[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 185 (Tuesday, September 26, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44810-44812]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-20537]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Health Resources and Services Administration


Challenge Competition: Using Technology to Prevent Childhood 
Obesity in Low-Income Families and Communities

AGENCY: Health Resources and Services Administration, Department of 
Health and Human Services.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Health Resources and Services Administration's (HRSA's) 
Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) announces a prize competition 
to support the development of low-cost, scalable technology-based 
innovations to promote healthy weight for low-income children and 
families in the socio-cultural and environmental contexts of their 
communities.
    The statutory authority for this challenge competition is Section 
105 of the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010.
    This challenge, structured in three phases, 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.
    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

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Meredith Morrissette, Division of 
Maternal and Child Health Workforce Development, MCHB, 
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#337e7e5c41415a404056474756735b4140521d545c45"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="236e6e4c51514a505046575746634b5150420d444c55">[email protected]</span></a>, (301) 443-6392, or James Resnick, Office of the 
Associate Administrator, MCHB, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#216b7344524f48424a61495352400f464e57"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="6d273f081e03040e062d051f1e0c430a021b">[email protected]</span></a>, (301) 443-3222.

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.

Subject of Challenge Competition

    Secretary Price identified reducing childhood obesity as a priority 
for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), acknowledging 
this is a growing epidemic in the United States. Since 1980, childhood 
obesity rates for 2- to 19-year-olds have tripled, with rates of 
obesity in 6- to 11-year-olds more than doubling, and rates of obesity 
in 12- to 19-year-olds quadrupling. While improved eating behaviors and 
increased physical activity play a large role in obesity prevention, 
additional public health factors such as limited access to affordable, 
healthy food options, social and cultural norms, and limited 
availability of safe places to play also impact childhood obesity 
rates. While existing apps and tools address individual behaviors, such 
as exercise and nutrition, their uptake in underserved communities is 
limited because they are not tailored to the needs, challenges, and 
barriers to healthy weight in these communities. The goal of this 
challenge is to make technology work for the family as a unit within 
the reality of their larger community environment.
    Addressing childhood obesity from a population-based, public health 
perspective as a complement to the individual clinical perspective 
requires innovative, community-based solutions and partnerships. A 
challenge will maximize competition and spur innovation for communities 
in a cost-effective and accelerated timeframe. It will reach a broad 
stakeholder group and allow involvement of non-traditional partners who 
are knowledgeable about the strengths and challenges affecting the 
community, and who can bring new ideas towards addressing this issue. A 
challenge will provide support for the development of several 
innovative ideas through a pay-for-results mechanism, ultimately 
leading to the development of multiple novel and scalable 
interventions.
    Potential areas of focus include, but are not limited to:
    <bullet> Promoting access to healthy, affordable food;
    <bullet> Supporting community-owned solutions that increase 
families' knowledge and skills related to healthy eating and nutrition;
    <bullet> Finding innovative ways that increase physical activity, 
such as gamification, while accounting for environmental barriers to 
physical activity in underserved communities; and
    <bullet> Empowering families to achieve healthy eating practices, 
healthy lifestyles, and sustainable changes in the home environment, 
while accounting for limited access to healthy foods in under-resourced 
communities.
    Key design features of the innovations may address one or more of 
the following:
    <bullet> Be at low-cost to families and scalable;

[[Page 44811]]

    <bullet> Account for social, cultural, and environmental barriers 
to healthy weight behaviors;
    <bullet> Incorporate a two-generation approach in targeting the 
family unit (children and parents/caregivers);
    <bullet> Be focused on underserved families and communities;
    <bullet> Address the supply and demand of food (i.e., use 
innovative means to connect families in food deserts or families that 
are food insecure to healthy food);
    <bullet> Be grounded in behavioral science for long-term behavior 
change around nutrition and healthy behaviors; and
    <bullet> Address nutrition and physical activity.

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 HHS.
    (2) Shall have complied with all the requirements under this 
section.
    (3) In the case of a private entity, shall be incorporated in and 
maintain a primary place of business in the United States, and in the 
case of an individual, 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 (i.e., spouse, parents and step-parents, siblings and 
step-siblings, and children and step-children) and household members 
(i.e., people who share the same residence at least 3 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 promote 
healthy weight behaviors in children and families in vulnerable 
populations. The submissions should demonstrate that the proposed 
intervention will be accessible to traditionally underserved 
populations and easily implemented by users.
    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 
question to be solved;
    b. Background information linking the evidence to support the 
intervention;
    c. A descriptive analysis 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 intervention and testing 
the effectiveness of the intervention. Using support from the Phase 1 
prize funding, innovation developers will test the efficacy of their 
models to show that the proposed innovation demonstrates an impact on 
the outcomes of interest for children and families. The applicants 
should demonstrate both the evidence base for the innovation and its 
usability. Mentors will be available to help participants design 
appropriate testing methodologies and learn more about the evidence 
base.

Phase 3--Scaling

    The winners of Phase 2 will move to the final phase of the 
incentive prize, which 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 at low-cost, the 
feasibility of implementation, and the impact on the intended outcomes. 
Applicants are encouraged to work closely with a community or city to 
facilitate scaling the intervention in order to reach more families.

Registration Process for Participants

    Participants will be able to register and submit an entry at the 
Using Technology to Prevent Childhood Obesity in Low-Income Families 
and Communities Challenge Web site. Participants can find out more 
information at https://www.challenge.gov/list.

Prizes

<bullet> Total: $375,000 in Prizes
    [cir] Phase 1: 7-10 winners; up to a total of $100,000 in prizes
    [cir] Phase 2: 3-5 winners; up to a total of $125,000 in prizes
    [cir] 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 COMPETES 
Act and HHS judging guidelines: http://www.hhs.gov/idealab/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/HHS-COMPETITION-JUDGING-GUIDELINES.pdf.

[[Page 44812]]

    The review panel will make selections based upon the following 
criteria:

Phase 1

Accessibility

    <bullet> Is the proposed innovation able to be easily utilized by 
families of diverse economic, social, and cultural backgrounds?

Measurability

    <bullet> 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

    <bullet> 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

    <bullet> 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

    <bullet> How did the innovation impact target outcomes? What did 
the data show?

Evidence Base

    <bullet> Is the intervention grounded in existing science related 
to healthy weight behaviors, childhood obesity, behavior change, etc.?

Sustainability

    <bullet> 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

    <bullet> How feasible is the intervention? How much support for 
implementation will the intervention require (estimated financial and 
time commitment)?

Phase 3

Impact

    <bullet> How effective was the intervention when implemented at 
scale? Did the impacts from Phase 2 remain consistent?

Implementation

    <bullet> 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

    <bullet> 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:
    <bullet> 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.
    <bullet> 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

    <bullet> 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.
    <bullet> 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.
    <bullet> 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


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