fy-2019-rural-health-and-safety-education-program-rfa-revised.pdf

Rural Health and Safety Education Competitive Grants Program

Modification: Page 7 to correct the application due date

FY 2019 Request for Applications (RFA)

APPLICATION DEADLINE: June 10, 2019

ELIGIBILITY: See Part III, A of RFA

Anticipated funding amount per award: $350,000

Project period: 2 years

Estimated number of awards: 8-10

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE; U.S. DEPARTMENT OF

AGRICULTURE

RURAL HEALTH AND SAFETY EDUCATION (RHSE) COMPETITIVE GRANT

PROGRAM

INITIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

CATALOG OF FEDERAL DOMESTIC ASSISTANCE: This program is listed in the Assistance Listings under the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance number 10.516.

DATES: Applications must be received by 5 p.m. Eastern Time on June 10, 2019.

Applications received after this deadline will normally not be considered for funding (see Part IV, C of this RFA). Comments regarding this request for applications (RFA) are requested within six months from the issuance of this notice. Comments received after that date will be considered to the extent practicable.

STAKEHOLDER INPUT: The National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) seeks comments about this RFA. We will consider your comments when we develop the next RFA for the program, if applicable, and we’ll use them to meet the requirements of section 103(c)(2) of the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998 (7 U.S.C. 7613(c)(2)).

Submit your written stakeholder comments by the deadline set forth in the DATES portion of this notice via email to Policy@nifa.usda.gov. (This email address is only for receiving comments regarding this RFA and not for requesting information or forms.) In your comments, please state that you are responding to the RHSE RFA.

Visit the NIFA website to access a factsheet on the Center of Excellence (COE) designation process, including COE criteria, and a list of programs offering COE opportunities. You may also review a recording of COE outreach on the site. We will update COE webpages as appropriate.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: NIFA requests applications for the Rural Health and Safety Education (RHSE) Competitive Grant Program for fiscal year (FY) 2019 to address the needs of rural Americans by providing individual and family health education programs. The amount anticipated to be available for support of this program in FY 2019 is approximately $2.9 million.

This notice identifies the objectives for RHSE projects, deadline dates, funding information, eligibility criteria for projects and applicants, and application forms and associated instructions needed to apply for a RHSE grant. Proposals will be accepted which focus on the prevention and/or reduction of opioid misuse and abuse.

mailto:Policy@nifa.usda.gov https://www.nifa.usda.gov/centers-excellence

Table of Contents

PART I—FUNDING OPPORTUNITY DESCRIPTION

A. Legislative Authority B. Purpose and Priorities

PART II—AWARD INFORMATION

A. Available Funding B. Types of Applications

PART III—ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

A. Eligible Applicants B. Cost Sharing or Matching

PART IV—APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION

A. Electronic Application Package B. Content and Form of Application Submission C. Submission Dates and Times D. Funding Restrictions E. Other Submission Requirements

PART V—APPLICATION REVIEW REQUIREMENTS

A. General B. Evaluation Criteria C. Conflicts of Interest and Confidentiality D. Organizational Management Information E. Application Disposition

PART VI—AWARD ADMINISTRATION

A. General B. Award Notice C. Administrative and National Policy Requirements D. Expected Program Outputs and Reporting Requirements

PART VII—AGENCY CONTACT

PART VIII—OTHER INFORMATION

A. Use of Funds; Changes B. Confidential Aspects of Applications and Awards C. Regulatory Information D. Definitions

Table 1: FY2019 Funding

PART I—FUNDING OPPORTUNITY DESCRIPTION

A. Legislative Authority

The authority for the RHSE Competitive Grant Program is under Section 502 (i) of Title V of the Rural Development Act of 1972, as amended (7 U.S.C. 2662).

B. Purpose and Priorities

Part of the overall purpose of Title V of the Rural Development Act of 1972 is to foster quality of life in rural communities by providing the essential knowledge necessary for successful programs of rural development, improving coordination among Federal agencies, other levels of government, and institutions and private organizations in rural areas, and developing and disseminating information about rural conditions.

The RHSE program supports quality of life in rural communities across the United States by addressing the relationship between rural prosperity and rural health and safety in the context of food, agriculture, natural resources and human sciences. In doing so, the program aligns with and specifically addresses:

USDA Strategic Goals for FY 2018-2022, Goal 4: Facilitate rural prosperity and economic development, Objective 1: To expand rural business opportunity and rural quality of life with access to capital; improve infrastructure, broadband access and connectivity; and support workforce availability.

