[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 112 (Monday, June 10, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29410-29412]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-14588]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Health Resources and Services Administration
Program Announcement and Review Criteria for a Cooperative
Agreement To Support Innovative Projects Relating to Public Health
Education and Services
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) announces
that applications will be accepted for a Cooperative Agreement for
fiscal year 1996 with a professional association located in the
Washington, D.C. area with an established relationship with the
accredited schools of public health. Such an association should be
recognized as a National representative of schools of public health;
have proprietary information concerning student enrollment, graduates,
faculty and curricula in schools of public health; and have access to
the leadership in schools of public health. The purpose of the
Cooperative Agreement is to support a program of innovative projects
which would demonstrate the sharing of expertise between public health
faculty and public health practitioners in States and communities, to
both improve public health and health care services at the State and
community level and provide meaningful feedback to schools of public
health concerning the efficacy of their curricula in educating and
training
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the public health workforce. This Cooperative Agreement is solicited
under the authority of Title III, section 301, of the Public Health
Service Act, as amended. Section 301 authorizes the award of grants,
contracts, and cooperative agreements to public and non-profit entities
for several purposes, including the demonstration of innovative models.
Up to $750,000 may be available to fund one Cooperative Agreement
in fiscal year 1996 and up to $1,000,000 for each of the succeeding
four years. The Cooperative Agreement will be awarded for a project
period of up to five years, funded each fiscal year depending on
performance and the availability of appropriate funds.
Background
As part of its overall mission, HRSA is responsible for providing
national leadership to assure that high quality health care and
services are provided to the most vulnerable populations in the nation
and to improve the basic and continuing education of public health
professionals to assess, develop and assure that a high level of health
care services are available to these populations. In carrying out this
responsibility for the education of public health professionals, HRSA
works collaboratively with educational institutions--especially schools
of public health--and with professional organizations to develop and
implement improved basic and continuing education curricula to assure
competent public health practice and leadership in the United States.
At the present time there are 27 accredited schools of public
health in the United States. These schools represent the primary
educational system that trains personnel needed to operate the Nation's
local, State and Federal public health agencies. They address issues of
disease prevention and health promotion, emphasize teaching and
research focused on epidemiology; biostatistics; occupational and
environmental health; health services administration, including health
policy development, health services delivery, etc.; and the behavioral
sciences, including health education, nutrition, maternal and child
health, health promotion, etc.
It has been recognized that the quality of public health personnel
plays a critical role in the promotion of health, prevention and
control of disease, and the management of health resources. The schools
of public health's principal purpose is to promote and improve the
education and training of professional public health personnel.
An area of major concern to HRSA is the lack of individuals trained
and prepared to manage and/or provide services in community settings.
It is these settings where a majority of HRSA funding and attention is
directed, because it is at the community-level that our most vulnerable
populations need care. The disconnect between public health training
and community settings where these individuals are needed continues to
be a significant problem in public health and for the efficient
delivery of HRSA-sponsored care and services.
A second major concern is the proliferation of managed care
programs and their impact on HRSA-sponsored organizations. There is a
clear gap between the thrust of managed care (both its services
orientation and funding policies) and the traditional provision of care
and services by HRSA grantees. This gap is exacerbated by the lack of
trained individuals who understand managed care and are capable of
using this understanding in the HRSA grantee community.
HRSA also is concerned over the low number of faculty, students and
practitioners from minority backgrounds in academic and practice
settings. The Schools of Public Health can play a crucial role in
alleviating these shortcomings, especially in training minority and
disadvantaged public health workers. HRSA is proposing to develop a
range of activities utilizing the strengths of the Schools of Public
Health to alleviate the identified as well as emerging concerns. This
cooperative agreement could serve as an incentive to the academic
public health community to become more involved in public health
practice issues and increase the number of minority professionals
working in public health settings, and introduce cultural diversity
training into the curriculum in schools of public health.
Purpose
There are three purposes for this cooperative agreement: (1) to
provide assistance in curricula development and related initiatives
that will help deal with the need for better educated and culturally
sensitive entry-level and mid-level public health practitioners in
public health practice settings; (2) to strengthen and institutionalize
practice oriented linkages between the Schools of Public Health and the
public health practice community so that individuals are better trained
to meet the needs of HRSA-sponsored grantees in community settings; and
(3) to develop curricula and other training mechanisms to help deal
with the shortfall in individuals with an understanding of managed care
who can apply this understanding to the HRSA grantee community.
The Washington, D.C. area is specified as the location of the
Cooperative Agreement recipient because of the Federal interests
requiring substantive involvement of Federal officials in developing
the training and technical assistance program, proximity to Federal
expertise, and scarce Federal resources for travel. The project would
be expected to initiate such activities as:
1. Establish a Steering Committee for the development and pilot
testing of activities to provide technical assistance to public health
practice sites. For example, utilizing the combined technical expertise
of HRSA and schools of public health to evaluate health promotion and
disease prevention programs at community health centers and maternal
and child health clinics within health departments.
2. Analysis of pedagogical methods to accomplish educational
objectives for adult learners. For example, what curricula and
distribution mechanisms could be developed to provide distance learning
for nurses in county health departments or migrant health centers.
3. Improvement of outcome measures for HRSA public health programs,
e.g; outcomes measures for the delivery of health services, patient
health status, and patient satisfaction.
