[Federal Register: June 18, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 117)]
[Notices]
[Page 41420-41429]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr18jn02-55]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Office of the Secretary
[Account Number: 4154-05]
Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation; Notice Inviting
Applications for New Awards for a National Poverty Research Center and
Area Poverty Research Centers for Fiscal Year 2002
AGENCY: The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and
Evaluation (ASPE), HHS.
ACTION: Announcement of the availability of funds and request for
applications for a cooperative agreement to establish a National
Poverty Research Center and Area Poverty Research Centers.
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SUMMARY: ASPE plans to fund one National Poverty Center and three Area
Poverty Centers. The National Poverty Center will plan and conduct a
broad program of policy research and mentoring of emerging scholars to
describe and analyze national, regional and state environment (e.g.,
economics, demographics) and policies affecting the poor, particularly
those families with children who are poor or at-risk of being poor.
This research and evaluation program will focus on important and
emerging social policy issues associated with the nature, causes,
correlates, and effects of income dynamics, poverty, individual and
family functioning and child well-being.
The Area Poverty Centers cooperative agreements are for qualified
institutions to provide a focused agenda expanding our understanding of
the causes, consequences and effects of poverty in local geographic
areas or specific substantive areas, especially in states or regional
areas of high concentrations of poverty. These cooperative agreements
are intended to create a research opportunity for scholars and
institutions otherwise unlikely to participate extensively in HHS
programs to support the Nation's poverty research effort. It is
anticipated that investigators supported under the Area Poverty Centers
will benefit from the opportunity to conduct independent research; that
the grantee institutions will benefit from participation in the diverse
extramural programs of HHS; and that students will benefit from
exposure to and participation in research and be encouraged to pursue
graduate studies and careers in the social and behavioral sciences with
a focus on poverty.
Closing Date: The closing date for submitting applications under this
announcement is August 19, 2002. Please email Audrey Mirsky-Ashby at
Audrey.Mirsky-Ashby@hhs.gov by July 18, 2002 to inform the government
of your intent to submit an application. Include the name of your
organization and whether you are competing for the National Center
award or for an Area Center award. Providing notice of intent to submit
is not a requirement for submitting an application. However, a notice
of intent to submit will help the federal government in the planning
for the review process.
ADDRESSES: The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
(NICHD) will be servicing these grants for ASPE. Applications should be
submitted to Michael J. Loewe, Deputy Grants Management Officer, Grants
Management Branch, National Institute of Child Health and Human
Development, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 6100
Executive Boulevard, Room 8A01, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-7510 (Regular
Mail), Rockville, Maryland 20852 (Express Mail), Phone: (301) 435-6995.
Administrative questions will be
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accepted and responded to up to ten working days prior to closing date
of receipt of applications.
You will receive email confirmation to notify you that your
application was received within 14 days of the closing date. If you do
not receive confirmation within 14 days of the closing date, please
contact Michael J. Loewe at the address provided above.
The printed Federal Register notice is the only official program
announcement. Any corrections to this announcement will be published in
the Federal Register as well as published on the ASPE World Wide Web
Pages at http://aspe.hhs.gov/funding.htm. Although reasonable efforts
are taken to assure that the files on the ASPE World Wide Web Page
containing electronic copies of this Program Announcement are accurate
and complete, they are provided for information only. The applicant
bears sole responsibility to assure that the copy downloaded and/or
printed from any other source is accurate and complete.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Administrative questions should be
directed to Michael Loewe at the address or phone number listed above.
Technical questions should be directed to Don Oellerich, HHS, Office of
Human Services Policy, Telephone: (202) 690-6805. Written technical
questions should be addressed to Dr. Oellerich at the Department of
Health and Human Services, ASPE/HSP, 200 Independence Avenue, SW., Room
404E, Hubert H. Humphrey Building, Washington, DC 20201 or faxed to
202-690-6562. If you send your question in writing, please call to
confirm receipt. Technical questions will be accepted and responded to
up to ten working days prior to the closing date of receipt of
applications.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This program announcement consists of four
parts:
Part I: Background--Legislative authority, Eligible Applicants,
Project History and Purpose, Available Funds, Matching Requirements,
and Project and Budget Period; Part II: Awardee Responsibilities for
the National Poverty Research Center, Awardee Responsibilities for the
Area Poverty Research Centers, ASPE Responsibilities, Joint
Responsibilities, Arbitration Procedures, Rights to Data; Part III: The
Review Process--Intergovernmental Review, Initial Screening,
Competitive Review and Evaluation Criteria; Part IV: The Application--
General Information, Application Development--The National Center,
Application Development--Area Poverty Centers, Application Submission,
Disposition of Applications, Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance
(CFDA) Number, and Components of a Complete Application.
Part I. Background
A. Legislative Authority
This cooperative agreement is authorized by Section 1110 of the
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1310) and awards will be made from funds
appropriated under Public Law from funds appropriated under the
Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and
Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2002 (Public Law 107-116).
