AHRQ SMALL RESEARCH GRANT PROGRAM

Release Date:  January 2, 2001

PA NUMBER:  PAR-01-040

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (formerly AHCPR)

Application Receipt Dates:  March 24th; July 24th; November 24th

PURPOSE

The mission of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), 
formerly known as the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR), is 
to enhance the quality, appropriateness, and effectiveness of health 
services, and access to such services, through the 
establishment of a broad base of scientific research and through the 
promotion of improvements in clinical and health systems practices, including 
the prevention of diseases and other health conditions.  AHRQ achieves this 
mission through health services research designed to (1) improve clinical 
practice, (2) improve the health care system’s ability to provide access to 
and deliver high quality, high-value health care, and (3) provide 
policymakers with the ability to assess the impact of system changes on 
outcomes, quality, access to, cost, and use of health care services. 

AHRQ’s research agenda is designed to be responsive to the needs of 
consumers, patients, clinicians and other providers, institutions, plans, 
purchasers, and public policymakers for the evidence-based information they 
need to improve quality and outcomes, control costs, and assure access to 
needed services.  AHRQ is especially interested in research involving 
collaborative efforts between researchers and medical and public health or 
healthcare provider, purchasers or payer organizations.

AHRQ announces a program of small research grants designed to provide support 
for new investigators or researchers new to health care services issues and 
encourage preliminary, exploratory, or innovative research in new or 
previously unexamined areas.

This announcement replaces the following earlier announcements: 1) “AHCPR 
Small Project Grant Program,” published in the NIH Guide for Grants and 
Contracts on February 23, 1996; 2) “AHCPR Small Project Grant Program - 
Addendum,” published also in the Guide, on January 29, 1999, and 3) “AHRQ 
Small Research Grant Program Addendum,” published in the Guide on July 13, 
2000.

HEALTHY PEOPLE 2010

The Public Health Service (PHS) is committed to achieving the health 
promotion and disease prevention objectives of “Healthy People 2010,” a PHS-
led national activity for setting health improvement priorities for the 
United States.  AHRQ encourages applicants to submit grant applications with 
relevance to the specific objectives of this initiative.  Potential 
applicants may obtain a copy of “Healthy People 2010" at  
http://www.health.gov/healthypeople/

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

Applications may be submitted by domestic public or private non-profit 
organizations, including universities, clinics, units of State and local 
governments, and nonprofit firms and foundations.  For the purpose of this 
PA, AHRQ, by statute, can award grants only to non-profit organizations.  
Organizations described in section 501(c)4 of the Internal Revenue Code that 
engage in lobbying are not eligible. 

AHRQ encourages investigators who are women, members of racial and ethnic 
minority groups, and persons with disabilities to apply as Principal 
Investigators.

AHRQ also encourages new investigators (as defined in the PHS 398 application 
instructions) to apply as Principal Investigators.

Projects must be self-contained.  They may be conceptually linked to future 
or past projects but must contain all the elements of a stand-alone effort 
that can be reviewed and evaluated on its own for both scientific merit and 
budget.

The request may not be used to supplement currently supported projects, 
provide interim support for projects under review by the PHS, or obtain 
funding as a competing continuation of a small grant.  Requests for support 
for dissertation research will not be considered under this small grant 
program.  Applications to support dissertations should be submitted for 
consideration under the AHRQ Small Grant Program for Health Services 
Dissertation Research (see “Inquiries”).

MECHANISM OF SUPPORT

Grants provided under this Program Announcement (PA) will use the small 
research grant (R03) mechanism.  Responsibility for the planning, direction, 
and execution of the proposed project will be solely that of the proposed 
Principal Investigator.  The budget limit on small project grant applications 
is $100,000 total costs (i.e., direct costs plus facilities and 
administrative 
costs) for the entire project period.  Projects may not exceed $100,000 in 
total costs.  Grant support will normally not exceed 24months.

