Foa_Content_of_HHS-2023-ACL-AOA-ACIL-0061.pdf

Administration for Community Living

Administration on Aging

ACL Innovation Lab

HHS-2023-ACL-AOA-ACIL-0061

07/05/2023

Table of Contents Executive Summary

Additional Overview Content/Executive Summary

I. Funding Opportunity Description

II. Award Information

III. Eligibility Information

1. Eligible Applicants

2. Cost Sharing or Matching

3. Responsiveness and Screening Criteria

IV. Application and Submission Information

1. Address to Request Application Package

2. Content and Form of Application Submission

Letter of Intent

Project Narrative

Summary/Abstract

Problem Statement

Goals and Objectives

Proposed Intervention

Budget Narrative/Justification

Work Plan

3. Unique Entity Identifier and System for Award Management (SAM)

4. Submission Dates and Times

5. Intergovernmental Review

6. Funding Restrictions

7. Other Submission Requirements

V. Application Review Information

1. Criteria

2. Review and Selection Process

3. Anticipated Announcement Award Date

VI. Award Administration Information

1. Award Notices

2. Administrative and National Policy Requirements

3. Reporting

4. FFATA and FSRS Reporting

VII. Agency Contacts

VIII. Other Information

The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (P.L. 104-13)

Appendix

Instructions for Completing Required Forms

Budget Narrative/Justification- Sample Format

Instructions for Completing the Project Summary/ Abstract

ACL Center:

Administration on Aging Funding Opportunity Title:

ACL Innovation Lab Funding Opportunity Number:

HHS-2023-ACL-AOA-ACIL-0061

Primary CFDA Number:

93.048 Due Date for Letter of Intent:

Date will be generated on synopsis publication Due Date for Applications:

07/05/2023 Date for Informational Conference Call:

05/15/2023 Applications that fail to meet the application due date will not be reviewed and will receive no further consideration. You are strongly encouraged to submit your application a minimum of 3-5 days prior to the application closing date. Do not wait until the last day in the event you encounter technical difficulties, either on your end or, with https://www.grants.gov. Grants.gov can take up to 48 hours to notify you of a successful submission.

Executive Summary

Additional Overview Content/Executive Summary

Through this funding opportunity, the U.S. Administration for Community Living (ACL) plans to award a cooperative agreement to a single entity to serve as ACL’s Innovation Lab (the Lab) to conduct research, demonstrations, and evaluations pertaining to falls prevention amongst older adults and older adults with disabilities. The successful recipient must demonstrate their capacity to work collaboratively with relevant stakeholders to conduct several activities including but not limited to:

Develop a taxonomy for falls prevention research through an in-depth review of falls prevention literature that allows for a structured approach to data collection;

Based on that taxonomy, collaborate with ACL to develop relevant research questions and methods for conducting research using core components; community-https://www.grants.gov/ driven/community-based participatory research on falls prevention and falls risk factors;

and structured (quantitative) data and unstructured (qualitative) data collection for sub-awardees;

Develop a secure, dynamic system to house the data collected and evidence developed by sub-awardees, complying with ACL’s public access plan and policy in regards to scientific or research data collected as a result of this funding;

Fund a cohort of sub-awardees that comprise community-based aging and disability-focused entities to pilot these approaches in order to understand and measure the extent to which existing interventions reduce falls and falls risk factors for falls;

Provide technical assistance (TA) to sub-awardees on core components, participatory research designs to measure outcomes, and structured data collection using a relational database;

Conduct both predictive and statistical analysis on research findings, and disseminate findings; and

Promote, in partnership with ACL, the scaling and sustainability of effective practices that promote health and reduce injury specific to falls prevention and falls risk factors for older adults and older adults with disabilities.

The first year of the cooperative agreement will be used to develop the taxonomy and the system for structured data collection, criteria for the sub-awardee application process, framework for providing technical assistance, and identification of relevant partnerships. The Innovation Lab will ensure coordination and engagement with other relevant national partners such as the National Council on Aging’s National Falls Prevention Resource Center; ADvancing States, USAging, Independent Living Research Utilization (ILRU), the Older Americans Act (OAA) Title VI Resource Centers, or other Tribal organizations such as the National Indian Health Board, or other relevant organizations.

The applicant must have the capacity and expertise to work with multiple types of partners to facilitate collaboration and research with the Aging Network. The Older Americans Act of 1965 (OAA) established a national network of federal, state, and local agencies to plan and provide services that help older adults to live independently in their homes and communities. This interconnected structure of agencies is known as the Aging Network. The National Aging Network is headed by the Administration on Aging at ACL, which sits within the Department of Health and Human Services. The network includes 56 State Agencies on Aging, approximately 615 Area Agencies on Aging, and more than 280 Title VI Native American aging programs.