B. Eligible Applicants
For the National Poverty Research Center (also referred to as the
National Center) the Department seeks applications from universities or
other post-secondary degree granting entities. (For-profit
organizations are advised that no cooperative agreement funds may be
paid as profit to any recipient of a grant or subgrant. Profit is any
amount in excess of allowable direct and indirect costs of the
grantee). Eligible applicants for Area Poverty Research Centers (also
referred to as the Area Centers) are restricted to colleges and
universities offering baccalaureate or advanced degrees in the social
and behavioral sciences. Scholars and researchers working in Area
eligible institutions located in geographic areas where poverty is
prevalent and concentrated are encouraged to participate in this
program.
C. Project History and Purpose
These awards (cooperative agreements) replace the current
cooperative agreements with the Joint Center for Poverty Research
(JCPR) at Northwestern University and the University of Chicago, and
the Institute for Research on Poverty (IRP) at the University of
Wisconsin. The mission of the poverty centers includes (1) expanding
the knowledge of the causes and consequences of poverty as well as
policy responses to ameliorate poverty and its impacts on Americans,
(2) providing a core of multidisciplinary researchers, as well as a
national network of scholars who focus their research on poverty and
the poor (3) developing and training of future social science
researchers whose work focuses on poverty and the poor, (4)
continuation of work on the improvement of methods and data to permit a
fuller understanding of the causes and consequences of poverty and the
social policies and programs meant to alleviate it, and (5) maintaining
a network for the dissemination of findings to the policy and research
communities through newsletters, working papers, special reports and
briefings. (Information on the current centers is available on their
respective websites: http://www.jcpr.org and http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/irp)
We expect the Centers funded under this announcement to provide leadership
through innovative basic and applied research, long-term policy options
and evaluation, and mentoring to increase the number and diversity of
poverty scholars. The winning applicant(s) will be expected to carry
out a program that continues a strong scholarly tradition and concern
for poverty. There are no specific projects that must be continued from
the current Centers under this award.
D. Available Funds
The Assistant Secretary has available a total of $2,000,000 for the
first year of awards for a national poverty research center and for the
area poverty research centers. ASPE anticipates providing approximately
one award of approximately $1 million for a National Poverty Research
Center and three awards of between $300,000 and $400,000 each for the
Area Poverty Research Centers. If additional funding becomes available
in fiscal year 2002, other centers may be funded. Although multiple
awards are anticipated, nothing in this announcement restricts the
ability of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation to make
one award or to make lesser award(s).
E. Matching Requirements
Awardees must provide at least 5 percent of the total approved cost
of the project. The total approved cost of the project is the sum of
the federal share and the nonfederal share. The non-federal share may
be met by cash or in-kind contributions, although applicants are
encouraged to meet their matching requirements through cash
contributions. For example, an awardee with a project with a total
budget (both direct and indirect costs) of $400,000 may request up to
$380,000 in federal funds. Matching requirements cannot be met with
funds from other federally-funded programs.
If a proposed project activity has approved funding support from
other funding sources, the amount, duration, purpose, and source of the
funds should be indicated in materials submitted under this
announcement. If completion of the proposed project activity is
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contingent upon approval of funding from other sources, the
relationship between the funds being sought elsewhere and from ASPE
should be discussed in the budget information submitted as a part of
the abstract. In both cases, the contribution that ASPE funds will make
to the project should be clearly presented.
F. Project and Budget Period
ASPE expects to fund the National Poverty Research Center(s) for a
period of five (5) years and the Area Poverty Research Centers for a
period of three (3) years. The first year funding for national poverty
research center will be up to $1,000,000 (combined direct and indirect
funding). We expect a total funding of approximately $5 million over
the five-year funding period. The first year of funding for Area
Centers will be between $300,000 and $400,000 (combined direct and
indirect funding). We expect a total funding of $3 million over the
three-year period. Cooperative Agreements are assistance mechanisms and
subject to the same administrative requirements as grants; however,
they are different from both a grant and a contract. Compared to a
grant, they allow more involvement and collaboration by the government
in the affairs of the project, but provide less direction of project
activities than a contract. The Terms of Award are in addition to, not
in lieu of, otherwise applicable guidelines and procedures.
Applications are to include separate budget estimates for each of
the five or three years, if they expect funding levels to be
substantially different in subsequent years. Legislative support for
continued funding of the Centers cannot be guaranteed and future year
funding is subject to future appropriations and approval of the
Assistant Secretary. ASPE expects, however, that the Centers will be
supported during future fiscal years at an annual level of effort
commensurate with the initial period.
The award pursuant to this announcement will be made on or about
September 15, 2002.
Part II--Responsibilities of the Awardee and the Federal Government in
the Establishment and Operation of a National Poverty Research Center
and Area Poverty Research Centers
A. Awardee Responsibilities for the National Poverty Research Center
The Awardee should develop and conduct a program which
appropriately balances core infrastructure, research, mentoring of
emerging scholars, and dissemination activities directed to
understanding the economic security and well-being of individuals,
families and children. The Awardee should have the primary and lead
responsibility to define objectives and approaches, and to plan
research, conduct studies, analyze data, and publish results,
interpretations, and conclusions of its work. Occasionally, Center
staff will be expected to comment on research plans, provide critical
commentary on research products, perform statistical policy analyses,
and participate in other quick-response activities to support ASPE's
research, evaluation, and policy analysis functions. (Without
compromising academic freedom, Center staff will be expected to comply
with special requests when the Administration requires
confidentiality.) HHS will not interfere with nor infringe upon the
academic freedom associated with the university setting.
