PHIT_Workforce ARP NOFO_Updated July 2021.pdf

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information

Technology

Notice of Funding Opportunity

Public Health Informatics & Technology

Workforce Development Program

(The PHIT Workforce Development Program)

Assistance Listings (CFDA) Number

93.355

Application Due Date: 08/11/2021

Anticipated Award Date: 09/14/2021

Sherilyn Pruitt

Maggie Wanis

Office of the National Coordinator for

Health Information Technology

330 C Street SW

Washington, D.C., 20201

PHITWorkforce@hhs.gov

Carmel Halloun

Office of the National Coordinator for

Health Information Technology

330 C Street SW

Washington, D.C., 20201

ONCGrants@hhs.gov mailto:PHITWorkforce@hhs.gov mailto:ONCGrants@hhs.gov

Table of Contents

Executive Summary

A. Program Description Background

Approach

Program Components

Community of Practice

Performance Goals

Program Monitoring

Program Evaluation

Cooperative Agreement and Substantial ONC Involvement

B. Funding Opportunity Award Information Key Award Parameters

Key Dates

Informational Session

Notice of Intent

C. Eligibility Information Eligible Applicants

D. Application and Submission Information Address to Request Application Package

Content and Form of Application Submission

• Application Package

• Application Submission Instructions

• Restrictions on Oral Conversations

Unique Entity Identifier and System for Award Management (SAM)

Program Income

Intergovernmental Review

Funding Restrictions

E. Application Review Information Screening Review

Merit Review

Review and Selection Process

Pre-Award Risk Assessment

Award Decisions

F. Federal Award Administration Information Federal Award Notices

Administrative and National Policy Requirements

Performance Reporting

G. Contact Information

Appendix A – Tips for Writing a Strong Application

Appendix B – Instructions – SF-424 Application for Federal Assistance

Appendix C - Instructions – SF-424A, Budget Information for Non-Construction Programs

Appendix D – Budget Narrative/Justification Template

Appendix E – Letter of Intent Template

Executive Summary

The recent COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated pervasive health and socioeconomic inequities in the

United States and exposed gaps in public health reporting and data analysis. These impacts were partly due to limited staff and technological infrastructure underfunding of the resources (people and technology) necessary to support public health at the state and local levels. Federal efforts to center an equity , in the COVID-19 response and future public health responses will be improved by better data including data regarding race and ethnicity, infection, hospitalization, and mortality rates, as well as underlying health and social vulnerabilities1.

As part of its ongoing COVID-19 response efforts, the Biden-Harris Administration is investing federal funds through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA)2 to recruit, hire, and train public health workers to respond to the pandemic and prepare for future public health challenges. Specifically, the

Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will “carry out activities related to establishing, expanding, and sustaining a public health workforce...”, ARPA § 2501(a), and funds may be used to support costs associated with training individuals “to serve as case investigators, contact tracers, social support specialists, community health workers, public health nurses, disease intervention specialists, epidemiologists, program managers, laboratory personnel, informaticians, communication and policy experts, and any other positions as may be required to prevent, prepare for, and respond to

COVID–19.” ARPA § 2501(b). Additionally, President Biden’s Executive Order on Ensuring a

Sustainable Public Health Workforce for COVID-19 and Other Biological Threats calls for creating and sustaining a public health workforce capable of adequately and equitably performing community-based testing.3

To help advance these efforts, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information

Technology (ONC) has created the Public Health Informatics & Technology (PHIT) Workforce

Development Program. This program aims to increase the number of public health professionals trained in informatics and technology, with an emphasis on improving public health reporting through modern standards and computing. ONC anticipates awarding $75 million to train individuals to help modernize the nation’s public health data infrastructure, with a focus on recruiting participants from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribal Colleges and

Universities (TCUs), Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), Asian American and Native American Pacific

Islander-Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs) and other Minority serving institutions (MSIs4). Through an interdisciplinary approach to data science and managing public health information, the program will build capacity of HBCUs, TCUs, HSIs, AANAPISIs, and other MSIs, as well as other colleges and universities to educate and diversify the public health workforce of the future.

ONC will provide funding in the form of cooperative agreements under the PHIT Workforce

Development Program to institutions of higher education, with a focus on engaging MSIs, to establish or expand public health informatics education programs, creating a diverse and inclusive health information technology (IT) workforce. HBCUs, HSIs, AANAPISIs and other MSIs often have strong science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs, comprised of untapped talent.5 Over the last two years, ONC and other federal partners across the Department of

1 https://www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/hblog20200716.620294/full/ 2 American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, Pub. L. No. 117-2, 135 Stat 4 (Mar. 11, 2021).