Further, the network is supported by tens of thousands of service providers, community-based organizations, and hundreds of thousands of volunteers. For the purpose of this funding opportunity and consistent with the definition in the Older Americans Act (42 U.S.C. §3002(8)), we are defining an older adult as an individual who is 60 years of age or older. For tribes and tribal organizations, the age of older Indians is defined by the tribe and may vary.

Applicants must have and demonstrate the ability to rapidly deploy and manage competitive sub-awards directly to community-based aging and disability organizations. The Lab will provide support and technical assistance for participating organizations by leading a Learning Community to bring together sub-awardees to take part in shared learning, information and resource sharing. The Lab will also provide coordinated technical assistance around core https://acl.gov/sites/default/files/about-acl/2017-12/ACLPublicAcccessPlan.pdf https://eldercare.acl.gov/Public/About/Aging_Network/Index.aspx https://acl.gov/programs/services-native-americans-oaa-title-vi components, structured data collection efforts, and community-based participatory research on falls prevention and falls risk factors.

Applicants must request a total budget of $4.79 million for the three-year project period. The successful applicant shall be permitted to retain up to 40% for administrative and technical assistance costs. The remainder will be allocated to sub-awards for year 2. Administrative costs should include the development of the taxonomy, the system for collecting structured data, and in-direct costs. The budget and budget narrative should clearly delineate how funds intended for administrative costs and technical assistance purposes will be allocated. The organization selected will be fully-funded for a 36-month project period and budget period. Successful applicants must demonstrate the ability to engage in significant oversight of sub-awards and work closely with ACL and applicable partners to facilitate research conducted by the Lab and potential sub-awardees.

Anticipated Lab Annual Budget

Year 1: Approximately $1.0 million Year 2: Approximately $3.29 M (including sub-awards for up to 15 sub-awardees) Year 3: Approximately$ 500,000 (no sub-awards anticipated)

The award will be made in the form of a Cooperative Agreement to allow for substantial collaboration and involvement with ACL throughout the project period. The Cooperative Agreement has an anticipated start date of August 1, 2023.

An informational conference call will be held on May 15, 2023 at 1:00 pm EST. The dial-in information is below:

Call-in number: 800-369-1885 Passcode: 9207819

A downloadable recording and transcript will be posted on Grants.gov soon after the call concludes. An Instant Replay of the call will also be available at 800-839-4229.

I. Funding Opportunity Description

A. Statement of Need

Background

Substantial evidence demonstrates that falls can lead to negative impacts on health outcomes, quality of life, independence, and mortality. While much research has been conducted on how to prevent falls, this funding opportunity is meant to focus on participatory and equitable approaches to prevent falls as well as to develop actionable evidence tailored to particular subpopulations to prevent falls and falls risk factors. Once an older adult has fallen, their risk of falling again doubles, and ensuring a person-centered and evidence-based approach to preventing falls is key to keeping older adults independent at home for as long as possible.[i] Roughly 36 million falls happen per year leading to approximately 32,000 deaths.[ii] While there is more than sufficient literature on the burden of falls to the health care delivery system and their impact on quality of life, as well as many evidence-based interventions for falls, gaps in evidence remain. This funding opportunity aims to take a stepwise approach to improving the understanding of how to prevent falls, as well as further developing the evidence base for falls prevention and falls risk factors through a multi-pronged approach using core components, structured data collection efforts, and community-driven and community-based participatory approaches to conducting the research.

Core Components

While there is no one definition of core components, the Forum on Youth Investment defines them this way: core components are about capturing the essence of a program or intervention, the elements without which the program would not be successful. This can include everything from what and how much is being delivered to how it is being delivered, and who it is being delivered

by. Core components can also be considered parts, features, attributes, or characteristics of a program that a range of research techniques show influence its success when implemented effectively. These items may include:

Behaviors of those implementing (e.g., how staff interact with older adults) Features of the relationships or environment in an organization (e.g., ableist culture) Activities in a program How a program is delivered (e.g., in-person vs. virtual), or the amount of activity (e.g., dosage)[iii]

Core Components represent an innovation and a new phase in thinking about evidence-based policy, which has tended to emphasize finding a set of model programs or interventions that “work.” This means looking for models or interventions that were tested with rigorous evaluation methods and found to have benefits for the outcomes of interest. This often leads to identifying pre-packaged models or interventions with multiple elements to them that together produce positive outcomes. These interventions often come with manuals and other resources to support agencies in replicating the intervention exactly as it was designed. Several tiered evidence programs were based on these sorts of model programs and interventions, with more money being allotted to those interventions or programs that had a higher level of demonstrated evidence. However, these strategies also came with some challenges, since the existing evidence was not always conducted with the full diversity of populations, communities, or contexts.

