CDC-RFA-OE17-17010502SUPP21.pdf

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Center for Surveillance, Epidemiology, and Laboratory Services

CDC's Collaboration with Academia to Strengthen Public Health Workforce Capacity

CDC-RFA-OE17-17010502SUPP21

07/09/2021

Table of Contents Section I. Funding Opportunity Description

Section II. Award Information

Section III. Eligibility Information

Section IV. Application and Submission Information

Section V. Application Review Information

Section VI. Award Administration Information

Section VII. Agency Contacts

Section VIII. Other Information

Part 1. Overview Information Federal Agency Name:

Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) Title:

CDC's Collaboration with Academia to Strengthen Public Health Workforce Capacity Announcement Type:

Revision Type 3 (Competitive Supplement)

Agency Notice of Funding Opportunity Number:

CDC-RFA-OE17-17010502SUPP21

Assistance Listings Number:

93.967 Key Dates:

Due Date for Applications 07/10/2021

07/09/2021 Application must be successfully submitted to Grants.gov by 11:59 pm Eastern Standard Time on the deadline date.

Additional Overview Content:

N/A

Executive Summary

An increasingly integrated health system requires health professionals who are prepared to practice, deliver, and integrate clinical and/or public health services across boundaries for the betterment of the public's health. This necessitates enhancements in the training and education of future health professionals and the faculty who are educating and training these students. This Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) seeks to catalyze efforts to equip health professional students and faculty to reduce the leading causes of death and improve the health of populations through the development of a well-trained health workforce.

CDC announces a supplemental funding opportunity for the four national, non-profit organizations that previously were awarded funding under the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) CDC-RFA-OE17-1701 titled "CDC’s Collaboration with Academia to Strengthen Public Health Workforce Capacity." The NOFO consists of three components (Parts A - Core Curricular Enhancements, B - Workforce Improvement Projects (WIPs), and C - Public Health Fellowship Programs). The four recipients are eligible to submit applications for this supplemental funding for Part B WIPs. These four organizations are as follows:

1. American Association of Colleges of Nursing

2. Association of American Medical Colleges

3. Association for Prevention Teaching and Research

4. Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health

This supplemental NOFO will award WIPs under Part B to strengthen public health workforce development while focusing on improving the health of populations and impacting broader educational practice and approaches nationwide, including but not limited to COVID-19 preparedness and response activities. Each project will address at least one of the strategic directions under Part B – Workforce Improvement Projects (1) Enhance the education system,

(2) Increase the capacity of the existing workforce, (3) Strengthening systems and capacity to support the workforce.

There are 3 projects in this NOFO, pending available funding.

Measurable outcomes of the program will be in alignment with one (or more) of the following Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA)performance goal(s) for the Center for Surveillance, Epidemiology, and Laboratory Services.

Measurable outcomes of the program will be in alignment with one (or more) of the following performance goal(s) for the Center for Surveillance, Epidemiology, and Laboratory Services

GPRA goal(s)

GPRA goal(s) Public Health Workforce and Career Development Performance Measures for Long Term Objective: Develop and implement training to provide for competent, sustainable, and empowered public health workforce able to meet emerging and future health challenges.

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 https://www.govregs.com/regulations/title42_chapterI_part2_subpartD_section2.52. Guidance on how CDC interprets the definition of research in the context of public health can be found at https://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/regulations-and-policy/regulations/45-cfr-46/index.html (See section 45 CFR 46.102(d)).

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 https://www.govregs.com/regulations/title42_chapterI_part2_subpartD_section2.52. Guidance on how CDC interprets the definition of research in the context of public health can be found at https://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/regulations-and-policy/regulations/45-cfr-46/index.html (See section 45 CFR 46.102(d)).

Section I. Funding Opportunity Description Statutory Authority The program is authorized under the Public Health Service Act sections 317(k)(2) [42 U.S.C.

247b(k)(2)], and 307 (42U.S.C. Sections 242(l), 301 [42 U.S.C. 241], and 319D(b)(1)(A) [42 U.S.C. 247d-4(b)(1)(A)].

In addition, this program is authorized under 4002 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Prevention and Public Health Funds (42U.S.C. 300u-11), the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2020 (P.L. 116- 123), the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), 2020 (P.L. 116 -136

STAT. 554),

and the Paycheck Protection Program and Healthcare Enhancement Act, 2020 (P.L. 116-139).

