CDC-RFA- DP-24-0056 Building Capacity to Increase Commercial Tobacco Cessation

Important dates

Letter of Intent

Letter of Intent (requested, not required) should be emailed or postmarked by March 20, 2024, at 11:59 P.M. ET

Informational Conference Call

March 15, 2024 | 1:00 p.m. U.S. ET

CDC will conduct a conference call for all interested applicants to provide technical assistance and respond to any questions regarding this Notice of Funding Opportunity.

Applications

Applications are due April 24, 2024, 11:59 P.M. ET on Grants.gov

Anticipated start date

Successful applicants can anticipate a project start date of September 30, 2024.

Background

Component 1

Improving state quitlines' infrastructure, operations, and services to further enhance their effectiveness and efficiency; increasing state quitlines' reach; broadening the range of cessation services offered by state quitlines; and enhancing quitline sustainability.

Component 2

Promoting and supporting implementation of health systems change initiatives that seek to integrate tobacco dependence treatment into routine clinical care across clinical settings.

Component 3

Promoting and supporting improvements to health insurance coverage for evidence-based tobacco cessation treatments (including individual, quitline, and group counseling and FDA-approved medications).

Eligibility

This NOFO is competitive and eligibility for applicants is unrestricted. This announcement is only for non-research activities supported by CDC. If research is proposed, the application will not be considered. For this purpose, research is defined at CFR-2007-title42-vol1-sec52-2.pdf (govinfo.gov). Guidance on how CDC interprets the definition of research in the context of public health can be found at 45 CFR 46 | HHS.gov.

Frequently asked questions

Question: We are contacting you regarding our interest in this project. Would it be possible for us to submit a late letter of intent?

Thank you for your interest. Letters of intent were requested as optional and not required to submit an application. It is not necessary to submit a letter of intent past the deadline.

Please see CDC-RFA- DP-24-0056 Building Capacity to Increase Commercial Tobacco Cessation | CDC for more information, including the application deadline.

Question: This question is regarding the requirement for the letters of support. Specifically, the following requirement, “Provide at least three letters of support that describe the nature of the existing relationship, including two from state tobacco control programs that have received training and technical assistance from the applicant and one from a national organization that works in tobacco control.” It doesn’t seem this requirement would fit the role of Local Health Districts, as the flow of trainings and TA often flow from the state level to Local Health Districts. Please advise.

This NOFO aims to increase capacity among the National Tobacco Control Program recipients and their partners to promote and support policy, systems, and environmental strategies to address and prevent disparities related to tobacco cessation and to advance health equity.

Activities under this announcement for training and technical assistance should address increasing capacity of state tobacco control programs and their partners to identify, promote, implement, and evaluate specific strategies for increasing access to and use of proven cessation treatments and services through state quitlines, health systems, and health insurance coverage.

As such, two letters of support are requested from state tobacco control programs that have received training and technical assistance from the applicant and one from a national organization that works in tobacco control.

Question: We will be applying under Component #2 (Health Systems Change). What I am hoping to clarify is the TTA requirements and to whom these must be delivered. The sections within the NOFO that I am hoping to understand better are below: “Provide technical assistance and training to state tobacco control programs and their partners on:” and “The ability to provide and evaluate technical assistance and training on tobacco cessation issues to state tobacco control programs and national tobacco control organizations on a national level. The applicant details an established and effective track record of providing and evaluating technical assistance and training on tobacco cessation interventions, particularly related to the component for which they are applying, to state tobacco control programs and/or national tobacco control organizations.” As I read this, we are to be providing training to State (and National level) organizations? We are a large health system serving multiple states but our proposal is focused on implementing changes within our health system to integrate additional evidence-based cessation strategies. This includes training of staff, providers, etc. But is the goal for the award recipient to be providing this training to state/national agencies?

This NOFO aims to increase capacity among the National Tobacco Control Program recipients and their partners. The NOFO-specific glossary and acronyms section provides the definition of the NTCP used for this announcement.

Activities under this announcement for training and technical assistance should address increasing capacity of state tobacco control programs and their partners to identify, promote, implement, and evaluate specific strategies for increasing access to and use of proven cessation treatments and services through state quitlines, health systems, and health insurance coverage.

