PKG00249927-instructions.docx

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, Office on Women’s Health

FUNDING OPPORTUNITY TITLE: Preventing HIV Infection in Women through Expanded Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) Prevention, Screening, and Response Services ACTION: Notice ANNOUNCEMENT TYPE: COMPETITIVE COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT FUNDING OPPORTUNITY NUMBER: WH-AST-19-001

CFDA NUMBER: 93.088

CFDA PROGRAM: Advancing System Improvements for Key Issues in Women’s Health

DATES:

Technical Assistance:

A technical assistance webinar for potential applicants is planned for Tuesday, April 30, 2019 at 2 pm ET. To register for the technical assistance webinar, please follow the steps below:

1. Go to the URL listed below and choose “Web RSVP” under Join Events

2. Enter the conference number and passcode provided

3. Provide your information for the event leader and then click submit

4. Registrants will receive an automated email from e-meetings@mymeetings.com with their registration and access information URL: https://www.mymeetings.com/emeet/rsvp/index.jsp?customHeader=mymeetings&Conference_ID=9029786&passcode=2118445 Conference Number: 9029786 Passcode: 2118445 We recommend you review the entire announcement promptly so you can have any questions answered well in advance of the application due date. We also recommend you subscribe to this announcement in Grants.gov so you receive any amendments, question and answer documents, or other updates.

Applications: Your application is due June 12, 2019 by 6 p.m. Eastern Time. To receive consideration, you must submit your application electronically via Grants.gov no later than this due date and time. If you do not submit your application by the specified deadline, we will return it to you unread. You must submit electronically via Grants.gov unless you obtain a written exemption from this requirement 2 business days in advance of the deadline from the Director, HHS/Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH) Office of Grants Management (OGM). To obtain an exemption, you must request one via email from the HHS/OASH OGM, and provide details as to why you are technologically unable to submit electronically through Grants.gov. Your request should be submitted at least 4 business days prior to the application deadline to ensure your request can be considered prior to 2 business days in advance of the deadline. If you request an exemption, include the following in your e-mail request: the HHS/OASH announcement number; your organization's DUNS number; your organization’s name, address and telephone number; the name and telephone number of your Authorizing Official; the Grants.gov Tracking Number (for example, GRANT####) assigned to your submission; and a copy of the "Rejected with Errors" notification from Grants.gov. Send the request with supporting documentation to ogm.oash@hhs.gov. Note: failure to have an active System for Account Management (SAM) registration prior to the application due date will not be grounds for receiving an exemption to the electronic submission requirement. Failure to follow Grants.gov instructions to ensure software compatibility will not be grounds for receiving an exemption to the electronic submission requirement.

The HHS/OASH OGM will only accept applications via alternate methods (hardcopy paper via U.S. mail or other provider or PDF via email) from applicants obtaining prior written approval. If you receive an exemption, you must still submit your application by the deadline. Only applications submitted through the Grants.gov portal or alternate format (hardcopy paper via U.S. mail or other service or PDF via email) with an approved written exemption will be accepted. See Section D.7 (“Other Submission Requirements”) for information on application submission mechanisms.

To ensure adequate time to submit your application successfully, HHS/OASH recommends that you register as early as possible in Grants.gov since the registration process can take up to one month. You must register an authorizing official for your organization.

HHS/OASH does not determine your organization’s authorizing official; your organization makes that designation. For information on registering for Grants.gov, refer to http://www.grants.gov or contact the Grants.gov Contact Center 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (excluding Federal holidays) at 1-800-518-4726 or support@grants.gov.

Your organization is strongly encouraged to register multiple authorized organization representatives in Grants.gov to ensure someone is available to submit your application.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Office on Women’s Health announces the anticipated availability of funds for Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 to award $3,100,000 in the form of cooperative agreement awards under the authority of 42 U.S.C. § 300u-2(a) and 42 U.S.C. § 237a (§ 3509 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act). This notice solicits applications for projects to serve women at increased risk of HIV infection and intimate partner violence (IPV) through expanded primary prevention, screening, and response activities.

IPV describes sexual violence, stalking, physical violence, psychological aggression, and/or control of reproductive or sexual health perpetrated by an intimate partner who is described as a romantic or sexual partner including spouses, boyfriends, girlfriends, people who an individual has dated, was seeing, or “hooked up” (NISVS, 2018). A nationally representative study found that women who had experienced IPV in the last year were almost 3.5 as likely as women who had not experience IPV to have an HIV/AIDS diagnosis (Sareen et al, 2009).

Additionally, racial/ethnic minority women are at higher than average risk of experiencing IPV and HIV. Over half of multiracial women, and almost half of American Indian/Alaska Native and non-Hispanic Black women have experienced intimate partner violence (IPV).