3 https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/01/21/executive-order-establishing-the-covid-19-pandemic-testing-board-and-ensuring-a-sustainable-public-health-workforce-for-covid-19-and-other-biological-threats/ 4 A list of current MSIs is available at https://www.minorityhealth.hhs.gov/assets/PDF/2020_Minority_Serving_Institutions.pdf 5 https://www.nap.edu/read/25257/chapter/1 https://www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/hblog20200716.620294/full/ https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/01/21/executive-order-establishing-the-covid-19-pandemic-testing-board-and-ensuring-a-sustainable-public-health-workforce-for-covid-19-and-other-biological-threats/ https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/01/21/executive-order-establishing-the-covid-19-pandemic-testing-board-and-ensuring-a-sustainable-public-health-workforce-for-covid-19-and-other-biological-threats/ https://www.minorityhealth.hhs.gov/assets/PDF/2020_Minority_Serving_Institutions.pdf https://www.nap.edu/read/25257/chapter/1

Health and Human Services (HHS), including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) have made a concerted effort to recruit top talent from HBCUs, TCUs, HSIs, AANAPISIs, and MSIs.

Further investments in specifically developing health IT informatics curricula, career services mentorships, and related programs at these institutions and others will enrich the talent pipeline for future recruitment by state and local public health organizations, public health-focused non-profits, public health-focused private sector organizations, clinical care providers, and state, local or federal government entities.

Through a period of performance of four years, the PHIT Workforce Development Program will provide selected recipients with funding to expand their existing programs or develop a new program, through which the Program will train at least 4,000 individuals on public health informatics and technology to improve the nation’s public health workforce. In order to meet the President’s commitment to both address longstanding racial and ethnic inequities, and hire public health workers from the communities they serve, underrepresented minorities whose representation in the sciences and affiliated employment is smaller than their representation in the U.S. population will be recruited to participate in this program, which will be open to all individuals.6

A. Program Description

This notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) announces the opportunity to apply for funding under the

Public Health Informatics & Technology (PHIT) Workforce Development Program. According to the

Public Health Informatics Institute (PHII), public health informatics is defined as the effective use of information and information technology to improve population health outcomes.7 The goal of the PHIT

Workforce Development Program is to train at least 4,000 individuals in public health informatics and technology to expand the nation’s public health workforce. Towards reducing longstanding health disparities and inequities, the program will prioritize recruiting underrepresented minorities from

HBCUs, TCUs, HSIs, AANAPISIs, and MSIs. Finally, the curriculum should be culturally responsive and designed in a way that meets the needs of the local health care agencies and sets students up for success in the training program and beyond other colleges and universities to participate in this program, as well as other students and members of the community.

ONC will fund up to thirty (30) cooperative agreement awards for a four (4)-year period of performance.

The program will be funded at $75,000,000 with additional funding contingent upon availability, satisfactory completion of milestones, and a determination that continued funding is in the best interest of the federal government and the public. Each individual award will not exceed $10,000,000.

Background

The PHIT Workforce Development Program is responsive to President Biden’s Executive Order and calls for creating and sustaining a diverse public health workforce so that the nation can better respond to future public health and biological threats. According to a recent study conducted by the Yale Global

Health Justice Partnership, significant investments are needed urgently and immediately to repair the underfunded public health infrastructure in the United States, which has been further eroded by the

6 National Science Foundation. https://ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsf19304/digest/about-this-report 7 https://phii.org/defining-public-health-informatics https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/01/21/executive-order-establishing-the-covid-19-pandemic-testing-board-and-ensuring-a-sustainable-public-health-workforce-for-covid-19-and-other-biological-threats/#:~:text=It%20is%20the%20policy%20of,manufacturing%20to%20the%20United%20States%2C https://ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsf19304/digest/about-this-report https://phii.org/defining-public-health-informatics ongoing COVID-19 pandemic8. The availability of a skilled workforce is critical to facilitate the implementation and support of a modernized public health infrastructure. This skilled workforce is also needed to support public health systems and offices at the local, state, and federal levels. Unfortunately, the current public health workforce is not fully prepared to build and support a more robust public health infrastructure, with data and technology that allows us adequately respond to public health crises and address racial and ethnic health inequities, as well as large population health data sets to improve and support public health efforts. Studies on the many health workforce disciplines report that 30-70 percent lack adequate training and background to fully use and engage with digital technology and information.9,10a

This new training program will build upon ONC’s successful Health IT Workforce Development

Program, in 2010, a $118.0M effort established under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH Act), that trained 20,000 people. Building on this experience, the

PHIT Workforce Development program will help develop a diverse cadre of skilled public health professionals. This program will develop new curricula on public health informatics to expand upon

ONC’s existing health IT curriculum, focusing on topics such as data reporting that is inclusive of race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status; the data aspects of contact tracing, lab-based diagnostics, vaccinations, therapeutics; and combining clinical data from electronic health records, lab results, immunizations, demographic data, utilization metrics, and claims data alongside non-clinical data (e.g.

social determinants of health (SDOH), waste-water, etc.), for interpretation. Through a consortium approach, curricula will be developed by recipients working in conjunction with ONC, local and state public health departments, community-based organizations, and others with “on the ground” experience dealing with the most pressing and critical challenges in public health informatics and technology. From

ONC’s experience, a recipient only approach will not be sufficient to meet the needs of this type of program. The consortium approach will allow the recipient plan to leverage the strengths of their members, share best practices and learn from each other’s expertise, increase program’s exposure and credibility in the recipient’s community, and avoid duplicative efforts while achieving mutually beneficial goals.