Moreover, communities sometimes struggled to implement these model programs exactly as written (what is referred to as implementing with fidelity). In some cases, culturally competent approaches may not have been used, in others there may have been resource issues where the community did not have sufficient resources to implement the intervention exactly as intended, for example, if there was a shortage of trained staff. One could consider these models or interventions akin to a fully decorated cake - consider the difference between ingredients in a cake recipe (core components) and the cake that is produced (model or evidence-based intervention). One can bake infinite different types of cakes, various flavors, frosting, and infinite ways to decorate. But the core components of cake – the ingredients that make it a cake – tend to be common (flour, butter, sugar, eggs). In other words, there are many additions one can add to the mix of core ingredients to make specific varieties of cake, but they are not necessary for most cakes. They are not core to impacting the outcome.

Core components research sprung out of much of the same evidence, as researchers attempted to understand what drove model programs to “work” the way they did in the populations tested.

Researchers continue to try to understand what is absolutely necessary to implement to achieve the same impact and what could be modified or dropped for interventions. Both core components https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-16-818 https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-16-818 research and the more traditional research efforts to look at evidence-based model programs are important for the field. Some communities want and need full packaged interventions to address outcomes of interest. Others may want to know how they can build on what is already in place by ensuring that they have captured all the key elements of effective interventions. Moreover, both approaches are relatively new in the policy world and therefore have limited evidence to date to indicate whether they are truly effective at achieving the ultimate goal: better outcomes for people and communities. For this funding opportunity, we want to understand and demonstrate if we can study the core components of falls prevention interventions and associated risk factors in ways that allow for flexibility, adaptability, and culturally competent approaches for reduced falls and falls risk factors in older adults and adults with disabilities.

One of the driving forces behind the interest in core components is the mixed effects found in efforts that have focused on promoting the use of evidence-based model programs or interventions. The concept of core components is not new, and researchers have been investigating these ideas for decades. But core components is only recently getting more attention in the evidence-based policy arenas. Core components offer a way to address some of the strongest criticisms of the model program approach to evidence-based programming and policy. Because core components are smaller units of activity than a model program or interventions, which are typically packaged groups of activities, they may be easier to incorporate into an implementing organization’s existing activities. These organizations can more readily identify which core components they may already have in place, and which they might need to add. They can also see which activities they are undertaking that might not be necessary for achieving outcomes.

With the use of technology and advances in the scientific evidence about which core components work for which populations and under which contexts, we may be able to give communities the power to easily compare the strategies they have in place with the evidence base for their own populations, contexts, and outcomes.

Core components frameworks are especially promising for equity and equitable approaches to addressing the significant concerns from communities about the appropriateness, relevance, and meaningfulness of model programs or interventions for their populations. Communities have raised concerns about the inequities in which models are designated “evidence-based” and which populations have sufficient resources and capacity to implement model programs. Not only can a more robust evidence base around core components make it easier to tailor evidence to key populations and contexts, the approach could also allow communities to know what elements of interventions can be modified, adapted, and even co-designed with communities while still maintaining consistency with the existing evidence of effectiveness. A core components orientation may also hold promise for building evidence in contexts and populations that have been marginalized in research or where the capacity to conduct evaluation with strong causal validity is limited. By expanding the definition of what can be deemed evidence-based using a core components approach, there should be more flexibility for smaller communities and for other populations to both study evidence-base core components and identify core components that better match their needs.

Core components are not without their limitations. The evidence base in most fields is not near where it would need to be to apply evidence of core components with assurance that it will achieve greater results than business as usual; however, we believe falls prevention has a sufficiently mature evidence base with several evidence-based interventions to be ripe for taking a core components approach. Many fields already have meta-analyses that aim to understand the elements of effective intervention practices for achieving key outcomes. However, these meta-analyses are costly and time consuming and as a result they are less common than one might desire and are rarely updated over time. Researchers often provide only limited information about their interventions and their research projects when reporting results, so meta-analyses that aim to understand the effectiveness of elements of interventions often require a good deal of additional investigation. A more recent meta analysis for falls prevention programs was published in 2017,[iv] which should be a starting point for developing a rich taxonomy for falls prevention interventions.

Finally, to truly reach the potential of core components in evidence-based policymaking, there needs to be coordination across fields to develop single systems of organization and categorization. Currently meta-analyses tend to be undertaken by independent teams of researchers, using their own coding frameworks and applying language that is specific to their own field of study and its unique theories and frameworks. But most policy fields do not align cleanly with a single academic research discipline. For instance, information relevant to school improvement policy may come from the field of education, but also from psychology, industrial and organizational science, and adult learning. Given the sufficiently robust evidence base for falls prevention, it should be possible and potentially easier to build predictive models that will inform communities, researchers, program managers, or policymakers about the likely effectiveness of a given set of techniques or components for falls prevention using both a core components and structured data collection approach to fund sub-awardees to conduct research to reduce the risk of falls.