Black/African American females also experience HIV infection rates 15.1 times the rate of white females, while Hispanic/Latina females have an HIV infection rate that is 3.1 times that of white females. Recent statistics have identified other populations at elevated risk of victimization and HIV infection, such as the economically disadvantaged and women with lower levels of educational attainment (NISVIS, 2018; CDC, 2019).

This cooperative agreement funding opportunity announcement (FOA) is part of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services’ (HHS) ongoing response to intimate partner violence, and incorporates a focus on the HHS objective of ending the HIV epidemic. In February 2019, the President and the Secretary of Health and Human Services announced Ending the HIV Epidemic: A Plan for America (https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/ending-the-hiv-epidemic-fact-sheet.pdf). The multi-year program aims to reduce new HIV infections by 75% in 5 years. A key strategy of this initiative is to protect people at risk for HIV (HHS, 2019). In an effort to support this initiative, the HHS Office on Women’s health cooperative agreement will target local communities with high prevalence rates of both HIV and IPV, where women are most at risk of contracting HIV, as demonstrated through community needs assessments.

The cooperative agreement aims to improve the overall health-related quality of life of women and girls by reducing the negative physical and mental health impacts HIV and intimate partner violence by preventing, screening for, and responding to intimate partner violence within communities with a high prevalence of HIV. For this FOA, intimate partner violence (IPV) describes sexual violence, stalking, physical violence, psychological aggression, and/or control of reproductive or sexual health perpetrated by an intimate partner. An intimate partner is a romantic or sexual partner including spouses, boyfriends, girlfriends, people who an individual has dated, was seeing, or “hooked up” (NISVIS, 2018).

In order to achieve this goal, OWH intends to fund community-serving organizations who employ a community-level focus to serve women at increased risk of experiencing both HIV infection and intimate partner violence through expanded primary prevention, screening, and response activities in communities with a high prevalence of HIV.

Approaches will incorporate work across different systems or sectors of service provision to incorporate relevant stakeholders and health and human services providers in their comprehensive approaches. Services within, but not limited to sectors such as legal assistance, law enforcement, mental health services, substance abuse treatments, primary care, and housing are examples of elements that can be incorporated. New prevention activities based on identifying and addressing harmful gender and social norms that contribute to intimate partner violence, screening for both IPV and HIV, and response activities focused on supporting victims/survivors of intimate partner violence and providing services to HIV+ individuals, will serve as the basis of these funded efforts. Existing prevention, screening, and response activities will also be augmented through this approach.

OWH anticipates awarding two (2) to five (5) innovative, gender-informed projects over two years addressing:

· Goal 1: support victims/survivors to lessen harms after experiencing IPV, including activities that aim to prevent HIV transmission, and increase HIV screening, and improve access to services for individuals with newly acquired HIV infections.

· Goal 2: promote social norms that protect against IPV.

These goals recognize the intersections between intimate partner violence and increased risk for HIV infection, and the need for comprehensive, patient-centric, and trauma-informed care for affected women to prevent negative health outcomes associated with IPV, particularly HIV infection.

This FOA seeks applicants capable of providing a community-level focus to serve women at increased risk of experiencing both HIV infection and intimate partner violence through expanded primary prevention, screening, and response activities within communities with high prevalence of HIV infection. Projects will be based on community needs assessments that will be used to inform planning, implementation, and evaluation efforts and to assist in identifying relevant risk and protective factors for intimate partner violence and HIV, crucial services and partners needed by their target population, and indicators of successful project outcomes.

Approaches will be guided by the core strategies and approaches outlined in the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention’s (CDC) STOP SV technical package. The STOP SV technical package will help public health practitioners identify core focus areas, strategies, and approaches for preventing and responding to intimate partner violence. The STOP SV technical package will guide projects’ strategies and approaches to promoting social norms that protect against violence, and supporting victims/survivors to lessen the harms they experience. Specifically, prevention activities will be rooted in approaches linked to the STOP SV technical package strategy of promoting social norms that protect against violence. These approaches will work towards potential outcomes such as reductions in the acceptability of intimate partner violence, increases in recognition of abusive behavior towards others, including individuals who experience abuse in connection to their HIV+ status, and increases in favorable beliefs towards safe communities.

Additionally, response activities will be rooted in STOP SV’s strategy of supporting victims/survivors to lessen the harms they experience, including increased risk of HIV infection. These approaches will work towards potential outcomes such as reductions in short- and long- term negative effects of IPV victimization, including HIV infection, and improvements in access to services for IPV survivors.

