Call Script for TECPHI NOFO – CDC-RFA-DP22-2206 Tribal Epidemiology Centers Public Health Infrastructure

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Notice of Funding Opportunity: Tribal Practices for Wellness in Indian Country
(CDC-RFA-DP22-2201)
Informational Call
March 16, 2022, 2:30 – 4:00 p.m. EST

Agenda in Brief:

  1. Introduction and Welcome: Julianna Reece, MD
  2. Overview of NOFO: Nancy Andrade
  3. Strategies and Activities: Nancy Andrade
  4. Eligibility Criteria: Kelly Bishop
  5. Submission Procedures – OGS: Darryl Mitchell
  6. Email box and Web site for additional information: Kelly Bishop
  7. Questions and Answers: Kelly Bishop
  8. Closing: Julianna Reece, MD

1. Introduction and Welcome

Julianna Reece, MD

Welcome and thank you for taking the time to be on this conference call today to discuss a new notice of funding opportunity, or NOFO, for Tribal Epidemiology Centers Public Health Infrastructure, or TECPHI. This funding opportunity supports Tribal Epidemiology Centers (TECs) that have been established to serve each Indian Health Service (IHS) or Urban Area. This call is being hosted by staff from the Division of Population Health in the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, and the Office of Grant Services here at CDC. My name is Dr. Julianna Reece; I’m the director of the Healthy Tribes program in the Division of Population Health.

CDC’s Healthy Tribes program seeks to promote health, prevent chronic disease, reduce health disparities, improve social determinants of health, and strengthen connections to culture and community practices among American Indians and Alaska Natives. This new NOFO will join a robust portfolio of cooperative agreements that work together to improve health outcomes across Indian Country including strengthening tribal public health infrastructure, expanding the evidence-based programs in AI/AN communities, and learning from innovative practices including cultural adaptations for chronic disease prevention. We are pleased you are interested in becoming a partner in this work.

I will run through today’s agenda and introduce the CDC staff you will be hearing from today about our notice of funding opportunity.

  • Nancy Andrade will provide an overview of the NOFO and provide an overview of the strategies and activities that are a part of this NOFO.
  • Kelly Bishop will review the eligibility criteria and funding levels.
  • Darryl Mitchell from CDC’s Office of Grant Services will discuss submission procedures and processes.
  • Kelly Bishop will then share some resources available to you for additional information as you prepare your applications, including the email box and web site, and then Kelly will lead us through the question-and-answer process.
  • I will then provide closing remarks.

We have structured the call to include time at the end to hear and answer some of your questions. Currently all lines are on mute. However, prior to the Q & A portion of the call, the operator will provide instructions on how to ask a question. With this in mind, we suggest that you write down your questions during the call, and we will open the phone lines at the end of the presentations. In the event your question is not answered on today’s call, you may submit it to TECPHI2206@cdc.gov.

I will now turn it over to Nancy Andrade who will give an overview of the NOFO.

2. Overview of the New NOFO

Nancy Andrade

Thank you, Dr. Reece. Welcome, everyone, to the call. We are very excited about this NOFO and would like to thank you for joining us today.

This NOFO builds upon the strengths and lessons learned from the current TECPHI funding opportunity, DP17-1704. Like the previous opportunity, recipients of this funding will implement strategies and activities that are designed to build the capacity and infrastructure of TECs, and the tribes and Urban Indian Organizations, or UIOs, they serve. This time, recipients will do so to meet national public health accreditation standards and deliver the 10 Essential Public Health Services. This work will support efforts to effectively identify and address underlying social determinants of health, reduce persistent health disparities, and improve the overall health and wellbeing of American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) populations.

Recipients will increase capacity and infrastructure of the TEC and the tribes and UIOs in their Area to:

  • deliver at least 3 of the 10 Essential Public Health Services,
  • plan, implement, and evaluate public health programs,
  • implement data-driven, culturally relevant, practice-based public health programs,
  • use evaluation data for program improvement,
  • train staff on public health core competencies, and
  • demonstrate program impact.

The long-term goals are to strengthen delivery of essential public health services by TECs, tribes, and UIOs to serve AI/AN communities

This NOFO has two components: Component A and Component B.

Up to 12 Component A awards will be made, one in each IHS Area, and the Urban Area as defined by this NOFO. You can find the definition in the glossary at the end of the NOFO. Funding for Component A recipients will be dependent on the number of tribes served in the Area. You can find the funding strategy on page 10 of the NOFO. Up to 1 Component B award will be made. Funding for the Component B recipient will not exceed $500,000.