Community-Based Participatory Research

The idea of community-based participatory research (CBPR) has been around for decades. In the late 1990s, the Institute of Medicine recommended CBPR as an approach for public health research and education.[v] More recently, Dr. Karen Hacker defined community-based participatory research as “a collaborative research approach that is designed to ensure and establish structures for participation by communities affected by the issue being studied, representatives of organizations, and researchers in all aspects of the research process to improve health and well-being through taking action, including social change.” [vi] Combining the approaches of core components with community-driven and CBPR approaches is a powerful means for addressing equity as well as ensuring culturally competent means to work with communities on improving the risk of falls for older adults and older adults with disabilities.

Structured and Unstructured Data Collection

Emma Crockett explains the differences between structured and unstructured data as follows, “structured data consists of clearly defined data types with patterns that make them easily searchable, while unstructured data – “everything else”—is composed of data that is usually not as easily searchable, including formats like audio, video, and social media postings.”[vii] Most scientific data and program data are considered to be unstructured data, which means they are collected for a single use and typically not housed in a database that is easily linked or can allow the data to be used for other purposes without powerful analytic and data science tools.

When data are collected in a structured way, the data require less cleaning, transforming, and standardizing and it is easier to use for analysis. Using structured data is essential to accurately identify and track effectiveness of interventions, health disparities, monitor progress, and inform more targeted interventions. For example, using structured data can help to standardize and analyze data on health outcomes related to falls prevention for different population groups. This information can then be used to identify areas where disparities exist and inform policies and interventions aimed at reducing these disparities for older adults and older adults with disabilities. Using structured data can ensure a more efficient process for analysis that can also help to identify trends and patterns in health outcomes, which can inform the development of new programs and policies aimed at addressing health equity, in the case of this funding opportunity for falls prevention. In addition to helping to identify disparities, using structured data can also help to ensure that data is accurate, complete, and consistent. This is critical for making valid and reliable comparisons across different populations and for tracking progress over time.[viii]

Many government agencies, and ACL is no exception, are sometimes not able to use program data as effectively as possible to ensure the most effective and evidence-based approaches to interventions and service delivery. Administrative and program data required by federal programs are often unstructured and at times can be incomplete and have a low capacity for predicting or projecting future outcomes without many years of data. The federal government has and continues to attempt to ensure more use of administrative data to improve outcomes. In 2014, the Obama Administration published OMB Memorandum M-14-06, which outlined why and how the government should use administrative data for statistical and research purposes;

however, gaps remain in terms of being able to do this effectively because of the way the government often collects unstructured data.

According to Saul ad Deiglmeier, the world is in a massive period of transformation where there is a growing data divide between the private and public sectors and that divide may be a huge driver in the lack of progress in the public sector. The authors further posit that the social and public sectors lack a sufficient data ecosystem to create, analyze, and use data at the same level as the commercial sector. This funding opportunity aims to pilot a structured, data collection approach for falls prevention research. The awardee will begin with developing the taxonomy for falls prevention interventions. The taxonomy should ensure the use of structured data elements for identified components within those interventions which will create a standardized approach to data collection for falls prevention by sub-awardees of this funding opportunity.

Ultimately, the goal is to transform raw structured data into valuable information about falls prevention interventions and components to help identify what works, for whom, and under what circumstances. As we aim to breach the data divide between the private and public sectors, using structured data approaches to developing and using evidence play an increasingly important role in addressing culturally competent and appropriate interventions for the populations using them, thereby moving towards equitable approaches to improved health for older adults.

B. Coordinating Efforts on Falls Prevention and the Aging Network

Since 2014, ACL has awarded more than $43 million in grants through the Prevention and Public Health Fund for falls prevention programs. These grants have been awarded to domestic public and private nonprofit entities, state agencies, community-based organizations, universities, and tribal organizations. ACL also funds a nonprofit organization to serve as an ACL National Falls https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/legacy_drupal_files/omb/memoranda/2014/m-14-06.pdf https://ncoa.org/professionals/health/center-for-healthy-aging/national-falls-prevention-resource-center

Prevention Resource Center. The purpose of the ACL Falls Prevention program is to bring to scale and sustain evidence-based falls prevention programs that have been proven to reduce falls, fear of falling, and fall related injuries in older adults.

While this funding opportunity will conduct research on falls prevention, the applicant should plan to work closely with the ACL National Falls Prevention Resource Center to understand the current state of evidence-based falls prevention programs currently being delivered in the Aging Network, as well as strategies for collaborating community-based aging and disability service organizations.

Applicants should ensure they build upon, not duplicate, the work the ACL Falls Prevention Program, ACL National Falls Prevention Resource Center, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Injury Center’s work on falls prevention, and other falls prevention research and evidence building-efforts involving the Aging Network.