To assure the quality of its research, dissemination, and mentoring
program, and to assure a careful examination of the output of the
Center within the academic community, the Center must establish and
maintain a formal tie with a university, including links with all
appropriate departments within that university. The Center must have a
major presence at a single site (university or city); however,
innovative arrangements among universities and with individual scholars
at other universities also may be proposed. Particularly encouraged are
arrangements with universities and researchers based in areas of high
concentrations of poverty.
The program should focus on tracking and analyzing changes in state
and national policies and their influences on individual, child, and
family outcomes. Specifically, ASPE has identified five priority areas
the applicant should address, at a minimum: (1) Strategies to encourage
work, self-reliance, parental responsibility, community strengthening,
and child well-being, (2) the changing labor market and its influence
on low-income families with children, (3) nonmarital child-bearing,
teen pregnancy, and healthy marriage, (4) health disparities across
sub-populations, and (5) state and regional level policy, programs and
interventions, particularly those targeted to geographic concentrations
of the poor, to enhance self-sufficiency and well-being.
While these are ASPE priorities, applications also may address
other important aspects of poverty, for example: the implications of
health and disability status for poverty policy; concerns for the well-
being of individual adults in poverty, and the interaction between
income security programs, like welfare and tax credits, and service
programs such as child care, child development, child welfare services,
and education.
The overall program will develop and disseminate knowledge about
these and related issues. Activities will include tracking, evaluating,
and analyzing state and local government initiatives to reduce poverty,
encourage economic mobility, and alleviate the ill effects of low
income and family dysfunction. Activities also should examine
alternative public and private approaches.
The awardee will perform the following specific tasks:
1. Research Program
The Center will be expected to plan, initiate and maintain a
research program of high caliber. It must meet the tests of social
science rigor and objectivity. The program will strive for respect from
the academic and policy communities (over a broad range of the
political spectrum) for its scientific quality, fairness, and policy
relevance. This program should include an appropriately balanced agenda
of basic and applied, quantitative and qualitative field work, and
primary and secondary analyses. The research program should include
supporting the work of members of the Center staff and other affiliated
researchers. In addition, it should provide intellectual leadership in
the national research community by establishing links with a broad
range of other scholars, through visiting and postdoctoral
appointments, research assistanceships, and an extramural program of
nonresident grants. While graduates of the poverty center institutions
can be found in many colleges and universities around the country and
many maintain an affiliation with their Center, effort needs to be made
to recruit and support outside poverty researchers from institutions
that do not have the capacity to maintain a program of poverty
research. It is important that applicants demonstrate clear plans to
reach out to researchers at universities that traditionally have not
had the capacity to foster a program of poverty research and the
training of poverty researchers. In addition, awardees must commit to
working cooperatively with the area centers funded under this
announcement.
The research program should include multi-disciplinary and multi-
method approaches to increasing the understanding of the issues beyond
what is possible from analysis within the framework of a single
discipline or
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method. At a minimum, the proposed staff should possess competency in
quantitative and qualitative methodologies, economics, sociology,
public policy/administration, and other related disciplines.
Furthermore, it also is appropriate, for example, to engage in
activities to make advances in research techniques, where they are
needed for or related to primary objectives of the Center. Planning and
execution of the research program shall always consider the policy
implications of research findings in a non-partisan manner. The Center
should link research to public and private efforts to improve the lives
of low-income individuals and families. The research and its
dissemination will be of value to all levels of policy making--federal,
state, and local government--as well as the general research community.
A national advisory committee (discussed below) should periodically
review the research agenda to assure its policy relevance, utility, and
scope.
2. Mentoring Emerging Scholars
The Center is expected to develop and expand a diverse corps of
emerging scholars/researchers who focus their analytical skills on
research and policy issues central to its mission. The Center will be
expected to financially support the work of graduate research
assistants, PhD candidates, postdoctoral scholars, and other research
scholars, and to make efforts to reach out to those emerging scholars
affiliated with institutions that traditionally have not had the
capacity to mentor students as poverty researchers.
3. Dissemination
Making knowledge and information available to the academic and
policy communities is to be another integral feature of the Center's
responsibilities. The awardee will maintain a dissemination system of
periodic newsletters, research papers, and occasional books intended
both for the research and policy communities. In addition, the awardee
will be expected to organize workshops, lectures, seminars, and other
ways of sharing current research activities and findings. Applicants
are encouraged to propose use of innovative methods of disseminating
data and information. Applications should show a sensitivity to the
different dissemination strategies which may be appropriate for
different audiences--such as policy makers, practitioners, and
academics.