Background N/A Purpose This component provides funding derived from CDC programs, including the CDC Emergency Operations Center, for specific Workforce Improvement Projects (WIPs) to strengthen public health workforce development while focusing on improving the health of populations and impacting broader educational practice and approaches nationwide, including but not limited to COVID-19 preparedness and response activities. WIPs are to be directed to qualified Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH)-accredited schools or programs of public health, Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME)-accredited medical colleges, or Committee on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE)-accredited baccalaureate and higher colleges of nursing as appropriate to the topic area and expertise required. Alternatively, depending on the unique specifications of the individual projects, specific WIPs may also be suitable as “in-house” projects conducted either solely by the applicant organization or in partnership with other institutions or organizations. Awardees will promote opportunities for WIPs among constituent academic institutions; coordinate the process to identify appropriate academic institutions to compete for WIPs, in a manner consistent with federal guidelines; and provide comprehensive and coordinated management of WIPs to include maintenance of an electronic application and tracking functionality, and documentation with performance-based reporting to CDC.

This NOFO supports and builds the Public Health Infrastructure as defined in Healthy People 2020. The activities supported by this funding opportunity seek to develop a capable and qualified workforce able to effectively assess and respond to public health needs:

https://www.govregs.com/regulations/title42_chapterI_part2_subpartD_section2.52 https://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/regulations-and-policy/regulations/45-cfr-46/index.html https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/public-health-infrastructure.

National Public Health Workforce Strategic Roadmap: https://www.cdc.gov/csels/dsepd/ Applicants must specify which WIP they are applying to manage. Depending upon eligibility, an applicant may apply for more than one WIP.

The three (3) projects described below address the following National Public Health Workforce Strategy priority areas:

Enhance the education system Increase the capacity of the existing workforce Strengthening systems and capacity to support the workforce

Project 1 Title: Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Applied Research and Practice Training Program Strategic Priority Area(s): Increase the capability of the existing workforce; Strengthen systems and capacity to support the workforce.

Contribution to Public Health Workforce: Expanding community knowledge in public health emergency preparedness and response (PHEPR) research and practice can support a culture of health in the communities they serve and impact the overall health of communities through effective systems and population health strategies.

Eligibility: The applicant should have knowledge of and partnerships with public health education providers.

Description: Natural disasters and humanmade hazards that threaten the public’s health and safety can happen anyplace and at any time in the United States. In recent years, the frequency and magnitude of disasters has increased. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s Center for Preparedness and Response (CPR) works to ensure that CDC and state, tribal, local and territory (STLT) public health departments are prepared to respond to public health threats wherever and whenever they occur. CDC plays a pivotal role in ensuring that state and local public health systems have the knowledge they need to prepare for, respond to and recover from any public health hazard or threat. However, successful prevention, mitigation, response, and recovery activities often require a whole-community approach. This approach can easily be hampered by an unprepared workforce and more general public lack of understanding of public health’s role and the science of public health emergency preparedness and response.

Formal training in public health occurs through the nation’s college and university system, is often expensive, and can only reach small portions of the population at any given time because of enrollment limitations. Informal training or targeted training on specific practices like personal protective equipment (PPE) use or contact tracing has increased to respond to demands of the COVID-19 pandemic. An organized infrastructure is needed to rapidly expand opportunities for the general public to gain a better understanding of public health preparedness and response research and practice and to enhance the PHEPR research knowledge of already trained public health and related professionals.

Need for Project: The field of public health emergency preparedness and response (PHEPR) is vast, described in part through CDC’s Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) capabilities. These focus on the functional aspects of response but also on aspects expanding beyond those capabilities to include understanding the root cause of disasters; how to prevent and mitigate disasters; and the impact of disasters on people and the broader social, ecological, and infrastructure context, are all crucial. Preparing the public and current and future workforce in the field of PHEPR is critical to build the capacity of communities to adequately respond to https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/public-health-infrastructure https://www.cdc.gov/csels/dsepd/ public health threats. Expanding community knowledge in PHEPR research and practice can support a culture of health in the communities they serve and impact the overall health of communities through effective systems and population health strategies.

Creating a structure around already available on-line, public courses is the first step towards ensuring appropriate knowledge is available for dissemination. Developing a certification training program as a next step can provide the education and preparation to help improve our nation’s understanding of PHEPR, perhaps leading to improved capacity to and engagement in response and shaping the future of the workforce to support response. Finally, making the public aware of the need for and availability of these trainings, and supporting the tracking of their use, is the final step in creating an innovative approach via a publicly available, multi-certificate public health emergency preparedness and response training program to merge academia and practice.

Target Population: The target population is the general public, public health practitioners, healthcare professionals, laboratorians, epidemiologists, veterinarians, first responders, educators, and students.