Question: Page 22 of the RFA available online at apply07.grants.gov states the Approximate Total Fiscal Year Funding is $900,000. However, the bottom of the same page also states the Award Ceiling is $9,000,000 Per Period of Performance, which seems like a typo. Can you please advise the maximum award ceiling per period of performance?

The period of performance is 5 years. The award ceiling of $9,000,000 is the maximum amount of funding that could potentially be available for the cooperative agreement over the course of the entire five-year period of performance across all awards. The fiscal year is one year. The approximate total fiscal year funding of $900,000 is therefore the amount across the three awards each year (approximate average award of $300,000 each).

Question: Can you clarify that the goal of this NOFO is to provide training and technical assistance specific to the actions specified in each of the components (as opposed to the goal of actually implementing health systems change, improving quitline infrastructure, etc.).

Answer: The funding under this announcement is aimed at improving public health outcomes by strengthening public health infrastructure, specifically, the National Tobacco Control Program (NTCP) workforce through training and technical assistance that aligns with the three broad goals for state tobacco control programs' cessation activities described in the 2014 edition of CDC's Best Practices for Comprehensive Tobacco Control Programs and in the 2020 CDC Best Practices User Guide: Cessation in Tobacco Prevention and Control.

Activities under this announcement for training and technical assistance should address increasing capacity of state tobacco control programs and their partners to identify, promote, implement, and evaluate specific strategies for increasing access to and use of proven cessation treatments and services through state quitlines, health systems, and health insurance coverage.

Question: Is this NOFO considered funding for state tobacco control programs?

Answer: Eligible applicants are listed in the announcement. This announcement is designated as maximum competition (not limited).

The population of focus for this funding announcement is stated as the National Tobacco Control Program recipients and their partners to promote and support policy, systems, and environmental strategies to address and prevent disparities related to tobacco cessation and to advance health equity.

Activities under this announcement for training and technical assistance should address increasing capacity of state tobacco control programs and their partners to identify, promote, implement, and evaluate specific strategies for increasing access to and use of proven cessation treatments and services through state quitlines, health systems, and health insurance coverage.

Question: Can you clarify that the goal of this NOFO is to provide training and technical assistance.

Answer: Activities under this announcement for training and technical assistance should address increasing capacity of state tobacco control programs and their partners to identify, promote, implement, and evaluate specific strategies for increasing access to and use of proven cessation treatments and services through state quitlines, health systems, and health insurance coverage.

Question: Are you able to share these slides with us?

Answer: The slides will not be posted. All the information in the slides was taken directly from the posted announcement.

Question: May we focus our application on Native America-run Health Center since cultural practices for tobacco are different for this group?

Answer: The population of focus for this funding announcement is stated as the National Tobacco Control Program recipients and their partners to promote and support policy, systems, and environmental strategies to address and prevent disparities related to tobacco cessation and to advance health equity.

Although significant declines in cigarette smoking have occurred among adults overall over the past several decades, disparities in tobacco use persist among certain groups, including certain racial and ethnic groups, persons with low socioeconomic status, persons living with behavioral health conditions, persons with a disability or limitation, lesbian, gay, and bisexual persons, and persons without health insurance or with Medicaid coverage.

Activities under this announcement for training and technical assistance should address increasing capacity of state tobacco control programs and their partners to identify, promote, implement, and evaluate specific strategies for increasing, at minimum, these listed populations' access to and use of proven cessation treatments and services through state quitlines, health systems, and health insurance coverage.

This award should include training and technical assistance to NTCP recipients and their partners on how to identify, reach, and engage disproportionately affected populations to achieve the greatest health impact and advance health equity. For example, identifying and addressing the drivers of tobacco- and cessation-related disparities, including barriers to cessation treatment access and utilization and the social determinants of health which contribute to those barriers. Additionally, recipients should promote preferred terms for select population groups to ensure accurate and non-stigmatizing language, including use of person-first language. Health Equity Guiding Principles for Inclusive communication.

Question: To whom do we submit the LOI; what is the process for submitting?

Answer: The optional LOI should be sent via email to: cessationdp240056@cdc.gov

Question: Do we need to submit 2 separate applications if [we] are applying for two components?