Violence against women, of which IPV is a key form, continues to affect millions of women and girls each year. Women who have experienced sexual violence, stalking and intimate partner violence report poor physical and mental health at higher rates as compared to women who have not experienced violence (NISVIS, 2010). A nationally representative study found that women who had experienced IPV in the last year were almost 3.5 as likely as women who had not experience IPV to have an HIV/AIDS diagnosis (Sareen et al, 2009). Projects will be based on a theory of change capitalizing on existing relationships with various health and human services systems and sectors serving the target population. Key project components will include:

· Clearly defined target population(s) as identified through a community needs assessment indicating epidemiological and demographic data such as prevalence of HIV, prevalence of IPV, race/ethnicity, average household income; the geographic region or specific community; or other relevant community-level characteristics demonstrating the particular risk for HIV and IPV in the community.

· Approaches demonstrating:

· (1) an understanding of the role harmful gender and social norms play in contributing to intimate partner violence

· (2) a model that promotes optimal health outcomes for the client (physical, mental and social health) by emphasizing an understanding of patient-centric, trauma- informed responses to intimate partner violence and HIV care

· (3) the deliberate inclusion of interdisciplinary service providers and partners from multiple systems and sectors such as those capable of providing preventive health services that lead to improved women’s health outcomes; providing resources that prioritize optimal health outcomes (physical, mental, and social health) for individuals and couples with the goal of healthy relationships and reduced transmission of HIV; providing the tools necessary for the inclusion of substance abuse disorder screening; and increasing attention to CDC screening recommendations for HIV and others STDs

· Appropriate program evaluation measures and instruments for data collection throughout the life of the project

OWH has strong experience in programs for women experiencing intimate partner violence. This experience and existing literature highlights the critical need to link affected and at-risk women with services from multiple sectors in a patient-centric and trauma-informed manner. These linkages between sectors facilitate comprehensive responses to individuals’ unique needs and help ensure efficacy in prevention, screening, and response activities. Sectors to link as part of comprehensive approaches include but are not limited to legal assistance, law enforcement, mental health services, substance abuse treatments, transportation, childcare, employers, and housing. Services spanning multiple sectors help break down systematic barriers, and can help modify harmful gender and other social norms that contribute to IPV.

HHS/Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH) encourages applicants to review all program requirements, eligibility information, application format and submission information, evaluation criteria, and other information in this funding announcement to ensure that its application complies with all requirements and instructions. Project teams will disseminate their findings with relevant stakeholders at the end of, and as appropriate, during the funding period.

HHS/OASH encourages applicants to review all program requirements, eligibility information, application format and submission information, evaluation criteria, and other information in this funding announcement to ensure that its application complies with all requirements and instructions.

A. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION: Purpose This funding opportunity announcement (FOA) seeks applicants capable of providing a community-level focus to the prevention, screening, and response to intimate partner violence (IPV) and its intersection with the risk of HIV infection. Successful approaches will work across different systems and/or sectors of service provision to incorporate relevant stakeholders and health and human service providers in their comprehensive approaches. New prevention, screening, and response activities based on identifying and addressing harmful gender and social norms that contribute to IPV and address increased risk of HIV infection will serve as the basis of applicants’ efforts. Existing prevention, screening, and response activities will also be expanded through this approach.

Background

Violence against women, including all forms of sexual violence, stalking, and intimate partner violence, continues to affect millions of women and girls each year. CDC’s National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey 2010-2012 State Report, released in 2017, indicates that 1 in 4 women reported intimate partner violence that resulted in a related impact, such as injury. Women who have experienced intimate partner violence report poor physical and mental health at higher rates as compared to women who have not experienced violence. A nationally representative study found that women who had experienced IPV in the last year were almost 3.5 as likely as women who had not experience IPV to have an HIV/AIDS diagnosis (Sareen et al, 2009). This may be explained by findings indicating that women who had experienced IPV in their current or past primary partnerships also reported higher rates of multiple sexual partners, past or current sexually transmitted infections, inconsistent or nonuse of condoms, and a partner with known HIV risk factors (Wu et al, 2003). The CDC reports that between 2010 and 2016, 88.6% of new HIV infections among females were transmitted through heterosexual contact (2019).

While the incidence of intimate partner violence victimization is high among all women, some women have a higher risk of victimization than others. Racial/ethnic minority women are at higher than average risk of experiencing intimate partner violence. Over half of multiracial women, and almost half of American Indian/Alaska Native and non-Hispanic Black women have experienced intimate partner violence. Recent statistics have identified other populations at elevated risk of victimization such as the economically disadvantaged, justice-involved, elderly, women with disabilities, and women with lower levels of educational attainment (NISVIS, 2010).

