44812 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 185 / Tuesday, September 26, 2017 / Notices 

The review panel will make selections 

based upon the following criteria: 

Phase 1 

Accessibility 

• Is the proposed innovation able to 

be easily utilized by families of diverse 

economic, social, and cultural 

backgrounds? 

Measurability 

• How easily will the proposed 

innovation be evaluated in order to 

determine its efficacy (in both lab 

testing and in the real world)? Is the 

proposed innovation measurable among 

various audiences? 

Sustainability 

• Is the proposed innovation 

‘‘sticky?’’ Does the proposed 

intervention compel users to utilize the 

technology often and/or for long periods 

of time? Does it fit into usual family 

and/or community routines? Is it 

engaging for users? 

Impact 

• Does the applicant present a theory 

or explanation of how the proposed 

innovation would promote healthy 

weight behaviors and/or access to 

healthy food? 

Phase 2 

Impact 

• How did the innovation impact 

target outcomes? What did the data 

show? 

Evidence Base 

• Is the intervention grounded in 

existing science related to healthy 

weight behaviors, childhood obesity, 

behavior change, etc.? 

Sustainability 

• Was the intervention compelling to 

users and did it encourage users to use 

the technology often? Did users want to 

continuously engage with the 

technology? 

Implementation 

• How feasible is the intervention? 

How much support for implementation 

will the intervention require (estimated 

financial and time commitment)? 

Phase 3 

Impact 

• How effective was the intervention 

when implemented at scale? Did the 

impacts from Phase 2 remain 

consistent? 

Implementation 

• How feasible was the intervention 

on a larger scale? How much support for 

implementation did the model require 

(financial and time commitment)? How 

challenging was the actual program 

implementation? 

Scalability 

• How costly was the intervention in 

a real-world setting? How likely are cost 

efficiencies for program delivery at 

greater scale? Can the innovation be 

used in other communities? 

Additional Information 

General Conditions: 

• HRSA reserves the right to cancel, 

suspend, and/or modify the contest, or 

any part of it, for any reason, at HRSA’s 

sole discretion. 

• The interventions submitted across 

all phases should not use the HHS or 

HRSA logos or official seals in the 

submission, and must not claim 

endorsement. 

Intellectual Property 

• Each entrant retains full ownership 

and title in and to their submission. 

Entrants expressly reserve all 

intellectual property rights not 

expressly granted under the challenge 

agreement. 

• By participating in the challenge, 

each entrant hereby irrevocably grants 

to HRSA a limited, non-exclusive, 

royalty-free, worldwide license and 

right to reproduce, publically perform, 

publically display, and use the 

submission for internal HHS business 

and to the extent necessary to 

administer the challenge, and to 

publically perform and publically 

display the submission, including, 

without limitation, for advertising and 

promotional purposes relating to the 

challenge. 

• Record Retention and FOIA: All 

materials submitted to HRSA as part of 

a submission become HRSA records and 

cannot be returned. Any confidential 

commercial information contained in a 

submission should be designated at the 

time of submission. Participants will be 

notified of any Freedom of Information 

Act requests for their submissions in 

accordance with 45 CFR 5.65. 

Dated: September 19, 2017. 

George Sigounas, 

Administrator. 

[FR Doc. 2017–20537 Filed 9–25–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4165–15–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Health Resources and Services 

Administration 

COMPETES Reauthorization Act 

Challenge Competition 

AGENCY: Health Resources and Services 

Administration, Department of Health 

and Human Services. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Health Resources and 

Services Administration’s (HRSA’s) 

Maternal and Child Health Bureau 

(MCHB) announces a prize competition 

for the Improving Care for Children and 

Youth—Incentive Prize. MCHB is 

sponsoring the Improving Care for 

Children and Youth challenge to spur 

innovative solutions to overcoming 

barriers to accessing health care and 

high-quality services faced by families. 