Approach

Through this four year cooperative agreement, PHIT Workforce Development Program recipients will be part of a consortium that will develop the program curriculum, recruit and train participants, develop paid internship opportunities, and assist in career placement at public health agencies, public health-focused non-profits or public health-focused private sector or clinical settings. Only consortia approaches will be considered for this program, as indicated in the Background section.

Applications must include letters of intent from the proposed consortia members. All recipients will participate in a Community of Practice (CoP) composed of recipients and subject matter experts. The

CoP will support a learning environment for recipients where they will learn from each other and share resources and best practices. It is expected that all recipients will sustain the training programs beyond the period of performance to continue to diversify and grow the future public health workforce. Since this award is a cooperative agreement, recipients can expect substantial involvement from ONC throughout the entire period of performance for this award. Program milestones will be set prior to

8 https://law.yale.edu/sites/default/files/area/center/ghjp/documents/publichealthfunding_final_6.7.21.pdf 9 https://phii.org/defining-public-health-informatics 10 “A National Strategy for Digital Health”. MITRE Corporation. Version 2, May 2021.

https://www.healthit.gov/sites/default/files/workforceevaluationsummativereport.pdf https://www.healthit.gov/topic/onc-programs/workforce-development-programs https://www.healthit.gov/topic/onc-programs/workforce-development-programs https://www.healthit.gov/topic/onc-programs/workforce-development-programs https://law.yale.edu/sites/default/files/area/center/ghjp/documents/publichealthfunding_final_6.7.21.pdf https://phii.org/defining-public-health-informatics receipt of initial funding, with periodic check-ins and quarterly reports on progress required for the duration of the program.

Program Components

• Consortium Development – Applicants must identify representatives and organizations expected to be part of their consortium when submitting their application. In addition to the lead applicant entity, participants in the consortium must include, but are not limited to: 1) representatives from state, local, or county health departments; and 2) community-based organizations such as community health centers, rural health clinics, behavioral health providers, and/or other local non-profit/clinical providers. Applications will be accepted from colleges and universities that propose to expand or establish their own programs, and/or that have entered into arrangements to provide training at or through use of faculty of, or courses offered by, multiple institutions of higher education. These partnerships may be expressed through a Letter of Intent between the lead applicant and one or more partner institutions. Each consortium is encouraged to include representatives from health IT organizations with local, state or national reach, public health organizations, entities with expertise in addressing health disparities, and representatives from organizations who help shape standards or govern implementation of health IT and public health information systems. Applications must include letters describing each consortium member’s intent to participate in the PHIT Workforce Development Program.

• Curricula Development – Development of curriculum may build upon the previous ONC workforce training program components and may include some or all of the following subject areas: health equity; data science, including privacy/security; data aspects of outbreak investigation; epidemiology; public health analytics; lab-based and remote diagnostics; public health reporting (e.g., immunizations, syndromic surveillance, electronic lab reporting and electronic case reporting); public health emergency preparedness and response; HL7® Fast Healthcare

Interoperability Resources (FHIR®) basics, vocabularies and terminologies; public policy and combining multiple data streams (e.g., clinical data from electronic health records, lab results, immunizations, demographic data, utilization metrics, claims data, and data from other non-healthcare sources such as SDOH, waste-water, etc.) for analytical and exchange purposes. The needs and complexities of local, state, Tribal and territorial public health agencies should be considered in developing curricula. An interdisciplinary approach is preferred. For example, an applicant’s proposal may note that the proposed curriculum will focus on informatics, data science, cloud-based information technology and other technical content alongside core principles of public health management, stakeholder engagement, disaster management and emergency response.