C. Program Goals

Part I: Develop a Taxonomy for Falls Prevention Research

Develop a taxonomy for falls prevention research through an in-depth review of falls prevention literature that allows for a structured approach to data collection as referenced above. Based on that taxonomy, the awardee will develop relevant research questions and methods for conducting research interventions using both core components and community-driven/community-based participatory research on falls prevention and falls risk factors. Developing a taxonomy will include a systematic review of the literature and meta-analysis to evaluate the scientific evidence regarding the efficacy of falls prevention programs for older adults and older adults with disabilities living in the United States and to develop and apply a taxonomy of intervention components to identify specific components that increase the efficacy of these interventions in their context. This review and taxonomy should be done as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible using the latest technology. Understanding falls prevention interventions and this taxonomy should address the question of whether a given intervention is effective and also better understand what works, for whom, and under what conditions.[ix]

Part II: Develop or Build Upon an Existing System to House Research from Sub-Awards

Develop a secure, dynamic system to house the data collected and evidence developed by sub-awardees, complying with ACL’s Public Access Plan and policy in regards to scientific or research data collected as a result of this funding opportunity. Data from research should be available publicly on this site in order to allow for other researchers and programs to build on the data and evidence once cleaned and de-identified. If the applicant has a system in place to house data collected from the research from sub-awardees and results from the taxonomy aligns with ACL’s public access plan and ACL and HHS’ secure guidelines, then that system should suffice.

Applicants should clearly describe their plans for the development of the database or any existing system if already in place.

Part III: Develop and Implement Sub-awards to Aging Network

A central deliverable in Year Two will be the disbursement of sub-awards to the Aging Network.

The applicant will fund a cohort of up to 15 sub-awards to community-based aging and disability-focused entities to conduct research, in collaboration with and the support of the Lab, https://ncoa.org/professionals/health/center-for-healthy-aging/national-falls-prevention-resource-center https://eldercare.acl.gov/Public/About/Aging_Network/Index.aspx https://eldercare.acl.gov/Public/About/Aging_Network/Index.aspx https://www.cdc.gov/falls/index.html https://acl.gov/news-and-events/announcements/updated-acl-public-access-plan-available using core components and community-based participatory approaches in order to understand and measure the extent to which existing interventions reduce falls and falls risk factors for falls.

The successful recipient is expected to use a transparent and open process for soliciting, reviewing, selecting, and making the required sub-awards via grants to the Aging Network.

Applicants should describe how such a process will be designed and administered. Additionally, the recipient is responsible for the monitoring and oversight of all sub-awards, and the process to solicit, objectively evaluate, select, and make sub-awards. Applicants should carefully consider and describe the sub-award process. Further, the successful recipient shall adhere to all requirements, including those for making and monitoring sub-awards, as outlined in 45 CFR Part 75.

Guidance on Purpose and Intent of Sub-awards

The sub-award funding opportunity aims to support the Aging Network funded by ACL to conduct research using a structured data collection approach to prevent falls and falls risk factors. ACL envisions funding will be able to support up to 15 awardees each year for up to a two-year timeframe with grants to conduct research as outlined above. ACL will work with the recipient of this funding opportunity to determine the most appropriate number of awards as well as the criteria for awards as outlined in the Cooperative Agreement Terms listed below.

The Lab and sub-awardees will be able to use funds to conduct research to:

Apply a core components and community-based participatory research design to prevent falls and falls risk factors in older adults;

Use this as an opportunity to collect structured data for falls prevention aligned with the taxonomy results; and

Ensure sub-awardees have the technical assistance necessary to apply for and conduct the research aligned with ACL and the Innovation Lab’s expectations.

Each sub-awardee will be required to complete an organizational capacity assessment developed in partnership with the Innovation Lab and ACL to identify strengths and technical assistance needs for conducting the required research. The Lab should be prepared to provide TA on how to successfully apply for the sub-awards, particularly for organizations that may not have applied for or received research grants previously.

Part IV: Analysis, Sustainability, and Technical Assistance

The responsibility of the Innovation Lab will be to serve as a national focal point to provide technical assistance to scale and support new and existing research and evidence for falls prevention and falls risk factors, with an emphasis on organizations in ACL’s aging and disability networks. The Lab will also provide technical assistance to sub-awardees on core components, participatory research designs to measure outcomes, and structured data collection for the required research conducted. The Lab will also provide technical assistance to potential sub-awardees on capacity to apply for the sub-awards.

As part of the spread and scale of the results of the research, the Lab will, when appropriate, and in partnership with ACL, conduct both predictive and statistical analysis on research findings, and disseminate findings to appropriate audiences. Through these analyses, the Lab will also promote, in partnership with ACL, the scaling and sustainability of effective practices that promote health and reduce injury specific to falls prevention and falls risk factors.

https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-45/subtitle-A/subchapter-A/part-75 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-45/subtitle-A/subchapter-A/part-75

As mentioned above, the recipient of this award will ensure coordination and engagement with other relevant national partners such as USAging, ADvancing States, and the ACL National Falls Prevention Resource Center. The recipient will convene a multi-stakeholder group to advise on and/or develop opportunities for next steps that support the maturation of research using core components and structured data, consistent with all federal and state policies.