Background Currently, 46 million Americans, 14 percent of the U.S. population, live in rural areas. Due to poverty, inadequate access to resources, and geographic isolation often experienced in rural areas, individuals and families living in these communities experience disparities related to health, safety, and well-being. Health disparities are defined as the “differences in [the] incidence, prevalence, morbidity, mortality and burden of diseases and other adverse health conditions that exist among specific population groups in the United States.”1 Availability and access to health care as well as other health resources and services are typically lower in rural areas, collectively. On an individual level, a larger percentage of the rural population reports fair to poor physical and mental health compared to the urban population.2 In addition, income and health disparities tend to disproportionately affect families with children. Despite the challenges rural communities face, there are valuable assets present among rural residents which are important for initiatives designed to enhance quality of life, such as community cohesion, civic engagement, optimism, and hope.3 Implementing community-informed, research-based, educational programs and approaches from a strengths-based perspective while working in

1 Office of Minority Health (2011). HHS action plan to reduce racial and ethnic health disparities. A nation free of disparities in health and health care.

2 South Carolina Health Research Center. (2008). Health disparities: A Rural – Urban Chartbook.

3 Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. (2018). Life in rural America.

https://www.rwjf.org/content/dam/farm/reports/surveys_and_polls/2018/rwjf449263 https://www.usda.gov/our-agency/about-usda/strategic-goals collaboration with the health care system is a key strategy to achieving positive health outcomes in rural America.

Effective, evidence-based, non-formal education programs and strategies have the ability to promote and enhance rural health, thereby strengthening economic vitality and, in the long run, mitigating the effects of rural challenges, such as poverty. Incorporation of social, behavioral, and health sciences in a prevention context is important for addressing many of the health challenges facing rural communities. Effectively planned initiatives responsive to unique contextual needs as well as shared environmental conditions can provide timely and valuable health information to rural residents. Human science educators, in collaboration with relevant partners and stakeholders, can implement quality programs and approaches that empower rural residents to lead healthy lives and promote healthy communities from a systemic perspective.

RHSE competitive grant program provides funding for such initiatives.

Per the authorizing legislation described in Part I(A) of this RFA, the RHSE program addresses the health and well-being of rural America through supporting the development and/or implementation of projects focused on (1) individual and family health education programs with specified contents; (2) rural health leadership development education programs to assist rural communities in developing health care services and facilities and assist community leaders and public officials in understanding their roles and responsibilities; and (3) farm safety education programs to provide information and training to farm workers, timber harvesters, and farm families.

In FY 2019, NIFA is soliciting applications for RHSE in the area of Individual and Family Health Education.

The RHSE program proposals in the individual and family health education area are expected to be health education projects that provide individuals and families living in rural areas with:

Information as to the value of good health at any age;

Information to increase individual or families’ motivation to take more responsibility for their own health;

Information about and access to health promotion activities; and Training for volunteers and health services providers concerning health promotion and health care services for individuals and families in cooperation with state, local and community partners.

Proposals submitted to RHSE program in FY 2019 must focus on the prevention and/or reduction of opioid misuse and abuse per Congressional guidance for this program.

Prevention and/or Reduction of Opioid Misuse, and Abuse In October 2017, at the request of the President, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) declared the national drug demand and opioid crisis an official Public Health Emergency.

This declaration was renewed in October 2018. Opioid abuse continues to be a critical issue across the United States. Opioid use disorder can affect people across the socioeconomic spectrum. Prescription opioids are a class of pain-reducing medications that include prescription oxycodone, hydrocodone and morphine, among others, and have both benefits as well as potentially dangerous, harmful risks.4 These medications can help manage pain when prescribed for the right condition and when used as prescribed. Heroin is considered an opioid drug as well.

Heroin is an illegal, highly addictive drug processed from morphine. In 2017, there were 70,237 drug overdose deaths in the United States and of this total, opioids (including prescription opioids, heroin, and fentanyl) killed more than 47,600 people. 5 The annual societal costs of opioid overdose, abuse, and dependence have been estimated at $78 billion, a figure that includes direct healthcare costs, costs related to lost productivity, and costs to the criminal justice system.6 Family instability is another stark consequence of the opioid abuse contributing to the prevalence of adverse childhood experiences, a strain on child welfare systems, and a stark rise in grandparents raising grandchildren.

This epidemic has significantly affected rural communities. In a 2018 survey by the Harvard T.

H. Chan School of Public Health, a majority of rural residents surveyed agree opioid addiction is a serious problem in their community (57%), with about half personally knowing someone who has struggled with opioid addiction (49%).7

Rural adolescents are also more likely to use prescription opioids for a non-medical purpose than are their urban peers.8 Non-medical prescription drug use has been associated with negative social and health consequences among these rural adolescents. Among older adults utilizing opioids, there are intervening factors that place them at risk for opioid misuse and abuse.9 Additionally, rural older adults also have a slightly higher opioid death date compared the nation as a whole and less access to opioid treatment centers.10 Extension is uniquely positioned to be a partner in collaborative approaches for health and to deliver prevention outreach and education to all individuals throughout the lifespan.

In FY 2019, we are seeking to continue the support of the implementation of evidence-based, outcome-based educational approaches and programs delivered through an Extension model which promote protective factors and reduce the impact of risk factors leading to the prevention of initiation of substance use, delayed early use, and the progression from use to problematic use or to a substance use disorder. Since the occurrence and context of risk behavior is complex, applicants are encouraged to address intersecting factors that have the potential to also prevent or reduce opioid initiation, misuse, and abuse. Additionally, where appropriate, we would like to

4 U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Opioid Medications.

http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/InformationbyDrugClass/ucm337066.htm.

