documentation and forms. Application kits 
may be obtained from the organization specified for each activity 
covered by this notice (see Section 4).
    When requesting an application kit, the applicant must specify the 
particular activity for which detailed information is desired. This is 
to ensure receipt of all necessary forms and information, including any 
specific program review and award criteria.
    The PHS 5161-1 application form and the full text of each of the 
activities (i.e., the GFA) described in Section 4 are available 
electronically via SAMHSA's World Wide Web Home Page (address: <a href="http://
www.samhsa.gov">http://
www.samhsa.gov</a>).
    Application Submission: Unless otherwise stated in the GFA,

[[Page 2993]]

applications must be submitted to: SAMHSA Programs, Center for 
Scientific Review, National Institutes of Health, Suite 1040, 6701 
Rockledge Drive MSC-7710, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-7710.*


________________

(* Applicants who wish to use express mail or courier service should 
change the zip code to 20817.)

    Application Deadlines: The deadlines for receipt of applications 
are listed in the table above. Please note that the deadlines may 
differ for the individual activities.
    Competing applications must be received by the indicated receipt 
dates to be accepted for review. An application received after the 
deadline may be acceptable if it carries a legible proof-of-mailing 
date assigned by the carrier and that date is not later than one week 
prior to the deadline date. Private metered postmarks are not 
acceptable as proof of timely mailing.
    Applications received after the deadline date and those sent to an 
address other than the address specified above will be returned to the 
applicant without review.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for activity-specific 
technical information should be directed to the program contact person 
identified for each activity covered by this notice (see Section 4).

    Requests for information concerning business management issues 
should be directed to the grants management contact person identified 
for each activity covered by this notice (see Section 4).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: To facilitate the use of this Notice of 
Funding Availability, information has been organized as outlined in the 
Table of Contents below. For each activity, the following information 
is provided:
    <bullet> Application Deadline
    <bullet> Purpose
    <bullet> Priorities
    <bullet> Eligible Applicants
    <bullet> Grants/Cooperative Agreements/Amounts
    <bullet> Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number
    <bullet> Contacts
    <bullet> Application Kits

Table of Contents

1. Program Background and Objectives
2. Special Concerns
3. Criteria for Review and Funding
    3.1 General Review Criteria
    3.2 Funding Criteria for Scored Applications
4. Special FY 1998 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services 
Activities
    4.1 Grants
    4.1.1 Circles of Care: Planning, Designing, and Assessing Mental 
Health Service System Models for Native American Indian and Alaska 
Native Children and Their Families
    4.2 Cooperative Agreements
    4.2.1 Cooperative Agreements to Evaluate Consumer-Operated Human 
Service Programs for Persons with Serious Mental Illness (Consumer-
Operated Service Program)
5. Public Health System Reporting Requirements
6. PHS Non-use of Tobacco Policy Statement
7. Executive Order 12372

1. Program Background and Objectives

    SAMHSA's mission within the Nation's health system is to improve 
the quality and availability of prevention, early intervention, 
treatment, and rehabilitation services for substance abuse and mental 
illnesses, including co-occurring disorders, in order to improve health 
and reduce illness, death, disability, and cost to society.
    Reinventing government, with its emphases on redefining the role of 
Federal agencies and on improving customer service, has provided SAMHSA 
with a welcome opportunity to examine carefully its programs and 
activities. As a result of that process, SAMHSA moved assertively to 
create a renewed and strategic emphasis on using its resources to 
generate knowledge about ways to improve the prevention and treatment 
of substance abuse and mental illness and to work with State and local 
governments as well as providers, families, and consumers to 
effectively use that knowledge in everyday practice.
    SAMHSA's FY 1998 Knowledge Development and Application (KD&A) 
agenda is the outcome of a process whereby providers, services 
researchers, consumers, National Advisory Council members and other 
interested persons participated in special meetings or responded to 
calls for suggestions and reactions. From this input, each SAMHSA 
Center developed a ``menu'' of suggested topics. The topics were 
discussed jointly and an agency agenda of critical topics was agreed 
to. The selection of topics depended heavily on policy importance and 
on the existence of adequate research and practitioner experience on 
which to base studies. While SAMHSA's FY 1998 KD&A programs will 
sometimes involve the evaluation of some delivery of services, they are 
services studies and application activities, not merely evaluation, 
since they are aimed at answering policy-relevant questions and putting 
that knowledge to use.
    SAMHSA differs from other agencies in focusing on needed 
information at the services delivery level, and in its question-focus. 
Dissemination and application are integral, major features of the 
programs. SAMHSA believes that it is important to get the information 
into the hands of the public, providers, and systems administrators as 
effectively as possible. Technical assistance, training, preparation of 
special materials will be used, in addition to normal communications 
means.
    SAMHSA also continues to fund legislatively-mandated services 
programs for which funds are appropriated.

