CDC-RFA-OT18-1804.pdf

Centers for Disease Control

Office for State, Tribal, Local and Territorial Support

Technical Assistance for Response to Public Health or Healthcare Crises

CDC-RFA-OT18-1804

Application Due Date: 03/16/2018

Technical Assistance for Response to Public Health or Healthcare Crises

CDC-RFA-OT18-1804

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Part I. Overview Information A. Federal Agency Name B. Funding Opportunity Title C. Announcement Type D. Agency Funding Opportunity Number E. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number F. Dates G. Executive Summary

Part II. Full Text A. Funding Opportunity Description B. Award Information C. Eligibility Information D. Application and Submission Information E. Review and Selection Process F. Award Administration Information G. Agency Contacts H. Other Information I. Glossary

Part I. Overview Information Applicants must go to the synopsis page of this announcement at www.grants.gov and click on the "Send Me Change Notifications Emails" link to ensure they receive notifications of any changes to CDC-RFA-OT18-1804. Applicants also must provide an e-mail address to www.grants.gov to receive notifications of changes.

A. Federal Agency Name:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) / Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) B. Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) Title:

Technical Assistance for Response to Public Health or Healthcare Crises C. Announcement Type: New - Type 1 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.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CFR-2007-title42-vol1/pdf/CFR-2007-title42-vol1-sec52-2.pdf.

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)).

New

D. Agency Notice of Funding Opportunity Number:

CDC-RFA-OT18-1804

E. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number:

93.391 F. Dates:

1. Due Date for Letter of Intent (LOI): 01/30/2018

2. Due Date for Applications: 03/16/2018, 11:59 p.m. U.S. Eastern

Standard Time, at www.grants.gov.

Open, continuous with the next application due date being March 16, 2018 NOTE: CDC may establish ad hoc due dates based on the needs of the crisis, e.g., to meet unanticipated issue related to a public health emergency and/or to allow impacted eligible applicants that missed the cut off date to submit an application for consideration.

Allows for a 60 day application period with an announcement date of January 16, 2018.

Letters of Intent (LOI) are not required but are strongly suggested. LOI should be submitted by email to OSTLTSCrisisNOFO@cdc.gov no later than midnight ET on 1/30/2018.

3. Date for Informational Conference Call:

The Information Conference Calls will be held Monday 2/12/2018 from 3:30-5:00pm EST and Tuesday 2/13/2018 from 2:30-4:00pm EST. The dial-in information for the Information Conference Calls will be posted to https://www.cdc.gov/stltpublichealth/partnerships/index.html NLT Friday 2/2/2018.

To facilitate appropriate timely responses, CDC encourages proactive written inquiries concerning this announcement to be submitted prior to the Information Conference Calls. Due https://www.grants.gov https://www.grants.gov https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CFR-2007-title42-vol1/pdf/CFR-2007-title42-vol1-sec52-2.pdf https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CFR-2007-title42-vol1/pdf/CFR-2007-title42-vol1-sec52-2.pdf https://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/regulations-and-policy/regulations/45-cfr-46/index.html https://www.grants.gov to the volume and variety of questions anticipated, applicants are encouraged to submit questions to OSTLTSCrisisNOFO@cdc.gov by Tuesday, February 6, 2018.

G. Executive Summary:

1. Summary Paragraph:

CDC will strengthen the U.S. public health system’s response to public health or healthcare crises by funding organizations to provide expert technical assistance and other forms of support to entities engaged in a public health or healthcare crisis.

The purpose of this NOFO is (1) to establish a pool of organizations capable of rapidly providing essential expertise to parties involved in an emergency response, and (2) to fund select awardees to provide that support, when required, based on determination of need. The awardee will function as a rapid provider of information and/or resources, as well as a coordinator of the project management components involved. While it is impossible to foresee which parties (or types of parties) the awardee would support, examples could include governmental health departments, other governmental departments, hospitals or hospital systems, governors' offices, charitable and other non-profit organizations, or commercial partners.

a. Eligible Applicants: Open Competition

b. NOFO Type: Cooperative Agreement

c. Approximate Number of Awards: 10 The nature of the events that would trigger CDC to activate this NOFO make it difficult to project: (a) the per-award funding amount that would be made available, (b) the number of awards needed, and (c) the length of time required to accomplish intended objectives (i.e., the budget period for those awards). However, for the purposes of planning, CDC proposes a total performance period of 24 months, with an estimated total award amount of $3,000,000 over that period of time. Within that period, CDC estimates 10 individual awards, with an average award amount of $300,000, and two budget periods of 12 months each. The actual numbers of awards, award amounts, and lengths of budget period may vary substantially from these estimates depending on circumstances.