The Lab will track technical assistance needs and requests to identify and address common needs and challenges amongst sub-awardees, as well as to identify potential technical assistance topics that may be relevant for sub-awardees, which could include:

Developing sub-awardees in geographies without existing capacity to implement evidence-based falls prevention research

Assistance on core components research and structured data collection Information technology infrastructure to support structured data collection Equitable approaches to conducting research Cultural competence in conducting research

Delivery of technical assistance should be interactive and engaging, with an approach that balances content delivery by subject matter experts with an “all teach, all learn” peer-based learning framework (e.g., Project ECHO model). ACL envisions that the Lab will collaborate with experts regarding developing an approach to identify and publicly report the key learnings from sub-awardees, including recommendations for ongoing sustainability of this process. The Lab will also develop and maintain a searchable national listing/map of qualified researchers to help support “matchmaking” across awardees and potential partners.

[i] O’Loughlin J et al. Incidence of and risk factors for falls and injurious falls among the community-dwelling elderly. American journal of epidemiology, 1993, 137:342-54.

[ii] Moreland B, Kakara R, Henry A. Trends in Nonfatal Falls and Fall-Related Injuries Among Adults Aged ≥65 Years — United States, 2012–2018. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2020;69:875–881. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6927a5

[iii] Ferber, Wiggens, Sileo. Advancing the Use of Core Components of Effective Programs.

Forum on Youth Investment, 2019. https://forumfyi.org/knowledge-center/advancing-core-components/

[iv] Tricco et al. Comparisons of Interventions for Preventing Falls in Older Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta Analysis. JAMA. 2017;318(17):1687-1699.

doi:10.1001/jama.2017.15006

[v] Stoto MA, Abel C, Dievler A, eds. Healthy communities: new partnerships for the future of public health. Washington (DC): The National Academies Press; 1996.

[vi] Hacker K. Principles of Community-Based Participatory Research. Sage Publications; 2013.

DOI:https://doi.org/10.4135/9781452244181

[vii] Crockett, E. Structured and Unstructured Data: Key Differences Explained. Accessed at:

https://www.datamation.com/big-data/structured-vs-unstructured-data/.

[viii]IBM. Structured versus Unstructured Data: What’s the Difference? Accessed at:

https://www.ibm.com/cloud/blog/structured-vs-unstructured-data.

https://forumfyi.org/knowledge-center/advancing-core-components/ https://forumfyi.org/knowledge-center/advancing-core-components/ https://www.datamation.com/big-data/structured-vs-unstructured-data/ https://www.ibm.com/cloud/blog/structured-vs-unstructured-data

[ix] Pawson, R., & Tilley, N. (1997). An introduction to scientific realist evaluation. In E.

Chelimsky & W. R. Shadish (Eds.), Evaluation for the 21st century: A handbook (pp. 405–418).

Sage Publications, Inc. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781483348896.n29

Statutory Authority Special Programs for the Aging, Title IV, and Title II, Discretionary Projects, Older Americans Act of 1965, Title IV, Public Law 89-73, 79 Stat. 218, as amended; Public Law 97-115, 95 Stat.

1595; Public Law 98-459, 98 Stat. 1767; Public Law 100-175; Public Law 100-628, 42 U.S.C.

3031-3037b; Public Law 102-375; Public Law 106-501.

II. Award Information

Funding Instrument Type:

CA (Cooperative Agreement) Estimated Total Funding:

$4,790,000 Expected Number of Awards:

Award Ceiling:

$4,790,000 Per Budget Period

Award Floor:

$4,790,000 Per Budget Period

Length of Project Period:

Other Additional Information on Project Periods and Explanation of 'Other' This will be a 36 month project and budget period.

Cooperative Agreement Terms

This award will be a new cooperative agreement. As a cooperative agreement, ACL will have substantial involvement in the activities of the project. The grantee will receive a Notice of Award which makes the below terms and conditions of the cooperative agreement effective immediately upon award notification and drawdown of funds from the Payment Management System.

The ACL will carry out the following activities for the cooperative agreement:

1. ACL Project Officer will perform the day-to-day Federal responsibilities of managing a grant initiative and will work with the grantee to ensure that the necessary requirements for the grant are met.

2. Assist the grantee project leadership in understanding the policy concerns and/or priorities of ACL by conducting periodic briefings and by carrying out ongoing consultations.

3. Within 30 days post-award, work cooperatively with the grantee to clarify programmatic and budgetary issues. If issues are identified, work with the grantee to revise the project work plan, detailing expectations for major activities and products during the grant.

