[Federal Register: May 9, 2001 (Volume 66, Number 90)]
[Notices]
[Page 23703-23705]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr09my01-89]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
[Program Announcement 01069]
Cooperative Agreement for Suicide Prevention Research Center;
Notice of Availability of Funds
A. Purpose
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announces the
availability of fiscal year (FY) 2001 funds for a cooperative agreement
program for a Suicide Prevention Research Center (SPRC). This program
addresses the ``Healthy People 2010'' focus area of Violent and Abusive
Behavior and Unintentional Injuries. The purpose of this cooperative
agreement is to support existing activities of an SPRC that target at-
risk populations including American Indian/Alaskan Natives, African-
American males, young adolescents and the elderly. SPRC activities
include both research-related projects and efforts to facilitate and/or
coordinate suicide prevention efforts for a geographically defined
area. Examples of these activities include, but are not limited to: (1)
Behavioral research of populations at-risk for suicide, and the (2)
development and evaluation of a suicide surveillance system that
includes information collected from multiple data sources.
B. Eligible Applicants
Applications may be submitted by public and private nonprofit
organizations and by governments and their agencies; that is,
universities, colleges, research institutions, hospitals, other public
and private nonprofit organizations, State and local governments or
their bona fide agents, including the District of Columbia, the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of
the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, Guam, the Federated
States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the
Republic of Palau, federally recognized Indian tribal governments,
Indian tribes, or Indian tribal organizations.
To be eligible, applicants must provide the following:
1. Acceptable documentation, at a minimum, includes a letter from
the director of the agency authorizing access to the records
delineating what records/data are available for use and by whom, the
time of availability of records and the specific calendar years, the
availability of unique identifiers, how the records/data can be used,
etc.;
2. How the records/data are to be linked, the existence of a
unified database, and existing infrastructure to conduct the suicide
prevention research;
3. Evidence of existing staff and resources to carry out the
activities; and 4) evidence of existing partnerships with national,
state, and local suicide prevention agencies that includes letters from
all agencies from the director of the agency, documenting the nature of
the partnership, the length of the relationship, what role and/or
resources provided, etc.
The documentation to fulfill the eligibility requirement must
appear immediately following the face sheet of the application. All
documentation must appear on agency letterhead. Applications that fail
to submit evidence of the above will be considered non-responsive and
will be returned without review.
Note: Title 2 of the United States Code, chapter 26, section
1611 states that an organization described in section 501(c)(4) of
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 that engages in lobbying
activities is not eligible to receive Federal funds constituting an
award, grant, cooperative agreement, contract, loan, or any other
form.
C. Availability of Funds
Approximately $400,000 is available in fiscal year (FY) 2001 to
fund one award. It is expected that the award will begin on or about
September 1, 2001, and will be made for a 12-month budget period within
a project period of up to three years. Funding estimates may change.
Continuation awards within an approved project period will be made
on the basis of satisfactory progress as evidenced by required reports
and the availability of funds.
D. Programmatic Interest
Specific research activities of particular interest to CDC are:
1. Evaluation of the benefits resulting from the development of a
unified suicide surveillance system as described above and an
assessment of the barriers encountered during the development phase;
2. Identification of existing state and regional suicide prevention
efforts;
3. Determination of existing death investigation protocols used by
medical examiners and coroners regarding suicide; and the
4. Development of recommendations for a standard protocol to aid in
the investigative process improvement of these protocols.
E. Program Requirements
The following are applicant requirements:
1. Demonstrate expertise in some form of suicide behavior
prevention research as a core component of the SPRC (as defined in the
Section Background and Definitions of the program announcement included
in the application kit).
2. Provide a director (Principal Investigator) who has specific
authority and responsibility to carry out the project.
3. Provide a Program Coordinator/Manager, with suicidal behavior
research expertise, who will be responsible for day to day programmatic
and fiscal management, establishment and maintenance of communication
between and among members of the expert panel, national advisory
committee(s), community advisory committee, and other organizations and
agencies, including CDC.
F. Cooperative Agreement Activities
In conducting activities to achieve the purpose of this program,
the recipient will be responsible for the activities under 1.
(Recipient Activities), and CDC will be responsible for the activities
listed under 2. (CDC Activities).