2. Special Concerns

    SAMHSA's legislatively-mandated services programs do provide funds 
for mental health and/or substance abuse treatment and prevention 
services. However, SAMHSA's KD&A activities do not provide funds for 
mental health and/or substance abuse treatment and prevention services 
except sometimes for costs required by the particular activity's study 
design. Applicants are required to propose true knowledge application 
or knowledge development and application projects. Applications seeking 
funding for services projects under a KD&A activity will be considered 
nonresponsive.
    Applications that are incomplete or nonresponsive to the GFA will 
be returned to the applicant without further consideration.

3. Criteria for Review and Funding

    Consistent with the statutory mandate for SAMHSA to support 
activities that will improve the provision of treatment, prevention and 
related services, including the development of national mental health 
and substance abuse goals and model programs, competing applications 
requesting funding under the specific project activities in Section 4 
will be reviewed for technical merit in accordance with established 
PHS/SAMHSA peer review procedures.

3.1  General Review Criteria

    As published in the Federal Register on July 2, 1993 (Vol. 58, No. 
126), SAMHSA's ``Peer Review and Advisory Council Review of Grant and 
Cooperative Agreement Applications and Contract Proposals,'' peer 
review groups will take into account, among other factors as may be 
specified in the application guidance materials, the following general 
criteria:
    <bullet> Potential significance of the proposed project;
    <bullet> Appropriateness of the applicant's proposed objectives to 
the goals of the specific program;

[[Page 2994]]

    <bullet> Adequacy and appropriateness of the proposed approach and 
activities;
    <bullet> Adequacy of available resources, such as facilities and 
equipment;
    <bullet> Qualifications and experience of the applicant 
organization, the project director, and other key personnel; and
    <bullet> Reasonableness of the proposed budget.

3.2  Funding Criteria for Scored Applications

    Applications will be considered for funding on the basis of their 
overall technical merit as determined through the peer review group and 
the appropriate National Advisory Council (if applicable) review 
process.
    Other funding criteria will include:
    <bullet> Availability of funds.
    Additional funding criteria specific to the programmatic activity 
may be included in the application guidance materials.

4.  Special FY 1998 Mental Health Activities

4.1  Grants

4.1.1  Circles of Care: Planning, Designing, and Assessing Mental 
Health Service System Models for Native American Indian and Alaska 
Native Children and Their Families

    <bullet> Application Deadline: April 3, 1998
    <bullet> Purpose: Six to eight grants will be awarded to plan, 
design, and assess the feasibility of implementing a culturally 
appropriate mental health service model for American Indian/Alaska 
Native children with serious emotional disturbances and their families. 
The purpose of this program is to support the development of mental 
health service delivery models that are designed by American Indian/
Alaska Native communities to achieve outcomes for their children that 
they choose for themselves. Formulation and evaluation of programs 
based directly on the needs, values, and principles of the grantee 
organizations will provide an information base for other programs 
interested in structuring culturally relevant children's mental health 
service systems.
    Grantees will engage in a strategic planning process, design a 
service model, and conduct a feasibility assessment of the model, 
including a cost and funding analysis. Actual services will not be 
funded but the intent of the program is to position tribal and urban 
Indian organizations advantageously for future service system 
implementation and development when opportunities for funding services 
are available.
    <bullet> Priorities: None
    <bullet> Eligible Applicants: Applications may be submitted by 
federally acknowledged tribes and tribal organizations. Urban Indian 
organizations are eligible to apply if they are a nonprofit corporate 
body situated in an urban center, governed by a board of directors of 
whom at least 51% are American Indian/Alaska Natives, and provide for 
the participation of all interested Indian groups and individuals. The 
applicant must be capable of legally cooperating with other public and 
private entities for the purposes of performing the activities of this 
program.
    The primary intent of the ``Circles of Care'' program is to support 
the development of mental health service delivery models that are 
designed by American Indian/Alaska Native communities to achieve 
outcomes for their children that they chose for themselves. Models 
designed for American Indian/Alaska Native communities by people other 
than American Indian/Alaska Natives are already available. This program 
will enable community members to develop models to juxtapose with those 
not designed by Indians to find which are best for meeting their 
service needs. To be effective and have the cooperation and confidence 
of the community, the applicant must be representative of the 
community, in addition to demonstrating the ability to fulfill the 
technical requirements of the GFA.
    <bullet> Grants/Amounts: It is estimated that approximately $2.4 
million will be available to support approximately 6-8 awards in FY 
1998. Actual funding levels for subsequent years will depend on 
availability of appropriated funds.
    <bullet> Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number: 93.230
    <bullet> Program Contact: For programmatic or technical assistance 
contact: Gary De Carolis, M.ED., Center for Mental Health Services, 
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Parklawn 
Building, Room 18-49, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, Maryland 20857, 
(301) 443-1333.
    <bullet> Grants Management Contact: For business management 
assistance, contact: Stephen J. Hudak, Grants Management Specialist, 
Division of Grants Management, OPS, Substance Abuse and Mental Health 
Services Administration, Parklawn Building, Room 15C-05, 5600 Fishers 
Lane, Rockville, Maryland 20857, (301) 443-4456.
    <bullet> Application Kits: Application kits are available from: 
National Mental Health Services, Knowledge Exchange Network (KEN), P.O. 
Box 42490, Washington, D.C. 20015, Voice: (800) 789-2647, TTY: (301) 
443-9006.
    <bullet> CMHS intends to sponsor two technical assistance workshops 
for potential applicants to provide guidance on completing the grant 
application. One workshop will be held in the eastern part of the 
country; the other will be held in the western part of the country. 
Letters from CMHS will be mailed to all 550 federally recognized tribes 
and urban Indian organizations to inform them of the meeting(s). For 
more information, potential applicants may contact: Kathy McGregor, 
Project Coordinator, National Indian Child Welfare Association, 3611 SW 
Hood Street, Suite 201, Portland, OR 97201, (503-222-4044).