Key Activities:

The recipient is expected to accomplish the following activities:

Develop at least five certificates with supporting curricula, as determined by subject matter experts (SMEs), in PHEPR specific areas (e.g. applied research and evaluation, policy, emergency management, community resilience), based on the adult education model with a focus on public health.

In close partnership with SMEs, determine the goal of each certification including the courses and the number of hours that can fulfill the goal (e.g. seven courses for fifteen hours to obtain the certificate). Each certification should include an introduction to PHEPR and at least one course on PHEPR science. Some of the certifications should be targeted to the general public and others should be targeted to public health or related practitioners.

Collaborate with CDC TRAIN, schools of public health, or other sources to populate the curriculum with pre-existing courses for little to no cost. If a course or courses deemed significant are not available in the public forum, the recipient shall work with CDC to determine if a course can be developed or provided by an external partner or academic institution.

Create a certificate portal on CDC TRAIN or a similar platform. Ensure the training program is widely available for the general public through dissemination efforts; ensure proper enrollment of participants; and develop and pilot a process to track participants;

and evaluate the overall effectiveness of the training program.

CDC-CIO staff will provide guidance in selection of the certificate and curriculum topics;

identification of subject matter experts and coordination with other projects (e.g. CDC TRAIN);

and review draft and final products. CDC-CIO staff will monitor completion of activities and review pilot test results.

Outcomes: The purpose of this WIP is to leverage existing resources to expand public health training by rapidly creating a publicly, widely disseminated, multi-certificate public health emergency preparedness and response applied research and practice training program. This project should result in a training program that is focused on PHEPR that can be packaged and tailored for multiple audiences, including the general public, public health practitioners, healthcare professionals, laboratorians, epidemiologists, veterinarians, first responders, educators, and students in other fields. The training program should include courses that can be used and applied in a local context and result in knowledge gained which advances the workforce in public health mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. The program should emphasize the science base of public health, describe scientific principles, and encourage further development of knowledge as a natural extension of public health practice. The goal of this WIP is to (1) create a certification approach across several PHEPR areas that are amenable to self-learning; (2) develop a multi-certificate public health emergency preparedness and response applied research and practice curricula across several PHEPR areas; and (3) to disseminate the trainings and certifications to be used by stakeholders, partners, and the general public. The final products will be packaged and promoted on CDC, national partner, and other websites so they can be accessed by the general public and used by the public health and other practitioners.

Review Criteria:

Technical Approach (40 Points):

Applicants shall provide a discussion of their technical approach for providing the services required for this Workforce Improvement Project (WIP). This discussion shall be in the applicant’s own words; not simply a regurgitation of the requirements listed. This criterion will be evaluated according to the extent that it reflects a clear understanding of the subject areas to be addressed and on the soundness, practicality, and feasibility of the applicant’s technical approach for providing the services required for this WIP .

Management and Staffing Plan (20 Points):

Applicants shall provide a management and staffing plan that describes their approach for managing the work outlined in this WIP by demonstrating their understanding of the labor requirements listed in this project description. This criterion will be evaluated according to the soundness, practicality, and feasibility of the management and staffing plan for this WIP.

Applicants shall provide a detailed statement of staffing proposed for this WIP, including:

1. Résumés from key personnel (limited to 2 pages in length per résumés) outlining the credentials and background of key management, professional, and technical personnel to be used for this WIP, including the percentage of time on this and other projects

2. A detailed plan that describes current staff available for this WIP and how the team will interface with CDC.

Letters of commitment must accompany résumés from any individual who is not currently employed by the applicant. For key positions, indicate the time the person(s) will have available to commit to this project.

Similar Experience (40 Points):

Past performance information is one indicator of an applicant’s ability to perform the work successfully.

Provide information reflecting the applicant’s organizational capacity for projects similar in complexity and scope. Proposed staff and the institution (applicant) should have demonstrated experience in knowledge synthesis, translation, dissemination, and evaluation. In addition, at least 20% of the proposed staff should have demonstrated knowledge and experience in public health preparedness and response at the STLT level. This criterion will be evaluated to determine appropriate experience of assigned personnel and of the applicant.

Additional Information: The following webpages may be of use while writing a project application: www.train.org and www.coursera.org.

Requested Budget: $400,000 http://www.train.org/ http://www.coursera.org/

Project 2 Title: Building COVID-19 Vaccine Confidence Among Nurses Strategic Priority Area(s): 1. Enhance the education system, 2. Strengthen systems and capacity to support the workforce.