5 National Institute of Drug Abuse. (2019). Overdose Death Rates. https://www.drugabuse.gov/related-topics/trends-statistics/overdose-death-rates 6 Florence, C. S., Zhou, C., Luo, F., & Xu, L. (2016). The economic burden of prescription opioid overdose, abuse, and dependence in the United States, 2013. Medical Care, 54(10), 901-906.

7 Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. (2018). Life in rural America.

https://www.rwjf.org/content/dam/farm/reports/surveys_and_polls/2018/rwjf449263 8 Monnat, S. M. & Rigg, K. K. (2015). Rural Adolescents Are More Likely Than Their Urban Peers to Abuse Prescription Painkillers. Carsey Research, National Fact Sheet #32 9 Tilly, J., Skowronski, S, & Ruiz, S. (2017). The opioid public health emergency and older adults. Administration for Community Living.

10 Benson, W., & Aldrich, N. (n.d.). Rural Older Adults Hit Hard by Opioid Epidemic. Aging Today.

https://www.asaging.org/blog/rural-older-adults-hit-hard-opioid-epidemic https://www.rwjf.org/content/dam/farm/reports/surveys_and_polls/2018/rwjf449263 http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/InformationbyDrugClass/ucm337066.htm https://www.drugabuse.gov/related-topics/trends-statistics/overdose-death-rates https://www.drugabuse.gov/related-topics/trends-statistics/overdose-death-rates https://www.asaging.org/blog/rural-older-adults-hit-hard-opioid-epidemic encourage collaborative approaches with allied health sciences located at academic institutions, local health care entities, and community organizations.

According to the 2016 Surgeon General’s Report on Alcohol, Drugs, and Health, evidenced-based programs can significantly reduce substance misuse and abuse if implemented well.11 However, many schools and communities are using programs with the least evidence. For the RHSE program, all projects and approaches must be research-informed. Proposed projects implementing programs and approaches with documented evidence of impact on preventing and/or reducing opioid misuse and abuse will be given priority consideration. Programs and approaches currently developing an evidence base will also be considered.

In FY 2019, the RHSE program will support: a) projects implementing new Extension programs or approaches in the area of individual and family health education focused on the prevention and/or reduction of opioid misuse and abuse; b) projects seeking to scale-up to State or multi-state levels already established programs or approaches with demonstrated evidence of impact in the area of individual and family health education focused on the prevention and/or reduction of opioid misuse and abuse. An applicant may form a multi-state partnership to support scaling-up a program or approach.

NIFA will not consider or fund the following types of applications to the FY2019 RHSE program:

Proposals without a plan for measuring participant outcomes;

Proposals planned for less than 24 months;

Proposals with a focus on topic areas specific to other NIFA grant programs, including

AFRI, such as Food Safety, Childhood Obesity Prevention, Youth Farm Safety or AgrAbility;

Proposals with a focus on research (other than evaluation related to project outputs, outcomes and impacts), formal education (K-12, university), or clinical interventions; or

Proposals focused on the clinical treatment of individuals with substance use disorders.

Program Area Code: LX Application Deadline: June 10, 2019 (5:00 p.m., ET) Proposed Budget Requests: Proposed budgets must not exceed $350,000 total for a two-year project period. Requests exceeding the budgetary guidelines will not be reviewed.

Expected number of awards: Program anticipates making 8-10 awards.

Project Period: 2 years Requested Grant Type: Standard grant Partnerships: In order to achieve RHSE goals for efficiency and reach, meaningful collaborations among 1862, 1890, and 1994 land-grant institutions within a given State or Region are highly encouraged, as well as collaborations with other relevant organizations. Roles of partner organizations and their necessity on the project must be clearly described in the proposal.

11 Facing Addiction: Surgeon General’s Report on Alcohol, Drugs, and Health. (2016).

Project Requirements

While projects are not limited to implementing Extension-created programs, they are required to:

1) use research-informed, outcome-based programs and approaches, and 2) use Cooperative Extension as the mode of program outreach and delivery.

Serving Rural Counties RHSE projects must be implemented in federally classified rural counties. Applicants must identify rural counties in which their programs will be implemented. For definitions of Rural (Non-metro) counties and county classifications, use the following:

The 2013 Rural-Urban Continuum Codes system definitions from the Economic Research Service can be found at https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/rural-urban-continuum-codes/documentation.aspx; and to obtain the actual codes by state for your proposed project counties, see the 2013 Rural-Urban Continuum Code County table at:

https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/rural-urban-continuum-codes/. For each county in which your project will be implemented, provide Rural-Urban Continuum Code as found in the table. Only counties with codes #4-9 are appropriate for inclusion.

