National Collaboration to Support Health, Wellness and Academic Success of School-Age Children

The Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Disease Control and Prevention funds nonprofit organizations and tribal entities to support school health through cooperative agreements under CFDA 93.858, with the most recent grant award disbursed on June 1, 2017.

Program activity has stalled. The portfolio includes six cooperative agreements totaling $19.3 million in federal dollars obligated, awarded between June 2016 and June 2017. No grant awards have been made in the nine years since the last award in 2017. The most recent grant opportunity on record, CDC-RFA-DP16-1601 (posted November 2015, due January 2016), funded five recipients in priority areas including physical education and physical activity, nutrition environment and services, out-of-school time healthy eating and physical activity, school health services for chronic conditions, and school health services for sexual health. A subsequent opportunity, CDC-RFA-DP22-2203, was posted July 20, 2021 with a due date of January 10, 2022 and targeted four nationally recognized recipients to improve health and well-being of children, adolescents, and school staff in underserved and disproportionately affected communities across four revised priority areas: school health services, emotional well-being, healthy out-of-school time, and school administrator support for whole-school policies. The CDC's Healthy Schools Branch planned to fund four recipients through five-year cooperative agreements.

The program funds organizations that assist CDC-funded state grantees, school districts, and schools to implement environmental and systems changes supporting healthful behaviors and reducing health disparities. Activities include professional development and technical assistance, education and dissemination, and partnership and coordination. All awards are structured as cooperative agreements with periods of performance up to five years; initial awards fund the first 12-month budget period, with continuation subject to satisfactory progress and fund availability.

Eligible applicants include public and private nonprofits, institutions of higher education, hospitals, tribal organizations, Native American groups, community-based organizations, and faith-based organizations. The program allows non-competitive continuation of projects beyond the initial period when performance is satisfactory and continuation aligns with federal priorities.

Recent representative awards include: collaboration to support students with chronic health conditions ($3.7 million obligated, June 2016); a national training center for school health addressing physical education and physical activity ($3.6 million, June 2016); and building a culture of wellness in out-of-school time with Boys & Girls Clubs of America ($2.99 million, June 2016).