4.2  Cooperative Agreements

    A major activity for a SAMHSA cooperative agreement program is 
discussed below. Substantive Federal programmatic involvement is 
required in cooperative agreement programs. Federal involvement will 
include planning, guidance, coordination, and participating in 
programmatic activities (e.g., participation in publication of findings 
and on steering committees). Periodic meetings, conferences and/or 
communications with the award recipients may be held to review mutually 
agreed-upon goals and objectives and to assess progress. Additional 
details on the degree of Federal programmatic involvement will be 
included in the application guidance materials.

4.2.1  Cooperative Agreements to Evaluate Consumer-Operated Human 
Service Programs for Persons With Serious Mental Illness (Consumer-
Operated Service Program)

    <bullet> Application Deadline: April 9, 1998.
    <bullet> Purpose: This Guidance for Applicants (GFA) solicits 
applications for two types of cooperative agreements--Study Sites and a 
Coordinating Center. The purpose of this Program is to assess the 
extent to which consumer-operated services are effective in improving 
rehabilitation and recovery of individuals with serious mental illness. 
It also seeks to determine to what extent participation in such 
services affect costs.
    Specific questions to be addressed are:
    1. To what extent does participation in a consumer-operated service 
program affect selected consumer outcomes for consumers who use 
traditional service programs?
    The selected outcomes are empowerment, housing, employment

[[Page 2995]]