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

Background

Title IX of the Public Health Service (PHS) Act (42 U.S.C. 299 et seq.  
amended, Sec. 922) gives AHRQ flexibility in review procedures for awarding 
small grants. AHRQ uses the small grant authority to support three kinds of 
activities: conferences, doctoral dissertations, and small research grants.  
This Program Announcement describes the third of these activities, the AHRQ 
Small Research Grant Program.  Under this program, AHRQ provides support for 
focused, developmental, and innovative research projects.
Focused Research Projects

Projects can be descriptive or involve the testing of hypotheses. Projects 
must be discrete; that is, only projects that can be completed within the 
budgetary and time constraints imposed by the small grant program are 
eligible for support. Projects can use any of a variety of methods: 
opportunistic, qualitative research, quantitative analysis of existing 
secondary data; policy research; evaluations of demonstrations or programs; 
case studies; historical, legal, or ethical analysis; or primary data 
collection and analysis.

Developmental Research Studies

Developmental projects can involve feasibility studies or pilot projects. 
They can also include formative or exploratory activities such as 
construction or modification of a survey instrument, research to test the 
design of a large-scale study, and collection and analysis of quantitative or 
qualitative information for the purpose of hypothesis generation.

Innovative Research Projects  

Innovative projects involve the study of a novel issue or problem or the 
application of a novel methodological approach. These projects might employ 
techniques or theories from other fields not traditionally linked to health 
services research. Such projects have the potential for providing new 
insights into methodological or substantive issues. Because these projects 
may be groundbreaking, there is also a greater probability than with more 
conventional projects that they may not achieve the desired or planned 
outcome.

New Investigators

Although the focus of this Program is research, the Program also provides an 
opportunity for new investigators to submit applications or for established 
investigators to explore health care research issues in fields other than 
their primary area of research interest. AHRQ encourages submission of 
applications from such investigators.

Research Priorities 

The following topics represent areas of research that the Agency is most 
interested in.

o   Accelerating and magnifying the impact of research on clinical practice 
and patient outcomes in applied settings.

o   Demonstrating that the translation of research into practice leads to 
measurable and sustainable improvements in health care.

o   Understanding how research and cost-effectiveness analysis is used in 
decision making by health care policymakers, administrators, and managers.  
Of particular interest are studies that enhance our understanding the ethical 
implications of the use of cost-effectiveness analysis by health care 
decision-makers.

o   Developing strategies to incorporate individuals’ values and equity 
considerations into cost-
effectiveness analyses.

o   Improving the health care system’s ability to provide access to and 
deliver high quality, high-
value health care.

o   Developing and evaluating decision support systems to support real-time 
detection of bioterrorist threats and management of bioterrorism.

o   Eliminating inequality in quality and outcomes associated with race and 
ethnicity.

o   Assessing the quality of care for vulnerable populations.

o   Evaluating quality and patient safety in ambulatory care.

o   Enhancing informed decision-making in primary care settings, including 
shared patient-
clinician decision-making. 

o   Using clinical informatics to improve primary care practice, including 
evaluation of its impact on quality, outcomes, cost and patient satisfaction.

o   Assessing the organization and delivery of preventive care and methods to 
improve both the amount and quality of clinical preventive services that are 
delivered. 

o   Understanding the determinants of insurance coverage and access to care.

o   Improving methodologies to systematically review and evaluate preventive 
services, especially screening tests.

o   Improving the delivery of primary care services in rural and inner-city 
areas.

o   Assessing the special health care needs of low income populations. 

o   Improving care at the end-of-life.

o   Providing policy makers with the ability to assess the impact of health 
care changes on outcomes, effectiveness, quality, access, cost and use of 
health services.

o   Developing methods and measures for identifying and preventing medical 
errors to enhance patient safety. 

o   Evaluating the impact of chronic illness among workers and their 
dependents on health care outcomes and work productivity.
o   Developing methodological advances in health services research, 
especially cost-effectiveness analysis.

o   Assessments of  the structure and effects of new, complex plan and 
provider organizations.

o   Providing empirical evidence about new models of incentive-driven 
behavior that will improve our understanding of health care markets in 
policy-relevant ways.

o    Providing evidence-based insight into the nature, extent, and 
effectiveness of value-based purchaser behavior.

In all of the topics listed above the Agency is interested in an explicit 
focus on priority populations, which include low-income groups, minority 
groups, women, children, the elderly and those with special needs, and health 
care delivery in inner-city and rural areas.