Finally, the curriculum should be culturally responsive and designed in a way that meets the needs of the local health care agencies and sets students up for success in the training program and beyond

Training – Once curricula have been created or expanded, recipients will recruit individuals to participate in the program with an emphasis on enrolling underrepresented minorities to grow and diversify the public health workforce. This program aims to recruit new students and prioritizes trainees from each applicant’s student population and other sources for recruiting new workers into the public health field. This program may also offer career advancement for a limited number of incumbent public health practitioners and health care workers from the community—especially those in local health departments, federally qualified health centers or community-based organizations—who will be able to obtain new, higher-level jobs as a result of this program. Training should focus on undergraduate and graduate programs, and can include majors, minors, and certificate programs, and it should embed stackable health care industry-relevant credentials when possible. The goal of the PHIT Workforce Development Program as a whole is to train a minimum of 4,000 new public health informatics and technology professionals, and each https://www.healthit.gov/topic/onc-programs/workforce-development-programs recipient is required to project the number of individuals the recipient expects to train over the course of the four-year award period in order the PHIT Workforce Development Program as a whole to reach and, where possible, exceed that overall goal.

• Paid Internships & Placement – Hands-on learning at health departments, public health-focused non-profits or private institutions, or clinical provider locations is a required component of this program. Members of each applicant’s consortium will be key in identifying internship opportunities for program participants. It is also expected that the recipient will assist with job placement in relevant fields for individuals who have completed the training program. Recipients should rely on their internal resources and policies to include career placement offices, as well as working with their consortium partners, including state and local authorities to place students who have successfully completed the program. Internships should be paid and stipends are allowable costs.

• Sustainability – Successful applicants must outline a plan to financially sustain the training/degree/certificate program once federal funds cease. Applicants must also describe how the program will be integrated into the community’s long-term plan to support and diversify the public health workforce over time.

Community of Practice

In addition to the stated program components, all recipients will be expected to participate in a Community of Practice (CoP) convened by ONC, where they will be able to learn from each other and share informational resources and best practices. This CoP will also include representatives from national health IT organizations, as well as curricula accreditation organizations. Additionally, to ensure a focus on equity, the CoP will also include representatives from organizations that prioritize equity in healthcare and public health. The CoP will consist of:

• Academic institutions,

• Business and consumer stakeholders,

• Employers,

• Health equity organizations,

• Industry experts,

• ONC recipients and constituents.

• Public health and health care associations, and

• Standards-based organizations, The CoP will meet monthly during the first year, and will continue to meet quarterly throughout the rest of the award period.

Performance Goals

A performance goal is a target level of performance expressed as a tangible, measurable objective or milestone, against which actual achievement can be compared. The performance goals associated with this NOFO, and ensuing award, are as follows:

• Progress on development and finalization of each consortium and how it will address equity and public health informatics needs.

• Establishing numerical targets for individuals trained and/or who have experienced career growth, program retention and completion, as well as individuals who have been assisted with relevant career placement, and completing the targets during each year of the period of performance.

• Assessment of all professionals trained and hired during the project period of performance, by way of a survey or other assessment, including the race and ethnicity of each trainee to ensure that this program meets its goal to diversify the public health informatics and technology workforce. All information collected will be deidentified and will be solely available for ONC’s evaluation purposes.

• Submit a plan that demonstrates how the recipient will maintain financial sustainability and continuity of the training program once federal funds cease.

Recipients will need to provide a plan to track each of the performance goals throughout the four year period of performance.

Year Goals

Year 1 Consortium Development, Curriculum Development and Participant Recruitment

Year 2 Training and Placement

Year 3 Training and Placement

Year 4 Training, Placement and Transition to Sustainability

Program Monitoring

ONC Project Officers in conjunction with the ONC Procurement and Grants Division will monitor, on a regular basis, progress of each recipient. This monitoring may be by phone, document review, on-site visits, other meetings, or other appropriate means, such as reviewing progress reports and Federal

Financial Reports (FFR 425). Project Officers will have substantial involvement with the CoP, and all recipients are expected to actively participate in that component of the program. ONC Project Officers will be responsible for requesting authorization for the release of funds for their assigned recipients based on progress toward stated goals.

Program Evaluation

All recipients will be expected to participate in an external evaluation that will assess the success of the program to increase the number of underrepresented minorities and other individuals who are trained and placed in in-demand careers utilizing their newly acquired skills in public health informatics and technology. Recipients are required to cooperate with the ONC-directed national program evaluation.

Evaluation criteria can include, but are not limited to, program retention and completion, individuals trained, evaluation of the training, trainee placement in relevant fields, post-program earnings information, and demographic information. Recipients will be required to use ONC’s Performance

Management Tool and complete reporting requirement at time intervals specified by ONC. The tool will be used for tracking and evaluating progress of recipients. After awards are made, ONC will provide recipients with access to the tool. Additional instructions for this system will be provided post award.