Contribution to the public health workforce: This project will lead to improved capacity to build COVID-18 vaccine confidence among nurses and their patients. Nurses will be educated, misinformation will be identified and addressed, and credible information will be shared widely.

Case studies, lessons learned, and best practices will be shared.

Eligibility: Only organizations that directly support nurses and schools or nursing nationwide are eligible for this work. CDC is currently funding other organizations that support other healthcare personnel (e.g., physicians, hospitals, medical schools) and this project is specifically to improve vaccine confidence among nurses. Recent data shows that nurses are still skeptical about the COVID-19 vaccines and are hesitant to receive the vaccine when it is offered to them. This project aims to increase vaccine confidence among nurses and improve their ability to engage in effective COVID-19 vaccine conversations with their patients.

Description: As COVID-19 vaccines continue to roll out, high uptake of the vaccines is necessary to reduce the burden of disease and control the pandemic. In order to achieve high uptake of COVID-19 vaccines, it is critical to ensure high confidence in these vaccines, specifically around vaccine development, safety processes, approval, and recommendation criteria. Ensuring a broad understanding of these processes through frequent, consistent, and visible communication is essential, and much of this work starts with healthcare personnel.

Healthcare personnel are among the first to be vaccinated, but they are also one of the most trusted messengers of information and will play a significant role in building confidence among the other priority groups and ultimately the general public.

Need for Project: Healthcare providers are a critical and trusted source for information about adult and child immunizations. To build trust and empower healthcare personnel, healthcare providers play an essential role in boosting COVID-19 vaccine confidence. This project aims to engage nurses and nursing colleges to empower members and their patients to have effective COVID-19 vaccine conversations, activate members to make vaccine confidence visible, increase the capacity of members to share credible COVID-19 vaccination information and respond to misinformation on social media, and share success stories and lessons learned.

Target Population: Nurses nationwide Key Activities:

The recipient is expected to accomplish the following activities:

1. Empower members to have effective COVID-19 vaccine conversations and use motivational interviewing when needed – via webinars or online modules. Recipients can build off existing CDC resources and create new resources as appropriate.

2. Activate members to make COVID-19 vaccine confidence visible. Examples include gathering and sharing testimonials of members who have been vaccinated, video streaming their leadership being vaccinated, training members as media spokespeople on the topic of vaccine confidence and pitching media outlets to secure earned opportunities, and work with members to author op-ed articles about the importance of COVID-19 vaccination.

3. Increase the capacity of their members to share credible COVID-19 vaccine information and respond to misinformation on social media by identifying members who are already digital influencers and those that would like to have a bigger social media presence, conducting webinars/trainings using a CDC-provided toolkit, and convening members in a learning collaborative to support each other and address challenges.

4. Gather vaccine confidence “success stories” from their membership and package them into formats for sharing with membership (e.g., case studies, summaries of lessons learned, videos).

National Center for Immunization and Respirator Disease staff and staff supporting CDC's COVID-19 Vaccine Task Force will provide technical assistance for this work. Guidance will be provided, updated materials will be shared, and resources from a network of other partners supporting healthcare personnel will be made available to promote sharing of best practices and lessons learned.

Outcomes:

Increased number of resources for providers to engage in effective COVID-19 vaccine conversations.

Increased number of strategies developed to build trust and confidence in the COVID-19 vaccine Increased opportunities for collaboration amongst membership Review Criteria:

Applications will be reviewed using the following criteria:

1. Ability to empower members, using webinars and online modules that will have broad reach.

2. Ability to make vaccine confidence visible - share testimonials, train members as media spokespeople, media opportunities.

3. Ability to engage with local communities - through health departments, community-based organizations, etc. to target key populations (those at risk of severe complications of COVID-19 and those that are hesitant to receive the vaccine).

4. Applicants should include what targets they are setting for their population for vaccine uptake and self-reported hesitancy.

Also, see Section V of this Notice of Funding Opportunity for a breakdown of the review criteria and point values.

Other Information: CDC's COVID-19 Vaccinate with Confidence Strategy: https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/vaccinate-with-confidence.html Current CDC materials and toolkits for healthcare providers: https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/health-systems-communication-toolkit.html and https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/hcp/index.html Requested Budget: $2,000,000

Project 3 Title: Public Health Data Modernization Workshop Priority Area: Increase the capability of the existing workforce Contribution to Public Health Workforce:

Increased understanding of data system, standards and technology, especially shared services and enterprise approaches, and their potential to advance public health.

Increased capability to use data to inform decision-making and support evidence-based practices and policies

Well defined strategies to implement data modernization.