Any longer-term recovery needs exceeding 24 months in length (such as for an outbreak that shifts from an epidemic to an endemic nature) would be addressed by other NOFOs, as appropriate.

d. Total Period of Performance Funding: $3,000,000 The nature of the events that would trigger CDC to activate this NOFO make it difficult to project: (a) the total funding amount that would be made available, (b) the number of awards needed, and (c) the length of time required to accomplish intended objectives. As a result, CDC will utilize a highly temporary funding approach. Specifically, this NOFO will fund only urgently-needed, time-critical activities using budget periods of 60 days at a time. If, after initial award, the agency determines that additional time is required to accomplish objectives, a supplemental will be awarded for another 60 days (to be repeated as deemed necessary by the agency).

Any longer-term recovery needs (such as for an outbreak that shifts from an epidemic to an endemic nature) would be addressed by other NOFOs, as appropriate. However, for the purposes of planning, CDC has proposed an amount of up to $3,000,000 for the total 24-month performance period.

e. Average One Year Award Amount: $300,000 The nature of the events that would trigger CDC to activate this NOFO make it difficult to project: (a) the per-award funding amount that would be made available, (b) the number of awards needed, and (c) the length of time required to accomplish intended objectives (i.e., the budget period for those awards). However, for the purposes of planning, CDC proposes a total performance period of 24 months, with an estimated total award amount of $3,000,000 over that period of time. Within that period, CDC estimates 10 individual awards, with an average award amount of $300,000, and two budget periods of 12 months each. The actual numbers of awards, award amounts, and lengths of budget period may vary substantially from these estimates depending on circumstances.

Any longer-term recovery needs exceeding 24 months in length (such as for an outbreak that shifts from an epidemic to an endemic nature) would be addressed by other NOFOs, as appropriate.

f. Total Period of Performance Length: 2

g. Estimated Award Date: 06/01/2018

h. Cost Sharing and / or Matching Requirements: N Cost sharing or matching funds are not required for this program. Although no statutory matching requirement for this NOFO exists, leveraging other resources and related ongoing efforts to promote sustainability is strongly encouraged.

Part II. Full Text A. Funding Opportunity Description

Part II. Full Text

1. Background

a. Overview CDC will strengthen the U.S. public health system’s response to public health or healthcare crises by funding organizations to provide expert technical assistance and other forms of support to entities engaged in a public health or healthcare crisis.

Awardees will perform activities in the following two strategy domains:

STRATEGY 1: Ensure Effective Process Implementation Process is a critical success factor in response efforts, where lives may depend on the speed of a transaction, placement of personnel, or delivery of equipment. Awardees must have strength in and be able to effectively perform the activities associated with each of the following process areas:

Expedited Procurement (ability to supersede normal acquisition procedures to accelerate delivery);

Agile Administration & Operations (ability to react to requests, develop plans, deploy resources, and perform administrative actions quickly and with highly-coordinated communication); and Strategic Partnering (access to and the ability to rapidly engage multi-sector partners to amplify, augment or otherwise improve response efforts).

STRATEGY 2: Provide Critical Content Expertise The awardee's strength in process implementation (addressed by Strategy 1) serves as the foundation for delivering critical content expertise. Applicants must have demonstrated strength in and be able to provide support in one or more of the following content areas:

Administrative Logistics (travel, transportation, shipping, printing, transcription, convenings and event planning, small purchases, etc.);

Communications (situational awareness, risk communications, media support, project monitoring and reporting, cultural and lingual translation, graphics, writing/editing, training development and delivery, etc.)

Human Resources & Specialized Expertise (recruiting, hiring, general staff augmentation, payroll, onboarding, orientation, and acquisition of specialized expertise, including but not limited to epidemiology, entomology, infectious disease, environmental health, emergency response, etc.)

Direct Services ("Direct Services" here does not mean the provision of care; rather, it refers to an awardee performing specific emergency response activities on behalf of a third party, because of a gap in that third party's capabilities, and because CDC has determined that this gap threatens the effectiveness of the response as a whole)

CDC will use applicants' submissions (particularly the "Strategies and Activities" section) to inventory their capabilities in a database. In the event of a crisis, CDC will use that system to identify potential awardees based on the needs associated with the scenario(s) or threat(s) at hand.

This NOFO is designed to collect responsive proposals from eligible applicants and retain them as "approved but unfunded" (ABU) until a crisis occurs. Specifically, CDC will only make funding available once the agency determines that a public health emergency response is needed.