B. Awardee Responsibilities for Area Poverty Research Centers
The purpose of the Area Poverty Research Centers is to support
interdisciplinary research leading to an understanding and reduction of
poverty, income inequality and its correlates. Applicants are invited
to propose multi-level, integrated research projects that will shed
light on the complex interactions of the social and physical
environment, and mediating behavioral factors which determine poverty
and income inequality. Area Centers are expected to create an
environment conducive to interdisciplinary collaborations among social
and behavioral scientists and affected communities with the goal of
improving well-being of individuals, families and children. The
successful applicant(s) should develop and conduct a program which
appropriately balances core infrastructure, research, the mentoring of
emerging scholars, and dissemination activities directed to
understanding the well-being of individuals, families and children.
Although not required, applicants are encouraged to take advantage of
defined geographic areas of study and existing data.
ASPE has identified five priority areas the applicant may address:
(1) Strategies to encourage work, self-reliance, parent responsibility,
community strengthening, and child well-being, (2) the changing labor
market and its influence on low-income families with children, (3)
nonmarital child-bearing, teen pregnancy, and healthy marriage, (4)
income inequality and health disparities across sub-populations, and
(5) state- and local-level policy, programs and interventions,
particularly those targeted to geographic concentrations of poverty, to
enhance self-sufficiency and wellbeing. Applications also may address
other important aspects of poverty such as the implications of health
and disability status for poverty policy; concerns for the well-being
of individual adults in poverty, and the interaction between income
security programs, like welfare and tax credits, and service programs
such as child care, child development, child welfare services, and
education. Additional areas of interest to ASPE that applicants may
want to consider include: Women and children, welfare and work; poverty
and mental health; and resiliency. In addition to these priority areas
identified for the national and area centers, applicants for area
center awards may wish to focus more specifically on issues germane to
their local environment and while these are ASPE priorities,
applications also may address other important aspects of poverty. ASPE
strongly encourages studies in state and regional areas of concentrated
poverty.
The awardees will perform the following tasks:
1. Research Program
The Area Poverty Research Centers will be expected to plan,
initiate and maintain a research program of high caliber. It may
include small-scale, new or ongoing social, behavioral, and/or policy-
related research projects, including pilot research projects and
feasibility studies; development, testing, and refinement of research
techniques; secondary analysis of available data sets; and similar
research projects that demonstrate research capability. Each Center
will be expected to carry out at least two projects, as well as develop
or expand the Center's presence on campus and in the broader research
community.
2. Mentoring Emerging Scholars
The Area Poverty Research Centers are expected to develop and
expand a diverse corps of emerging scholars/researchers who focus
career goals on policy, research and programs focused on poverty
populations. The Area Poverty Research Centers will be expected to
develop an awareness and interest in students of the opportunities in
poverty policy and research through such activities as research
internships, seminars and related experiences. Applicants should
demonstrate how students will benefit from exposure to and
participation in the ongoing research of Area Poverty Research Center
faculty and staff and be encouraged to pursue graduate studies and
careers in the social and behavioral sciences with a focus on poverty-
related studies.
3. Dissemination
Making knowledge and information available to the academic and
policy communities is to be another integral feature of the Area
Poverty Research Center's responsibilities. It will be expected to
develop and maintain a dissemination system. Applicants are encouraged
to propose use of innovative methods of disseminating data and
information. Applications should show a sensitivity to the different
dissemination strategies which may be appropriate for different
audiences--such as policy makers, practitioners, and academics.
C. ASPE Responsibilities
ASPE will be involved with each Center in jointly establishing
broad
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research priorities and planning strategies to accomplish the
objectives of this announcement. ASPE, or its representatives, will
provide the following types of support to the Center: (1) Consultation
and technical assistance in planning, operating, and evaluating the
Center's program of research, mentoring and dissemination activities,
(2) information about HHS programs, policies, and research priorities,
(3) assistance in collaborating with appropriate federal, state and
local governmental officials in the performance of program activities,
(4) assistance in identifying HHS information and technical assistance
resources pertinent to the Center's success, (5) assistance in the
transfer of information to appropriate federal, state, and local
entities, (6) review of Center activities and feedback to ensure that
objectives and award conditions are being met, (7) ASPE will coordinate
activities amongst the centers to ensure, to the extend possible, the
optimal use of resources and expertise. APSE retains the right,
however, to withhold annual renewals to the awardee, if technical
performance requirements are not met.
D. Joint Responsibilities
Each awardee, jointly with ASPE, will appoint an outside advisory
committee, funded under this agreement. Each committee will be selected
to provide assistance to both the national center and each area center
in formulating the research agenda and advice on carrying it out.
Efforts will be made in selecting this committee to assure a broad
range of academic disciplines and political viewpoints. For the
national center the committee will be composed of approximately six to
ten nationally recognized scholars and practitioners. (For a list of
the current Advisory Committee members for the two Poverty Centers see
their respective websites: http://www.jcpr.org and http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/irp)
This committee will meet once or twice a year rotating between Washington,
DC and the Center location. For each area center, the committee will be
made up of three to four scholars and practitioners and will include the
director of the national center. It is expected that the area center's
advisory committee will meet once a year.