Cooperative Agreement and Substantial ONC Involvement

The funding instrument used for this program will be a cooperative agreement, an assistance mechanism that includes substantial ONC programmatic involvement. Under a cooperative agreement, ONC’s purpose is to support and stimulate the recipient’s activities by involvement with the recipient; it is not to assume direction, prime responsibility, or a dominant role in the activities. Consistent with this premise, the primary responsibility resides with the recipient for the project as a whole. To facilitate appropriate involvement, during the period of this cooperative agreement, ONC and the recipient will be in contact at least monthly and, when appropriate, more frequently. Specific tasks and activities that may be shared between the recipient and ONC include, but are not limited to:

• Participating in the selection of key personnel;

• Releasing funds based on achievement of performance activities and/or project milestones;

• Agency review and approval of substantive provisions of proposed sub-awards or contracts;

• Refining performance activities;

• Finalizing consortium members;

• Participating in the CoP;

• Providing tactical guidance and feedback during project execution;

• Engaging with leadership of the recipient’s organization to ensure successful execution of the cooperative agreement; and

• Ending an activity if performance specifications and/or key milestones are not met.

B. Funding Opportunity Award Information

Key Award Parameters

Funding Opportunity Title: Public Health Informatics & Technology Workforce Development

Program

Federal Funding Agency: Department of Health and Human Services

Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information

Technology

Award Type: Cooperative Agreement

Application Type: New

Funding Opportunity Number: ARP-PHIT-21-001

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 93.355

Legislative Authority: American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, Title II, Subtitle F—Public Health

Workforce, Sec. 2501. Funding for public health workforce, subsection (a). Pub. L. No. 117-2 (Mar. 11, 2021).

Approximate Amount of Available Funding (inclusive of direct and indirect costs) : $75,000,000

Anticipated Number of Awards: up to 30

Approximate Amount of Each Award: up to $10,000,000

Project Period: 09/14/2021 to 09/13/2025

Budget Period(s): 09/14/2021 to 09/13/2025

Funding of future non-competing continuation awards is conditioned on the availability of funds, satisfactory progress by the recipient, and an awarding office determination that continued funding of the award is in the best interests of the Government.

ONC reserves the right to make additional awards under this announcement, consistent with Agency policy, if additional funding becomes available after the original selections are made. Any additional selections for awards are expected to be made no later than 12 months after the original selection decision.

Key Dates

Milestone Date

NOFO Released 06/17/2021

Informational Session 06/23/2021

Letter of Intent to Apply Due 07/26/2021_11:59 P.M.

Applications Due 08/11/2021_11:59 P.M.

Anticipated Award Date 09/14/2021

Anticipated Project Start Date 09/14/2021

Informational Session

ONC will conduct an informational session, via a webinar, to:

• Discuss the background, purpose, scope, terms and conditions and other provisions in the NOFO

• Explain the eligibility and application requirements

• Describe the application review process

• Provide an opportunity for interested parties to ask questions

Further details about the informational session – including the date, time, and instructions for joining – are available at https://www.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_EqBOKhSSR-OOvJN0lkcjng

To ensure that ONC addresses all comments and questions regarding this announcement during the information session, please submit any comments and questions, via email, to PHITWorkforce@hhs.gov no later than three business days prior to the call.

Notice of Intent

Although not required, applicants are strongly encouraged to submit a non-binding e-mail notice of intent to apply for this funding opportunity. This notice of intent will assist ONC in planning for the application review process. The notice of intent is requested by 11:59 P.M. Eastern Standard Time on

July 26, 2021 and should be sent to PHITWorkforce@hhs.gov. The notice should identify the name of the applicant organization, the city and state in which the applicant organization is located, and the

Notice of Funding Opportunity title and number.

C. Eligibility Information

Eligible Applicants

This funding opportunity is open to accredited colleges and universities with terminal degrees in the

United States. Only consortium-based approaches will be considered for this program, and applications https://www.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_EqBOKhSSR-OOvJN0lkcjng mailto:PHITWorkforce@hhs.gov must include letters of intent from proposed consortium members. In order to diversify the public health informatics and technology workforce and to increase the number of underrepresented minority professionals, the lead applicant in the consortium should be an HBCU, TCU, HIS, AANAPISI, or other that is able to establish a new program or currently offer an existing computer science, information science, biomedical technology, public health, health informatics, or similar program. Non- HBCU, TCU, HSI, AANAPISI, or other MSIs may also apply but must include at least one of these types of institutions as a consortium member. A current list of institutions with that designation is available at

D. Application and Submission Information

Address to Request Application Package

Application packages may be obtained electronically by accessing Grants.gov at http://www.grants.gov/.

You can find it by searching on the CFDA number shown on the cover page of this funding opportunity.

If you have problems accessing the application or difficulty downloading, contact ONC’s Procurement and Grants Division via email at: oncgrants@hhs.gov.

Content and Form of Application Submission

Application Package The following documents comprise, as applicable, the application package. Additional information regarding each of these documents is provided, below.