At that time, depending on the nature of the scenario, specific applicants and specific components of their applications will be selected for funding. These funding decisions will take into account various relevant factors such as geographic location, expectations of spread (e.g., with infectious disease-related emergencies), applicant's capabilities, national priorities, impact of the emergency on an eligible jurisdiction, and target populations, etc.

b. Statutory Authorities This program is authorized under section 311(c)(1) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C.

section 243(c)(1)), subject to available funding and other requirements and limitations.

c. Healthy People 2020 This program addresses the "Healthy People 2020" (http://www.healthypeople.gov) focus areas of "Preparedness" (https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/preparedness) and "Immunization and Infectious Diseases" (https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objec https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/preparedness https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/immunization-and-infectious-diseases tives/topic/immunization-and-infectious-diseases).

d. Other National Public Health Priorities and Strategies National Health Security Strategy of the United States of America (NHSS), Global Health Secur ity Agenda, International Health Regulations

e. Relevant Work CDC provides funding and technical assistance to public health agencies nationwide to build and strengthen their abilities to plan, prepare, respond, mitigate, and prevent public health problems and threats. A variety of cooperative agreements for public health emergencies including, but not limited to the Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) program (CDC-RFA-TP12-1201, and CDC-RFA- TP17-1701), and the Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity (ELC) program (CK14-1401PPHF) etc., provide separate funding mechanisms to support capacity-building, planning, preparedness, and response to public health problems, including emergencies such as pandemic events. Additionally, CDC provides scientific guidance, direct technical assistance and coordination for jurisdictional public health authorities and other organizations to prepare and respond to public health problems, including specific emergencies/events.

2. CDC Project Description

a. Approach

Bold indicates period of performance outcome.

Strategies and Activities Short-term Outcomes Intermediate Outcomes Long-Term Outcomes

PROVIDING EFFECTIVE

PROCESS

IMPLEMENTATION

Expedited Procurement

Agile Administration & Operations

Strategic Partnering

PROVIDING CRITICAL

CONTENT EXPERTISE

Administrative Logistics

Support

OCCURRED ON

TIME

Support MET

SPECIFICATIONS

Support

FULFILLED

THE

REQUEST

Support improved the effectiveness and efficiency of the public health department(s)?

response.

https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/immunization-and-infectious-diseases http://www.phe.gov/Preparedness/planning/authority/nhss/Pages/default.aspx https://ghsagenda.org/ https://ghsagenda.org/ http://www.who.int/topics/international_health_regulations/en/

Communications Human Resources

& Specialized Expertise

Direct Services

i. Purpose This NOFO will (1) establish a pool of organizations capable of rapidly providing essential expertise to parties involved in an emergency response, and (2) fund select awardees to provide that support, when required. While it is impossible to foresee which parties (or types of parties) the awardee would support, examples could include governmental health departments, other governmental departments, hospitals or hospital systems, governors' offices, charitable and other non-profit organizations, or commercial partners.

ii. Outcomes The goal of this NOFO is to strengthen the U.S. public health system?s response to public health or healthcare crises by providing specialized support to State, Tribal, Local and Territorial health departments (STLTs) when engaged in a response. Awardees will advance that goal by performing activities that achieve the following short term, mid-term and long term outcomes.

Short Term:

Awardee's support OCCURRED ON TIME (e.g, specialist needed by Wednesday)

Awardee's support MET SPECIFICATIONS (e.g., specialist must have Medical Entomology degree)

Mid-Term:

Awardee's support FULFILLED THE REQUEST (e.g., Medical Entomologist wrote vector control plan, supervised spraying activity, conducted post-op evaluation, and wrote and disseminated evaluation report)

Long-Term:

Awardee's support improved the effectiveness and efficiency of the public health departments' response.

iii. Strategies and Activities The uncertain nature of emergencies make this announcement a difficult one for applicants to respond to. Therefore, before addressing strategies and activities, this NOFO will briefly describe the unique nature of the NOFO's design as well as the approach by which the agency expects to implement it. Both of those factors affect CDC's expectations for the narrative content that applicants will provide in the Strategies and Activities section of their application, as well as in related sections. This information will include guidance for preparing the budget portion of the application.

This NOFO is designed to collect responsive proposals from eligible applicants and retain them as "approved but unfunded" (ABU) until a crisis occurs. Specifically, CDC will only make funding available once the agency determines that a public health emergency response is needed.

At that time, depending on the nature of the scenario, specific applicants and specific components of their applications will be selected for funding. These funding decisions will take into account various relevant factors such as geographic location, expectations of spread (e.g., with infectious disease-related emergencies), applicant's capabilities, national priorities, impact of the emergency on an eligible jurisdiction, and target populations.

Given the obvious difficulty applicants face in preparing an application for events that haven't occurred yet, CDC expects your initial application to focus more on identifying and describing your capabilities, and less on detailing plans for activities, evaluation and performance measurement. As such, CDC anticipates more specificity in your program narrative sections (e.g., Background, Purpose, Strategies and Activities, Collaborations and Organizational Capacity of Applicant), and more generality in the evaluative and numeric sections (e.g., Outcomes, Applicant Evaluation and Performance Measurement Plan, Work Plan, and Budget Narrative).