Eligibility: Recipient should have extensive knowledge of and expertise in public health information systems, including surveillance systems; general health information systems; public health informatics; public health surveillance processes and practices; data exchange; data https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/vaccinate-with-confidence.html https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/health-systems-communication-toolkit.html https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/health-systems-communication-toolkit.html https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/hcp/index.html management; data analysis and presentation; and public health decision making.

Recipient should have expertise and experience planning and hosting workshops and designing and implementing workforce development activities related to data, informatics, and health information systems (e.g., workforce assessments, training). Experience working with state health and local department staff on data and informatics topics is essential.

Description: Public health agencies rely on timely, high quality data to understand and improve the health of their communities. CDC’s Data Modernization Initiative and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act provide funding for state, local, and territorial public health jurisdictions to improve how they gather, manage, and use data to guide action. The volume of electronically available data, increasing connectedness, and powerful computing offer public health both opportunities and challenges. Modernizing data strategies, infrastructure, and the workforce requires a sound understanding of the technology and strategic, well-coordinated planning.

Need for Project: Through this project, the selected academic center will plan, organize, and convene a two-day Public Health Data Modernization workshop in Atlanta for two persons from each of the public health jurisdictions that receive funding through the Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity (ELC) Cooperative Agreement, Activity C2 (CK19-1904). Data modernization includes workforce, technologies, processes, and strategies that accelerate improvements to data quality, exchange, management, and use. The purpose of the workshop will be to convene the lead data modernization coordinators and possibly another scientist (e.g., informatician, epidemiologists, data scientist) to improve their ability to build data and informatics capabilities in their jurisdiction. The content of the workshop will be developed in coordination with CDC and should include training, sharing, and discussions about data modernization topics (e.g., data standards, analytics, shared services, effective technologies) and also include strategies for conducting workforce development in these areas.

Target Population: Through this project, the selected academic center will plan, organize, and convene a two-day Public Health Data Modernization workshop in Atlanta for two persons from each of the public health jurisdictions that receive funding through the Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity (ELC) Cooperative Agreement, Activity C2 (CK19-1904). Data modernization includes workforce, technologies, processes, and strategies that accelerate improvements to data quality, exchange, management, and use. The purpose of the workshop will be to convene the lead data modernization coordinators and possibly another scientist (e.g., informatician, epidemiologists, data scientist) to improve their ability to build data and informatics capabilities in their jurisdiction. The content of the workshop will be developed in coordination with CDC and should include training, sharing, and discussions about data modernization topics (e.g., data standards, analytics, shared services, effective technologies) and also include strategies for conducting workforce development in these areas.

Key Activities:

The workshop will be geared to the recipients of the CDC ELC Cooperative Agreement – Activity C2. These recipients will have:

o Identified a focal point to lead data modernization in their health departments.

o Developed an assessment of their public health workforce and data and health information systems to identify opportunities for modernization.

o Developed an overall strategy for modernizing their agency data infrastructure and workforce.

The assessments and plans should be synthesized and used by the public health partner to plan and develop the content of the workshop.

The workshop should include strategies and content for building the leadership and informatics capabilities of the jurisdictional leads for data modernization.

Strategies for developing capabilities should include recommendations for additional and targeted learning and training after the workshop (e.g., plans for peer-to-peer learning).

The workshop should be evaluated to assess learning by and relevance to attendees.

Collaboration should include State, territorial and large local health departments that receive funding through the ELC Cooperative Agreement – Activity C2 and public health partner organizations that support the public health functions of these jurisdictions.

Coordination with CDC’s Center for Surveillance, Epidemiology and Laboratory Services (CSELS) is expected on workshop strategies and execution.

CSELS will collaborate with the recipient on workshop strategies and execution and will be a resource for information about jurisdiction modernization assessments and modernization plans. The recipient should plan to meet with CDC one to two times each month.

Outcomes: A well-coordinated two-day workshop in Atlanta that advances jurisdiction abilities to build data and informatics capabilities and infrastructure, with an evaluation to measure impact.

Review Criteria:

Demonstrated expertise in public health informatics and understanding of public health data systems and data practices. (30 points)

Demonstrated understanding of information technology opportunities and ability to assist public health in evaluating their potential impact. (30 points)

Demonstrated success in developing and implementing workforce development and training activities for the public health sector. (25 points)

Expertise and experience planning and hosting workshops. (15 points)

Other Information: Project funding is intended to cover planning, materials, staff, the workshop, evaluation, follow-up, and meeting room costs. Workshop participants from public health agencies have their travel to and from the workshop covered through the terms of the ELC Cooperative Agreement – Activity C2.