• Project Abstract

• Project Narrative

• Form SF-424, Application for Federal Assistance

• Form SF-424A, Budget Information for Non-Construction Programs

• Form SF-424B, Assurances for Non-Construction Programs

• Form SF-LLL, Disclosure of Lobbying Activities

• Budget Narrative

• Letters of Intent

• Proof of Non-Profit Status (if applicable)

• Indirect Cost Agreement(s) – including recipient, sub-recipient, and contractors agreements (if applicable)

• Key Staff Resumes

Appendix A, Tips for Writing a Strong Application, can be used as a resource.

The Project Narrative and Budget Narrative sections of the application must be double-spaced, on 8-1/2”

X 11” plain white paper with 1” margins on all sides, and use either Cambria or Times New Roman font size of not less than 11 point. Smaller font sizes may be used to fill in the Standard Forms, exhibits, and figures, though all text in forms, exhibits, and figures must not be smaller than 8 point font.

Project Abstract

Applicants must include a one-page abstract that is no more than 500 words. This abstract is often distributed to the public and Congress and represents a high-level summary of the project. As a result, https://www.minorityhealth.hhs.gov/assets/PDF/2020_Minority_Serving_Institutions.pdf http://www.grants.gov/ mailto:oncgrants@hhs.gov applicant should prepare a clear, accurate, concise abstract that can be understood without reference to other parts of the application and that provides a description of the proposed project, including: the project’s goal(s), objectives, overall approach, anticipated outcomes, products, and duration. Use of bullets to enumerate items is welcome. Personal identifying information should be excluded from the abstract.

The applicant shall place the following information at the top of the Project Abstract (this information is not included in the 500 word maximum):

• Project Title

• Applicant Name

• Physical Address

• Contact Name

• Contact Phone Numbers (Voice, Fax)

• E-Mail Address

• Web Site Address, if applicable

Project Narrative

The project narrative provides the most substantive information regarding the proposed project in a clear and concise manner. To that end, the applicant must submit a project narrative that addresses the elements articulated in the Program Description and Performance Goals sections of this NOFO. The project narrative should also align with the performance goals (see section A) and merit review evaluation criteria (see section E) presented in this NOFO.

The Project Narrative must be double-spaced, formatted to 8 ½” x 11” (letter-size) pages, 1” or larger margins on all sides, and a font size of not less than 11 point. The maximum length allowed for the

Project Narrative is 25 pages. A Project Narrative that exceeds the 25 page limit will not be reviewed past the 25th page. Resumes of key personnel, if requested, are not counted as part of the Project

Narrative and are not included in the 25 page limit.

Your project narrative should include the following components. These components will be counted as part of the page limit. The suggested lengths of the sections, given below, are guidelines to help applicants create a balanced document, and not mandatory restrictions:

• Section 1: Purpose and Impact – 1 page

• Section 2: Approach, Work Plan, and Program Activities – 10 pages

• Section 3: Organizational and Technical Capabilities – 4 pages

• Section 4: Collaborator Involvement and Partnerships – 5 pages

• Section 5: Budget, Level of Effort, and Justification – 4 pages

• Section 6: Program Sustainability – 1 page

Form SF-424, Application for Federal Assistance

Appendix B provides line-by-line instructions to complete the form. Please note that the SF-424 is used for a wide variety of Federal grant programs, and Federal agencies have the discretion to require some or all of the information on these forms. Accordingly, when completing the form, please use the instructions in Appendix B in lieu of the standard instructions attached to SF-424.

Form SF-424A, Budget Information for Non-Construction Programs

Appendix C provides line-by-line instructions to complete the form. Please note that the SF-424A is used for a wide variety of Federal grant programs, and Federal agencies have the discretion to require some or all of the information on these forms. Accordingly, when completing the form, please use the instructions in Appendix C in lieu of the standard instructions attached to SF-424A. All direct and indirect costs must be allowable, allocable, reasonable and necessary in accordance with HHS’ Uniform

Administrative Requirements at 45 CFR part 75 Subpart E—Cost Principles, factors affecting allowable costs at 45 CFR 75.403, and applicable Hospital cost principles in Appendix IX to 45 CFR Part 75.

Form SF-424B, Assurances for Non-Construction Programs

This form contains laws and other assurances applicants must comply with under the discretionary funds programs administered by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.

Please note that a duly authorized representative of the applicant organization must certify that the organization is in compliance with these assurances.

Form SF-LLL, Disclosure of Lobbying Activities

This form contains the name and address of lobbying registrants. Please note that a duly authorized representative of the applicant organization must sign the disclosure form. Failure to complete and sign the form may result in civil penalties ranging from $10,000 to $100,000. If your organization does not engage in lobbying, please insert “non-applicable” on the document and include the authorized representative name, contact information, and signature.