Coordination of Programs Per the authorizing legislation for the Rural Health and Safety Education Program described in Part I(A) of this RFA, projects are required to coordinate with State offices of rural health (https://www.ruralhealthinfo.org/organizations/state-office-of-rural-health) or other appropriate programs of the Department of Health and Human Services, such as SAMHSA State Opioid Response (SOR) and Tribal Opioid Response (TOR) providers or HRSA Federally Qualified Health Centers on proposed health education activities and rural population outreach.

Linking to National Health and Wellness Frameworks Projects should identify an existing individual and community health framework/model as a guide for their programs’ health education focus and their Extension outreach strategy. The framework/model must recognize the complex, bidirectional relationship between individual, community, and societal factors.

Reporting on Performance Projects are required to develop and report on performance indicators that demonstrate measurable changes in knowledge and attitudes of project participants. Projects seeking to also capture behavioral changes are highly encouraged. These indicators should demonstrate the project’s success at achieving objectives of the proposed project and overarching goal of the RHSE program. NIFA strongly encourages involving an evaluator on the proposed project to help develop outcome-based performance measures and a plan for evaluating the project’s performance.

https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/rural-urban-continuum-codes/documentation.aspx https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/rural-urban-continuum-codes/documentation.aspx https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/rural-urban-continuum-codes/ https://www.ruralhealthinfo.org/organizations/state-office-of-rural-health

Project Recommendations

As appropriate, applicable, and beneficial, we strongly recommend the proposed Extension outreach health education projects include programs and approaches that:

Collaborate across extension program areas (i.e. Family & Consumer Sciences, Agricultural and Natural Resources, 4-H/Youth Development, and Community Resource and Economic Development);

Include content experts across academic and clinical domains to inform project development, implementation, and evaluation;

In addition to the requirement to capture knowledge and behavioral change, where appropriate and relevant, design projects to include policy, systems, and environmental change strategies that can be reasonably implemented and assessed in the duration of the project;

Implement adaptations to evidence-based programs sufficiently responsive to the unique stressors, resources, cultural traditions, family practices, and other prevailing sociocultural factors that influence the lives of the target audience and that also adhere to fit and fidelity; 12 Promote principles of health equity and creating of culture of health in the project design within the spaces where projects are implemented;

Integrate research-informed activities connected to arts, culture or humanities into proposed programs and approaches, where appropriate and relevant;

Promote community empowerment as a tool for sustainability within the project design.

Increase professionals’ capacity to engage in health leadership in rural communities, which includes using skills to collaborate, connect, communicate, and build community capacity to address rural health;

Increase public access to new ideas and technologies related to opioid misuse and abuse prevention in rural areas that have been successful at the community level; and Increase public health knowledge and engage the health system, leading to actions that promote or enhance rural health and well-being.

12 Facing Addiction: Surgeon General’s Report on Alcohol, Drugs, and Health. (2016).

PART II—AWARD INFORMATION

A. Available Funding

The amount anticipated to be available for NIFA support of this program in FY 2019 is approximately $2.9 million. The funds will be awarded through competitive grants process described in this RFA. There is no commitment by USDA to fund any particular application or to make a specific number of awards.

In FY 2019, the RHSE program has established a maximum award size of $350,000.

Applications requesting more than the maximum award size will not be considered for funding.

The period of performance for all projects will be two years.

Table 1: FY2019 Funding

Number of New Awards Anticipated for FY 2019

Estimated Minimum Award

Maximum Award

8-10 $250,000 $350,000

The Automated Standard Applications for Payment System (ASAP), operated by the Department of Treasury’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service, is the designated payment system for awards resulting from this RFA. For more information see https://www.fiscal.treasury.gov/fsservices/gov/pmt/asap/asap_home.htm.

B. Types of Applications

In FY 2019, you may only submit a new application or resubmitted application to the RHSE Program:

New application. This is a project application that has not been previously submitted to RHSE Program. We will review all new applications competitively using the screening for administrative requirements, review panel evaluation of proposals using evaluation criteria and selection process described in Part V of this RFA, Application Review Requirements.

Resubmitted application. This is an application that had previously been submitted to the RHSE Program but not funded. For FY2019, resubmitted applications can only reflect projects which focus on preventing opioid misuse and abuse. Project Directors (PDs) must respond to the previous review panel summary (see Response to Previous Review, Part IV of this RFA).

Resubmitted applications must be received by the relevant due dates, will be evaluated in competition with other pending applications in appropriate area to which they are assigned, and will be reviewed according to the same evaluation criteria as new applications.

https://www.fiscal.treasury.gov/fsservices/gov/pmt/asap/asap_home.htm

PART III—ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

A. Eligible Applicants

Applications may be submitted by 1862 and 1890 Land Grant colleges and universities that are eligible to receive funds under the Act of July 2, 1862 (7 U.S.C. 301 et seq.), and the Act of August 30, 1890 (7 U.S.C. 321 et seq.), including Central State University, Tuskegee University, West Virginia State University. Applications also may be submitted by any of the Tribal colleges and universities designated as 1994 Land Grant Institutions under the Educational Land-Grant Status Act of 1994, as amended.