(such as transition from unemployment to employment), social inclusion, 
and satisfaction with services. This core question is to be addressed 
in both the individual Study Site evaluation and the multi-site 
evaluation to be coordinated by the Coordinating Center.
    2. To what extent does participation in a consumer-operated service 
program affect costs for the following: inpatient hospitalization, 
crisis intervention, and emergency room utilization as well as 
offsetting costs in housing, criminal justice, vocational 
rehabilitation, physical health care, and income support?
    Examination of patterns of service use of retrospective or 
prospective ``claims'' data on service utilization will be coordinated 
by the Coordinating Center.
    While individual Study Sites will provide the necessary information 
for the cost-study, the Coordinating Center will be responsible for 
developing a design and method for collecting and analyzing all 
information for the cost-study.
    A goal of the Program is to create strong and productive 
partnerships among consumers, service providers and services 
researchers that demonstrate to the field that these groups are capable 
of complementing each other's strengths and that their joint efforts 
will yield the most effective service delivery models possible.
    Another goal is to disseminate the knowledge gained about the 
effectiveness of these projects and the specific components that 
contributed to their success.
    <bullet> Priorities: None.
    <bullet> Eligible Applicants: Applications to be a Study Site or a 
Coordinating Center may be submitted by public organizations, such as 
units of State or local governments and by domestic private nonprofit 
and for-profit organizations such as community-based organizations, 
universities, colleges, and hospitals, and family and/or consumer 
operated organizations. Since CMHS seeks to study established consumer-
operated and traditional programs, both program entities must have been 
operational for a minimum of 2 years at the time of the submission of 
the study site application. Applicants may apply to be a Study Site or 
a Coordinating Center, but not both.
    <bullet> Cooperative Agreements/Amounts: It is estimated that 
approximately $5 million will be available to support approximately 
eight (8) Study Site awards and one (1) Coordinating Center under this 
GFA in FY 1998. The average award to support each Study Site is 
expected to range from $400,000 to $600,000 in total costs 
(direct+indirect) per year. The award to support the Coordinating 
Center is expected to be in the range of $700,000 to $900,000 in total 
costs (direct+indirect) per year. Actual funding levels will depend 
upon the availability of appropriated funds.
    <bullet> Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number: 93.230.
    <bullet> Program Contact: For programmatic or technical assistance 
contact: William R. McKinnon, Ph.D., Community Support Programs Branch, 
Division of Knowledge Development and Systems Change, Center for Mental 
Health Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services 
Administration, 5600 Fishers Lane, Room 11C-22, Rockville, MD 20857, 
(301) 443-3655, or Paolo del Vecchio, Office of External Liaison, 
Center for Mental Health Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health 
Services Administration, 5600 Fishers Lane, Room 13C-103, Rockville, MD 
20857, (301) 443-2619.
    <bullet> Grants Management Contact: For business management 
assistance, contact: Stephen J. Hudak, Grants Management Specialist, 
Division of Grants Management, OPS, Substance Abuse and Mental Health 
Services Administration, 5600 Fishers Lane, Room 15C-05, Rockville, 
Maryland 20857, (301) 443-4456.
    <bullet> Application Kits: Application kits are available from: 
National Mental Health Services, Knowledge Exchange Network (KEN), P.O. 
Box 42490, Washington, DC 20015, Voice: (800) 789-2647, TTY: (301) 443-
9006, FAX: (301) 984-8796.

5. Public Health System Reporting Requirements

    The Public Health System Impact Statement (PHSIS) is intended to 
keep State and local health officials apprised of proposed health 
services grant and cooperative agreement applications submitted by 
community-based nongovernmental organizations within their 
jurisdictions.
    Community-based nongovernmental service providers who are not 
transmitting their applications through the State must submit a PHSIS 
to the head(s) of the appropriate State and local health agencies in 
the area(s) to be affected not later than the pertinent receipt date 
for applications. This PHSIS consists of the following information:
    a. A copy of the face page of the application (Standard form 424).
    b. A summary of the project (PHSIS), not to exceed one page, which 
provides:
    (1) A description of the population to be served.
    (2) A summary of the services to be provided.
    (3) A description of the coordination planned with the appropriate 
State or local health agencies.
    State and local governments and Indian Tribal Authority applicants 
are not subject to the Public Health System Reporting Requirements.
    Application guidance materials will specify if a particular FY 1998 
activity described above is/is not subject to the Public Health System 
Reporting Requirements.

6. PHS Non-use of Tobacco Policy Statement

    The PHS strongly encourages all grant and contract recipients to 
provide a smoke-free workplace and promote the non-use of all tobacco 
products. In addition, Public Law 103-227, the Pro-Children Act of 
1994, prohibits smoking in certain facilities (or in some cases, any 
portion of a facility) in which regular or routine education, library, 
day care, health care, or early childhood development services are 
provided to children. This is consistent with the PHS mission to 
protect and advance the physical and mental health of the American 
people.

7. Executive Order 12372

    Applications submitted in response to all FY 1998 activities listed 
above are subject to the intergovernmental review requirements of 
Executive Order 12372, as implemented through DHHS regulations at 45 
CFR Part 100. E.O. 12372 sets up a system for State and local 
government review of applications for Federal financial assistance. 
Applicants (other than Federally recognized Indian tribal governments) 
should contact the State's Single Point of Contact (SPOC) as early as 
possible to alert them to the prospective application(s) and to receive 
any necessary instructions on the State's review process. For proposed 
projects serving more than one State, the applicant is advised to 
contact the SPOC of each affected State. A current listing of SPOCs is 
included in the application guidance materials. The SPOC should send 
any State review process recommendations directly to: Office of 
Extramural Activities Review, Substance Abuse and Mental Health 
Services Administration, Parklawn Building, Room 17-89, 5600 Fishers 
Lane, Rockville, Maryland 20857.
    The due date for State review process recommendations is no later 
than 60 days after the specified deadline date for the receipt of 
applications. SAMHSA does not guarantee to accommodate or explain SPOC 
comments that are received after the 60-day cut-off.


[[Page 2996]]


    Dated: January 11, 1998.
Richard Kopanda,
Executive Officer, SAMHSA.
[FR Doc. 98-1217 Filed 1-16-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4162-20-P