4. Provide technical assistance to the grantee on the provision of technical support and associated tasks related to the fulfillment of the goals and objectives of this grant.

5. Provide consultation to the grantee in identifying emerging issues as they relate to the goals and objectives of this grant program.

6. Work with the grantee on the development and implementation of quality assurance systems to ensure that performance is measured and continuous improvement occurs.

7. Provide guidance and technical assistance to the grantee in making sub-awards (i.e., sub-grants/contracts) as permitted in this funding opportunity.

8. Review and provide technical advice to the grantee on all work products and other project deliverables and processes.

9. Attend and participate in major project events as appropriate.

10. Participate in any multi-stakeholder consortia or groups that provide coordination and/or strategic direction to the Lab.

The Grantee will execute the responsibility of the grant as listed below:

1. Fulfill all the requirements of the grant initiative as outlined in this funding opportunity, as well as carry out project activities as reviewed, approved, and awarded.

2. Participate in ACL education and communication activities (including teleconferences and webinars), provided that ACL provides reasonable notice of the subject, date, and time of the teleconference.

3. Comply with all reporting requirements, as outlined in Section VI of this Funding Opportunity and the Notice of Award.

4. Include ACL disclaimer language on all products produced using this grant funding (as noted in the Notice of Award)

5. Engage with ACL and its partners on falls prevention activities, including input into relevant issues pertaining to falls prevention programs.

6. Ensure the collection and housing of required data, sharing data with ACL and the public at no charge upon request; and ensure compliance with ACL’s Public Access Plan.

7. Meet with ACL and any partners or sub-contractors within three weeks within Notice of Award to ensure consistent and constant engagement with any partners or sub-contractors as part of the Lab.

8. Ensure collaboration and communication with all partners associated with the Lab and ACL to ensure shared expectations for the work conducted by the Lab and associated partners.

9. Clear any materials created by the Lab with ACL before posting publicly including technical assistance materials, publications, or manuscripts; and

10. Work collaboratively with ACL on developing the application criteria for sub-awards, including Agreement Terms.

III. Eligibility Information

1. Eligible Applicants https://acl.gov/sites/default/files/about-acl/2017-12/ACLPublicAcccessPlan.pdf

For FY 2023 the below guidance is provided to advance the Administration’s policy, as stated in E.O. 13985, to “pursue a comprehensive approach to advancing equity for all, including people of color and others who have been historically underserved, marginalized, and adversely affected by persistent poverty and inequality.” This guidance is intended to begin to address inequities in HHS programs, processes, and policies that may serve as barriers to equal opportunity. By advancing equity in our NOFOs, we can “create opportunities for the improvement of communities that have been historically underserved, which benefits everyone.”

Eligible applicants include domestic public or private non-profit entities including state and local governments, Indian tribal governments and organizations (American Indian/Alaskan Native/Native American), faith-based organizations, community-based organizations, hospitals, and institutions of higher education.

2. Cost Sharing or Matching

Cost Sharing / Matching Requirement:

No For awards that do not require matching or cost sharing by statute, recipients are not expected to provide cost sharing or matching. However, recipients are allowed to voluntarily propose a commitment of non-federal resources. If an applicant decides to voluntarily contribute non-federal resources towards project costs and the costs are accepted by ACL, the non-federal resources will be included in the approved project budget. The applicant will be held accountable for all proposed non-federal resources as shown in the Notice of Award (NOA). A recipient's failure to meet the voluntary amount of non-federal resources that was accepted by ACL as part of the approved project costs and that was identified in the approved budget in the NOA, may result in the disallowance of federal funds. Recipients will be required to report these funds in the Federal Financial Reports.

3. Responsiveness and Screening Criteria

Application Responsiveness Criteria Applications that fail to meet the following responsiveness criteria will not be reviewed and will receive no further consideration:

The applicant must demonstrate sufficient experience in developing taxonomies for population-based programs; evidence of working with structured data for research purposes; and capacity for working with community-based organizations and conducting community-based participatory research.

Application Screening Criteria All applications will be screened to assure a level playing field for all applicants. Applications that fail to meet the five screening criteria described below will not be reviewed and will receive no further consideration.

In order for an application to be reviewed, it must meet the following screening requirements:

1. Applications must be submitted electronically via https://www.grants.gov by 11:59 p.m., Eastern Time, by the due date listed in section IV.3 Submission Dates and Times.

2. The Project Narrative section of the Application must be double-spaced, on 8.5” x 11” plain white paper with 1” margins on both sides, and a standard font size of no less than 11 point, preferably Times New Roman or Arial.