Again, these expectations apply to your initial application. If, in the event of a crisis, the agency selects you for award, CDC program staff will request a detailed, revised work plan and budget, and work with you to develop specific outcome and performance measures tailored to the scenario(s) at hand.

Therefore, rather than detailing specific activities in the Strategies and Activities section of your application, applicants should use this section to identify and provide a detailed description of their organization's capabilities in relation to the needs outlined in the Logic Model, and enumerated below. Applicants should present a complete picture of their strengths and abilities, as CDC will rely heavily on that narrative to assess whether their capability portfolio is a match for the characteristics of a given response.

When identifying and describing their capabilities, as discussed above, CDC encourages applicants to consider where and how they might collaborate with CDC and utilize the agency's in-house expertise and resources to supplement their own. Those resources might include evidence-based guidance documents, agency recommendations, online training resources and/or other health communications materials. For example, the "CDC Train" learning management system (https://cdc.train.org/DesktopShell.aspx) is a free, online and rapidly-accessible way to train workforce in many competency areas. Additionally, the agency's Division of Laboratory Systems and Division of Scientific Education and Professional Development provide laboratory training in a variety of competency areas, including safety and preparedness, and could be a useful resource for awardees to consider leveraging if factors dictate. These are just a few examples of existing resources awardees could leverage to multiply the support they provide to governmental health departments.

When preparing the "Budget Narrative" section of the application, applicants should keep in mind that CDC will use this information as reference only, for the purpose of understanding how your organization might go about performing the work requested. The Budget Narrative is not scored as part of the review and selection process. As such, the dollar amounts you propose will not be evaluated as good or bad; rather, your approach will be considered as an indication of your https://cdc.train.org/DesktopShell.aspx readiness for and ability to perform the work described. Should you be selected, CDC program staff will work with you to refine, expand the budget as necessary. When preparing your budget, please follow the below guidance:

1. Plan for a budget period of 12 months (even though actual circumstances could result in a period that is shorter or longer).

2. Plan for the following scenario (even though the actual scenario under which you may be selected could bear no similarity to this one): A public health crisis of undetermined nature has occurred and CDC has awarded your organization funds to (1) mobilize a team of experts to perform an assessment of the situation and associated threats, (2) prepare recommendations for actions to be taken, (3) present those actions to CDC program staff and (4) provide follow-up consultation as needed to CDC programs and/or other entities involved in the response.

As noted in the Logic Model, the grantee will perform activities to provide effective process implementation (Strategy 1) and critical content expertise (Strategy 2) to STLT health departments when responding to a public health or healthcare crisis. Potential activities include but are not limited to those described below.

Strategy 1: Providing Effective Process Implementation Process is a critical success factor in response efforts, where lives may depend on the speed of a transaction, placement of personnel, or delivery of equipment. Awardees must have strength in and be able to effectively perform the activities associated with each of the following process areas:

Expedited Procurement This area ensures awardees can procure response-related products or services substantially faster than traditional timelines allow. Applicants should explain their level of onboard experience and expertise in writing, negotiating and executing expedited contracts or other funding agreements, and demonstrate their ability to supersede normal acquisition procedures and timelines without compromising end quality. Reference relevant staff qualifications, internal policies, and examples of past experience.

Agile Administration & Operations This area ensures awardees have a nimble and responsive operational structure and workforce, capable of supporting rapid action upon request. Applicants should demonstrate their ability to react to requests, develop plans, deploy resources, and perform administrative actions quickly and with highly-coordinated communication. Reference relevant management practices, organization charts, resumes/CVs, and examples of past experience.

Strategic Partnering This area ensures awardees have the ability to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of a response by partnering with external organizations, when possible, to amplify or augment response efforts. Applicants should describe the breadth and nature of their current network, reference notable collaborations and achievements, and demonstrate the extent of their relationships with or access to partners across sectors (i.e., public, corporate, charitable, and academic, etc.). Reference relevant MOUs or other arrangements and agreements, as well as examples of past experience.

STRATEGY 2: Provide Critical Content Expertise The awardee's strength in process implementation (as discussed above) will serve as the foundation for the NOFO's second strategic focus: delivering critical content expertise.

Applicants will provide support to governmental health entities in one or more of the following content areas:

Administrative Logistics This area ensures governmental health entities are able to maintain an effective level of administrative functionality during a response, with the goal of preventing delays and other adverse impacts. Applicants should describe the level of their experience and expertise in providing travel, transportation, shipping, printing, transcription, event planning, and purchasing (e.g., supplies and equipment) support, and should indicate whether resources are onboard or will be obtained through a partner or vendor.

