[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 111 (Friday, June 8, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30931-30934]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-14447]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[Program Announcement 01117]


Controlling Asthma in American Cities Project (CAACP); Notice of 
Availability of Funds

A. Purpose

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announces the 
availability of fiscal year (FY) 2001 funds for a cooperative agreement 
program for Controlling Asthma in American Cities Project (CAACP). This 
program addresses the ``Healthy People 2010'' focus areas of 
Respiratory Diseases, Environmental Health, and Access to Quality 
Health Services.
    The purpose of the CAACP is to utilize past successes and other 
innovative approaches to improve overall asthma management in order to 
decrease asthma-related morbidity among children (0-18 years) in a 
defined urban population with a large and unmet asthma control need.
    No research may be conducted as part of this cooperative agreement.

B. Eligible Applicants

    Applications may be submitted by public and private nonprofit 
organizations, or local chapters of national advocacy associations that 
deal primarily or largely with asthma. This includes universities, 
hospitals, and city or county public health departments. In addition, 
applicants must have direct access to the target population(s) and be 
located in the community that will be served by the proposed 
interventions.
    To be an eligible applicant, the total population of the 
communities to be served must be between 300,000 and 700,000 people. 
Note: For a metropolitan area of greater than 700,000 people, the 
population requirement may be met by proposing to work in selected 
communities within the area. This information must be submitted in the 
abstract of the application. The documentation accepted to verify 
eligibility may be based on the most current census data available. If 
this information is not included, the application will be determined as 
non-responsive and will be returned to the applicant without review.


    Note: Title 2 of the United States Code, Chapter 26, Section 
1611 states that an organization described in section 501(c)(4) of 
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 that engages in lobbying 
activities is not eligible to receive Federal funds constituting an

[[Page 30932]]

award, grant, cooperative agreement, contract, loan, or any other 
form.

C. Availability of Funds

    Approximately $3,000,000 is available in FY 2001 to fund 
approximately four to six planning projects (Phase I). It is expected 
that the average award will be approximately $450,000, ranging from 
$300,000 to $500,000.
    Applications that request more than the maximum level of funding 
($500,000) will be determined non-responsive to this announcement and 
returned to the applicant.
    It is expected that the awards will begin on or about September 30, 
2001, and will be made for a 12-month budget period within a project 
period of two years. Funding estimates may change.
    Depending on the availability of funds, a new competitive 
announcement, limited to Phase I awardees, may be announced in the 
future that will implement the intervention activities. It is expected 
that the number of Phase II (Intervention) recipients awarded will be 
approximately three.

Use of Funds

    Budgeted funds may not be used to fund asthma surveillance, except 
those directly related to the evaluation of the CAACP project.

Funding Preferences

    Funding preference may include: (1) geographic balance; (2) 
minority populations with a disproportionate asthma burden, and (3) a 
balance of proposed intervention strategies.

D. Programmatic Interests

Intervention Ideas/Concepts

    Decreasing asthma-related morbidity in a defined population will 
require a comprehensive and innovative approach, based on current 
scientific knowledge and an in-depth understanding of the communities 
to be focused upon, to improving asthma medical care and self-care 
within families with a child with asthma. Intervention ideas should be 
based on asthma care concepts which have been analyzed through the 
peer-review process and shown to be effective in improving asthma 
control.

Collaboration

    Success of the planning phase and intervention phase of the 
proposed project will depend heavily on the ability of the grantee to 
form or work through an effective consortium. The applicant must have 
the experience, ability, and vision to lead such an effort through the 
active coordination and participation of the most important and 
influential health and health care leaders in their communities.

E. Program Requirements

    In conducting activities to achieve the purpose of this program, 
the recipient will be responsible for the activities under 1. 
(Recipient Activities), and CDC will be responsible for the activities 
listed under 2. (CDC Activities).