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS

Allowable Costs and Unallowable Costs

Expenses allowed under the AHRQ Small Project Grant Program follow the 
guidelines described in the “Application for a Public Health Service Grant” 
(Form PHS 398; rev. 4/98) with some exceptions.

Direct Cost Expenditures

Equipment.  It is not the intent of this program that funds be used to 
purchase equipment.  With strong justification, however, funds may be 
approved for this purpose.

Supplies. With strong justification, grant funds may be used for the purchase 
of supplies.  These supplies must be received and used during the project 
period.

Alterations and Renovations. Grant funds may not be used to support facility 
alteration or renovation of any kind.

Subcontracts:   Grant funds may be used for subcontracts, but not to the 
extent of exceeding funds budgeted for the grantee.  The grantee, as the 
direct and primary recipient of grant funds, must perform a substantive role 
in carrying out project activities and not merely serve as a conduit for an 
award to another party or to provide funds to an ineligible party.

Facilities and Administrative (F&A;) Costs (Indirect Costs)

Facilities and Administrative (F&A;) Costs (F&A; Costs are synonymous with 
“indirect costs”) are allowable and will be calculated using the negotiated 
F&A; cost rate agreement in effect at the time of the initial Notice of Grant 
Award.

Data Privacy

Pursuant to section 903(c) of the Public Health Service Act (42 USC 299a-
1(c)), information obtained in the course of any AHRQ-supported study that 
identifies an individual or entity must be treated as confidential in 
accordance with any promises made or implied regarding the use and purposes 
of the data collection.  Applicants must describe in the Human Subjects 
section of the application procedures for ensuring the confidentiality of 
such  identifying information.  The description of the procedures should 
include a discussion of who will be permitted access to the information, both 
raw data and machine readable files, and how personal identifiers and other 
identifying or identifiable data will be safeguarded.

The grantee should ensure that computer systems containing confidential data 
have a level and scope of security that equals or exceeds those established 
by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in OMB Circular No. A-130, 
Appendix III - Security of Federal Automated Information Systems.  The 
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has published several 
implementation guides for this circular.  They are: An Introduction to 
Computer Security: The NIST Handbook; Generally Accepted Principals and 
Practices for Securing Information Technology Systems; and Guide for 
Developing Security Plans for Information Technology Systems.  The circular 
and guides are available on the web at
 http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistpubs/800-12/handbook.pdf.  

Rights in Data

AHRQ grantees may copyright or seek patents, as appropriate, for final and 
interim products and materials including, but not limited to, methodological 
tools, measures, software with documentation, literature searches, and 
analyses, which are developed in whole or in part with AHRQ funds. Such 
copyrights and patents are subject to a Federal government license to use 
these products and materials for AHRQ purposes. In accordance with its 
legislative dissemination mandate, AHRQ purposes may include, subject to 
statutory confidentiality protections, making research materials, data bases, 
and algorithms available for verification or replication by other 
researchers; and subject to AHRQ budget constraints, final products maybe 
made available to the health care community and the public by AHRQ, or its 
agents, if such distribution would significantly increase access to a product 
and thereby produce public health benefits. Ordinarily, to accomplish 
distribution, AHRQ publicizes research findings but relies on grantees to 
publish in peer-reviewed journals and to market grant-supported products.

INCLUSION OF WOMEN, MINORITIES, AND CHILDREN IN RESEARCH STUDY POPULATIONS

It is the policy of AHRQ that women and members of minority groups be 
included in all AHRQ-
supported research projects involving human subjects, unless a clear and 
compelling rationale and justification are provided that inclusion is 
inappropriate with respect to the health of the subjects or the purpose of 
the research. 

All investigators proposing research involving human subjects should read the 
UPDATED "NIH Guidelines for Inclusion of Women and Minorities as Subjects in 
Clinical Research," published in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts on 
August 2, 2000 
(http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-00-048.html); 
a complete copy of the updated Guidelines are available at  
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/women_min/guidelines_update.htm:  The 
revisions relate to NIH defined Phase III clinical trials and require: a) all 
applications or proposals and/or protocols to provide a description of plans 
to conduct analyses, as appropriate, to address differences by sex/gender 
and/or racial/ethnic groups, including subgroups if applicable; and b) all 
investigators to report accrual, and to conduct and report analyses, as 
appropriate, by sex/gender and/or racial/ethnic group differences.