This challenge will reward the 

development and testing of scalable 

innovations that improve care for 

children and youth. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Jessie Buerlein, Office of Policy and 

Planning, MCHB, JBuerlein@hrsa.gov, 

(301) 443–8931 and James Resnick, 

Office of the Associate Administrator, 

MCHB, JResnick@hrsa.gov, (301) 334– 

3222. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On 

January 4, 2011, the America 

COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 

was signed into law allowing the use of 

challenges and prize competitions 

increasing agencies’ ability to promote 

and harness innovation. Competitions 

run by the federal government result in 

a number of benefits to the public, 

including the following: 

(a) Increasing the number and 

diversity of the individuals, teams, and 

organizations that are addressing a 

particular problem or challenge of 

national significance; 

(b) Improving the skills of the 

participants in the competition; and 

(c) Directing attention to new market 

opportunities and stimulating private 

sector investment. 

This challenge, which will be 

structured in phases with a narrowing of 

applicants through each phase to result 

in one final winner, will reach a diverse 

population of innovators and problem 

solvers, including families, coders, 

public health experts, community 

leaders, individuals affiliated with 

academic institutions, research and 

development communities in the 

private sector, and others. 

Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 185 / Tuesday, September 26, 2017 / Notices 44813 

1Future Child. 2015 Spring; 25(1): 65–90. 

2Harrison, J et al (2006) The Role of E-health in 

the Changing Health Care Environment. Nurse 

Econ. 24(6): 283–288. 

3Thabrew, Hiran et al (2016). Game for health: 

How eHealth approaches might address 

psychological needs of children and young people 

with long-term physical conditions. Journal of 

Paediatrics and Clinical Health. 

All submissions will be evaluated and 

separate prizes will be awarded for each 

of the three phases below. 

Phase 1: Design 

Phase 2: Development and Small Scale 

Testing 

Phase 3: Scaling 

Estimated dates for each phase are as 

follows: 

Phase 1: Effective on January 2, 2018 

Phase 1 Submission Period Ends: 

January 31, 2018, 11:59 p.m. ET 

Phase 1 Judging Period: February 1– 

February 28, 2018 

Phase 1 Winners Announced: March 12, 

2018 

Phase 2 Begins: March 13, 2018 

Phase 2 Submission Period Ends: July 

11, 2018 

Phase 2 Judging Period: July 12–August 

12, 2018 

Phase 2 Winners Announced: August 

20, 2018 

Phase 3 Begins: August 21, 2018 

Phase 3 Submission Period Ends: 

February 21, 2019 

Phase 3 Winner Announced: March 1, 

2019 

Subject of Challenge Competition 

MCHB is sponsoring the Improving 

Care for Children and Youth Challenge. 

The goal is to spur innovative solutions 

to overcoming barriers to accessing 

high-quality health care faced by 

families. This challenge will reward the 

development and testing of scalable 

innovations that can improve health 

outcomes for children and youth. 

While insurance coverage is the first 

critical step in ensuring access to health 

care, it alone does not ensure access to 

care, and children who have insurance 

coverage may still face hurdles in 

receiving the high-quality, 

individualized care they need. Other 

factors that include social determinants 

of health also impact access to highquality care, such as socioeconomic, 

environmental, and behavioral factors.1

Various types of technology have 

proven successful in improving access 

to care, improving efficiency in health 

care, improving quality of care, and 

empowering patients and consumers.2

E-health is a field of research and 

practice that involves the application of 

digital technologies to assist or deliver 

health interventions. These health 

interventions can be in various forms, 

including: Web sites offering 

information, support and interactive etherapies including health apps, virtual 

reality systems, relaxation training, etc.3

Another example is the development 

and use of assistive technologies, which 

can greatly aid those living with 

disabilities. Many agencies have 

effectively used prizes and challenges, 

such as NASA, the Department of 

Energy, and the Environmental 

Protection Agency. This challenge will 

be an effective mechanism to cultivate 

innovations by creating the incentives 

needed to attract a broad array of 

competing innovators to improve care 

for children and youth. 

Eligibility Rules for Participating in the 

Competition 

To be eligible to win a prize under 

this challenge, an individual or entity— 

(1) Shall have registered to participate 

in the competition under the rules 

promulgated by HRSA and the U.S. 

Department of Health and Human 

Services (HHS). 

(2) Shall have complied with all the 

requirements under this section. 