Applicants may apply for both Component A and Component B. If applying for both Component A and Component B, a separate application must be submitted for each.

You’ll hear more about the requirements for Component A and Component B recipients in just a couple minutes.
As noted on page 9-10 of the NOFO: If a Component A recipient is not a Tribal Epidemiology Center (TEC), it is expected and required that the recipient will collaborate with the TEC in their IHS area or the Urban Area to carry out the strategies and activities described in this NOFO. As described in the Organizational Capacity section of this NOFO (pages 14-15), Component A applicants who are not a TEC must submit a letter of support from the TEC in the applicant’s IHS Area or Urban Area. The letter of support must be signed by the current TEC director, or equivalent acting official, as indicated in the letter’s signature block, stating the TEC’s intent to work with the applicant on all NOFO requirements. This TEC Letter of Support must be uploaded with the application under “other attachments/mandatory other attachments.”
Applicants must provide an evaluation and performance measurement plan that demonstrates how the recipient will fulfill the requirements described in the CDC Evaluation and Performance Measurement and Project Description sections of this NOFO.

This NOFO complements other work of the Healthy Tribes program, including the Good Health and Wellness in Indian Country (GHWIC) and the Tribal Practices for Wellness in Indian Country (TPWIC) cooperative agreements.

This is a five-year cooperative agreement, subject to the availability of funds. The budget period is 12 months.
I will now share the NOFO strategies and outcomes with you by Component.

As mentioned before, this NOFO has two components, Component A and Component B. The NOFO contains a logic model with strategies and short-term, intermediate, and long-term outcomes on page 5 and 6, and a more detailed list of strategies and activities on pages 7-9. Outcomes are on pages 6. Feel free to turn to those pages as I walk through the strategies and outcomes.

3. Strategies and Activities

Nancy Andrade

Component A applicants must choose at least one activity from each of the three Focus Areas under Strategy 1 that are designed to build the capacity and infrastructure within the TEC. Component A applicants also must choose at least one of the activities from Strategy 2 that are designed for the TEC to build the capacity and infrastructure of tribes and UIOs in the TEC’s IHS Area, including the Urban Area as defined in this NOFO.

Strategy 1: Strengthen the TEC’s public health capacity and infrastructure to meet national public health standards and deliver the 10 Essential Public Health Services. The focus areas are infrastructure building; collecting and using data to conduct assessments and identify local health priorities; and planning, implementing, and evaluating interventions to address health priorities.

Strategy 2: Strengthen Public Health Capacity and Infrastructure of Area tribes and UIOs to meet national public health accreditation standards and deliver the 10 Essential Public Health Services.

In addition to the strategies and activities just mentioned, all Component A recipients must:

  • Participate in the Community of Practice facilitated by the Component B recipient.
  • Create a sustainability plan to sustain efforts beyond the 5-year period of performance.

Component B applicants must address all activities listed for both Strategy 1 and Strategy 2.

Strategy 1: Foster peer-to-peer learning, support training, share best- or promising-practices, and support sustainability efforts among Component A recipients. This includes the Community of Practice.

Strategy 2: Coordinate a national evaluation approach and communication efforts with CDC and Component A recipients.

I will now turn the call over to Kelly Bishop who will go over the eligibility criteria and funding that is available for this program.

4. Eligibility Criteria and Available Funds

Kelly Bishop

Thanks, Nancy.

This is an open competition NOFO. A List of eligible entities and additional information on eligibility is noted on pages 21-22. The intent of this NOFO is to support TECs that have been established to serve each IHS or Urban Area Urban Indian Organizations | Office of Urban Indian Health Programs (ihs.gov).external icon

Applications submitted will be considered non-responsive and will not receive further review if the following criteria are not met:

  1. All applicants must identify the component they will be applying for in the project abstract. If the applicant does not identify the component in the project abstract, the application will be deemed non-responsive and receive no further review.
  2. The following information applies to Component A applicants only. The Component A applicant:
    • Must be physically located and operate within the IHS Area or Urban Area for which the work is proposed. Applicants must identify the IHS Area or Urban Area in which they will do the proposed work in the project abstract. If the IHS Area or Urban Area is not identified in the project abstract the application will be deemed non-responsive.
    • Must identify if they are a TEC or not in the project abstract. If not identified in the project abstract the application will be deemed non-responsive.
    • If not a TEC, the applicant must provide a Letter of Support from the current TEC director (or equivalent acting official) as described in the General Capacity section of this NOFO. The letter should be titled “TEC Letter of Support” and uploaded as a “other attachments/mandatory other attachments.” If the letter of support is not provided the application will be deemed non-responsive.