Communications This area ensures governmental entities are able to maintain an effective level of communications functionality during a response. Applicants should describe the level of their experience and expertise in coordinating or implementing the following: situational awareness, risk communications, media support, project monitoring and reporting, cultural and lingual translation, graphics, writing/editing, and developing in-time training for specific threats or scenarios, and should indicate whether resources are onboard or will be obtained through a partner or vendor.

Human Resources & Specialized Expertise This area ensures governmental entities are able to acquire or maintain the staff volume and expertise required to meet response demands.

Applicants should describe the level of their expertise and experience in recruiting and hiring for general staff augmentation, recruiting and hiring for specialized medical, scientific or emergency management expertise, and should indicate whether resources are onboard or would be obtained through a partner or vendor.

Direct Services This area ensures governmental entities are able to perform appropriate direct services when needed and to the specifications required. Applicants should describe their experience providing or supporting the provision of direct emergency response services, providing specific examples.

Again, if the applicant is funded, the Program Office will provide details related to the emergency involved and the types of support needed. The applicant will then provide a revised workplan, budget narrative, evaluation, and performance improvement plan, all of which will be specific to the details provided.

1. Collaborations

a. With other CDC programs and CDC-funded organizations:

Recipients will collaborate with other CDC Programs and Centers, Institutes, and Offices (CIOs) to ensure that activities and funding are coordinated with, complementary to and not duplicative of efforts supported under other CDC programs such as PHEP and ELC.

During any particular emergency funded under this NOFO, recipients will be expected to collaborate closely with CDC incident management and involved program SME staff, as well as other organizations funded by CDC to address emergency response, including neighboring state and local health departments, sub-jurisdictional entities, tribes, territories, state or local public health organizations, national public health organizations (such as the Association of Public Health Laboratories, Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, Council of State & Territorial Epidemiologists, Association of Schools of Public Health, etc.), other local or regional institutions (e.g., clinical and healthcare institutions) or businesses (e.g., equipment/supply vendors, vector control vendors, etc.).

Where needed, recipients should ask CDC to identify funded partners with whom they might collaborate. For example, in an environmental health emergency, the recipient might work with staff in the National Center for Environmental Health to determine appropriate partners with whom to consult, depending on the nature of the response. Similar examples would apply to infectious disease, biochemical agent or other threat scenarios, etc.

b. With organizations not funded by CDC:

Recipients will collaborate with programs external to and not funded by CDC, with respect to their role in implementing the program strategies outlined in this NOFO. These entities may include State, Tribal, Local and/or Territorial health department jurisdictions; foundations and charitable organizations; other non-profit organizations; or commercial entities. These types of collaborations allow for more efficient use of existing resources and exchange of information among experts working in various areas of public health and other sectors. Recipients are encouraged to use evidence-based collaboration models (e.g., PRECEDE/PROCEED model (http ://www.lgreen.net/precede.htm) or Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships [MAPP] http://www.naccho.org/topics/infrastructure/mapp/framework/ as appropriate.

Recipients are encouraged to partner with other federal agencies and programs, including but not limited to the Hospital Preparedness Program (HPP) administered by the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR), and other grants and programs directed, managed and/or supported by Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and the Department of Agriculture and other federal departments impacted or potentially impacted by the public health emergency for which funds will be made available under this NOFO.

http://www.lgreen.net/precede.htm http://www.lgreen.net/precede.htm http://www.naccho.org/topics/infrastructure/mapp/framework/

No formal MOUs are required.

2. Target Populations Target populations will vary depending on the particular public health emergency(ies) funded under this NOFO. If selected, awardees will be expected to address appropriate target populations as a part of the action plan they develop in coordination with CDC. CDC program staff will provide guidance as needed.

a. Health Disparities If selected, awardees will be expected to address and be inclusive of underserved and/or vulnerable populations that may be directly impacted or have increased risk for various public health emergencies, including but not limited to populations with disabilities; ESOL populations;

rural populations; lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) populations; people with limited health literacy; immunocompromised persons; and/or populations that may otherwise be overlooked by the program. CDC program staff will provide guidance as needed.

iv. Funding Strategy This NOFO is designed to collect proposals from eligible applicants and retain them as "approved but unfunded" (ABU) until a crisis occurs. Specifically, CDC will only make funding available once the agency determines that a public health emergency response is needed. At that time, depending on the nature of the emergency, specific applicants and specific components of their applications will be selected for funding. These funding decisions will take into account various relevant factors such as geographic location of the emergency, expectations of spread (e.g., with infectious disease-related emergencies), applicant's capabilities, national priorities, impact of the emergency on an eligible jurisdiction, and target populations, etc.

b. Evaluation and Performance Measurement

i. CDC Evaluation and Performance Measurement Strategy Evaluation and Performance Measure Strategy As noted in the Executive Summary, we expect the Evaluation and Performance Measure Strategy section of your initial application to be high-level. If we select you for future award, we will request a revised work plan and budget that includes an appropriate evaluation and performance measurement plan.