1. Recipient Activities

    a. Develop a plan that includes time-phased intervention 
objectives, protocols, relevant policy initiatives, and evaluation 
plans that address the asthma objective(s) in Healthy People 2010.
    b. Collect baseline asthma data in the communities to be served by 
the project. The data should include measures of asthma morbidity and 
actual asthma care representative of the entire study population before 
the intervention phase begins.
    c. Develop or enhance an asthma consortium that includes, among 
others, public, private, and academic partners and community based 
organizations (CBO's) that can be sustained for subsequent research and 
program development.
    d. Serve as a resource for other asthma projects.
    e. Disseminate relevant findings.

2. CDC Activities

    a. Provide technical assistance, as requested, in the development 
of intervention protocols, evaluation plans, communication issues, 
policy issues, and the interpretation of the scientific literature 
related to asthma management and control.
    b. Provide liaison among grantees and potential sources of 
information and assistance.
    c. Coordinate activities among sites, when appropriate.
    d. Convene meetings among collaborators to discuss findings and 
improve outcomes.

F. Content

Letter of Intent

    A one-page non-binding letter of intent (LOI) is requested to 
enable CDC to determine the level of interest in this announcement. The 
LOI should provide a brief description of the proposed project and 
identify the principle investigator, organizations actively involved in 
the proposed project, and the address and telephone number for key 
contacts.

Applications

    Your application will be evaluated on the criteria listed, so it is 
important to follow them in laying out your program plan. The narrative 
should be no more than 25 double-spaces, printed on one side, with one 
inch margins and unreduced font. The applicant should provide a 
detailed description of activities. In addition to the application 
forms, the application must contain the following in this order:
1. Table of Contents
    A table of contents that provides page numbers for each of the 
following sections should be included.
2. Abstract
    A one-page, single-spaced abstract must be submitted with the 
application. The heading should include the title of the cooperative 
agreement, project title, organization's name and address, and the 
principle investigator's name and telephone number. The abstract should 
briefly summarize the program for which funds are requested, the 
activities to be undertaken, and the applicant's organizational 
structure. The abstract must also contain a verification that the total 
population of the communities to be served will be between 300,000 and 
700,000 people.
3. Project Narrative
    The narrative must contain the following sections:
    a. Time-framed Objectives. Specific, measurable, and time-framed 
objectives should be developed based on the project narrative. Creation 
of a two year time-line for meeting these objectives is expected.
    b. Understanding of the medical and psychological literature 
regarding asthma control techniques and past intervention attempts. 
Emphasis should be placed on population-based methods of asthma 
control.
    c. A brief description of the community or segment of city (or city 
as a whole) identified as the population to be served by this project. 
This should include basic demographic, socio-economic, and health 
information (i.e., number of primary care physicians, asthma 
specialists, hospitals, public clinics in these areas or accessible to 
the people living in these areas).
    d. Understanding of the asthma care and control issues facing the 
community selected to be served by this project. Specific documentation 
of unmet needs, such as the proportion of children uninsured, measures 
of asthma morbidity, and information on the quality of asthma care, if 
available, should be described here. Why these

[[Page 30933]]