Answer: Organizations may apply for more than one component, but a separate narrative and budget must be submitted for each component. Narrative submissions for each component will be reviewed independent of one another and should not reference the other application.

Question: Are there FTE requirements for different roles noted in the staffing plan?

Answer: The NOFO does not indicate specific FTE requirements. However, the NOFO does include the following under Organizational Capacity:

Applicants must demonstrate the following related to project management/staffing plans:

1. Appropriate staff member experience.
2. Clearly defined roles for staff members.
3. Sufficient staff member capacity to accomplish program.

Question: Page 5 of the NOFO states to build on the success of the CDC-RFA-DP19-1904 and CDC-RFA-DP-DP-13-1316, where can we find the outcomes of these programs?

Answer: The program outcomes are described in the funding announcements.

Question: How many National recipients and their partners are there?

Answer: The population of focus for this funding announcement is stated as the National Tobacco Control Program recipients and their partners. The NOFO-specific glossary and acronyms section provides the definition used for this announcement:

CDC's Office on Smoking and Health (OSH) created the National and State Tobacco Control Program (NTCP) in 1999 to encourage coordinated, national efforts to reduce tobacco-related diseases and deaths. The program provides funding and technical support to state and territorial health departments. The NTCP recipients include all 50 states; Washington, D.C.; Puerto Rico*; and Guam*.

*Currently only funded under CDC-RFA-DP20-2001 for Component 2: Commercial Tobacco Use and Dependence Treatment Support System.

Question: If an indirect rate was not yet approved, can a copy of the application be included as a justification for the rate?

Answer: You may include this application with your submission for consideration with your budget justification.

Question: Page 11 of the NOFO states, “When available, leverage existing data for this assessment (i.e., CDC NTCP program assessments/reports, literature)..." Where can we find existing CDC NTCP program assessments and reports, particularly as they relate to assessing the knowledge, skills and abilities of training and technical assistance recipients?

Answer: This statement is referencing future program assessments/reports that may be made available.

Do applicants need to focus on all of the listed populations of focus, or can we select one population from the list below?

The following populations of focus were listed: "disparities in tobacco use persist among certain groups, including certain racial and ethnic groups, persons with low socioeconomic status, persons living with behavioral health conditions, persons with a disability or limitation, lesbian, gay, and bisexual persons, and persons without health insurance or with Medicaid coverage"

Answer: The focus population for all components (Components 1,2, and 3) is the National Tobacco Control Program (NTCP) recipients and their partners.

This NOFO aims to increase capacity among the National Tobacco Control Program (NTCP) recipients and their partners to promote and support policy, systems, and environmental strategies to address and prevent disparities related to tobacco cessation and to advance health equity (described in section, Health Disparities). (pg. 12)

The section you have quoted from the NOFO is not referring to the population of focus for training and technical assistance, but from the subsection, Health Disparities. (pg. 13) This section is intended to further explain the expectation of activities under this announcement related to advancing health equity, including addressing existing disparities.

Although significant declines in cigarette smoking have occurred among adults overall over the past several decades, disparities in tobacco use persist among certain groups, including certain racial and ethnic groups, persons with low socioeconomic status, persons living with behavioral health conditions, persons with a disability or limitation, lesbian, gay, and bisexual persons, and persons without health insurance or with Medicaid coverage.

Activities under this announcement for training and technical assistance should address increasing capacity of state tobacco control programs and their partners to identify, promote, implement, and evaluate specific strategies for increasing, at minimum, these listed populations' access to and use of proven cessation treatments and services through state quitlines, health systems, and health insurance coverage.

This award should include training and technical assistance to NTCP recipients and their partners on how to identify, reach, and engage disproportionately affected populations to achieve the greatest health impact and advance health equity. For example, identifying and addressing the drivers of tobacco- and cessation-related disparities, including barriers to cessation treatment access and utilization and the social determinants of health which contribute to those barriers. Additionally, recipients should promote preferred terms for select population groups to ensure accurate and non-stigmatizing language, including use of person-first language. Health Equity Guiding Principles for Inclusive Communication.

Resources

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