CDC will use the following strategy to measure performance under the NOFO: (1) process evaluation to assess the extent to which NOFO activities were implemented as planned; and (2) outcome evaluation to determine whether those activities led to the expected short-term and mid-term outcomes. While CDC's requirements for an evaluation strategy will depend on the nature of the response involved, applicants may expect the following general evaluation approach to be applied:

Strategy/Activity Process Measure Outcome Measure

1. Expedited procurement # of provisions of support that involved expedited procurement

Did procurement expertise reduce delays, reduce cost, eliminate obstacles, result in improved terms or strengthened capabilities, or realize other efficiencies that improved the effectiveness of the response?

2. Agile administration & operations

# of provisions of support in which operational agility played a determining role

Did operational agility enable swift engagement with stakeholders, expedited planning, rapid deployment, well-coordinated communication, quick turnaround on workplan and budget revisions, timely development of action plans or other efficiencies that improved the effectiveness of the response?

3. Strategic partnering # of instances in which a partnership was leveraged or created

Did strategic partnering result in additional resources, expanded capabilities or access to expertise, access to new key response stakeholders, or other efficiencies that improved the effectiveness of the response?

4. Administrative logistics # of requests for administrative logistics support fulfilled

Was support on time?

Did support meet specifications?

Did support fulfill the request?

Did support enable the governmental health entity to maintain an effective level of administrative functionality during a response, including preventing delays and other adverse impacts?

5. Communications # of requests for communications support fulfilled

Was support on time?

Did support meet specifications?

Did support fulfill the request?

Did support enable the governmental health entity to maintain an effective level of communications functionality during a response?

Was the support appropriate for target populations/demographics?

6. Human resources & specialized expertise

# of requests for human resources support fulfilled

Was support on time?

Did support meet specifications?

Did support fulfill the request?

Did support enable the governmental entity to maintain (or obtain) the staff volume and expertise required to meet response demands?

7. Direct services # of requests for direct services support fulfilled

Was support on time?

Did support meet specifications?

Did support fulfill the request?

Did the support enable the governmental entity to perform appropriate direct services when needed and to the specifications required?

Data collection by the awardee for the purpose of evaluation and performance measurement is limited only to data that will be analyzed and used for evaluation. The awardee may use passive collection methods (such as analyzing emails, project management documentation, or data captured in the execution of activities) in addition to active collection (e.g., client satisfaction surveys, debriefs, etc.) to obtain data for measuring process accomplishments and achievement of outcomes.

Again, if the applicant is funded, the Notice of Award will provide details related to the emergency involved and the types of support needed. The applicant will then provide a revised workplan, budget narrative and evaluation and performance improvement plan, all of which will be specific to the details provided.

ii. Applicant Evaluation and Performance Measurement Plan 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. At a minimum, the plan must describe:

How applicant will collect the performance measures, respond to the evaluation questions, and use evaluation findings for continuous program quality improvement.

How key program partners will participate in the evaluation and performance measurement planning processes.

Available data sources, feasibility of collecting appropriate evaluation and performance data, and other relevant data information (e.g., performance measures proposed by the applicant)

Plans for updating the Data Management Plan (DMP), if applicable, for accuracy throughout the lifecycle of the project. The DMP should provide a description of the data that will be produced using these NOFO funds; access to data; data standards ensuring released data have documentation describing methods of collection, what the data represent, and data limitations; and archival and long-term data preservation plans. For more information about CDC’s policy on the DMP, see https://www.cdc.gov/grants/additionalrequirements/ar-25.html.

Where the applicant chooses to, or is expected to, take on specific evaluation studies, they should be directed to:

Describe the type of evaluations (i.e., process, outcome, or both).

Describe key evaluation questions to be addressed by these evaluations.

Describe other information (e.g., measures, data sources).

Recipients will be required to submit a more detailed Evaluation and Performance Measurement plan, including a DMP, within the first 6 months of award, as described in the Reporting Section of this NOFO.

The applicant should reference the Logic Model as well as the evaluation and performance measurement matrix provided in the "CDC Evaluation and Performance Measurement Strategy" section, above, when developing their evaluation and performance measurement plan.

c. Organizational Capacity of Recipients to Implement the Approach The grantee should be an organization with:

PROCESS IMPLEMENTATION EXPERTISE

Expertise in writing, negotiating, executing and managing expedited contracts, consulting agreements and similar vehicles. (The applicant should have personnel onboard - or available immediately through another arrangement - with experience and expertise in writing and awarding funding instruments under tight deadlines and challenging circumstances. Applicant should describe the steps they would take - or have taken previously - to accomplish this requirement under challenging circumstances.)