Award recipients may subcontract to organizations not eligible to apply provided such organizations are necessary for the conduct of the project.

Failure to meet an eligibility criterion by the time of application deadline may result in the application being excluded from consideration or, even though an application may be reviewed, will preclude NIFA from making an award.

For those new to Federal financial assistance, a grants overview page is available on the NIFA website. This page includes information about free Grants 101 Training and other resources that are highly recommended for those seeking an understanding of Federal awards.

B. Cost Sharing or Matching

NIFA does not require matching or cost sharing support for this program and matching resources will not be factored into the review process as evaluation criteria.

C. Centers of Excellence

Pursuant to Section 7214 of the Agricultural Act of 2014 (Pub. L. 113-79), beginning in Fiscal Year 2015, for applicable competitive research and extension programs, NIFA will recognize and provide priority in the receipt of funding to applications from “centers of excellence” that carry out research, extension, and education activities that relate to the food and agricultural sciences.

NIFA held listening sessions in July 2014 and accepted written comments from stakeholders to inform NIFA’s implementation of the COE provision. Information from the webinars and a summary of the input are available on NIFA’s website at: https://nifa.usda.gov/centers-excellence.

A COE is composed of one or more of the following entities that provide financial or in-kind support to the COE:

(A) State agricultural experiment stations;

(B) Colleges and universities;

(C) University research foundations;

(D) Other research institutions and organizations;

(E) Federal agencies;

(F) National laboratories;

https://nifa.usda.gov/sites/default/files/resource/GRANTS%20OVERVIEW_1.pdf https://nifa.usda.gov/centers-excellence https://nifa.usda.gov/centers-excellence

(G) Private organizations, foundations, or corporations;

(H) Individuals; or

(I) any group consisting of two or more of the entities described in (A) through (H).

COE designation is available only to standard grant applicants. Part IV, B., 3. of this RFA contains additional requirements for COE consideration.

PART IV—APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION

A. Electronic Application Package

Only electronic applications may be submitted via Grants.gov to NIFA in response to this RFA.

We urge you to submit early to the Grants.gov system. For information about the pre-award phase of the grant lifecycle see https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/learn-grants/grants-101/pre-award-phase.html.

New Users of Grants.gov

Prior to preparing an application, we recommend that the Project Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI) first contact an Authorized Representative (AR, also referred to as Authorized Organizational Representative, or AOR) to determine if the organization is prepared to submit electronic applications through Grants.gov. If not (e.g., the institution/organization is new to the electronic grant application process through Grants.gov), then the one-time registration process must be completed PRIOR to submitting an application. It can take as long as two weeks to complete the registration process so it is critical to begin as soon as possible. In such situations, the AR should go to “Register,” in the top right corner of the Grants.gov web page (or go to https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/register.html), for information on registering the institution/organization with Grants.gov. Part II,1 of the NIFA Grants.gov Application Guide contains detailed information regarding the registration process. Refer to item 2, below, to locate the “NIFA Grants.gov Application Guide.”

Steps to Obtain Application Package Materials

To receive application materials:

1. You must download and install a version of Adobe Reader compatible with Grants.gov to access, complete, and submit applications. For basic system requirements and download instructions, see https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/adobe-software-compatibility.html. Grants.gov has a test package that will help you determine whether your current version of Adobe Reader is compatible.

2. To obtain the application package from Grants.gov, go to https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/search-opportunity-package.html and enter the funding opportunity number where appropriate

Funding Opportunity Number: USDA-NIFA-RHSE-006746

Click “Search.” On the displayed page, click the corresponding link to continue. A Grant Application Package is tied to a particular funding opportunity. You may move forms amongst different Grant Application Packages but you may ONLY submit an application to the particular funding opportunity to which the Grant Application Package is associated.

Contained within the application package is the “NIFA Grants.gov Application Guide.” This guide contains an introduction and general Grants.gov instructions, information about how to use a Grant Application Package in Grants.gov, and instructions on how to complete the application forms.

https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/learn-grants/grants-101/pre-award-phase.html https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/learn-grants/grants-101/pre-award-phase.html https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/register.html https://get.adobe.com/reader/ https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/adobe-software-compatibility.html https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/adobe-software-compatibility.html https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/search-opportunity-package.html

If you require assistance to access the application package (e.g., downloading or navigating Adobe forms) or submitting the application, refer to resources available on the Grants.gov website (https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/support.html). Grants.gov assistance is also available at:

Grants.gov customer support 800-518-4726 Toll-Free or 606-545-5035 Business Hours: 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Closed on federal holidays.

Email: support@grants.gov Grants.gov iPortal (see https://grants-portal.psc.gov/Welcome.aspx?pt=Grants): Top 10 requested help topics (FAQs), Searchable knowledge base, self-service ticketing and ticket status, and live web chat (available 7 a.m. - 9 p.m. ET).