(3) Private entities shall be 

incorporated in and maintain a primary 

place of business in the United States, 

and individuals, whether participating 

singly or in a group, shall be a citizen 

or permanent resident of the United 

States. 

(4) May not be a federal entity or 

federal employee acting within the 

scope of their employment. 

(5) Shall not be an HHS employee 

working on their applications or 

submissions during assigned duty 

hours. 

(6) May not be employees of HRSA or 

any other company, organization, or 

individual involved with the design, 

production, execution, judging, or 

distribution of the Challenge and their 

immediate family (spouse, parents and 

step-parents, siblings and step-siblings, 

and children and step-children) and 

household members (people who share 

the same residence at least three months 

out of the year). 

(7) In the case of a federal grantee, 

may not use federal funds to develop 

COMPETES Act challenge applications 

unless consistent with the purpose of 

their grant award. 

(8) In the case of a federal contractor, 

may 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. 

(9) Shall not be deemed ineligible 

because the individual or entity used 

federal facilities or consulted with 

federal employees during a competition 

if the facilities and employees are made 

equitably available to all individuals 

and entities participating in the 

competition. 

(10) Must agree to assume any and all 

risks and waive claims against the 

federal government and its related 

entities, except in the case of willful 

misconduct, for any injury, death, 

damage, or loss of property, revenue, or 

profits, whether direct, indirect, or 

consequential, arising from the 

participation in this prize contest, 

whether the injury, death, damage, or 

loss arises through negligence or 

otherwise. 

(11) Must also agree to indemnify the 

federal government against third party 

claims for damages arising from or 

related to competition activities. 

(12) Shall not be currently on the 

Excluded Parties List (https://

www.epls.gov/). 

Submission Requirements 

The Challenge has three phases. 

Phase 1—Design 

The first stage of the prize 

competition aims to attract a large set of 

ideas and innovators. The target product 

of the first stage will be the 

conceptualization of the most promising 

innovations to help support 

improvements in health care for 

children and youth (and their families). 

The submissions should aim to 

demonstrate that the proposed 

intervention will be accessible across 

and impactful to users from diverse 

backgrounds. 

The Phase 1 submission shall include: 

1. A comprehensive description of the 

proposed intervention in five pages or 

less, including: 

a. A one-paragraph executive 

summary that clearly states the 

barrier(s) to access to be overcome by 

the intervention and a brief description 

of the proposed intervention; 

b. Background information providing 

evidence to support the intervention; 

c. A description of how the applicant 

arrived at their idea; 

d. Descriptions of the methods and 

technologies involved in 

implementation of the intervention; and 

e. An assessment describing the 

applicant’s ability to execute the 

proposed solution in Phase 2 and 3. 

Phase 2—Development and Small Scale 

Testing 

The winners of Phase 1 of the prize 

competition will then advance to a 

second stage focused on prototyping the 

technology and testing the effectiveness 

44814 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 185 / Tuesday, September 26, 2017 / Notices 

of the intervention. Using support from 

the Phase 1 prize funding, intervention 

developers will test the efficacy of their 

models to show that the proposed 

intervention will improve health care 

for children and families. The 

applicants should also demonstrate the 

intervention’s usability among the target 

population. Mentors will be available to 

help participants design appropriate 

testing methodologies and learn more 

about the evidence base. 

Phase 3—Scaling 

The final phase will involve testing 

the most promising models at greater 

scale through rollout at the program or 

community level. This will test the 

scalability of the device, the feasibility 

of implementation, and the impact on 

intended outcomes. 

Registration Process for Participants 

Participants will be able to register 

and submit an entry at the Improving 

Care for Children and Youth Challenge 

Web site. Participants can find out more 

information at https://

www.challenge.gov/list/. 

Prizes 

• Total: $375,000 in Prizes 

Æ Phase 1: 7–10 winners; up to a total 

of $100,000 in prizes 

Æ Phase 2: 3–5 winners; up to a total 

of $125,000 in prizes 

Æ Phase 3: 1 winner; up to a total of 

$150,000 prize 

Payment of the Prizes 

Prize payments will be paid by a 

contractor. Phase 1 winners may be 

expected to use a portion of the prize 

money for travel and lodging to attend 

a 2-day meeting in Washington, DC, to 

demonstrate their innovation to the 

judges. 