I will now turn the call over to Darryl Mitchell, Grants Management Specialist, from the Office of Grant Services to discuss specific requirements related to the application process.

5. Submission Procedures

Darryl Mitchell

Thanks, Kelly. No letter of intent is requested for this NOFO. Applications are due on May 11, 2022 by 11:59 p.m. U.S. Eastern Daylight Time, on www.grants.gov.external icon Please remember that your organization must be registered at the three following locations before it can submit an application for funding at www.grants.gov.external icon

Please note: For applications due on or after April 4, 2022, applicants must have a unique entity identifier (UEI) at the time of application submission. In preparation for the federal government’s April 4, 2022, transition to the Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) from the Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS), applicants must obtain a UEI. The UEI is generated as part of SAM.gov registration. Current SAM.gov registrants have already been assigned their UEI and can view it in SAM.gov and grants.gov. Entities registering in SAM.gov prior to April 4, 2022 must still obtain a DUNS number before registering in SAM.gov registration.

The first system is the Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS). All Applicants organizations must obtain a DUNS number to register in SAM.gov prior to April 4, 2022.

The second is System for Award Management (SAM). The SAM is the primary registrant database for the federal government and the repository into which an entity must submit information required to conduct business as a recipient. All applicant organizations must register with SAM and will be assigned a SAM number and a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI). All information relevant to the SAM number must be current at all times during which the applicant has an application under consideration for funding by CDC. If an award is made, the SAM information must be maintained until a final financial report is submitted or the final payment is received, whichever is later. The SAM registration process can require 10 or more business days, and registration must be renewed annually. Additional information can be found at SAM.gov and SAM.gov Knowledge Base.+

The last is Grants.gov: The first step in submitting an application online is registering your organization at www.grants.gov,external icon the official HHS E-grant Web site. Registration information is located at the “Get Registered” option at www.grants.gov.external icon All applicant organizations must register at www.grants.gov.external icon The one-time registration process usually takes not more than five days to complete. Applicants must start the registration process as early as possible.

The websites I mentioned are all in the notice of funding opportunity on pages 17-19.

I will now turn the call back to Kelly Bishop.

6. Email Box and Web Site for Additional Information

Kelly Bishop

Thanks, Darryl.

We want to make sure you are aware of some resources that may be useful to you as you work on your application. CDC has a website for this NOFO that includes links to the NOFO, frequently asked questions, or FAQs, a link to submit questions about this NOFO, and after this call, the script from today’s call. All questions about this NOFO must be submitted to the TECPHI2206@cdc.gov email inbox. We are not allowed to answer questions by phone or email to us personally. People often submit questions wanting to discuss the strategies and activities they want to propose, which CDC is unable to address during the application period. Strategies and activities will be reviewed in Phase II of the review process. Also, CDC cannot answer questions related to technical issues with grants.gov, SAM.gov, DUNS or other required registration systems. Before you submit a question, we strongly recommend you review all the frequently asked questions in case someone has already submitted the same or similar question and an answer has already been posted. The deadline to submit questions is Friday, May 6, 2022. This will allow enough time to receive a response back before the application due date, May 11, 2022. The links to submit a question, visit the FAQ page, and the NOFO webpage can all be found on page 2 of the NOFO under Due Date for Information Conference Call.

7. Question and Answer Session

Kelly Bishop

We’ll now move to the question-and-answer portion of our call. To the extent possible we will try to answer your questions on the call today. If we are not able to provide an immediate answer on this call, we will provide an answer and post it to our FAQ page on the NOFO website, along with all the questions and answers from today’s call. You should check the FAQ webpage frequently for new questions and answers. At this time, I will ask the operator to open the lines for questions.

If you have questions after this call, please submit your questions to TECPHI2206@cdc.gov.

That concludes the question-and-answer portion of this call. I will turn the call back over to Dr. Julianna Reece.

8. Closing

Julianna Reece, MD

On behalf of the Division of Population Health, Healthy Tribes Program, thank you all for your time on the call today, and for your interest in this notice of funding opportunity. This concludes our call today. Thank you and have a good afternoon.

Page last reviewed: March 18, 2022
Content source: National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Division of Population Health