Many groups of women at high risk for IPV also are at higher risk for HIV, including racial/ethnic minority women. Black/African American females experience HIV infection rates

15.1 times the rate of white females, while Hispanic/Latina females have an HIV infection rate that is 3.1 times that of white females. While the majority of new cases of HIV among black/African American and Hispanic/Latina females that occurred between 2010 and 2016 were linked to heterosexual contact (95.2% and 89.1%, respectively), a significant portion of white females reported HIV transmission through injection drug use (28.6%) (CDC, 2019). Other groups at higher risk of acquiring HIV include women with less than a high school education and women with a household income of less than $20,000 per year (Sareen et al, 2009).

Evidence of Effective Response Strategies: IPV Provider Network

OWH has strong experience in programs addressing violence against women – particularly intimate partner violence – and with incorporating gender considerations in program planning and evaluation. Preliminary evaluation results of OWH’s competitive cooperative agreements IPV Provider Network: Engaging the Health Care Provider Response to Intimate Partner Violence Against Women highlight the critical need to link affected and at-risk women with services from multiple sectors beyond health care. These linkages between sectors facilitate comprehensive responses to individuals’ unique needs and help ensure effectiveness in prevention, screening, and response. Sectors to link as part of comprehensive approaches include but are not limited to legal assistance, law enforcement, mental health services, substance abuse treatments, transportation, childcare, employers, and housing. Services spanning multiple sectors help break down systematic barriers, and can help modify harmful gender and other social norms that contribute to violence against women.

Previous OWH Work on the Intersection of IPV and HIV/AIDS

As part of the effort to address the link between IPV and HIV, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office on Women’s Health (OWH) developed the Cross-Learning Training and Collaboration Guide in DV and HIV. The training was designed to increase the capacity of IPV advocates and HIV counselors to provide client-centered, integrated domestic violence (DV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) services to the women and girls they serve. OWH brought together HIV and IPV service providers to participate in pilot cross-training events. Information and feedback was gathered from participants about the curricula, the state of each field, and collaboration in their local area, as well as suggestions for enhancing and delivering these curricula at other sites nationally. Their input and feedback made this new training possible.

Evidence of Effective Prevention Strategies: STOP SV

STOP SV is a technical package developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to present a core set of strategies to achieve and sustain prevention activities with the greatest potential to reduce sexual violence (SV). The technical package helps communities and states prioritize prevention activities based on the best available evidence.

While designed for sexual violence, the strategies and approaches outlined in STOP SV are applicable to violence more broadly. Activities are categorized as strategies, approaches, and evidence. Strategies and approaches in the technical package are pulled from different levels of social ecology and do not always reach individuals directly, but are intended to affect relationships, families, schools, employers, communities, and social structures in addition to individual behaviors. This comprehensive approach reflects existing evidence in the prevention, screening, and response to violence against women including IPV, and encourages cross-systems and cross-sectors work to address violence resulting from harmful gender and social norms. For the purposes of this FOA, systems are the organizations, processes, and vehicles through which individuals access services. Examples include health systems, hospital emergency departments, and community health systems. Sectors are the groupings of systems that are distinct from others based on the services they traditionally provide. Examples of sectors include health care, law enforcement, education, transportation, and housing. STOP SV is comprised of the following five strategies:

1. Promote Social Norms that Protect Against Violence

2. Teach Skills to Prevent Sexual Violence,

3. Provide Opportunities to Empower and Support Girls and Women,

4. Create Protective Environments, and

5. Support Victims/Survivors to Lessen Harms.

Background of the STOP SV technical package is available at https://www.cdc.gov/features/sexual-violence-prevention/index.html, and the complete STOP SV technical package is available at https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/sv-prevention-technical-package.pdf.

Key issue

The Office of the Assistant Secretary of Health (OASH) and the Office of the Secretary (OS) of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have identified HIV/AIDS as an important priority focus area. In February 2019, the President and the Secretary of Health and Human Services announced Ending the HIV Epidemic: A Plan for America (https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/ending-the-hiv-epidemic-fact-sheet.pdf). The multi-year program aims to reduce new HIV infections by 75% in 5 years. A key strategy of this initiative is to protect people at risk for HIV (HHS, 2019). In an effort to support this initiative, the HHS

Office on Women’s health cooperative agreement will target local communities with high prevalence rates of both HIV and IPV, where women are most at risk of contracting HIV, as demonstrated through community needs assessments. Applicants should provide documentation of how they will address the focus area and build on the existing knowledge base in this area.

OWH Expectations of Recipients

This FOA seeks applicants capable of providing a community-level focus to serve women at increased risk of experiencing both HIV infection and intimate partner violence through expanded primary prevention, screening, and response activities within communities with high prevalence of HIV infection. Projects will be based on community needs assessments that will be used to inform planning, implementation, and evaluation efforts and to assist in identifying relevant risk and protective factors for intimate partner violence and HIV, crucial services and partners needed by their target population, and indicators of successful project outcomes.