3. The Project Narrative must not exceed 20 pages. Project Narratives that exceed 20 pages will have the additional pages removed and only the first 20 pages of the Project Narrative will be provided to the merit reviewers for funding consideration. NOTE: The Project Work Plan, Letters of Commitment, and Vitae of Key Project Personnel are not counted as part of the Project Narrative for purposes of the 20-page limit.

4. The total, 36 month budget may not exceed $4.79M.

5. The project period must not exceed 36 months.

IV. Application and Submission Information

1. Address to Request Application Package

Application materials can be obtained from https://www.grants.gov or https://www.acl.gov/grants/applying-grants.

Please note, ACL requires applications for all announcements to be submitted electronically through http://www.grants.gov in Workspace. Grants.gov Workspace is the standard way for organizations and individuals to apply for federal grants in Grants.gov. An overview and training on Grants.gov Workspace can be found here at:

https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/workspace-overview.html

The Grants.gov registration process can take several days. If your organization is not currently registered, please begin this process immediately. For assistance with https://www.grants.gov, please contact them at support@grants.gov or 800-518-4726 between 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m.

Eastern Time.

At the https://www.grants.gov website, you will find information about submitting an application electronically through the site, including the hours of operation. ACL strongly recommends that you do not wait until the application due date to begin the application process because of the time involved to complete the registration process.

All applicants must have a UEI and be registered with the System for Award Management (SAM, www.sam.gov) and maintain an active SAM registration until the application process is complete, and should a grant be made, throughout the life of the award. Effective June 11, 2018, when registering or renewing your registration, you must submit a notarized letter appointing the authorized Entity Administrator. Please be sure to read the FAQs located at www.sam.gov to learn more. Applicants should allot sufficient time prior to the application deadline to finalize a new, or renew an existing registration. This action should allow you time to resolve any issues that may arise. Failure to comply with these requirements may result in your inability to submit your application or receive an award. Maintain documentation (with dates) of your efforts to register or renew at least two weeks before the deadline. See the SAM Quick Guide for Grantees at:

https://www.sam.gov/SAM/pages/public/help/samQUserGuides.jsf.

Note: Once your SAM registration is active, allow 24 to 48 hours for the information to be available in Grants.gov before you can submit an application through Grants.gov. This action https://www.grants.gov/ https://www.acl.gov/grants/applying-grants http://www.grants.gov/ https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/workspace-overview.html https://www.grants.gov/ mailto:support@grants.gov https://www.grants.gov/ http://www.sam.gov/ https://www.sam.gov/SAM/pages/public/help/samQUserGuides.jsf should allow you time to resolve any issues that may arise. Failure to comply with these requirements may result in your inability to submit your application or receive an award.

Note: Failure to submit the correct EIN Suffix can lead to delays in identifying your organization and access to funding in the Payment Management System.

Effective October 1, 2010, HHS requires all entities that plan to apply for and ultimately receive federal grant funds from any HHS Operating/Staff Division (OPDIV/STAFFDIV) or receive subawards directly from the recipients of those grant funds to:

1. Register in SAM prior to submitting an application or plan;

2. Maintain an active SAM registration with current information at all times during which it has an active award or an application or plan under consideration by an OPDIV; and

3. Provide its UEI number in each application or plan to submit to the OPDIV.

Additionally, all first-tier subaward recipients must have a UEI number at the time the subaward is made.

The Federal Government will transition from the DUNS Number to the New Unique Entity Identifier. As of April of 2022, the federal government stopped using the DUNS number to uniquely identify entities. At that point, entities doing business with the federal government will use a Unique Entity Identifier (SAM) created in SAM.gov. It is entered on the SF-424. It is a unique, nine-digit identification number, which provides unique identifiers of single business entities.

You must submit all documents electronically, including all information included on the SF424 and all necessary assurances and certifications. In accordance with the Federal Government’s efforts to reduce reporting burden for recipients of federal financial assistance, the general certification and representation requirements contained in the Standard Form 424B (SF-424B) – Assurances – Non-Construction Programs, and the Standard Form 424D (SF-424D) – Assurances – Construction Programs, have been standardized federal-wide.

Effective January 1, 2020, the updated common certification and representation requirements will be stored and maintained within SAM. Organizations or individuals applying for federal financial assistance as of January 1, 2020, must validate the federally required common certifications and representations annually through SAM located at SAM.gov.

After you electronically submit your application, you will receive an automatic acknowledgment from https://www.grants.gov that contains https://www.grants.gov tracking number. The Administration for Community Living will retrieve your application form from https://www.grants.gov.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Community Living

Shannon Skowronski

Office of Performance and Evaluation

Email: Shannon.skowronski@acl.hhs.gov https://www.grants.gov https://www.grants.gov https://www.grants.gov mailto:Shannon.skowronski@acl.hhs.gov

2. Content and Form of Application Submission

Letter of Intent

Due Date for Letter Of Intent 05/22/2023

Date will be generated on synopsis publication…