Have the following information available when contacting Grants.gov:

• Funding Opportunity Number (FON)

• Name of agency you are applying to

• Specific area of concern

B. Content and Form of Application Submission

Electronic applications are to be prepared following Parts V and VI of the NIFA Grants.gov Application Guide. This guide is part of the corresponding application package (see Section A of this part). The following is additional information you need to prepare an application in response to this RFA. If there is discrepancy between the two documents, the information contained in this RFA is overriding.

Note the attachment requirements (e.g., PDF) in Part III, Section 3 of the guide. ANY PROPOSALS THAT ARE NON-COMPLIANT WITH THE REQUIREMENTS (e.g., content format, PDF file format, file name restrictions, and no password protected files) WILL BE AT RISK OF BEING EXCLUDED FROM NIFA REVIEW. Grants.gov does not check for NIFA required attachments or whether attachments are in PDF format; see Part III, Section 6.1 of the guide for how to check the manifest of submitted files. Partial applications will be excluded from NIFA review. We will accept subsequent submissions of an application until close of business on the closing date in the RFA (see Part V, 2.1 of the NIFA Grants.gov Application Guide for further information).

For any questions related to the preparation of an application, review the NIFA Grants.gov Application Guide and the applicable RFA. If assistance is still needed for preparing application forms content, contact:

• Email: electronic@nifa.usda.gov

• Phone: 202-401-5048

• Business hours: Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. – 5 p.m. ET, excluding federal holidays.

1. SF 424 R&R Cover Sheet Information related to the questions on this form is dealt with in detail in Part V, 2 of the NIFA Grants.gov Application Guide. See Part V, Section 2.17 of the NIFA Grants.gov Application https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/support.html http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/snow-dismissal-procedures/federal-holidays/ mailto:support@grants.gov https://grants-portal.psc.gov/Welcome.aspx?pt=Grants mailto:electronic@nifa.usda.gov https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/snow-dismissal-procedures/federal-holidays/

Guide for the required certifications and assurances (e.g., Prohibition Against Entities Requiring Certain Internal Confidentiality Agreements).

2. SF 424 R&R Project/Performance Site Location(s) Detailed information related to the questions on this form is available in Part V, 3 of the NIFA Grants.gov Application Guide.

3. R&R Other Project Information Form Detailed information related to the questions on this form is available in Part V, 4 of the NIFA Grants.gov Application Guide.

a. Field 7. Project Summary/Abstract.

The summary should also include the relevance of the project to the goals of RHSE. See Part V.

4.7 of NIFA Grants.gov Application Guide for further instructions and a link to a suggested template.

All proposals must include an Abstract of 300 words or less. The abstract must include:

• Project title;

• Names of PD, Co-PDs, and key project personnel;

• Names of affiliated organizations of PD, Co-PDs, and key project personnel;

• Names of partnering institutions and organizations (if not already listed);

• A brief description of the proposed project, including whether it is a State-level or

Regional-level scaling up effort; and

• Funding amount requested.

b. Field 8. Project Narrative.

NOTE: The Project Narrative shall not exceed 15 pages of written text and up to 5 additional pages for figures and tables. We have established this maximum 20 pages to ensure fair and equitable competition.

Applications exceeding the applicable page limitation will be disqualified from the review process and not considered for funding.

Grant-writing resources may be accessed at https://nifa.usda.gov/grant-training.

The Project Narrative must have these distinct sections, titled:

1. Response to Previous Review (if applicable);

2. Issue Statement and Planned Approach;

3. Objectives, Activities, Outcomes and Timeline;

4. Division of Labor;

5. Project Performance Assessment Plan;

6. Management Plan;

7. Budget and Budget Narrative;

8. Project Communication and Dissemination;

9. Sustainability; and

10. Optional: Centers of Excellence Request and Justification.

https://nifa.usda.gov/grant-training

The Project Narrative must include all of the following:

1) Response to Previous Review (if applicable) This requirement only applies to Resubmitted Applications as described in Part II, B. The Project Narrative attachment is to include two components: 1) a one-page response to the previous review (containing the previous proposal number in the first line) titled “Response to Previous Review” as the first page of the attachment and 2) the 20 page Project Narrative, as required (see Part IV, C. 3. b., above). The one-page “Response to Previous Review” does not count against the 20 page limit of the Project Narrative.

(2) Issue Statement and Planned Approach Provide a brief justification of the project by describing the nature and magnitude of the rural health/safety issue(s) the project is seeking to address and a brief explanation of how your project will address the issue(s). Provide the most recent relevant data for the State or States in which your proposed RHSE project will be implemented, including data on the incidence of individual and family health issue(s) relevant to your project. Provide references for the data. Explain and substantiate any assumptions made.

In addition, please address the following elements:

• Health Framework/Theoretical Model: Projects should identify an existing individual and community health framework/model as a guide for their programmatic rural health and safety education focus and their Extension outreach strategy. The framework/ theoretical model must recognize the complex, bidirectional relationship between individual, community, and societal factors.

• Projected Gaps/Needs Addressed: Briefly discuss related programs currently available in the state(s) in which the proposed RHSE project will take place and how your project will address gaps and limitations among currently available programs/services. Indicate whether the program has been implemented by Cooperative Extension in other states/regions.