E. Arbitration Procedures
Both parties are expected to work in a collegial fashion to
minimize misunderstandings and disagreements. They should explore every
alternative to prevent impasses, including consultation with the
advisory committee established under section D., but agreement between
the awardee and ASPE staff cannot be reached on significant
programmatic or scientific-technical issues that might arise after the
award, an arbitration panel should be formed. The panel will consist of
one person appointed by the awardee, one person appointed by ASPE, and
a third person appointed by these two members. The decision of the
arbitration panel, by majority vote will be binding. These special
arbitration procedures in no way affect the awardee's right to appeal
an adverse action in accordance with HHS regulations at 45 CFR part 16.
F. Rights to Data
The awardee will retain custody of and have primary rights to the
data developed under this award, subject to government rights to access
consistent with current HHS and ASPE regulations. The awardee should
make reasonable efforts, however, to provide other researchers
appropriate and speedy access to research data from this project and
establish public use files of research data developed under this award.
Part III. The Review Process
A. Intergovernmental Review
State Single Point of Contact (Executive Order 12372). The
Department of Health and Human Services has determined that this
program is not subject to Executive Order No. 12372, Intergovernmental
Review of Federal Programs, because it is a program that is national in
scope and the only impact on State and local governments would be
through subgrants. Applicants are not required to seek
intergovernmental review of their applications within the constraints
of Executive Order 12372.
B. Initial Screening
Each application submitted under this program announcement will
undergo a pre-review to determine that (1) the application was received
by the closing date and submitted in accordance with the instructions
in this announcement, (2) the applicant is eligible for funding (see
Part I, Section B), and (3) is within the page limit (see Part IV,
Section A). Note that applications exceeding the page limit will not be
reviewed further and will be ineligible for funding.
C. Competitive Review and Evaluation Criteria
Applications for the National Center that pass the initial
screening will be evaluated and rated by a panel of at least three
independent experts on the basis of specific evaluation criteria, which
are detailed below. Applications for the Area Centers that pass the
initial screening will be evaluated and rated by a federal review
panel. The panel will use the evaluation criteria listed below to score
each application. The evaluation criteria were designed to assess the
quality of the proposed project and to determine the likelihood of its
success. The evaluation criteria are closely related and are considered
as a whole in judging the overall quality of an application. Points are
awarded only to applications that are responsive to the evaluation
criteria within the context of this program announcement. These review
results will be the primary element used by the ASPE in making funding
decisions. HHS reserves the option to discuss applications with other
federal or state staff, specialists, experts, and the general public.
Comments from these sources, along with those of the reviewers, will be
kept from inappropriate disclosure and may be considered in making an
award decision.
Selection of the successful applicant(s) will be based on the
technical and financial criteria laid out in this announcement.
Reviewers will determine the strengths and weaknesses of each
application in terms of the evaluation criteria listed below, provide
comments and assign numerical scores--out of a possible 100 points. The
review panel will prepare a summary of all applicant scores and
strengths/weaknesses and recommendations and submit it to the ASPE for
final decisions on the award. The point value following each criterion
heading indicates the maximum numerical relative weight that each
section will be given in the review process. An unacceptable rating on
any individual criterion may render the application unacceptable.
Consequently, applicants should take care to ensure that all criteria
are fully addressed in the applications.
Applications will be reviewed using the following evaluation
criteria. Note that there are separate criteria for the National Center
and the Area Centers. Please be sure to refer to Part IV, section B,
application development.
Evaluation Criteria for the National Center
(1) Quality of the Staffing Proposal and Proposed Organizational
Arrangements (30 points)
Reviewers will judge applicant's director/principal investigator
and staff on research experience, demonstrated research skills,
administrative skills,
[[Page 41425]]
public administration experience, and relevant technical expertise.
Raters may consider references on prior research projects. Director and
staff time commitments to the Center also will be a factor in the
evaluation. Whether the applicant can maintain a single location for
research, teaching, and scholarship is an important consideration.
Furthermore, reviewers will rate the applicant's pledge and ability to
work in collaboration with other scholars in search of similar goals,
especially the area centers. Applicants will be judged on the nature
and extent of the organizational support for research, mentoring
scholars, and dissemination in topical areas related to the Center's
central priorities. Applicants will be judged on their plans to reach
out to researchers at universities that traditionally have not had the
capacity to foster a program of poverty research and the training of
poverty researchers. In addition, awardees must commit to working
cooperatively with the area centers funded under this announcement.
Reviewers will evaluate the commitment of the university (and proposed
institutional unit that will contain the Center) to assess its ability
to support all three major Center activities: (1) Scholarly, policy
relevant research including plans for an extramural research program;
(2) the mentoring and development of emerging scholars interested in
poverty, families, children, and public policy; and (3) dissemination
of research and other information to a broad and disparate set of
academic, research, and policy communities. Reviewers also will
evaluate the applicant's demonstrated capacity to work with a range of
government agencies.