Applicant is required to provide a CV/Resume and job description for any staff that will be involved in procurement actions, ensuring that these include a summary of each employee's procurement experience. Applicant must also provide examples of past experience executing an expedited procurement. Documents should be uploaded as a consolidated PDF at www.grants.gov using the file name, "Procurement_CVs_Resumes_JobDescriptions_PastExperience"

Ability to supersede normal acquisition timelines to speed delivery of products or services.

https://www.cdc.gov/grants/additionalrequirements/ar-25.html http://www.grants.gov/

(The applicant should be able to obtain goods and/or services faster than traditional timelines allow, without compromising end quality. Applicant should describe the steps they would take -or have taken previously - to accomplish this requirement under challenging circumstances.)

Applicant is required to provide supporting documentation confirming ability to execute expedited procurement, including a copy of their internal procurement policy as well as examples of past experience and any other relevant documents, uploaded as a consolidated PDF at www.grants.gov using the file name, "Procurement_Policy_Documents";

An agile structure and workforce, with the ability to react to requests, develop plans, deploy resources, and perform administrative actions quickly and with highly-coordinated communication. (The applicant's leadership and workforce should be nimble, responsive and able to take any number of administrative, logistical or programmatic actions quickly and with effective communication among parties involved. Applicant should describe the steps they would take - or have taken previously - to accomplish this requirement under challenging circumstances.)

Applicant is required to provide supporting documentation confirming operational agility, such as organization charts, standard operating procedures, internal emergency response/management plans, and examples of past experience, uploaded as a consolidated PDF at www.grants.gov using the file name, "Organizational_Charts"

Demonstrated ability to leverage and create partnerships to amplify or augment existing response efforts. (The applicant should have a robust professional network and a demonstrated record of seeking and establishing partnerships that made an impact in the field(s) involved.

Applicant should describe the steps they would take - or have taken previously - to accomplish this requirement in an emergency response scenario.)

Applicants may, but are not required to provide supporting documentation such as reports, articles, letters of support or MOUs uploaded as a consolidated PDF at www.grants.gov using file name "Partnership_Documents"

Ability to deploy onboard staff within 48 hours of Notice of Award (NOA) to any location in the continental U.S., Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, and the U.S.

Affiliated Pacific Islands (USAPI)*. (The applicant's administrative staff should be expert in travel planning and logistics, and have experience and expertise in booking, amending, vouchering and closing travel actions under urgent timelines and challenging circumstances, such as moving personnel or equipment in remote areas or across great distances.

Although this is not an international funding opportunity, the applicant should have equal skill in executing international travel, in case support is required in the USAPI. Applicant should describe the steps they would take - or have taken previously - to accomplish this requirement under challenging circumstances.)

Applicants are required to provide supporting documentation confirming ability to deploy staff within 48 hours, such as standard operating procedures, project reports, and examples of past experience, uploaded as a consolidated PDF at www.grants.gov using http://www.grants.gov/ http://www.grants.gov/ file name "Deployment_Supporting_Documents";

*The US-affiliated Pacific Islands (USAPI) consist of three United States territories: American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and Guam; and three independent countries in free association with the United States: the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau.

Experience supporting an organizational entity during an emergency response situation.

(The applicant should have provided some form of expertise or assistance to a party involved in, impacted by or otherwise associated with an emergency scenario.)

Applicants are required to provide documentation verifying support to an organizational entity during an emergency response situation, such as contracts, invoices, project reports, evaluation studies, newspaper articles, letters of support, client testimonials, etc., uploaded as a consolidated PDF at www.grants.gov using file name, "Experience_Verification_Documents";

CONTENT EXPERTISE

Ability to provide expert support in one or more of the following content areas, as described in the "Strategies and Activities" section:

1. Administrative Logistics, including but not limited to travel, transportation, shipping, printing, transcription, event planning, and purchasing (e.g., supplies and equipment) support. The applicant should be able to help the governmental health entities they're supporting maintain an effective level of administrative functionality during a response, with the goal of preventing delays or other adverse impacts. Applicant should describe the steps they would take - or have taken previously - to accomplish this requirement under challenging circumstances.

2. Communications, including but not limited to situational awareness, risk communications, media support, project monitoring and reporting, cultural and lingual translation, graphics, writing/editing, and developing in-time training for specific threats or scenarios. The applicant should be able to help the governmental health entities they're supporting maintain an effective level of communications functionality during a response, including message discipline, design and clearance. Applicant should describe the steps they would take - or have taken previously - to accomplish this requirement under challenging circumstances.