To the extent possible, AHRQ requires adherence to these NIH Guidelines.

Investigators may obtain copies from the above sources or from the AHRQ 
Publications Clearinghouse, listed under INQUIRIES, or from the NIH Guide Web 
site http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/index.html.

AHRQ also encourages investigators to consider including children in study 
populations, as appropriate. 

AHRQ program staff may also provide additional information concerning these 
policies (see INQUIRIES).

APPLICATION PROCEDURES

Applications are to be submitted on the research grant application form PHS 
398 (rev.4/98).  State and local government applicants may use PHS 5161-1, 
Application for Federal Assistance (rev.5/96), and follow those requirements 
for copy submission.   Applicants are encouraged to read all PHS Form 398 
instructions prior to preparing an application in response to this PA.

Application kits are available at most institutional offices of sponsored 
research or from the Division of Extramural Outreach and Information 
Resources, National Institutes of Health, 6701 Rockledge Drive, MSC 7910, 
Bethesda, MD 20982-7910, telephone (301)435-0714, email:  grantsInfo@nih.gov 
.

AHRQ applicants are encouraged to obtain application materials from the AHRQ 
Publications Clearinghouse (see INQUIRIES).

On line 2 of the face page of the application, mark the “yes” box and type 
the PA number and title in the space provided.

AHRQ encourages applicants to review all application form 398 instructions 
prior to completing an application.  The PHS 398 type size requirements (p.6) 
will be enforced rigorously and non-
compliant applications will be returned.  

Receipt dates for small research grant applications are three times annually:  
March 24th; July 24th; and November 24th.

Application Preparation (for Using HCFA Data)

For applications that propose to use Medicare or Medicaid data that are 
individually identifiable, applicants should state explicitly in the Research 
Design and Methods section of the Research Plan (form 398) the specific 
files, time periods, and cohorts proposed for the research.  In consultation 
with the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA), AHRQ will use this 
information to develop a cost estimate for obtaining the data.  This estimate 
will be included in the estimated total cost of the grant at the time funding 
decisions are made.  To avoid double counting, applicants should not include 
the cost of the data in the budget.  Small research grant applicants should 
be aware that the costs of the grant, including the cost of HCFA data, can 
not exceed $100,000 total costs.  In the event the total costs of the project 
plus the cost of HCFA data is greater than $100,000, the budget for the 
project will be adjusted so that the total costs awarded to the recipient 
plus the HCFA data costs do not exceed $100,000.

Applicants should be aware that for individually identifiable Medicare and 
Medicaid data, Principal Investigators and their grantee institutions will be 
required to enter into a Data Use Agreement (DUA) with HCFA to protect the 
confidentiality of data in accordance with standards set out in OMB Circular 
A-130, Appendix III–Security of Federal Automated Information Systems.  The 
use of the data is restricted to the purposes and time period specified in 
the DUA.  At the end of this time period, the grantee is required to return 
the data to HCFA or certify that the data have been destroyed.  

Grantees must also comply with the confidentiality requirements of Section 
903(c) of the PHS Act.  See the Data Privacy section for details on these 
requirements as well as references to Circular A-130 and its implementation 
guides from the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

In developing research plans, applicants should allow time for refining, 
approving, and processing their data requests.  Requests may take 6 months 
from the time they are submitted to complete.  Applications proposing to 
contact beneficiaries or their providers require the approval of the HCFA 
Administrator and may require meeting(s) with HCFA staff.

HCFA data are provided on IBM mainframe tapes using the record and data 
formats commonly employed on these computers.  Applicants should either have 
the capability to process these tapes and formats or plan to make 
arrangements to securely convert them to other media and formats.

Questions regarding HCFA data should be directed to the AHRQ program official 
listed under INQUIRIES.

AHRQ Data

AHRQ encourages research applications that will use data from the Medical 
Expenditures Panel Survey, or MEPS (http://www.meps.ahrq.gov/), the 
Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project, or HCUP-3 
(http://www.meps.ahrq.gov/Data_Public.htm), and other AHRQ sources.