[[Page 23704]]
1. Recipients Activities
a. Conduct epidemiologic research regarding suicide and suicidal
behavior. Such research should provide information about potentially
modifiable risk and protective factors that can be used as a basis to
develop prevention programs or identify avenues for intervention.
b. Collaborate with outside agencies and other entities which will
allow for implementation of any proposed intervention activities. At
least one of the agencies must be a national organization that has
suicide prevention as its major objective and whose members are
actively engaged in suicide prevention activities. Provide evidence of
established relationships, demonstrated by letters of commitment, with
suicide prevention programs being carried out in the State or region in
which the SPRC is located. Cooperation with private-sector programs is
encouraged.
c. Collaborate with specialists or experts in medicine,
epidemiology, behavioral and social sciences, and/or public health as
needed to complete the plans of the SPRC. These are considered the
disciplines and fields for the SPRC.
d. Establish a community advisory board composed of representatives
from public health, mental health, social services, community-based
organizations and suicide survivors (family members, friends, etc., who
have experienced the loss of a loved one due to suicide) who have an
interest in suicide prevention.
e. Coordinate geographic efforts within the state and region to be
served by the SPRC.
f. Facilitate and/or coordinate suicide prevention efforts to
address the elimination of health disparities among minority
populations with disproportionate burdens of adverse health outcomes.
g. Publicize and disseminate the findings.
2. CDC Activities
a. Assist in the development of a research protocol for
Institutional Review Board (IRB) review. The CDC IRB will review and
approve the protocol initially and on at least an annual basis until
the research is completed.
b. Provide technical assistance, as needed, to the SPRC.
c. Assist in the publicizing and dissemination of the findings.
G. Application Content
Use the information in the Program Requirements, Other
Requirements, and Evaluation Criteria sections to develop the
application content. Your application will be evaluated on the criteria
listed, so it is important to follow them in laying out your program
plan.
H. Submission and Deadline
Submit the original and five copies of PHS-398 (OMB Number 0925-
0001) [(adhere to the instructions on the Errata Instruction Sheet for
PHS 398)]. Forms are available at the following Internet address:
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leavingFR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.cdc.gov./od/pgo/forminfo.htm or in the application kit.
On or before July 9, 2001, submit the application to the Grants
Management Specialist identified in the ``Where to Obtain Additional
Information'' section of this announcement.
Deadline: Applications shall be considered as meeting the deadline
if they are either:
(a) Received on or before the deadline date; or
(b) Sent on or before the deadline date and received in time for
submission to the independent review group. (Applicants must 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: Applications which do not meet the criteria in
(a) or (b) above are considered late applications, will not be
considered, and will be returned to the applicant.
I. Evaluation Criteria
Each application will be evaluated individually against the
following criteria by an independent review group appointed by CDC.
Applicants will be evaluated according to the following criteria
(Maximum of 100 total points):
1. Core Faculty, Staff, and Organizational Capacity (30 points)
a. Core faculty: Qualifications, experience, and/or ability of core
faculty in conducting research relevant to suicide prevention. Faculty
history and experience in receiving research support from competitive
sources of funding.
b. Staffing plan: Qualifications, adequacy, appropriateness of
personnel, level of effort devoted to the SPRC, and ability to
accomplish the proposed activities. The director must report to an
appropriate institutional official, e.g., dean of a school, vice
president of a university, or commissioner of health and devote not
less than 30 percent effort solely to this project. The Project
Coordinator or Manager must be a full-time equivalent (1FTE) who is
responsible for managing the day to day activities of the SPRC and
responsible for providing coordination among and between the national,
state, and local organizations, the expert panel, and the community
advisory board.
c. Organizational capacity: Existence and availability of
organizational resources and support for achieving research and
prevention goals.
2. Organizational Collaboration (30 points)
a. The extent to which the applicant describes the nature of the
collaborative relationships (joint activities and access to the
collaborative organization's membership for promoting prevention
activities).
b. The extent to which one of the collaborating organizations is a
national organization that has suicide prevention as its major
objective and whose members are actively engaged in suicide prevention
activities.
c. The extent to which the applicant documents geographic
coordination of all suicide prevention efforts within the state and
region to be served by the SPRC to include but not limited to
surveillance efforts, involvement of experts and national organization
and others referenced in the program requirements, inventory of
evaluated diverse suicide prevention programs targeting a
representative mixture of target groups, the inclusion of and linkage
of disparate data sources, etc.
3. Research and Prevention Plan (40 points)
a. The extent to which the applicant documents a high incidence of
suicide in the state and region to be served. The extent to which the
applicant documents the public health impact of suicide within the
state and region to be served by the SPRC.
b. The extent to which the applicant has the capacity to develop a
research plan that identifies and is responsive to needed research in
the area of suicide prevention.
c. The extent to which the applicant documents plans to develop a
model self-directed violence surveillance system that has the capacity
to link records between disparate data bases either within a specific
geographic area (e.g., including the state and region). At a minimum,
the applicant should document access to uniform hospital discharge data
bases, trauma registries, and vital statistics.
d. The extent to which the applicant documents the ability of the
surveillance system to identify geographic areas with a high incidence
of attempted or completed suicides.