Budget Narrative

The budget narrative describes how the proposed budget, as articulated in the SF-424A, aligns with the applicant’s project narrative. That is to ensure that costs are realistic (not artificially too low) and reasonable (not inflated) in view of programmatic requirements. Appendix D provides a template to complete the budget narrative populated with sample information.

When more than 33% of a project’s total budget falls under a contractual expense, a detailed budget narrative/justification must be provided for each sub-contractor or sub-recipient. Applicants requesting funding for multi-year award programs are required to provide a combined multi-year budget narrative/justification, as well as a detailed budget narrative/justification for each year of potential federal award funding. A separate budget narrative/justification is also required for each potential year of federal funding requested.

The full Budget Narrative/Justification should be included in the application immediately following the

SF 424 forms. The Budget Narrative must be double-spaced, formatted to 8 ½” x 11” (letter-size) pages, 1” or larger margins on all sides, and a font size of not less than 11 point.

Letters of Intent

Notice of Intent - Although not required, applicants are strongly encouraged to submit a non-binding notice of intent to apply for this funding opportunity. The notice of intent should be sent via e-mail to

PHITWorkforce@hhs.gov by 11:59 P.M. Eastern Standard Time on 07/26/2021. The notice should identify the name of the applicant organization, the city and state in which the applicant organization is located, the Notice of Funding Opportunity title, and funding opportunity number. This notice will assist

ONC in planning for the application review process.

Consortium Participant Letters of Intent - Applications must include letters confirming key collaborator intent to participate in the proposed project. These letters should be written on official letterhead and should provide a brief description of the information, services, and expertise that will be provided to the consortium. At a minimum, the letter must explain the demonstrated commitment to the project and describe how the collaborator will coordinate and collaborate with the other members of the consortium to achieve the goals of the program. See Appendix E for an example. Consortium members must include, but are not limited to: 1) representatives from State, local, or county health departments;

and 2) community-based organizations such as community health centers, rural health clinics, behavioral health providers, and/or other local non-profit/clinical providers. Applicants are also encouraged to include representatives from health IT organizations with local, state or national reach, public health organizations, entities with expertise in addressing health disparities, and representatives from organizations who help shape standards or govern implementation of health IT, in their consortium.

These letters are not considered as part of the page limit. Signed letters of intent should be scanned and included as attachments.

Proof of Non-Profit Status

Non-profit applicants must submit proof of non-profit status. Any of the following constitutes acceptable proof of such status:

• A copy of a currently valid IRS tax exemption certificate.

• A statement from a state taxing body, state attorney general, or other appropriate state official certifying that the applicant organization has a non-profit status and that none of the net earnings accrue to any private shareholders or individuals.

• A certified copy of the organization’s certificate of incorporation or similar document that clearly establishes non-profit status.

Indirect Cost Agreement(s)

Applicants that have included indirect costs in their budgets must include a copy of the current indirect cost rate agreement approved by HHS or another federal agency. This is optional for applicants that have not included indirect costs in their budgets. Further, if any sub-contractors or sub-recipients are requesting indirect costs, copies of their indirect cost agreements must also be included with the application. Cost allocation plans are not accepted.

Per HHS’ regulatory requirements for Federal awards at 45 CFR Part 75.414, Indirect costs on HHS

Federal awards for training are limited to a fixed rate of eight percent of modified total direct costs

(MTDC) exclusive of tuition and related fees, direct expenditures for equipment, and subawards in excess of $25,000.

Additionally, per 45 CFR § 75.414(f) Indirect (F&A) costs, "any non-Federal entity [i.e., applicant] that has never received a negotiated indirect cost rate, ... may elect to charge a de minimis rate of 10% of

MTDC which may be used indefinitely. As described in Section 75.403, costs must be consistently charged as either indirect or direct costs, but may not be double charged or inconsistently charged as both. If chosen, this methodology once elected must be used consistently for all Federal awards until such time as the non-Federal entity chooses to negotiate for a rate, which the non-Federal entity may apply to do at any time."

Key Staff Include key staff and key partner staff resumes or curriculum vitae (CV). These documents are not included in the page limit.

Application Submission Instructions

1) You must access the electronic application for this program via http://www.grants.gov. You can search the downloadable application page by the Notice of Funding Opportunity Number ARP-PHIT-

21-001 or CFDA number 93.355.

The deadline for the submission of applications under this Funding Opportunity is 11:59PM

Eastern Standard Time on August 11, 2021. Applications that fail to meet the application deadline will not be reviewed and will receive no further consideration.

ONC determines whether an application has met the deadline based on the time of submission indicated in Grants.gov.

2) Applicants will be able to download a copy of the application packet and complete it off-line. In order to complete the application, an organization must have a Dun and Bradstreet (D&B) Data

Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number. A DUNS number can be obtained via http://fedgov.dnb.com/webform and typically takes 1 to 2 business days. Please plan accordingly.