• Program or Approach Description: Briefly describe the proposed program (i.e. objectives, target audience, delivery methods, etc.) and if the program or approach is existing, include a brief history of the program, cumulative data on individuals served, program outcomes and impacts to date, and program partners. If you are scaling up your programs, please include scaling implementation details.

• Related Publications: If the program's content has been published in peer-reviewed sources, please provide citations and/or links to pertinent publications. If the program's evaluation results have been published in peer-reviewed sources, please provide citations and/or links to pertinent publications.

• Rurality: Identify rural counties in which your project will be implemented and the rural population(s) your project will reach out to and serve (e.g., children, adults, ethnic or cultural minority groups, older adults, military families, veterans, farmer/rancher families, physicians/health care providers, etc.).

o For Rural (Non-metro) classifications systems, see Part I, Section C. of this RFA.

o Provide the criteria used to select the population group to be served. Support for targeting these specific groups must be clearly reflected in the data and estimates you already provided for the state(s).

• Target Audience Experience: Describe your and your partners’ prior experience in addressing the needs of the target audience(s). Describe your team’s ability and readiness to provide appropriate (ethnically-, racially-, linguistically- and socio-economically-sensitive) education, training, and outreach for such audience(s). For example, if you will be serving Spanish-speaking families, or Native American communities, how will you ensure that your outreach and education services are culturally-responsive and linguistically appropriate?

• Team Capacity and Ability: Justify your institution’s and team’s capacity and ability to meet the gaps and limitations in for the issue you have identified by detailing your accomplishments from similar projects. If the project involves collaboration between land-grant institutions and/or other organizations, identify each partners’ relevant previous experiences and successes that speak to its ability to successfully fulfill their role on the proposed RHSE project.

• Coordination with State Office(s) of Rural Health or other relevant DHHS agency or unit:

Describe how your project has/will coordinate with the applicable state office(s) of rural health or other relevant DHHS agency or unit to successfully complete the project.

(3) Objectives, Activities, Outcomes and Timeline Projects should provide a clear description of the project objectives and activities. Please develop a logic model (for example resource, see https://nifa.usda.gov/resource/logic-model-planning-process. The following elements must be addressed:

Objectives must address program priorities listed in Part I, Section B.

• Explain how the activities will help to achieve the objectives and which target audience is the intended beneficiary of each.

• Clearly show the relationships between objectives, inputs, activities, desired outcomes, and anticipated impacts.

• The sum of activities under each objective must lead to completion of those objectives within the 2-year project duration. Arrange activities and associated outcomes and impacts by project year (Year 1 and Year 2).

• List and describe all intended outcomes to be tracked and monitored (e.g., changes in participant knowledge, awareness, competency, behavior, and condition as well as policy, systems and environmental change, if applicable).

• Provide a timeline to demonstrate the duration and the sequence of project activities, as well as division of labor (as noted in the next section of this RFA). Each objective may have multiple activities. Chart against a quarterly scale, so that the timeline depicts 2 years and 8 quarters.

• Identify implementation challenges and project procedures limitations you might encounter during the course of the proposed projects. Briefly describe how you plan to address those challenges and limitations.

https://nifa.usda.gov/resource/logic-model-planning-process https://nifa.usda.gov/resource/logic-model-planning-process

(4) Division of Labor

• State Cooperative Extension Services and non-Land Grant partners may jointly or individually provide leadership for different objectives and/or activities.

• If applicable, describe each partner’s role on the project.

• Briefly describe roles of key staff on the proposed RHSE project and percent of time each will be dedicating to the project. If the percentages are expected to change in Year 2 of the proposed project, please indicate so and provide an explanation.

• Indicate who on the team will provide the lead and oversight for design, technical assistance, and completion of project outcomes evaluation. We highly recommend including a faculty/professional with expertise/strong experience in developing and implementing program evaluations to lead the design and completion of your RHSE project’s Logic Model, Project Timeline, and outcome evaluation.

(5) Project Performance Assessment Plan Proposals should contain a strong performance assessment plan. Plans must clearly state the goals of the project and explain how project activities will lead to results (both outputs and outcomes). The plan must also identify the project’s most significant outcomes and explain the methods by which those outcomes will be measured. We strongly recommend that these plans include or refer to the project’s logic model. Please be as specific as possible in describing the linkages among activities, outputs, and different types of outcomes (e.g., changes in participant knowledge, awareness, competency, and behavior or changes in condition and if applicable, policy, system, and/or environmental changes).

Again, NIFA strongly encourages projects to include an evaluator on the project who can help develop an evaluation plan and perform the evaluation. The purpose of the evaluation is to provide sound, reliable insight into the project’s impact or missed opportunities and best practices that could be applied to future projects. For example, a goal of an evaluation might be to explain differences in results across target populations.

(6) Management Plan

• Describe the fiscal and administrative oversight for the project.