Link to information on CDC’s Data Modernization Initiative: Data Modernization Initiative |

CDC

Also, see attachment, ELC Cooperative Agreement Continuation Guidance, pages 35-41.

Requested Budget: $300,000

Program Implementation Recipient Activities

Recipients are expected to implement the specific activities for each Workforce Improvement Project. This section summarizes recipient activities by project to achieve the expected outcomes.

Project 1: Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Applied Research and Practice Training Program https://www.cdc.gov/surveillance/surveillance-data-strategies/dmi-investments.html https://www.cdc.gov/surveillance/surveillance-data-strategies/dmi-investments.html

Key Activities:

The recipient is expected to accomplish the following activities:

Develop at least five certificates with supporting curricula, as determined by subject matter experts (SMEs), in PHEPR specific areas (e.g. applied research and evaluation, policy, emergency management, community resilience), based on the adult education model with a focus on public health.

In close partnership with SMEs, determine the goal of each certification including the courses and the number of hours that can fulfill the goal (e.g. seven courses for fifteen hours to obtain the certificate). Each certification should include an introduction to PHEPR and at least one course on PHEPR science. Some of the certifications should be targeted to the general public and others should be targeted to public health or related practitioners.

Collaborate with CDC TRAIN, schools of public health, or other sources to populate the curriculum with pre-existing courses for little to no cost. If a course or courses deemed significant are not available in the public forum, the recipient shall work with CDC to determine if a course can be developed or provided by an external partner or academic institution.

Create a certificate portal on CDC TRAIN or a similar platform. Ensure the training program is widely available for the general public through dissemination efforts; ensure proper enrollment of participants; and develop and pilot a process to track participants; and evaluate the overall effectiveness of the training program.

Expected Outcomes:

The purpose of this WIP is to leverage existing resources to expand public health training by rapidly creating a publicly, widely disseminated, multi-certificate public health emergency preparedness and response applied research and practice training program.

This project should result in a training program that is focused on PHEPR that can be packaged and tailored for multiple audiences, including the general public, public health practitioners, healthcare professionals, laboratorians, epidemiologists, veterinarians, first responders, educators, and students in other fields. The training program should include courses that can be used and applied in a local context and result in knowledge gained which advances the workforce in public health mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. The program should emphasize the science base of public health, describe scientific principles, and encourage further development of knowledge as a natural extension of public health practice. The goal of this WIP is to (1) create a certification approach across several PHEPR areas that are amenable to self-learning; (2) develop a multi-certificate public health emergency preparedness and response applied research and practice curricula across several PHEPR areas; and (3) to disseminate the trainings and certifications to be used by stakeholders, partners, and the general public. The final products will be packaged and promoted on CDC, national partner, and other websites so they can be accessed by the general public and used by the public health and other practitioners.

Project 2: Building COVID-19 Vaccine Confidence Among Nurses

Key Activities:

The recipient is expected to accomplish the following activities:

1. Empower members to have effective COVID-19 vaccine conversations and use motivational interviewing when needed – via webinars or online modules. Recipients can build off existing CDC resources and create new resources as appropriate.

2. Activate members to make COVID-19 vaccine confidence visible. Examples include gathering and sharing testimonials of members who have been vaccinated, video streaming their leadership being vaccinated, training members as media spokespeople on the topic of vaccine confidence and pitching media outlets to secure earned opportunities, and work with members to author op-ed articles about the importance of COVID-19 vaccination.

3. Increase the capacity of their members to share credible COVID-19 vaccine information and respond to misinformation on social media by identifying members who are already digital influencers and those that would like to have a bigger social media presence, conducting webinars/trainings using a CDC-provided toolkit, and convening members in a learning collaborative to support each other and address challenges.

4. Gather vaccine confidence “success stories” from their membership and package them into formats for sharing with membership (e.g., case studies, summaries of lessons learned, videos).

Expected Outcomes:

Increased number of resources for providers to engage in effective COVID-19 vaccine conversations.

Increased number of strategies developed to build trust and confidence in the COVID-19 vaccine Increased opportunities for collaboration amongst membership Project 3: Public Health Data Modernization Workshop Key Activities:

The workshop will be geared to the recipients of the CDC ELC Cooperative Agreement – Activity C2. These recipients will have:

o Identified a focal point to lead data modernization in their health departments.

o Developed an assessment of their public health workforce and data and health information systems to identify opportunities for modernization.

o Developed an overall strategy for modernizing their agency data infrastructure and workforce.

