Activities to Support State, Tribal, Local and Territorial (STLT) Health Department Response to Public Health or Healthcare Crises

CDC will strengthen the U.S. public health system's response to public health or healthcare crises by providing specialized support to State, Tribal, Local and Territorial health departments (STLTs) when engaged in a response. Because STLTs vary wide

The National Initiative to Address COVID-19 Health Disparities Among Populations at High-Risk and Underserved, Including Racial and Ethnic Minority Populations and Rural Communities provides funding to address COVID-19 and advance health equity (e.g., through strategies, interventions, and services that consider systemic barriers and potentially discriminatory practices that have put certain groups at higher risk for diseases like COVID-19) in racial and ethnic minority groups and racial populations within state, local, US territorial, and freely associated state health jurisdictions.

Eligible applicants are limited to the following: 1. Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(6) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education. 2. Public and private institutions of higher education. 3. Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally-recognized tribal governments).

Direct awards will be made to the non-governmental organizations described in the eligible applicant section. Beneficiaries of the support provided by those non-governmental organizations will include state health departments; tribal health organizations; local health departments; the District of Columbia; U.S. Territories; and other components of the public health system. The general public will also serve as beneficiaries.

Project funds will be used by non-governmental organizations (501c3s, 501c6s, public and private institutions of higher learning, and Native American tribal organizations) to provide emergency response assistance to State, Tribal, Local, and Territorial public health agencies and other components of the public health system. For the purposes of this program, "other components of the public health system" refers to specific professional constituencies (i.e., epidemiologists, community health nurses, health education and promotion specialists tribal health leaders, chronic disease directors, health information specialists, Medicaid/Medicare Directors, state/local public health financial officials, etc.) or key components of the public health system (i.e., community and neighborhood health centers, public health and primary care delivery systems, community and faith-based organizations, public health and accreditation boards, public health institutes, primary care residency programs, health insurance consortia, family/social services programs, maternal/child health associations, etc.).

One NOFO under this AL is designed to collect responsive proposals from eligible applicants and retain them as "approved but unfunded" (ABU) until a crisis occurs. The NOFO will only be funded upon occurrence of a particular public health or healthcare crisis. At that time, depending on the nature of the scenario, specific applicants and specific components of their applications will be selected for funding. These funding decisions will take into account various relevant factors such as geographic location, expectations of spread (e.g., with infectious disease-related emergencies), applicant's capabilities, national priorities, impact of the emergency on an eligible jurisdiction, and target populations, etc. Refer to the NOFOs listed under this AL on www.grants.gov for additional information.

Applications will be evaluated on the review criteria described in the Notices of Funding Opportunity (NOFOs).

Notification is made in writing through a Notice of Grant Award issued from the program's Office of Grants Services (OGS).

Check www.grants.gov for any relevant NOFO information regarding processes for applying for assistance.

Typically, cooperative agreement periods of performance are 5 years with 12-month budget periods.