3) Completed applications must be uploaded into Grants.gov. APPLICATIONS WILL NOT BE

ACCEPTED THROUGH ANY OTHER WEBSITE, AND WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED THROUGH

PAPER MAIL, E-MAIL, COURIER, OR DELIVERY SERVICE.

An applicant must be registered in Grants.gov which can take several days. To that end, applicants are strongly encouraged to register and test Grants.gov logins and passwords well in advance of the application deadline date. For assistance with www.grants.gov, please contact support@Grants.gov or

1-800-518-4726. Resources are available 24 hours a day/7 days a week.

A depiction of the Grants.gov application process can be found at http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/apply-for-grants.html

4) After electronically submitting your application, Grants.gov will generate an email with a tracking number and date of receipt verification confirming that the application was received, and including the date and time the application was received. This notification does not ensure that your application could be opened and read -- only that the application was received.

Restrictions on Oral Conversations

This funding announcement is subject to restrictions on oral conversations during the period of time commencing with the submission of a formal application by an individual or entity and ending with the award of the competitive funds. Federal officials may not participate in oral communications initiated by any person or entity concerning a pending application for a competitive grant or other competitive form of federal financial assistance, whether or not the initiating party is a federally registered lobbyist.

This restriction applies unless:

• The communication is purely logistical

• The communication is made at a widely attended gathering

• The communication is to or from a federal agency official and another federal Government employee http://fedgov.dnb.com/webform http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/apply-for-grants.html

• The communication is to or from a federal agency official and an elected chief executive of a state, local, or tribal government, or to or from a federal agency official and the Presiding Officer or

Majority Leader in each chamber of a state legislature

• The communication is initiated by the federal agency official

Unique Entity Identifier and System for Award Management (SAM)

In order to upload applications into Grants.gov:

a) An applicant must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM), at SAM.gov, which requires having a DUNS number. The SAM registration process takes 7 to 10 business days so please plan accordingly. If you have already registered with SAM, but have not renewed your registration in the last 12 months, you will need to renew your registration.

b) Please note that entities registering in SAM must submit a notarized letter appointing their authorized Entity Administrator. This will not impact the registration approval process, but is required as part of your registration. For additional information, read SAM’s updated FAQs to learn more about changes to the notarized letter review process and other system improvements.

c) An applicant must provide a unique valid entity identifier on the application. ONC may not make a federal award to an applicant until the applicant has complied with all applicable unique entity identifier and SAM requirements and, if an applicant has not fully complied with the requirements by the time ONC is ready to make an award, ONC may determine that the applicant is not qualified to receive a federal award and make an award to another complying applicant.

The following website depicts the SAM registration process:

http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/organization-registration.html

Program Income

There are four potential ways in which ONC may require that a recipient apply program income as specified in the Notice of Award: 1) deduct it from total allowable program costs to determine the net allowable costs on which the Federal share of costs is based; 2) add it to funds otherwise available for the program, generally resulting in an increase to the total approved budget; 3) use it to meet a matching or cost sharing requirement; or 4) a combination of these alternatives.

Costs paid by program income generally are subject to the applicable cost principles and other Federal requirements and must be disbursed for program purposes before requesting additional payments of

Federal funds. In the event program income remains at the end of the award, the additional income is considered part of the award funding and must be returned to ONC. If program income is generated, the recipient must use the additive method.

Intergovernmental Review

Applications for this funding opportunity are not subject to review by states under Executive Order

12372, “Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs” (45 CFR 100). Please check box “C” on item

19 of the SF-424 (Application for Federal Assistance) as Review by State Executive Order 12372, does not apply to this funding opportunity.

https://www.fsd.gov/gsafsd_sp?id=kb_category&kb_category=2ad0cfc81b4f64108aa3a8eae54bcbf5 http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/organization-registration.html

Funding Restrictions

Funds cannot be used for the following purposes:

• To supplant or replace current public or private funding

• To supplant ongoing or usual activities of any organization involved in the project - Applicants that already have a public health informatics and technology curriculum/program must demonstrate how award funds will supplement and not supplant their existing funds, and must describe how funding will increase the number of underrepresented minorities who are trained and placed into public health and technology careers

• To purchase or improve land, or to purchase, construct, or make permanent improvements to any building

• To reimburse pre-award costs

E. Application Review Information

Screening Review

Applications that meet the following screening criteria will be sent forward for merit review:

• Only consortia approaches will be considered for this program. Applications must include letters of intent from at least one state, local, or county health department and at least one community-based organization to participate in the proposed consortium. The letters should describe the projected level of involvement of each entity in the program.

• The lead applicant should be an HBCU, TCU, HSI, AANAPISI, or MSI that is able to establish a new program or currently offer an existing computer science, information science, biomedical technology, public health, health informatics, or similar program.