4. Establishment of linkages with public health practice
organizations, e.g.; working with managed care organizations and local
health departments to provide quality school health services, or
coordinating a health improvement project involving foundation funding,
local health departments and community-based providers.
5. Development of curricula by working with health care delivery
projects funded by HRSA, e.g.; HIV/AIDS, organ transplantation, health
care for the homeless, migrant health care, maternal and child health,
to create an academic public health practice linkage to promote disease
prevention and health promotion concepts.
6. Improvement of public health research on community populations
to highlight both public health education and the efficient delivery of
health services. For example, develop demonstration projects which
include a population-based analysis of community preventive health care
needs and the development of demonstration programs to address
identified needs.
[[Page 29412]]
7. Development of an internship program for students in schools of
public health to learn about the federal public health system. For
example, developing an internship and mentoring program for masters of
public health and masters of health sciences students during their
academic preparation.
Federal Involvement
The Cooperative Agreement mechanism is being used for this project
to allow for substantive Federal programmatic involvement in the
development of the details of the Cooperative Agreement.
Substantive Federal programmatic involvement will occur through
Federal membership on the Steering Committee representing the Health
Resources and Services Administration, including the Bureau of Health
Professions, Bureau of Health Resources Development, Bureau of Primary
Health Care, Maternal and Child Health Bureau, and the Office of Public
Health Practice. The involvement primarily would be in the following
areas:
participation in the identification of emerging health
management practice issues for technical assistance purposes;
identification of HRSA programmatic issues for special
attention through the Cooperative Agreement;
identification of appropriate consultation for the
proposed projects;
assistance in defining the objective, method, evaluation
and use of project results and translation into the knowledge, skills,
and attributes for educational objectives;
assistance in ensuring appropriate linkages with public
health practice and health care delivery sites;
assistance in creating linkages to appropriate
professional associations in the Washington, D.C. area;
participation in the review and selection of contracts and
agreements developed in implementing the project; (and)
participation in monitoring the implementation, conduct
and results of projects implemented under the Cooperative Agreement.
Eligibility for Funding
Entities eligible for funding under this Cooperative Agreement
must:
1. be a recognized professional association representing schools of
public health, and
2. be located in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.
National Health Objectives for the Year 2000
The Public Health Service (PHS) urges applicants to submit work
plans that address specific objectives of Healthy People 2000.
Potential applicants may obtain a copy of Healthy People 2000 (Full
Report; Stock No. 017-001-00474-0) or Healthy People 2000 (Summary
Report; Stock No. 017-001-00473-1) through the Superintendent of
Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402-9325
(Telephone (202) 783-3238).
Education and Service Linkage
As part of its long-range planning, HRSA will be targeting its
efforts to strengthening linkages between U.S. Public Health Service
education programs which provide comprehensive primary care services to
the underserved.
Smoke-Free Workplace
The Public Health Service strongly encourages all grant recipients
to provide a smoke-free workplace; to promote the non-use of all
tobacco products; and to promote Public Law 103-227, the Pro-Children
Act of 1994, which prohibits smoking in certain facilities that receive
Federal funds in which education, library, day care, health care, and
early childhood development services are provided to children.
Review Criteria
Applications received will be reviewed by an ad hoc review panel
using the following criteria:
the degree to which the proposal contains clearly stated,
realistic, cross-cutting, achievable, and measurable objectives;
the extent to which the proposal includes an integrated
methodology compatible with the scope of project objectives, including
collaborative relationships with relevant institutions and professional
associations;
the administrative and management capability of the
applicant to carry out the Cooperative Agreement; and
the extent to which budget justifications are complete,
appropriate, and cost-effective.
Application Requests
Eligible entities interested in receiving materials regarding this
program should notify HRSA. Materials will be sent only to those
entities making a request. Requests for proposal instructions and other
questions should be directed to: Mr. John R. Westcott, Grants
Management Officer, Bureau of Health Professions, HRSA, 5600 Fishers
Lane, Room 8C-26, Rockville, Maryland 20857, Telephone: (301) 443-6880.
Completed applications must be returned to the Grants Management
Officer at the above address.
Questions concerning programmatic aspects of the Cooperative
Agreement must be directed to:
Ronald B. Merrill, M.H.A., Chief, Public Health Branch, Division of
Associated, Dental and Public Health Professions, Bureau of Health
Professions, HRSA, 5600 Fishers Lane, Room 8C-09, Rockville, Maryland
20857, Telephone: (301) 443-6896
Alexander F. Ross, Sc.D., Office of Public Health Practice/HRSA,
Parklawn Building, Room 14-15, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, Maryland
20857, Telephone: (301) 443-4034
Paperwork Reduction Act
The standard application form PHS 6025-1, HRSA Competing Training
Grant Application, have been approved by the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction Act. The OMB clearance
number is 0915-0060.
The deadline date for receipt of application is July 10, 1996.
Applications will be considered to be ``on time'' is they are either:
1. Received on or before the established deadline date, or
2. Sent on or before the established deadline date and received in
time for orderly processing. (Applicants should 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 not accepted for processing will be returned to
the applicant. In addition, applications which exceed the page
limitation and/or do not follow format instructions will not be
accepted for processing and will be returned to the applicant.
This program is not subject to the provisions of Executive Order
12372, Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs (as implemented
through 45 CFR part 100). This program is also not subject to the
Public Health System Reporting Requirements.
Dated: June 3, 1996.
Ciro V. Sumaya,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 96-14588 Filed 6-7-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4160-15-P