(2) Quality of the Research Agenda (30 points)
Reviewers will judge this section on the basis of whether the
research agenda is scientifically sound and policy relevant. They also
will consider whether the applicant is likely to make significant
contributions to understanding poverty, families, child outcomes, and
what governments can do to make the lives of adults, children and
families more secure, healthier, and open to opportunity, and whether
the approach extends beyond and builds upon the past 35 years of
poverty research. The discussion and research proposed must address the
major themes of this announcement (Strategies to encourage work, self-
reliance, parental responsibility, community, and child well-being; the
changing labor market and its influence on low-income families with
children; nonmarital child-bearing, teen pregnancy, and healthy
marriage; health disparities; and state and regional level policy,
programs and interventions, particularly those targeted to geographic
concentrations of the poor, to enhance self-sufficiency and well-
being). Concise plans for research projects in the near term (one or
two years) as well as a five-year agenda are important. Reviewers will
rate applications on their plans to conduct policy-relevant research
and interact with various levels of government to research and evaluate
significant government initiatives and policies in a nonpartisan
manner. In addition, applicants also will be judged on their
dissemination plans--including convening conferences and workshops and
communicating with a broad audience of academics, policymakers, and
practitioners. Applicants will also be judged on the extent to which
the proposed application addresses issues related to the concentration
of poverty.
(3) Training and Mentoring Emerging Scholars (20 points)
The applicant evaluation will consider proposed efforts to develop
and expand a diverse corps of emerging scholars and researchers. The
ratings will consider the proposed mentoring and support given to
graduate research assistants, PhD candidates, postdoctoral students,
and other research scholars. The evaluation will include an assessment
of plans to integrate the training of research scholars and expose them
to policy research activities at ASPE. Reviewers will consider efforts
to reach emerging scholars at institutions that have not had the
capacity to mentor students as poverty researchers.
(4) Appropriateness of the Budget To Carry out the Planned Staffing and
Activities (20 points)
Ratings will consider whether: (a) The budget assures an efficient
and effective allocation of funds to achieve the objectives of this
solicitation, (b) the applicant has additional funding from other
sources, including the host institution. When additional funding is
contemplated, applicants should note whether the funding is being
donated by the institution, is in-hand from another funding source, or
will be applied for from another funding source. Information concerning
how the applicant will meet the matching requirement will be evaluated.
The budget should include travel for advisory board members.
Evaluation Criteria for the Area Centers
(1) Approach (35 points)
Are the conceptual framework, design, methods, and analyses
adequately developed, well-integrated, and appropriate to the aims of
the project? Does the applicant acknowledge potential problem areas and
consider alternative tactics? Does the applicant present an adequate
proposal to interest students in graduate studies or careers in
poverty-related work, especially in geographic areas of concentrated
poverty? Does the application make clear the procedures for the
protection of human subjects?
(2) Significance (20 points)
Does this study(ies) address an important problem? If the aims of
the application are achieved, how will knowledge be advanced? What will
be the effect of these studies on the concepts or methods that drive
this field? Will projects focus on areas of state or regional
concentrations of poverty?
(3) Qualifications of Principal Investigator and Mentoring (20 points)
Is the principal investigator appropriately trained and well suited
to carry out this work? Is the work proposed appropriate to the
experience level of the principal investigator and other researchers
(if any)? Do the investigators have direct contact with students? The
reviewers will consider proposed efforts to expose and engage students
in poverty related research and encourage the pursuit of advanced
studies and/or careers in public policy and programs which address the
needs of the poverty population.
(4) Environment (15 points)
Does the proposed Area Center build upon an existing institutional
infrastructure? Do the proposed studies take advantage of features of
the community or employ useful collaborative arrangements? Is there
evidence of institutional support? Does the Area Center have any
outside funding?
(5) Adequacy and Appropriateness of Overall Budget and the Allocation
of Resources Across Administrative, Research and Other Areas (10
points)
Ratings will reflect whether: (a) The budget assures an efficient
and effective allocation of funds to achieve the objectives of this
solicitation, (b) the applicant has additional funding from other
sources, including the host institution. When additional funding is
contemplated, applicants should note
[[Page 41426]]
whether the funding is being donated by the institution, is in-hand
from another funding source, or will be applied for from another
funding source. Information concerning how the applicant will meet the
matching requirement will be evaluated. The budget should include
travel for advisory board members.
Part IV--The Application
A. General Information
This part contains information on the preparation of an application
for submission under this announcement, the forms necessary for
submission. Potential applicants should read this part carefully in
conjunction with the information provided in Part II. In general, ASPE
seeks organizations who can demonstrate the ability to provide quality
policy research, training of emerging scholars, and working with
federal, state and local governments. Applicants for funding should
reflect, in the program narrative section of the application, how they
will be able to fulfill the responsibilities and requirements described
in the announcement. Applications for the National Center should
specify in detail how administrative arrangements will be made to
minimize start-up and transition delays. Applications which do not
address all three major tasks discussed in Awardee Responsibilities in
Part II (research program, mentoring emerging scholars, dissemination)
will not be considered for award. The applicant must have experience
working with governmental agencies--federal, state, or local. It is
expected that the applicant will have additional funding and
arrangements with other organizations and institutions, including the
host institution(s). The applicant should make all current and
anticipated related funding arrangements explicit in the application.