MEPS is a rich data source for healthcare utilization, expenditure, and 
insurance information.  MEPS directly links data about persons and their 
families with information obtained from their employers, insurers, and 
healthcare providers.  It is the third in a series of nationally 
representative surveys of medical care use and expenditures in the United 
States.  Unlike its predecessors,  MEPS is an ongoing survey.   MEPS collects 
data on the specific health services that Americans use, how frequently they 
use them, the cost and source of payment for services, and information on the 
types and costs of private health insurance held by and available to the U.S. 
population.  It provides a foundation for estimating the impact of changes in 
sources of payment and insurance coverage on different economic groups or 
special populations of interest, such as the poor, elderly, uninsured, and 
racial and ethnic minorities. Current information on the availability of MEPS 
data is on the MEPS section of the AHRQ Web site (http://www.ahrq.gov).  

The HCUP includes databases covering 1988-1997, with 1998 and 1999 data 
available in 2001.  These all-payer databases were created through a Federal-
state-industry partnership to build a multistate health care data system.  
The main HCUP databases contain discharge-level information for inpatient 
hospital stays in a uniform format with privacy protections.  The Nationwide 
Inpatient Sample (NIS) is a nationwide probability sample of about 1000 
hospitals.  The State Inpatient Databases (SID) contain inpatient records for 
all community hospitals in 22 states.  Other HCUP databases contain 
ambulatory surgery data from nine states.  These databases can be directly 
linked to county-level data from the Health Resources and Services 
Administration's Area Resource File and to hospital-level data from the 
Annual Survey of the American Hospital Association.

Special Application Instructions

Specific Instructions for Form 398 (rev.4/98) are to be followed, with the 
following exceptions:

o  The section entitled “Research Plan” must not exceed 15 pages in length.  
Applicants determine the appropriate length of the areas that must be 
addressed in the “Research Plan,” but the statement must not exceed the 15 
page limit.

o  In listing references, only literature immediately relevant to the 
application may be cited.  The reference list is not counted as part of the 
15 pages allotted for the Research Plan.

o  No appendices should be included with the application with the exception 
of proposed instruments.  These should be attached only if they are judged to 
be crucial for the review of the project.  The instruments will not count as 
part of the 15 pages.

o   If applicable, information such as letters of support, letters of 
participation, and statements of intent to establish a consortium can be 
placed directly before the Checklist page of the application.

o  Submit a signed, typewritten original of the application, including the 
checklist, and five signed photocopies, in one package to:

Center for Scientific Review
National Institutes of Health
6701 Rockledge Drive, Room 1040-MSC 7710
Bethesda, MD 29892-7710
(20817 for express/courier service)

REVIEW CONSIDERATIONS

Upon receipt, applications will be reviewed for completeness and 
responsiveness to the PA by AHRQ staff.  Incomplete and/or non-responsive 
applications or applications not following instructions given under 
“Application Procedures” will be returned to the applicant without further 
consideration.  Accepted applications will be evaluated for scientific and 
technical merit by an appropriate peer review group convened in accordance 
with standard AHRQ peer review procedures. 

As part of the peer review, all applications will receive a written critique, 
and also may undergo a process in which only those applications deemed to 
have the highest scientific merit will be discussed and assigned a priority 
score.

Review Criteria

The review criteria for AHRQ grant applications are:

o   Significance and originality of the project. 
o   Adequacy of the proposed methods.
o   Availability of data or adequacy of plan to collect data.
o   Adequacy of plans for organizing and carrying out the project. 
o   Qualifications and experience of the investigators. 
o   Adequacy of facilities and resources for the project. 
o   Human subjects involvement and protection (when appropriate). 
o   Representation of women and minorities (when appropriate). 
o   Reasonableness of budget and time frame relative to proposed work.

AWARD CRITERIA

AHRQ sets aside funding each fiscal year for the Small Research Grant 
Program. The amount of the set-aside is dependent upon the availability of 
funds.

In making funding decisions for small grants, the reviewers' assessment of 
technical merit is important, but is not the only factor used to determine 
which applications will be funded.  Additional factors include the focus of 
the project, potential significance of the study, and the overall 
contribution the project will make to the field of health services research.