3. Human resources & specialized expertise, including but not limited to recruiting and hiring for general staff augmentation, as well as specialized medical, scientific or emergency management expertise. The applicant should be able to help the governmental health entities they're supporting acquire or maintain the staff volume and expertise required to meet response demands. Applicant should describe the steps they would take -or have taken previously - to accomplish this requirement under challenging circumstances.

4. Direct services, including experience providing or supporting the provision of direct services in the event of an emergency. The applicant should be able to help the governmental health entities they're supporting perform the appropriate direct services when needed and to the specifications required. Applicant should describe the steps they would take - or have taken previously - to accomplish this requirement under challenging circumstances.

Applicants are required to provide supporting documentation such as CVs/Resumes, staffing lists, letters of support, after action reports, client testimonials, evaluation results or other content, uploaded as a consolidated PDF at www.grants.gov using file name, "Expertise_Supporting_Documents").

d. Work Plan As indicated in the "Strategies and Activities" section - CDC expects the applicant to submit a fairly basic work plan in their initial application, then be prepared to provide an appropriately-detailed plan if selected for funding to support a response. The work plan is simply a format in which the awardee provides a single table describing the relevant information about each single Project Period Outcome. There should be a separate table for each outcome. An acceptable work plan table format is provided below (although applicants may develop and submit their own).

Insert Project Period Outcome Here Example Project Period Outcome:

"The health department that the awardee supported augmented their current workforce with 23 additional public health professionals, including two medical entomologists specializing in arboreal canopy-dwelling Aedus mosquitos who implemented a an island-wide vector control plan that reduced the prevalence of ___ by ___% in ____ weeks."

Insert Outcome Measure(s) Here Example Strategy 1 (Process) Outcome Measure:

"Did the awardee's process implementation support improve the effectiveness or efficiency of the response?"

Example Strategy 2 (Content) Outcome Measure:

"Did the awardee's content expertise support occur on time, meet the required specifications, and achieve the desired result?

Strategies and Activities

Process Measure [from Evaluation and Performance Measurement section]

Responsible Position / Party

Completion Date

1. Expedited procurement

# of provisions of support that involved expedited procurement

2. Operational agility

# of provisions of support in which operational agility played a determining role

3. Strategic partnering

# of instances in which a partnership was leveraged or created

4. Administrative logistics

# of requests for administrative logistics support fulfilled

5. Communications

# of requests for communications support fulfilled

6. Human resources

# of requests for human resources support fulfilled

7. Direct services

# of requests for direct services support fulfilled

e. CDC Monitoring and Accountability Approach Monitoring activities include routine and ongoing communication between CDC and recipients, site visits, and recipient reporting (including work plans, performance, and financial reporting).

Consistent with applicable grants regulations and policies, CDC expects the following to be included in post-award monitoring for grants and cooperative agreements:

Tracking recipient progress in achieving the desired outcomes.

Ensuring the adequacy of recipient systems that underlie and generate data reports.

Creating an environment that fosters integrity in program performance and results.

Monitoring may also include the following activities deemed necessary to monitor the award:

Ensuring that work plans are feasible based on the budget and consistent with the intent of the award.

Ensuring that recipients are performing at a sufficient level to achieve outcomes within stated timeframes.

Working with recipients on adjusting the work plan based on achievement of outcomes, evaluation results and changing budgets.

Monitoring performance measures (both programmatic and financial) to assure satisfactory performance levels.

Monitoring and reporting activities that assist grants management staff (e.g., grants management officers and specialists, and project officers) in the identification, notification, and management of high-risk recipients.

f. CDC Program Support to Recipients (THIS SECTION APPLIES ONLY TO

COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS)

In this cooperative agreement, CDC staff will be substantially involved in the program activities above and beyond routine grant monitoring. CDC's Office for State, Tribal, Local and Territorial Support (OSTLTS) project officers and subject matter experts will work with other CIO subject matter experts that may serve in a technical monitoring role for specific activities, segments or aspects of a specific public health emergency. OSTLTS will review or coordinate the review of applications to ensure activities are in scope and do not duplicate those funded by other CDC cooperative agreements. CDC will use application submission information to identify strengths and weaknesses, to update work plans, and to establish priorities for site visits and technical assistance.

Additionally, it is essential that awardees have a clear and complete understanding of applicable financial management, budget execution and cost accounting principles as outlined in federal regulations to assure that awarded funds are spent only on allowable activities. Therefore, the CDC Project Officer, Grants Management Specialist and Grants Management Officer will provide guidance to awardees on these topics, as needed.

Similarly, if selected, the awardee may be incorporated into the CDC Incident Management System (IMS) and become a component of the agency's…