Approaches will be guided by the core strategies and approaches outlined in the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention’s (CDC) STOP SV technical package. The STOP SV technical package will help public health practitioners identify core focus areas, strategies, and approaches for preventing and responding to intimate partner violence. The STOP SV technical package will guide projects’ strategies and approaches to promoting social norms that protect against violence, and supporting victims/survivors to lessen the harms they experience. Specifically, prevention activities will be rooted in approaches linked to the STOP SV technical package strategy of promoting social norms that protect against violence. These approaches will work towards potential outcomes such as reductions in the acceptability of intimate partner violence, increases in recognition of abusive behavior towards others, including individuals who experience abuse in connection to their HIV+ status, and increases in favorable beliefs towards safe communities. Additionally, response activities will be rooted in STOP SV’s strategy of supporting victims/survivors to lessen the harms they experience, including increased risk of HIV infection. These approaches will work towards potential outcomes such as reductions in short- and long- term negative effects of IPV victimization, including HIV infection, and improvements in access to services for IPV survivors.

Successful projects will include the following:

· Community- and setting-specific elements:

· Clearly defined target population. For the purposes of this FOA, target populations are defined as groups of women at increased risk of experiencing both HIV infection and IPV, as identified through a community needs assessment. Target populations can be defined by one or more of the following identifiers, along with prevalence estimates of HIV and IPV for the identified community. Applicants should provide documentation of how they will address these key issues in their application.

· Epidemiological data such as prevalence of HIV and prevalence of IPV

· Demographic data such as but not limited to age; race/ethnicity; socioeconomic status; educational attainment; employment status; marital status; health care coverage status; or other relevant community-level characteristics demonstrating the particular risk for HIV and IPV in the community, etc.

· Geographic region or specific community, such as a county within a state or a ward within a city;

· Approaches demonstrating:

· (1) an understanding of the role harmful gender and social norms play in contributing to intimate partner violence

· (2) Following a model that promotes optimal health outcomes for the client (physical, mental and social health) by emphasizing an understanding of patient-centric trauma-informed responses to intimate partner violence

· (3) the deliberate inclusion of interdisciplinary service providers and partners from multiple systems and sectors such as those capable of providing preventive health services that lead to improved women’s health outcomes; providing resources that prioritize optimal health outcomes (physical, mental, and social health) for individuals and couples with the goal of healthy relationships and reduced transmission of HIV; providing the tools necessary for the inclusion of substance abuse disorder screening; and increasing attention to CDC screening recommendations for HIV and others STDs

· Evaluation activities:

· Evaluation plan including proposed local process and outcome measures tied to the risk and protective factors identified in the community needs assessment

· A theory-driven process for implementing this evaluation plan and analyzing results throughout the life of the project

· Appropriate instruments for Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval and data collection during the start-up phase of the program.

· Reporting on progress toward meeting OWH-defined common measures and other performance targets on a quarterly basis.

· A final report covering grant operations, lessons learned, evaluation results, and challenges and success must be completed and submitted to OWH within 90 days following the end of the grant period.

COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT SUBSTANTIAL PROGRAMMATIC INVOLVEMENT

OF FEDERAL AGENCY

We will make awards in the form of a cooperative agreement. A cooperative agreement, as opposed to a grant, is an award instrument of financial assistance where the program office anticipates substantial programmatic involvement with the recipient during performance of the project or activity.

The OWH staff will have substantial involvement in carrying out the activity proposed by the award that is above and beyond the normal stewardship role in awards, as described below:

1. Provide prior approval for change of time that Key Personnel, other than the Project Director or Principal Investigator, are dedicated to the project and for replacement of Key Personnel. Key Personnel includes any position that supports day-to-day project management in addition to Project Director, such as Project Manager and Project Coordinator. The Local Evaluator is considered a central and key role for the project and will be in direct communication with program staff on a par with other key personnel. (Note changes to the Project Director or Principal Investigator are governed by regulation. 45 C.F.R. § 75.329.)

2. Provide guidance and support in the design and development of the project, including but not limited to the integration of gender-based approaches and the design of activities aligned with the STOP SV Technical Package. Consult with the awardee to support the design, questions, and success measures for recipients’ local evaluations and establish common measures to be collected by all project teams.

3. Serve as a resource to provide programmatic and evaluation support during the conduct of the program.

4. Have frequent communications with the Project Officer (PO), Project Manager and Evaluation Lead to discuss progress and consult on next steps.

