[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 120 (Thursday, June 20, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31541-31543]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-15678]



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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration


Fiscal Year (FY) 1996 Funding Opportunity for a Cooperative 
Agreement from the Center for Mental Health Services

AGENCY: Center for Mental Health Services, 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's (SAMHSA) Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS), 
announces that FY 1996 funds are available for a cooperative agreement 
for the activity discussed under Section 4 of this notice. This notice 
is not a complete description of the activity; potential applicants 
must obtain a copy of the Guidance for Applicants (GFA) for this 
activity before preparing an application.

Activity.............................  TA Center on Evaluation.         
Application deadline.................  07/22/96.                        
Estimated funds available............  $600,000.                        
Estimated No. of awards..............  1.                               
Project period.......................  3 yrs.                           
                                                                        

    FY 1996 funds for this activity were appropriated by the Congress 
under Public Law No. 104-134. 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 
Center's activities address issues related to Healthy People 2000 
objectives: to promote the physical, social, psychological, and 
economic well-being of adults with mental disorders and children and 
adolescents with or at risk for a serious emotional, behavioral, or 
mental disorder. 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-
783-3238).

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS: Applicants must use application form PHS 5161-1 
(Rev. 7/92; OMB No. 0937-0189). The Application Kit contains the GFA, 
the PHS 5161-1, Standard Form 424 (Face Page), and complete 
instructions for preparing and submitting applications. The Kit may be 
obtained from the contact person identified in Section 4.
    The full text of the activity (i.e., the GFA) described in Section 
4 is available electronically via the following:
    SAMHSA's World Wide Web Home Page (address: HTTP://WWW.SAMHSA.GOV); 
SAMHSA's Bulletin Board (800-424-2294 or 301-443-0040); and the Center 
for Mental Health Services' Knowledge Exchange Network (KEN) (voice 
line 800-789-2647 or Electronic Bulletin Board 800-790-2647).

APPLICATION SUBMISSION: Applications must be submitted to: Office of 
Extramural Activities Review, Substance Abuse and Mental Health 
Services Administration, Parklawn Building, Room 17-89, 5600 Fishers 
Lane, Rockville, Maryland 20857, Attn: GFA No. SM 96-03.

APPLICATION DEADLINES: The deadline for receipt of applications is 
listed in the table above.
    Competing applications must be received by the indicated receipt 
date 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 receipt date or 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 technical information 
should be directed to the contact person identified in Section 4.
    Requests for information concerning business management issues 
should be directed to: Stephen Hudak -(301) 443-4456.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: To facilitate the use of this notice of 
funding availability, information has

[[Page 31542]]

been organized, as outlined in the Table of Contents below:
    <bullet> Application Deadline.
    <bullet> Purpose.
    <bullet> Priorities.
    <bullet> Eligible Applicants.
    <bullet> Grants/Amounts.
    <bullet> Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number.
    <bullet> Program Contact.

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 Approved Applications
4. Specific FY 1996 Activity
5. Public Health System Reporting Requirements
6. PHS Non-use of Tobacco Policy Statement
7. Executive Order 12372

1. Program Background and Objectives

    The Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) has been given a 
statutory mandate to take a national leadership role in the development 
and demonstration of improved mental health services. Toward that end, 
the Center facilitates the application of scientifically established 
findings and practice-based knowledge to prevent and treat mental 
disorders, improve access, reduce barriers and promote high quality, 
effective programs and services for people with, or at risk for, these 
disorders.

2. Special Concerns

    None.

3. Criteria for Review and Funding

    Competing applications requesting funding under the specific 
project activity in Section 4 will be reviewed for technical merit in 
accordance with established PHS/SAMHSA peer review procedures. 
Applications that are accepted for review will be assigned to an 
Initial Review Group (IRG) composed primarily of non-Federal experts. 
Applications will be recommended for approval or disapproval on the 
basis of merit. Applications recommended for approval will be assigned 
scores according to level of merit.

3.1  General 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;
    <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 Approved Applications

    Applications recommended for approval by the peer review group and 
the CMHS National Advisory Council (if applicable) will be considered 
for funding on the basis of their overall technical merit as determined 
through the 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. Specific FY 1996 Activity

    Technical Assistance Center for the Evaluation of Mental Health 
Systems Change.
    This activity will be conducted as a cooperative agreement program. 
Substantive Federal programmatic involvement is required in cooperative 
agreement programs. Federal involvement will include planning, guiding, 
coordinating, 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.
    <bullet> Application Deadline: July 22, 1996.
    <bullet> Purpose: A cooperative agreement will be awarded to 
support a Technical Assistance Center (TA Center) for the Evaluation of 
Mental Health Systems Change. The goal of the TA Center will be to 
provide technical assistance in the area of evaluation to State and 
local public entities as well as private nonprofit entities within the 
States with a primary focus on adult mental health systems. Broadly 
speaking, the TA Center should accomplish this goal through increasing 
the capacity of its customers to conduct evaluations; through direct 
and indirect technical assistance activities; through encouraging the 
evaluation of systems implementation strategies and changes at State 
and sub-State levels that have the potential for providing useful 
knowledge to organizations considering similar changes in other areas; 
and through consensus building within States and local communities 
about ``best practices'' based on the results of these, and related, 
evaluations. Funds will be awarded through a cooperative agreement 
mechanism to allow CMHS staff to coordinate this effort with related 
technical assistance and information dissemination efforts. These 
efforts include the CMHS Knowledge Exchange Network, the TA Center for 
State Mental Health Planning, and the National TA Center for Children's 
Mental Health.
    <bullet> Priorities: None.
    <bullet> Eligible Applicants: Applications may be submitted by 
public organizations, such as units of State or local governments and 
by private nonprofit and for-profit organizations such as community-
based organizations, universities, colleges and hospitals, including 
active CMHS Division of Demonstration Program TA Center grantees.
    <bullet> Grants/Amounts: 1 award estimated at approximately 
$600,000 in the first year.
    <bullet> Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number: 93.119.
    <bullet> Program Contact: Roger Straw, Ph.D., Division of 
Demonstration Programs, Center for Mental Health Services, Substance 
Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Parklawn Building, 
Room 11C-26, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20857, (301) 443-3606.

5. Public Health System Reporting Requirements

    This activity 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 to promote the nonuse 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

[[Page 31543]]

physical and mental health of the American people.

7. Executive Order 12372

    This activity is not subject to the intergovernmental review 
requirements of Executive Order 12372, as implemented through DHHS 
regulations at 45 CFR Part 100.

    Dated: June 14, 1996.
Richard Kopanda,
Executive Officer, SAMHSA.
[FR Doc. 96-15678 Filed 6-19-96; 8:45 am]
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