communities or areas of the city were chosen for project inclusion 
should also be briefly explained.
    e. Collaboration within the consortium. A description of the 
important health care leaders and institutions in your city and how and 
in what way you plan to involve them in the project activities must be 
included. Using the list of potential collaborators (See addendum 2, V) 
as a template, you may wish to explain what role each of these 
organizations play in the asthma control plans of your city and why 
they will or will not be included/emphasized in the project. The 
expected financial arrangements between applicant and collaborators 
should be described here. A letter from representatives of each of the 
major collaborators in the consortium describing how they plan to 
actively participate and add to the project should be included in the 
application.
    f. Initial intervention ideas. A description of your initial 
intervention ideas should be elaborated upon, including their potential 
feasibility and benefit in controlling asthma symptoms or unscheduled 
visits.
    g. Process of creating comprehensive intervention strategies 
(including protocols) from the initial intervention ideas. The process 
conceived to take place over the two year planning period in order to 
be ready for the intervention period should be described in this 
section.
    h. Plans for an evaluation of the two year planning period (phase 
I). The project evaluation should address the experiences and lessons 
of such city-wide collaboration efforts, community assessment and 
information sharing, protocol development, and other planning phase 
activities. Evaluation measures, whether quantitative or qualitative, 
should be described.
    i. A detailed plan to obtain a comprehensive baseline assessment of 
asthma-related morbidity and care practices in the communities involved 
in this project. A critical description of how this baseline assessment 
will be used to ultimately evaluate the intervention activities of the 
project (i.e., changes in population-based measures of asthma 
morbidity, asthma care, asthma education, access to primary care, or 
other issues important to asthma control addressed in the intervention 
strategies) must be included. Evaluation measures, whether quantitative 
or qualitative, should be described.
    j. A description of those activities conducted by the applicant 
and/or the applicant's organization related to, but not supported by 
the cooperative agreement.
4. Identification of Project Personnel
    Include a biographical sketch (i.e., one page summary or 
abbreviated curriculum vitae) for the principal investigator and/or 
project coordinator and other key personnel. Describe the overall 
personnel capabilities of the applicant's organization in relation to 
the potential project needs. To the extent possible, list of all the 
proposed project staff regardless of their funding source. The list 
should include title, qualifications, relevant experience, percentage 
of time each will devote to the project, as well as that portion of the 
salary to be paid by the cooperative agreement.
5. Facilities and Equipment
    Describe the access and availability of any facilities and 
equipment necessary to carry out the planning phase project.
6. Budget and Budget Justification
    Provide a detailed budget which indicates the anticipated costs for 
personnel, fringe benefits, travel, supplies, contractual, consultants, 
equipment, indirect and other items. The required detailed budget is 
not considered to be part of the program narrative.

G. Application Submission and Deadline

    Submit the original and two copies of PHS 5161-1 (OMB Number 0920-
0428) on or before August 10, 2001, to the Grants Management Specialist 
identified in the ``Where to Obtain Additional Information'' section of 
this announcement.
    Deadline: Applications shall be considered as meeting the deadline 
if they are either:
    1. Received on or before the deadline date; or
    2. Sent on or before the deadline date and received in time for 
submission to the independent review group. (Applicants must request a 
legibly dated U.S. Postal Service postmark or obtain a legibly dated 
receipt from a commercial carrier or U.S. Postal Service. Private 
metered postmarks shall not be acceptable as proof of timely mailing.)
    Late: Applications which do not meet the criteria in 1. or 2. above 
will be returned to the applicant.

H. Evaluation Criteria

    Each application will be evaluated individually against the 
following criteria by an independent panel of experts appointed by CDC:

1. Goals and Objectives: (10 percent)

    The extent to which the applicant has described a plan to make use 
of this two year planning period. This should include: Details in 
explaining how this time period will be used to create or strengthen a 
city-wide asthma consortium, design and fine tune effective 
intervention strategies, begin efforts to improve quality of asthma 
care locally, and initiate the processes of community empowerment/
change that will be focused on.

2. Background: (10 percent)

    The extent to which the proposal addresses the critical evaluation 
of existing asthma control literature, and the identification of the 
asthma care gaps and issues in the specific communities designated to 
be the focus of this intervention project will be evaluated. Such an 
evaluation of the asthma care gaps in the proposed community could 
include the proportion of children uninsured, measures of asthma 
morbidity, and information on the quality of asthma care.

3. Asthma Control Intervention Ideas: (20 percent)

    a. The extent to which the application describes a plan to improve 
asthma care in the specific communities selected by the applicant will 
be evaluated. This includes how well conceived the intervention 
concepts are in terms of practicality, effectiveness (likelihood to 
change asthma morbidity), inclusiveness (whether all children with 
asthma in the study area will have access to the interventions), 
comprehensiveness (providing multiple ways to address asthma control 
problems), originality, and level of detail included in proposal (i.e., 
appropriate use of examples to strengthen ideas in the proposal).
    b. The extent to which the proposed processes to improve and expand 
these intervention ideas during the planning phase are described.