5. Participate in the preparation of publications and public presentations of the data obtained under this cooperative agreement and consult with the awardee throughout the preparation and dissemination of materials related to the project. Review of recipient progress during the planning period and agreement to move forward with full implementation.

6. Review of the design, questions, and success measures for recipient evaluations.

AUTHORITY: 42 U.S.C. § 300u-2(a) and 42 U.S.C. § 237a (§ 3509 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act).

B. FEDERAL AWARD INFORMATION

Preventing HIV Infection in Women through Expanded Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) Prevention, Screening, and Response Services intends to make approximately $3,100,000 available for competitive cooperative agreements.

We will fund awards in annual increments (budget periods) and generally for a project period up to two years, although we may approve shorter project periods. Budget periods may also vary from the estimate indicated below due to timing of award issuance or other administrative factors. Funding for all approved budget periods beyond the first is generally level with the initial award amount and is contingent upon the availability of funds, satisfactory progress of the project, adequate stewardship of Federal funds, and the best interests of the Government.

Award Information

Estimated Federal Funds Available: $3,100,000 Anticipated Number of Awards: 2-5 Award Ceiling (Federal Funds including indirect costs): $1,033,333 per budget period Award Floor (Federal Funds including indirect costs): $500,000 per budget period Anticipated Start Date: 07/01/2018 Estimated Period of Performance: Not to exceed 2 years Anticipated Initial Budget Period Length: 12 months Type of Award: Cooperative Agreement. Agency substantial involvement is outlined in the Program Description in Section A.

Type of Application Accepted: Electronic via Grants.gov ONLY unless an exemption is granted

C. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

1. Eligible Applicants. Any public or private nonprofit entity located in a State (which includes one of the 50 United States, District of Columbia, Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, Guam, Republic of Palau, Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of the Marshall Islands) is eligible to apply for an award under this announcement. Faith-based organizations and American Indian/Alaska Native/Native American (AI/AN/NA) organizations are eligible to apply.

2. Cost Sharing or Matching: You are not required to provide cost sharing or matching in your proposed budget.

3. Other Eligibility Information

Application Disqualification Criteria

If you successfully submit an application, we will screen it to ensure it meets the below requirements. If we determine your application fails to meet the criteria described below we will disqualify it, that is, we will not review it and will give it no further consideration.

a) You must submit your application electronically via www.grants.gov (unless an exemption was granted 2 business days prior to the deadline) by the date and time indicated in the DATES section of this announcement.

b) If you successfully submit multiple applications from the same organization for the same project, we will only review the last application received by the deadline.

c) HHS/OASH/OGM deems your application eligible according to section C.1 Eligible Applicants.

d) You must complete the required forms in the application package: SF-424, SF-424A, SF- 424B, SF-LLL, and Project Abstract Summary.

e) Your Project Narrative section of the application must be double-spaced, on the equivalent of 8 ½ ” x 11” inch page size, with 1” margins on all sides (top, bottom, left and right) and font size not less than 12 points.

f) Your Project Narrative must not exceed 25 pages. NOTE: The following items do not count toward the Project Narrative page limit: all required forms, including SF-424, SF- 424A, SF-424B, SF-LLL, Project Abstract Summary, and Budget Narrative (including budget tables).

g) Your total application, including the Project Narrative plus Appendices, must not exceed 25 pages. NOTE: items listed in “e” immediately above do not count toward total page limit.

h) Your Federal funds request including indirect costs must not exceed the maximum indicated in Award Ceiling.

i) Your Federal funds request including indirect costs must not be below the minimum indicated in Award Floor.

D. APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION

1. Address to Request Application Package

You may obtain an application package electronically by accessing Grants.gov at http://www.grants.gov/. You can find it by searching on the CFDA number shown on page 1 of this funding opportunity announcement. If you have problems accessing the application or difficulty downloading, contact:

Office of Grants Management Phone: 240-453-8822 Email: ogm.oash@hhs.gov

2. Content and Form of Application Submission

i. Application Format

Your application must be prepared using the forms and information provided in the online application package.

The Project Narrative, and total application including appendices, must adhere to the page limit indicated in Application Disqualification Criteria listed in Section C. The page limit does not include the Budget Narrative (including budget tables), required forms, assurances, and certifications as described in the Application Disqualification Criteria. Please do not number pages or include a table of contents. Our grants management system will generate page numbers once your application is complete. If your application exceeds the specified page limits for the Project Narrative or Project Narrative plus Appendices when printed on 8.5” X 11” paper by HHS/OASH/OGM, we will not review it. We recommend you print out your application before submitting electronically to ensure that it is within the page limits and is easy to read.

You must double-space the Project Narrative pages.