In order to be considered for an award under this program
announcement, an application must be submitted on the forms supplied
and in the manner prescribed by ASPE. Application materials including
forms and instructions are attached to this announcement. Additional
copies are available from Michael J. Loewe or may be obtained
electronically from the ASPE world wide web site at
http://aspe.hhs.gov/funding.htm. Each application package must
include an original and two copies of the complete application. All
pages of the narrative must be sequentially numbered and unbound.
Applications must be received in the following format:
1. 12 point font size
2. Double line spacing
3. 1 inch top, bottom, left, and right margins
4. Page limit of 100 pages for the National Center (excluding
appendices); 50 pages for the Area Centers (excluding appendices)
5. Applications that are not received in the format described above
and/or exceed the page limit, will not be reviewed. Applicants are
requested to be concise. Applicants are encouraged not to attach or
include bound reports or other documents.
B. Application Development--National Center
Content and Organization of Technical Application (see ``Components
of a Complete Application''). The application must begin with the
required application forms and a three to five page overview and
summary of the application. Staff resumes should be included in a
separate appendix.
The national poverty center will provide a leadership role in
furthering our understanding of the causes and consequences of poverty
and the policy and program interventions to ameliorate poverty and its
impacts on individuals, families and children. The national center will
provide the organizational infrastructure to provide leadership in
shaping a national agenda for poverty-related research and provide the
necessary supports for basic and applied research, reaching out and
supporting the broader research community, mentoring emerging scholars,
dissemination of findings and securing additional financial support.
The applicant should provide a five-year strategic plan for
accomplishing this agenda. The plan should build upon and move forward
from the accumulated knowledge of the past 35 years of poverty related
research and past and future social, demographic, economic and policy
trends. The plan should set out a concrete plan for addressing ASPE's
priorities as well as additional areas of exploration that the
applicant may propose.
The central core of the application is the strategic plan, and it
must contain four sections, presented in the following order:
(1) Research Agenda
A prospectus for a five-year research agenda, outlining the major
research themes to be investigated over the next five years, including
the five listed in this announcement. In particular, the prospectus
will describe the activities planned for each of the research priority
issues outlined in Part II, Awardee Responsibilities and other
additional priority research topics proposed by the applicant. The
prospectus should discuss the kind of research activities that are
needed to anticipate future policy debates on important social issues--
poverty and child well-being, in particular--and the role of the
proposed Research Center in carrying out those activities. The
prospectus should clearly build upon the foundation of the past 35
years of poverty research and anticipated trends and policy
developments. It may, of course, also discuss research areas and issues
that were not mentioned in that analysis if the author or authors of
the application feel there have been gaps in past research, or that new
factors have begun to affect or soon will begin to affect national
social policy. The prospectus should include descriptions of individual
research projects that will be expected in the Center's first year of
operation. It also should be specific about long-term research themes
and projects. The lines of research described in the prospectus should
be concrete enough that project descriptions in subsequent research
plan amendments can be viewed as articulating a research theme
discussed in the prospectus. An application that simply contains an ad
hoc categorization of an unstructured set of research projects--as
opposed to a set of projects which strike a coherent theme--will be
judged unfavorably. Note: Once a successful applicant has been selected
and the national Advisory Committee appointed, they and ASPE will
review the research agenda and determine research priorities. The
Center will submit to ASPE a revised research plan that summarizes the
deliberations and priorities. The research plan will be periodically
reviewed and revised as necessary. The application should discuss a
proposed research planning process, including involvement of the
national advisory committee and other advisors.
(2) Staff and Organizational Data
This application should include a staffing and organizational
proposal for the Research Center, including an analysis of the types of
background needed among staff members, the Center's organizational
structure, and linkages with the host university and other
organizations. It is in this second section that the application should
specify how it will assure a genuinely interdisciplinary approach to
research, and where appropriate, the necessary links to university
departments, other organizations and scholars engaged in research, and
government policy
[[Page 41427]]
makers. The applicant should identify the director (or principal
investigator) and key senior research staff. Full resumes of proposed
staff members should be included as a separate appendix to the
application. In addition, the author(s) of the application and the role
which he or she (they) will play in the proposed Poverty Research
Center must be specified. The time commitment to the Center and other
commitments for each proposed staff member should be indicated. The
kinds of administrative and tenure arrangements, if any, the applicant
proposes to make should also be discussed in this section. The
applicant should discuss the financial arrangements for supporting
affiliates, resident scholars, etc. If the application envisions an
arrangement of several universities or institutions, this section will
describe the specifics about the relationships, including leadership,
management, and administration. It should pay particular attention to
discussing how a focal point for research, teaching, and scholarship
will be maintained given the arrangement proposed. Briefly discuss the
role, selection procedure, and expected contribution of the national
advisory committee. The applicant should describe plans for outreach to
the Area Centers in addition to discussing efforts to assure a smooth
transition between the current National Poverty Centers and this
project.