Prizes awarded under this 

competition will be paid by electronic 

funds transfer and may be subject to 

Federal income taxes. HHS will comply 

with the Internal Revenue Service 

withholding and reporting 

requirements, where applicable. 

Basis for Winner Selection 

A review panel composed of HHS 

employees and experts will judge 

challenge entries in compliance with 

the requirements of the America 

COMPETES Act and HHS judging 

guidelines: http://www.hhs.gov/idealab/ 

wp-content/uploads/2014/04/HHSCOMPETITION-JUDGINGGUIDELINES.pdf. 

The review panel will make selections 

based upon the following criteria: 

Phase 1 

Accessibility 

• Is the proposed intervention easily 

utilized by families of diverse economic, 

social, and cultural backgrounds? Is it 

functional across disciplines/users? 

Measurability 

• How easily will the proposed 

intervention be evaluated in order to 

determine its efficacy (in both lab 

testing and in the real world)? Is the 

proposed intervention measurable 

among various audiences? 

Sustainability 

• Does the proposed intervention 

compel users to utilize the technology 

often and/or for long periods of time? 

Does it fit into daily life? Is it fun to use? 

Impact 

• Does the applicant present a theory 

or explanation of how the proposed 

intervention would result in concrete 

change? 

Phase 2 

Impact 

• How did the intervention impact 

outcomes for parents/caregivers and 

children? What did data show? 

Evidence Base 

• Is the intervention grounded in 

existing science related to improving 

health care and related services for 

children and families? 

Sustainability 

• Was the intervention compelling to 

users and did it encourage users to use 

the technology often? Did users want to 

engage continuously with the 

technology? 

Implementation 

• How feasible is the intervention? 

How much support for implementation 

will the intervention require (estimated 

financial and time commitment)? 

Phase 3 

Impact 

• How effective was the intervention 

when implemented at scale? Did the 

impacts on users from Phase 2 remain 

consistent? 

Implementation 

• How feasible was the intervention 

on a larger scale? How much support for 

implementation did the model require 

(financial and time commitment)? How 

challenging was the actual program 

implementation? 

Scalability 

• How costly was the intervention in 

a real-world setting? How likely are cost 

efficiencies for program delivery at 

greater scale? Can the technology be 

used in existing platforms? 

Additional Information 

General Conditions: 

• HRSA reserves the right to cancel, 

suspend, and/or modify the contest, or 

any part of it, for any reason, at HRSA’s 

sole discretion. 

• The interventions submitted across 

all phases should not use the HHS or 

HRSA logos or official seals in the 

submission, and must not claim 

endorsement. 

Intellectual Property 

• Each entrant retains full ownership 

and title in and to their submission. 

Entrants expressly reserve all 

intellectual property rights not 

expressly granted under the challenge 

agreement. 

• By participating in the challenge, 

each entrant hereby irrevocably grants 

to HRSA a limited, non-exclusive, 

royalty-free, worldwide license and 

right to reproduce, publically perform, 

publically display, and use the 

submission for internal HHS business 

and to the extent necessary to 

administer the challenge, and to 

publically perform and publically 

display the submission, including, 

without limitation, for advertising and 

promotional purposes relating to the 

challenge. 

• Record Retention and FOIA: All 

materials submitted to HRSA as part of 

a submission become HRSA records and 

cannot be returned. Any confidential 

commercial information contained in a 

submission should be designated at the 

time of submission. Participants will be 

notified of any Freedom of Information 

Act requests for their submissions in 

accordance with 45 CFR 5.65. 

The statutory authority for this 

challenge competition is Section 105 of 

the America COMPETES 

Reauthorization Act of 2010 

(COMPETES Act, Pub. L. 111–358) as 

amended by section 401(b) of the 

American Innovation and 

Competitiveness Act, Public Law 114– 

329. 

Dated: September 19, 2017. 

George Sigounas, 

Administrator. 

[FR Doc. 2017–20535 Filed 9–25–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4165–15–P