You should use an easily readable typeface, such as Times New Roman or Arial. You must use 12-point font. You may single-space tables or use alternate fonts but you must ensure the tables are easy to read.

Appendices Format

Your Appendices should include any specific documents outlined in Section D.2.iii., under the heading “Appendices” in the Application Content section of this funding opportunity announcement. Your documents should be easy to read. You should use the same formatting specified for the Project Narrative. However, documents such as résumés/CVs, organizational charts, tables, or letters of commitment may use formatting common to those documents, but the pages must be easy to read. All of your appendices must be uploaded as a single, consolidated file in the Attachments section of your Grants.gov application.

Project Abstract Summary Format

You must complete the Project Abstract Summary form provided in the application package. The abstract will be used to provide reviewers with an overview of the application and will form the basis for the application summary in grants management and program summary documents. If your project is funded, HHS may publish information from your form; therefore, do not include sensitive or proprietary information.

Budget Narrative Format

The Budget Narrative should use the formatting required of the Project Narrative for the explanatory text. Budget tables may be single-spaced but should be laid out in an easily-readable format and within the printable margins of the page.

ii. Application Content

Successful applications will contain the following information: Project Narrative Content The Project Narrative is the most important part of the application, since it will be used as the primary basis to determine whether your project meets the minimum requirements for an award under this announcement. The Project Narrative should provide a clear and concise description of your project. HHS/OASH recommends that your project narrative include the following components:

This funding opportunity announcement (FOA) seeks applicants who will provide a community-level focus to respond to and prevent cycles of gender-based violence within the communities they serve. Successful approaches will work across different systems or sectors of service provision to incorporate relevant stakeholders and health and human service providers in their comprehensive approaches. New activities aimed at identifying and addressing harmful gender and social norms that contribute to intimate partner violence will serve as the basis of applicants’ prevention efforts, while response activities will emphasize trauma-informed approaches and interrupting cycles of violence. Existing prevention, screening, and response activities will also be augmented by promoting social norms that protect against intimate partner violence, and supporting victims/survivors to lessen the harms of intimate partner violence.

Successful projects will include the following community- and setting-specific elements:

· Community needs assessments clearly identifying and describing target communities by:

· Indicating epidemiological and demographic data such as prevalence of HIV, prevalence of IPV, race/ethnicity, average household income; the geographic region or specific community; or other relevant community-level characteristics demonstrating the particular risk for HIV and IPV in the community.

· Outlining available services for individuals affected by intimate partner violence and HIV from the health, legal, and social support settings

· Identifying existing harmful gender and social norms contributing to intimate partner violence

· Approaches demonstrating:

· an understanding of the role harmful gender and social norms play in contributing to intimate partner violence

· following a model that promotes optimal health outcomes for the client (physical, mental and social health) by emphasizing an understanding of patient-centric trauma- informed responses to intimate partner violence

· the deliberate inclusion of interdisciplinary service providers and partners from multiple systems and sectors such as those capable of providing preventive health services that lead to improved women’s health outcomes; providing resources that prioritize optimal health outcomes (physical, mental, and social health) for individuals and couples with the goal of healthy relationships and reduced transmission of HIV; providing the tools necessary for the inclusion of substance abuse disorder screening; and increasing attention to CDC screening recommendations for HIV and others STDs

· Communication plan for program activities and draft dissemination plan for program results

· Sustainability plans for key prevention, screening, and response program elements

· Local evaluation capabilities including proposed design and process and outcome measures I. Problem Statement:

Succinctly identify and define the target population and contributing risk factors the proposed project and activities will target. Use quantitative and qualitative terms and data to describe and document the significance and prevalence of the problem or issues affecting particular target populations including minority and/or other at-risk group(s) that have a higher risk of experiencing gender-based violence as compared to the general population. Describe the nature and scope of intimate partner violence and HIV in your target area. Describe the target population(s) using race/ethnicity, age, gender, prevalence of HIV, educational, employment information as possible, as well as the target geographic area/site.

II. Goals and Objectives

Applicants’ project narratives should clearly identify how they address this FOA’s two overarching goals:

· Goal 1: support victims/survivors to lessen harms after experiencing IPV, including activities that aim to prevent HIV transmission, and increase HIV screening, and improve access to services for individuals with newly acquired HIV infections

· Goal 2: promote social norms that protect against IPV

These goals recognize the role social norms play in contributing to cycles of gender- based violence, and the need for comprehensive, patient-centric, and trauma-informed care for affected women. OWH has linked to a technical package summarized in this section to help applicants consider the critical factors their projects will address to serve their target populations.