4. Collaborative Effort: (25 percent)

    The extent to which the applicant and the consortium have the 
experience, ability, and vision to succeed in an effort to reduce the 
asthma burden in the proposed community through the participation of 
the most important and influential health care and civic leaders in the 
community. This includes the specific ways in which the consortium will 
operate, a history of successful operation of the consortium in that 
city or community, or other evidence that a proposed collaboration 
would be effective, and detailed plans to ensure

[[Page 30934]]

active collaboration of all project participants during the entire 
period of this project.

5. Principal Investigator and Staff: (20 percent)

    a. The extent to which the qualifications and the proposed project 
time allocation of the principal investigator are described. A 
principal investigator who has conducted, evaluated, and published 
asthma research in peer-reviewed journals, and has specific authority 
and responsibility to carry out the proposed project is expected.
    b. The extent to which a description of additional staff to be 
assigned to this project, their qualifications, the proposed project 
time allocation, and the role of the proposed staff is linked to 
program objectives.
    c. The extent to which the facilities and other resources that 
would define the applicant's capacity to accomplish the project are 
described.

6. Evaluation Plans: (15 percent)

    The extent to which the applicant has described a realistic and 
comprehensive plan to accurately measure changes in population-based 
asthma morbidity, specific asthma care, asthma education or other 
significant intervention strategies over time using qualitative and 
quantitative methods will be scored. The ability of the applicant to 
begin the baseline data collection during the planning phase and to 
conduct a process evaluation of the planning period will be part of 
this evaluation score.

7. Budget: (not scored)

    The extent to which the budget is clearly detailed, justified, and 
appropriate for activities proposed.

I. Other Requirements

Technical Reporting Requirements

    Provide CDC with original plus two copies of:
    1. Semi-annual progress reports.
    2. Financial status report, no more than 90 days after the end of 
the budget period.
    3. Final financial and performance reports, no more than 90 days 
after the end of the project period.
    Send all reports to the Grants Management Specialist identified in 
the ``Where to Obtain Additional Information'' section of this 
announcement.
    The following additional requirements are applicable to this 
program. For a complete description of each, see Attachment I in the 
application kit.

AR-7  Executive Order 12372 Review
AR-8  Public Health System Reporting Requirements
AR-9  Paperwork Reduction Act Requirements
AR-10  Smoke-Free Workplace Requirements
AR-11  Healthy People 2010
AR-12  Lobbying Restrictions
AR-14  Accounting System Requirements
AR-15  Proof of Non-Profit Status
J. Authority and Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number
    This program is authorized under section 301 of the Public Health 
Service Act, [42 U.S.C. section 241 and 247b], as amended. The Catalog 
of Federal Domestic Assistance number is 93.283.

K. Where to Obtain Additional Information

    This and other CDC announcements can be found on the CDC home page 
Internet address--http://www.cdc.gov Click on ``Funding'' then ``Grants 
and Cooperative Agreements.''
    To receive additional written information and to request an 
application kit, call 1-888-GRANTS4 (1-888-472-6874). You will be asked 
to leave your name and address and will be instructed to identify the 
Program Announcement number of interest.
    If you have questions after reviewing the contents of all the 
documents, business management technical assistance may be obtained 
from: Sonia Rowell, Grants Management Specialist, Grants Management 
Branch, Procurement and Grants Office, Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention, 2920 Brandywine Road, Room 3000, MS E-13, Atlanta, GA 
30341-4146. Telephone number: 770-488-2724, Email address: 
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#56252026671635323578313920"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="c4b7b2b4f584a7a0a7eaa3abb2">[email protected]</span></a>.
    For program technical assistance, contact: Michael Friedman, M.D., 
Air Pollution and Respiratory Health Branch, National Center for 
Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 
Clifton Road, NE., MS E-17, Atlanta, Georgia 30333, Telephone number: 
404-639-2520, Email address: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#b5d8d3d382f5d6d1d69bd2dac3"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="49242f2f7e092a2d2a672e263f">[email protected]</span></a>.

    Signed: June 4, 2001.
John L. Williams,
Director, Procurement and Grants Office, Centers for Disease Control 
and Prevention (CDC).
[FR Doc. 01-14447 Filed 6-7-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P


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