• If the proposed RHSE project represents collaboration between two or more land-grant institutions and/or non-land grant partners, provide an explanation of how the relationship(s) and communication will be managed.

(7) Budget (as below #6. R&R Budget) and Budget Narrative

• There should be a direct relationship between the items in the budget and budget narrative, as well as between budget narrative and the objectives/activities contained in the Project Narrative.

• Every item in the budget must be justified in the proposal. The amount of detail depends on the nature of the project and the breakdown of costs.

• Proposed budgets must not exceed $350,000 total or request funding for more than 2 years.

• Budget breakdown and budget narrative should be provided for each project year (Year 1 and Year 2). The project start date must be September 1, 2019 and the end date must be August 31, 2021.

• Annual budgets are to include reasonable expenses for two 2-day trips for project director, project evaluation lead, and one representative from each partner institution receiving funds to attend RHSE investigators meeting in the Washington, DC metro area.

The first meeting will occur in winter 2020 and the second in winter 2021. The purpose of these meetings is to encourage networking among State project teams from different regions and support alignment of efforts on rural health indicators and outcomes measures.

• In budget narrative, costs (e.g., personnel, materials, travel, etc.) are to be broken down and itemized rather than shown as lump sums.

• NOTE: The budget narrative does not have to count toward the maximum page count stated in PART IV, B., 3.

(8) Project Communication and Dissemination

• Briefly describe how results from this project will be communicated to State, Regional, and National stakeholders and the public. For example, consider how interface with Regional Rural Development Centers and State Offices of Rural Health might support your project’s communication and dissemination.

• Consider how lessons from your proposed project could be used to inform other Cooperative Extension initiatives in health and wellness in your State and at the regional level.

• Include your main project communication and dissemination activities in the proposal Timeline.

(9) Sustainability Describe steps you will take toward project’s sustainability beyond the life of the NIFA RHSE grant. For example, identify opportunities (such as resources, trainings, partnerships, collaborations, funding streams) you plan to explore/develop/enhance during the life of the proposed project to help you sustain project operations after NIFA funding has expired. If planning to sustain only certain aspects of the project beyond NIFA funding, please clearly identify them.

• Include your main project sustainability activities in the proposal timeline.

(10) Center of Excellence Justification Applicants who wish to be considered as centers of excellence must provide a justification statement, at the end of the Project Narrative and within the page limits provided, describing how they meet the standards of a center of excellence, based on the following criteria:

a) the ability of the center of excellence to ensure coordination and cost effectiveness by reducing unnecessarily duplicative efforts regarding research, teaching, and extension in the implementation of the proposed research and/or extension activity outlined in this application;

b) in addition to any applicable matching requirements, the ability of the center of excellence to leverage available resources by using public-private partnerships among agricultural industry groups, institutions of higher education, and the Federal Government in the implementation of the proposed research and/or extension activity outlined in this application. Resources leveraged should be commensurate with the size of the award;

c) the planned scope and capability of the center of excellence to implement teaching initiatives to increase awareness and effectively disseminate solutions to target audiences through extension activities in the implementation of the proposed research and/or extension activity outlined in this application; and

d) the ability or capacity of the center of excellence to increase the economic returns to rural communities by identifying, attracting, and directing funds to high-priority agricultural issues.

Additionally, where practicable (not required), Center of Excellence applicants should describe proposed efforts to improve teaching capacity and infrastructure at colleges and universities (including land-grant colleges and universities, cooperating forestry schools, certified Non-Land Grant Colleges of Agriculture (NLGCA) (list of certified NLGCA is available at https://nifa.usda.gov/resource/nlgca-list), and schools of veterinary medicine).

Please indicate in this section if you are not pursuing status as a Center of Excellence.

c. Field 9. Bibliography No page limit. Submit as an attachment in PDF format. Title the attachment as “BibliographyReferencesCited”.

All work cited in the proposal must be referenced in this section of the application. All references must be complete, include titles and all co-authors, conform to an acceptable journal format, and be listed in alphabetical order using the last name of the first author or listed by number in the order of citation.

c. Field 12. Add Other Attachments See Part V. Section 4.12 of the NIFA Grants.gov Application Guide (Field 12 on the form) for instructions for this field.

• Letter(s) of Commitment from Collaborators on the Proposed Project (e.g., 1862, 1890 or 1994 Land-Grant Institutions, Minority Serving Institutions, eXtension.) The letters must state partner institution’s readiness to collaborate on the proposed project and describe the partner’s specific role on the project.

Data Management Plan. A Data Management Plan (DMP) is required and is to clearly articulate how the project director (PD) and co-PDs plan to manage and disseminate the data generated by the project. The DMP will be considered during the merit review process (see Part V, B.). See Part III Section 3.1 of the NIFA Grants.gov Application Guide for NIFA attachment specifications.

The requirements for preparation and inclusion of a DMP in your application is included on the following web page, https://nifa.usda.gov/resource/data-management-plan-nifa-funded-research-https://nifa.usda.gov/resource/nlgca-list…