The assessments and plans should be synthesized and used by the public health partner to plan and develop the content of the workshop.

The workshop should include strategies and content for building the leadership and informatics capabilities of the jurisdictional leads for data modernization.

Strategies for developing capabilities should include recommendations for additional and targeted learning and training after the workshop (e.g., plans for peer-to-peer learning).

The workshop should be evaluated to assess learning by and relevance to attendees.

Collaboration should include State, territorial and large local health departments that receive funding through the ELC Cooperative Agreement – Activity C2 and public health partner organizations that support the public health functions of these jurisdictions.

Coordination with CDC’s Center for Surveillance, Epidemiology and Laboratory Services (CSELS) is expected on workshop strategies and execution.

Expected Outcomes: A well-coordinated two-day workshop in Atlanta that advances jurisdiction abilities to build data and informatics capabilities and infrastructure, with an evaluation to measure impact.

CDC Activities In a cooperative agreement, CDC staff is substantially involved in the program activities, above and beyond routine grant monitoring.

CDC will provide ongoing technical assistance and support in implementing programmatic activities. Awardees will receive support from CDC subject matter experts as needed, assistance with developing work plans and evaluation plans, identifying appropriate data collection methods, and other support to ensure successful program execution.

Funding Strategy Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Funds: A recipient of a grant or cooperative agreement awarded by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) with funds made available under the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2020 (P.L. 116-123); the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, 2020 (the “CARES Act”) (P.L. 116-136); the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act (P.L. 116-139); the Consolidated Appropriations Act and the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplement Appropriations Act, 2021 (P.L. 116-260) and/or the American Rescue Plan of 2021 [P.L. 117-2] agrees, as applicable to the award, to: 1) comply with existing and/or future directives and guidance from the Secretary regarding control of the spread of COVID-19; 2) in consultation and coordination with HHS, provide, commensurate with the condition of the individual, COVID-19 patient care regardless of the individual’s home jurisdiction and/or appropriate public health measures (e.g., social distancing, home isolation); and 3) assist the United States Government in the implementation and enforcement of federal orders related to quarantine and isolation.

In addition, to the extent applicable, Recipient will comply with Section 18115 of the CARES Act, with respect to the reporting to the HHS Secretary of results of tests intended to detect SARS–CoV–2 or to diagnose a possible case of COVID–19. Such reporting shall be in accordance with guidance and direction from HHS and/or CDC. HHS laboratory reporting guidance is posted at: https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/covid-19-laboratory-data-reporting-guidance.pdf.

Further, consistent with the full scope of applicable grant regulations (45 C.F.R. 75.322), the purpose of this award, and the underlying funding, the recipient is expected to provide to CDC copies of and/or access to COVID-19 data collected with these funds, including but not limited to data related to COVID-19 testing. CDC will specify in further guidance and directives what is encompassed by this requirement.

https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/covid-19-laboratory-data-reporting-guidance.pdf https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/covid-19-laboratory-data-reporting-guidance.pdf

This award is contingent upon agreement by the recipient to comply with existing and future guidance from the HHS Secretary regarding control of the spread of COVID-19. In addition, recipient is expected to flow down these terms to any subaward, to the extent applicable to activities set out in such subaward.

Section II. Award Information Type of Award:

CA (Cooperative Agreement) CDC substantial involvement in this program appears in the Activities Section above.

Award Mechanism:

U-36

Fiscal Year Funds:

Approximate Total Supplemental Funding:

$ 5,000,000 This amount is subject to availability of funds. Includes direct and indirect costs.

This amount is subject to availability of funds. Includes direct and indirect costs.

Approximate Number of Awards:

The number of awards is subject to the availability of funds.

Approximate Average Award:

$ 300,000 This amount is for the budget period only and includes direct costs and indirect costs as applicable.

Floor of Individual Award Range:

$ 300,000 Ceiling of Individual Award Range:

$ 2,000,000 This ceiling is for a 12-month budget period.

Anticipated Award Date:

September 01, 2021

Budget Period Length:

10 month(s)

Period of Performance Length:

.75 year(s)

If you are successful and receive a Notice of Award, in accepting the award, you agree that the award and any activities thereunder are subject to all provisions of 45 CFR Part 75, currently in effect or implemented during the period of the award, other Department regulations and policies in effect at the time of the award, and applicable statutory provisions.