The earliest possible date of award is 5 months after the receipt of the 
application by AHRQ.
Applications not selected for funding under AHRQ's Small Research Grant 
Program may be revised and resubmitted once for review and funding 
consideration.  At AHRQ's discretion, efforts may be made to resolve problems 
in applications deemed to hold promise.  Applicants should not assume on the 
basis of efforts to resolve such problems that AHRQ is committed to making an 
award.

To receive an award, applicants must agree to submit an original and 2 copies 
of an abstract, executive summary, and full report of the research results in 
the format prescribed by AHRQ no later than 90 days after the end of the 
project period. The executive summary should be sent at the same time on a 
computer disk which specifies on the label the format used (WP5.1 or WP6.0 is 
preferable).

Applicants must also agree to notify AHRQ immediately when a manuscript based 
on research supported by the grant is accepted for publication, and to 
provide the expected date of publication as soon as it is known, regardless 
of whether or not the grant award is active or has ended.

INQUIRIES

Copies of the PA are available from:

AHRQ Publications Clearinghouse
P.O. Box 8547
Silver Spring, MD 20907-8547
Telephone: 1-800-358-9295 
TDD Service:  888-586-6340

This PA is also available on the AHRQ Web site (http://www.ahrq.gov),  and 
through AHRQ InstantFAX at (301) 594-2800.  To use InstantFAX, you must call 
from a facsimile (FAX) machine with a telephone handset.  Follow the voice 
prompt to obtain a copy of the table of contents, which has the document 
order number (not the same as the RFA number).  The PA will be sent at the 
end of the ordering process.  AHRQ InstantFAX operates 24 hours a day, 7 days 
a week.  For comments or problems concerning AHRQ InstantFax, please call 
(301) 594-6344.

The AHRQ Web site (http://www.ahrq.gov) also provides information on other 
grant solicitations and announcements (click on “Funding Opportunities”).

AHRQ welcomes the opportunity to clarify any issues or questions from 
potential applicants who have read the PA.  Written and telephone inquiries 
concerning this PA are encouraged.   Direct inquiries regarding programmatic 
issues, including information on the inclusion of women, minorities, and 
children in study populations to:

Primary Care Research
Kelly Morgan
Telephone: (301) 594-1782
e-mail: kmorgan@ahrq.gov

Outcomes and Effectiveness Research
Joanne Book
Telephone: (301) 594-4039
e-mail: jbook@ahrq.gov

Cost, Financing, and Market Forces
Achintya Dey
Telephone: (301) 594-0890
e-mail: adey@ahrq.gov

Organization and Delivery
Irene Fraser, PhD
Telephone: (301) 594-6768  
e-mail: ifraser@ahrq.gov

Quality Improvement and Patient Safety
Elinor Walker
Telephone: (301) 594-2049
e-mail: ewalker@ahrq.gov

Inquiries Regarding AHRQ Data Sources

MEPS Household Component
Nancy Krauss
Telephone: (301) 594-0846
e-mail: nkrauss@ahrq.gov

MEPS Nursing Home Component
Jeffrey Rhoades, PhD
Telephone: (301) 594-0891
e-mail: jrhoades@ahrq.gov

HIV Cost and Services Utilization Study
Doris Lefkowitz, PhD
Telephone: (301) 594-1077
e-mail: dlefkowi@ahrq.gov

HCUP-3
Kelly Carper
Telephone: (301) 594-3075
e-mail: kcarper@ahcpr.gov or hcupnis@ahcpr.gov or hcupsid@ahcpr.gov

Direct Inquiries Regarding Fiscal and Eligibility Matters to:
Michelle Burr
Telephone: (301) 594-1840
e-mail: mburr@ahrq.gov

AUTHORITY AND REGULATIONS

This program is described in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance No. 
93.226.  Awards are made under authorization of Section 901(b), 902(c), and 
925(c) of the Public Health Service Act, as amended (42 USC 299-299c-6).  
Awards are administered under the PHS Grants Policy Statement and Federal 
Regulations 42 CFR 67, Subpart A,  and 45 CFR Parts 74 and 92.  This program 
is not subject to the intergovernmental review requirements of Executive 
Order 12372 or Health Systems Agency review.

The PHS strongly encourages all grant and contract recipients to provide a 
smoke-free workplace and promote the non-use 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 physical and mental health of the American people.

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