III. Program Plan:

In this section, applicants provide a clear and concise description of their proposed activities to address the needs identified in this FOA and the problem described in the above “Problem Statement.” Applicants should explain the rationale for the proposed intervention and its described elements and present a clear connection between identified system gaps and needs and the applicants’ proposed activities. Proposals must detail the nature of activities to be undertaken, including the setting and stakeholders involved; how these activities address system gaps and identified issues; and how they will lead to successful accomplishment of project goals and objectives. Clarify why proposed activities were selected (i.e. has this approach been successful in other settings? Does existing research suggest this direction?). Also note anticipated barriers to proposed activities and how those barriers will be overcome. At a minimum, applications should:

· Indicate a plan for addressing the problems or issues. Provide detailed descriptions of specific products or outcomes proposed for development or modification.

· Describe the role and makeup of potential partners and, if applicable, sub-recipients involved in completing specific program activities. Also identify the level of effort each partner and sub-recipient is expected to provide in completing program activities.

· Provide specific details about intervention strategies, expected outcomes, and barriers for all anticipated years of the award.

Target Populations Served

For the purposes of this FOA, target populations are defined as groups of women who are at increased risk of experiencing both HIV infection and IPV, as identified through a community needs assessment. For this FOA, intimate partner violence includes any instance of sexual violence, stalking, physical violence, psychological aggression, and/or control of reproductive or sexual health by a romantic or sexual partner including spouses, boyfriends, girlfriends, people individuals have dated, were seeing, or “hooked up.”

Project Model:

STOP SV Technical Package

The STOP SV technical package should help guide the development of applicants’ program plans. For each of the following bullets, applicant organizations’ program plan should clearly identify and describe the approach, timing, setting, and individuals conducting the activity, and target population:

· Evidence-based strategies and practices to be implemented in the program plan.

· The anticipated theories of change underpinning project activities

· How the program will be implemented including needs assessments, planning, and evaluation

· Clearly delineate roles of participant organizations and subunits Proposed evaluation measures Applications should identify and describe activities associated with all applicable STOP SV strategy areas, including the two required STOP SV strategy areas, which are 1) to address promoting social norms that protect against violence and 2) creating protective environments. The complete STOP SV strategies are:

· Promoting Social norms that Protect Against Violence (required)

· Teach Skills to Prevent Sexual Violence (optional)

· Provide Opportunities to Empower and Support Girls and Women (optional)

· Create Protective Environments (optional)

· Support Victims/Survivors to Lessen Harms (required)

Background of the STOP SV technical package is available at https://www.cdc.gov/features/sexual-violence-prevention/index.html, and the complete STOP SV technical package is available at https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/sv-prevention-technical-package.pdf.

IV. Evaluation Plan

Applicants should describe the proposed evaluation design and plan, and include a theory-driven process framework for evaluating the implementation and effectiveness of multi- sectoral, community-level violence prevention, screening, and response interventions. This description should address:

· Barriers and facilitators related to implementing multi-sectoral and community-level prevention, screening, and response interventions to address intimate partner violence and HIV in target communities

· Sustainability of multi-sectoral partnerships and selected strategies from the STOP SV technical package

· The effectiveness of planned interventions at addressing specific risk and protective factors contributing to intimate partner violence and HIV within the target community as identified through the community needs assessment.

Applicants may suggest additional evaluation questions/topics to address and should include rationale for their inclusion relative to program activities and objectives, and how the collected data will be employed. An overview of plans for monitoring performance against the following targets based on the STOP SV package’s strategies and approaches. All teams must address promoting social norms that protect against violence, and support for victims/survivors to lessen harms, but may incorporate other STOP SV strategies. The complete STOP SV strategies are:

· Promoting Social norms that Protect Against Violence (required)

· Teach Skills to Prevent Sexual Violence (optional)

· Provide Opportunities to Empower and Support Girls and Women (optional)

· Create Protective Environments (optional)

· Support Victims/Survivors to Lessen Harms (required)

The STOP SV technical package provides examples of strategies and associated approaches and is available at https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/sv-prevention-technical-package.pdf.

V. Dissemination:

Project teams are expected to disseminate findings resulting from their OWH-funded work in order to contribute to broader public health practice. Innovative program elements, promising practices, and models of integrated care are all examples of innovative or model programs resulting from this FOA that would be valuable contributions to public health practice. While dissemination is partly dependent on the results of program activities, applications should identify areas of their proposed programs that are expected to yield results of interest to other public health practitioners and/or other stakeholders. Applications should include proposed settings, approaches, and the timing of dissemination activities associated with their program plans. Applicants are encouraged to consider diverse formats and forums for the dissemination of their findings given the expected scope of their work on expanded prevention, screening, and response services.

VI. Sustainability:

Applicants are encouraged…