Section III. Eligibility Information Eligible Applicants The following recipients may submit an application:

Eligibility Category:

12 (Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education)

13 (Nonprofits without 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education)

20 (Private institutions of higher education)

99 (Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled "Additional Information on Eligibility")

Additional Information on Eligibility This Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) contains four projects whose purpose is workforce improvement. Each Workforce Improvement Project has its own criteria for which an applicant is eligible to apply. Only recipients currently funded under NOFO CDC-RFA- OE17- 1701 are eligible to apply for the projects in this NOFO. These recipients are as follows:

Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health Association for Prevention Teaching and Research American Association of Colleges of Nursing Association of American Medical Colleges

The intent of this FOA is to fund national organizations that represent domestic schools and programs for the education of public health professionals, physicians, nurses, and other allied health professionals so that students and emerging health professionals in these target groups will be better prepared to improve the public's health. Eligible applicants are groups and organizations that are: A national voice and representative organization for their respective accredited academic constituency member schools or programs; able to demonstrate evidence of existing and prior collaboration with all or the majority of Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH)-accredited schools or programs of public health, Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME)-accredited medical colleges; and, Committee on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE)-accredited colleges of nursing at the baccalaureate or higher level; National in scope in order to ensure the broadest coverage; Engaged in established liaison relationships with related accreditation agency for their respective professional target audience; Experienced in implementing community-based activities to improve health; Experienced in convening deans or representative faculty of respective academic constituency schools; Experienced with influencing curriculum standards or requirements of membership schools; Experienced in working across disciplines at the national, regional, state, and/or community level to improve health; and Possess the organizational and administrative capacity, skill, and expertise to perform the stated activities contained in the funding announcement.

Required Registrations System for Award Management and Universal Identifier Requirements An organization must be registered at the three following locations before it can submit an application for funding at www.grants.gov.

a. Data Universal Numbering System: All applicant organizations must obtain a Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number. A DUNS number is a unique nine-digit identification number provided by Dun & Bradstreet (D&B). It will be used as the Universal Identifier when applying for federal awards or cooperative agreements. The applicant organization may request a DUNS number by telephone at 1-866-705-5711 (toll free) or Internet at http://fedgov.dnb.com/webform/displayHomePage.do. The DUNS number will be provided at no charge. If funds are awarded to an applicant organization that includes sub-recipients, those sub-recipients must provide their DUNS numbers before accepting any funds.

b. 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. 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 usually requires not more than five business days, and registration must be renewed annually.

Additional information about registration procedures may be found at https://www.sam.gov/SAM/.

c. Grants.gov: The first step in submitting an application online is registering your organization through www.grants.gov, the official HHS E-grant website. Registration information is located at the "Applicant Registration" option at www.grants.gov. All applicant organizations must register with www.grants.gov. The one-time registration process usually takes not more than five days to complete. Applicants must start the registration process as early as possible.

Cost Sharing or Matching Cost Sharing / Matching Requirement:

No Other Special Requirements Note: Title 2 of the United States Code Section 1611 states that an organization described in Section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code that engages in lobbying activities is not eligible to receive Federal funds constituting a grant, loan, or an award.

Maintenance of Effort Maintenance of Effort is not required for this program.

https://www.grants.gov/ http://fedgov.dnb.com/webform/displayHomePage.do https://www.sam.gov/SAM/ https://www.grants.gov/ http://www.grants.gov/ https://www.grants.gov/

Section IV. Application and Submission Information Address to Request Application Package Applicants must download the application package associated with this funding opportunity from Grants.gov.

If the applicant encounters technical difficulties with Grants.gov, the applicant should contact Grants.gov Customer Service. The Grants.gov Contact Center is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with the exception of all Federal Holidays. The Contact Center provides customer service to the applicant community. The extended hours will provide applicants support around the clock, ensuring the best possible customer service is received any time it is needed. You can reach the Grants.gov Support Center at 1-800-518-4726 or by email at support@grants.gov. Submissions sent by email, fax, CD’s or thumb drives of applications will not be accepted.

Content and Form of Application Submission Unless specifically indicated, this announcement requires submission of the following information:

Project Abstract A Project Abstract must be completed in the Grants.gov application forms. The Project Abstract must contain a summary of the proposed activity suitable for dissemination to the public. It should be a self-contained description of the project and should contain a statement of objectives and methods to be employed. It should be informative to other persons working in the same or related fields and insofar as possible understandable to a technically literate lay reader. This abstract must not include any proprietary/confidential information.

Project Narrative A Project Narrative must be submitted with the application forms. The project narrative must be uploaded in a PDF file format when submitting via Grants.gov. The narrative must be submitted in the following format:

25: Maximum number of pages Font size:…