Strengthening Public Health Services at the Outreach Offices of the U.S.-Mexico Border Health Commission

The anticipated funding, through the United States-Mexico Border Health Commission (BHC),will be used to support the Administration's priorities of the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) and Anti-Microbial Resistance (AMR) to optimize health and quality of life for residents in the border region. Projects should demonstrate that binational collaboration among multiple jurisdictions, academic institutions, and local organizations is feasible, and offer an important opportunity that can be expanded for additional public health impact.

This is a limited eligibility cooperative agreement offered to the Arizona Department of Health Services/Office of Border Health; the California Department of Public Health/California Office of Bi-national Border Health; the New Mexico Department of Health/Office of Border Health; and the Texas Department of State Health Services/Office of Border Health. The BHC's establishing legislation (22 U.S.C. § 290n) calls for close coordination and integration with each of the four state offices of border health, and enabled the Commission to locate its border health operations within those existing state offices to avoid duplicative efforts. The four U.S. offices of border health have extensive experience supporting the BHC's bi-national goals, objectives, and initiatives, and maintain important working relationships and shared ongoing initiatives with Mexico through the appropriate BHC outreach office(s) on the Mexican side of the border. Continuity and consistency in this bi-national effort in the border region is essential to the productivity and success of the BHC.

This funding is intended to support projects aligned with the goals of the United States-Mexico Border Health Commission, and its mission to provide leadership to optimize health and quality of life for residents in the border region. Special target populations and organizations can include specific sub-groups of interest, such as disadvantaged or medically underserved areas, limited-English speaking groups, migrant populations, native communities, and community-based organizations. The cooperative agreement mechanism encourages the formation and development of collaborative partnerships to facilitate sustainability of efforts and to maximize impact in the border region.

Applicants should provide documentation of the availability and qualifications (including expertise, relevant experience, education, and competence) of its proposed programmatic and administrative staff, as well as other personnel (including partner institutions, subcontractors, and consultants) who would perform required work activities. Acceptable documentation could include resumes/CVs, letters of endorsement, and narrative descriptions of previous work. Applicants should also provide documentation that demonstrates relevant depth of previous experiences communicating, coordinating, and collaborating with key stakeholders on multi-year border health initiatives involving relevant multi-sectoral partners (including those focusing on clinical medicine, public health, community outreach, academic research, government programs, policy making, etc.) 2 CFR 200, Subpart E - Cost Principles applies to this program.

Grant funds may only be used to support activities outlined in the approved project plan. The successful applicant will be responsible for the overall management of activities within the scope of the approved project plan. Please consult the HHS GPS Section II and 45 CFR §75.308 for aspects of your grant award that will require prior approval for any changes from the Grants Management Officer.

12 months.

Identified in the Funding Opportunity Announcement

Technical Approach: 30 points; Organizational Approach: 20 points; Personnel Qualifications: 20 points; Border Coordination Experience: 30 points

Applications will be screened upon receipt. Those that are judged to be incomplete or arrive after the deadline will be returned without comment. Each HHS/OGA Program's office is responsible for facilitating the process of evaluating applications and setting funding levels according to the criteria set forth in the Funding Opportunity Announcement. An independent review panel will evaluate applications that pass the screening and meet the responsiveness criteria if applicable. These reviewers are experts in their fields, and are drawn from academic institutions, non-profit organizations, state and local government, and Federal government agencies. Based on the Application Review Criteria (as outlined under Section E.1 of the Funding Opportunity Announcement), the reviewers will comment on and score the applications, focusing their comments and scoring decisions on the identified criteria. In addition to the independent review panel, Federal staff will review each application for programmatic, budgetary, and grants management compliance. Final award decisions will be made by the HHS Assistant Secretary for Global Affairs.

HHS/OASH seeks to award funds as much in advance of the anticipated project start date shown in Section B "Federal Award Information," as practicable, with a goal of 10-15 days. If you are unsuccessful, you will be notified by the program office by email and/or letter and will receive summary comments pertaining to the application resulting from the review process. On occasion, some applicants may receive a letter indicating that an application was approved but unfunded. These applications are kept active for one year and may be considered for award without re-competing should funds become available during the hold period.

Project period is for 3 years. Each year of the approved project period, you will be required to submit a noncompeting application which includes a progress report for the current budget year, and work plan, budget and budget justification for the upcoming year. Specific guidance will be provided via Grant Solutions well in advance of the application due date. HHS/OASH will award continuation funding based on availability of funds, satisfactory progress of the project, and grants management compliance, including timely reporting. Additionally, failure to provide final progress or financial reports on other grants with HHS may affect continuation funding.