[[Page 23705]]
e. The extent to which the system have the capability to identify
demographic groups at high risk, e.g., racial/ethnic groups, age,
economic class, etc.
f. The extent to which the applicant documents utility of a
standard protocol for follow-back studies to aid in the investigative
process to validate or invalidate undetermined causes of death.
Specifically, can the data collection and analysis enhance the follow-
back study process to address the following issues: determine the
manner of death in equivocal or undetermined deaths, establish the
decedent's intent to die, and establish motivations for suicide and
pathways toward suicidal death.
g. The extent to which the applicant describes the distribution of
suicidal behavior/correlates in a state and region, and plans to
develop and pilot test suicide questions for future use in state level
surveys.
h. The extent to which the applicant can identify existing instate
and inter-region suicide prevention programs, in existence for a
minimum of five years and have been evaluated, that target a
representative mixture of target groups, specifically African-American
males and Native American/Alaska Natives, and young adolescents and the
elderly. The inventory of existing prevention programs, referenced
above, should represent a diversity of intervention strategies and
settings.
i. The extent to which the applicant documents how specific
activities address minority populations with disproportionate burdens
of adverse health outcomes.
j. The degree to which the applicant will meet the CDC Policy
requirements regarding the inclusion of women, ethnic, and racial
groups in the proposed research. This includes:
1. The proposed plan for the inclusion of both sexes and racial and
ethnic minority populations appropriate representation.
2. The proposed justification when representation is limited or
absent.
3. A statement as to whether the design of the study is adequate to
measure differences when warranted.
4. A statement as to whether the plans for recruitment and outreach
for study participants include the process of establishing partnerships
with community(ies) and recognition of mutual benefits.
4. Budget (not scored)
The extent to which the budget is reasonable, clearly justified,
and consistent with stated objectives and proposed activities.
Soundness of the proposed budget in terms of adequacy of resources and
their allocation.
5. Human Subjects (Not scored; however an application can be
disapproved if the research risks are sufficiently serious and
protection against risks is so inadequate as to make the entire
application unacceptable.) Does the application adequately address the
requirements of Title 45 CFR 46 for the protection of human subjects?
Yes __ No __
J. Other Requirements
1. Technical Reporting Requirements Provide CDC with original plus two
copies of
a. progress reports (semiannual);
b. financial status report, no more than 90 days after the end of
the budget period;
c. final financial report and performance report, no more than 90
days after the end of the project period.
Send all reports to the Grants Management Specialist identified in
the ``Where to Obtain Additional Information'' section of this
announcement.
2. Additional Requirements
The following additional requirements are applicable to this
program. For a complete description of each see Attachment I of the
announcement.
AR-1 Human Subjects Requirements
AR-2 Requirements for Inclusion of Women and Racial and Ethnic
Minorities in Research
AR-10 Smoke-Free Workplace Requirements
AR-11 Healthy People 2010
AR-12 Lobbying Restrictions
AR-13 Prohibition of Use of CDC Funds for Certain Gun Control
Activities
AR-21 Small Minority
AR-22 Research Integrity
K. Authority and Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number
This program is authorized under the Public Health Service Act 301,
317, and 391-394A (42 U.S.C. section 241, 247b and 280b-280b-3), as
amended. The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance number is 93.136.
L. Where to Obtain Additional Information
This and other CDC announcements can be found on the CDC homepage
Internet address--http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leavingFR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.cdc.gov. Click on ``Funding'' then
``Grants and Cooperative Agreements.''
To receive additional written information and to request an
application kit, call 1-888-GRANTS4 (1-888-472-6874). You will be asked
to leave your name and address and will be instructed to identify the
Announcement number of interest.
If you have questions after reviewing the contents of all the
documents, business management technical assistance may be obtained
from: Angie Nation, Grants Management Specialist, Grants Management
Branch, Procurement and Grants Office, Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, 2920 Brandywine Road, Suite 3000, Atlanta, GA 30341-4146,
Telephone: (770) 488-2719, E-mail address: aen4@cdc.gov.
For program technical assistance, contact: M. Joyce McCurdy,
Deputy, Etiology and Surveillance Branch, National Center for Injury
Prevention and Control, Division of Violence Prevention, Mailstop K60,
4770 Buford Highway, Atlanta, GA 30341-3717, Telephone number: (770)
488-4410, Email address: jmm6@cdc.gov.
Dated: May 2, 2001.
John L. Williams,
Director, Procurement and Grants Office Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC).
[FR Doc. 01-11614 Filed 5-8-01; 8:45 am]
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