(3) Training and Mentoring Emerging Scholars
A training and mentoring proposal describing how students will
benefit from exposure to and participation in the ongoing research of
the area center faculty and staff and how students will be encouraged
to pursue graduate studies in the social and behavioral sciences with a
focus on poverty related studies. The applicant should discuss the
financial arrangements for supporting research assistants, post-
doctoral students, etc. The applicant should present any past
experience and future plans for engaging emerging scholars from
institutions that have not traditional had the capacity to mentor
poverty scholars. The discussion should include the expected number and
types of emerging scholars to be supported and the level of support
anticipated.
(4) Budget Narrative
A budget summary narrative which links the core infrastructure,
research, mentoring, outreach, and dissemination program to the Center
funding level. This section should discuss how the five-year budget
supports proposed research, training, and dissemination activities and
should link the first year funding to a five-year plan. The discussion
should include the appropriateness of the level and distribution of
funds to the successful completion of the research, training, and
dissemination plans. Given the limited amount of funds available for
this award, applicants are encouraged to use these funds as partial,
core support for the proposed Center and to seek additional support
from other sources. The availability, potential availability or hope
for other funds (from the host university, other universities,
foundations, states, other federal agencies, etc.) and the uses to
which they would be put, should be documented in this section.
Applications which show funding from other sources that supplement
funds from this grant will be given higher scores than if they have no
extra financial support or a plan for securing such support.
C. Application Development--Area Poverty Centers
Content and Organization of Technical Application (see ``Components
of a Complete Application''). The application must begin with the
required application forms and a three to five page overview and
summary of the application. Staff resumes should be included in a
separate appendix. The central core of the application must contain
four sections, presented in the following order:
(1) Key Trends and Past Research Analysis
A brief analysis of the key trends (e.g., social, demographic,
economic) and past research related to the area center's proposed focus
which provides a basis for the proposed Area Center research agenda. It
should examine the nature, causes, and correlates of one or two of the
trends as they relate to the Area center's focus, as appropriate. The
analysis should demonstrate the applicant's grasp of the policy and
research significance of recent and future social trends as well as the
past research.
(2) Research Agenda
A prospectus for a three-year research agenda, outlining the major
research themes to be investigated over the next three years, including
the five listed in this announcement. In particular, the prospectus
will describe the activities planned for each of the research priority
issues proposed by the Area Center; those either drawn from the listing
of priority areas or proposed by the applicant. The prospectus should
discuss the kind of research activities that will inform public policy
in the priority issues selected and the role of the proposed Area
Research Center in carrying out those activities. The prospectus should
follow from the key trends and research analysis section. The
prospectus should include detailed descriptions of the individual
research projects that will be expected to be initiated in the Center's
first year of operation; including the conceptual framework, design,
data, methods and proposed analyses. It also should be specific about
the longer-term research themes and projects. The lines of research
described in the prospectus should be concrete enough that project
descriptions in subsequent research plan amendments can be viewed as
articulating a research theme discussed in the prospectus. An
application that simply contains an ad hoc categorization of an
unstructured set of research projects--as opposed to a set of projects
which strike a coherent theme--will be judged unfavorably.
Note: Once a successful applicant has been selected ASPE will
review the longer term research agenda with the Area Center and
jointly determine future research priorities. The research plan will
be periodically reviewed and revised as necessary. The application
should briefly discuss a proposed research planning process,
including involvement of an outside advisory committee and other
advisors, and participation with other National and Area centers
awarded as part of this grant program.
(3) Staff and Organizational Data
This application should include a staffing and organizational
proposal for the Area Center, including an analysis of the types of
background needed among staff members, the Area Center's organizational
structure, and linkages with the host university and other
organizations. It is in this third section that the application should
specify how it will assure a genuinely interdisciplinary approach to
research, and where appropriate, the necessary links to university
departments, other organizations and scholars engaged in research, and
government policy making. The applicant should identify the director
(or principal investigator) and key senior research staff. Full resumes
of proposed staff members should be included as a separate appendix to
the application. The time commitment to the Area Center and other
commitments for each proposed staff member should be indicated.
If the application envisions an arrangement of several universities
or
[[Page 41428]]
institutions, this section will describe the specifics about the
relationships, including leadership, management, and administration. It
should pay particular attention to discussing how a focal point for
research, teaching, and scholarship will be maintained given the
arrangement proposed. The application also should briefly discuss the
role, selection procedure, and expected contribution of an outside
advisory committee.
(4) Training and Mentoring Emerging Scholars
A training and mentoring proposal describing how students will
benefit from exposure to and participation in the ongoing research of
the Area Center faculty and staff and how students will be encouraged
to pursue graduate studies in the social and behavioral sciences with a
focus on poverty related studies. This section should discuss the
financial arrangements for supporting students and research assistants,
if any. The discussion should include the expected number and types of
emerging scholars to be supported and the level of support anticipated.
(5) Budget Narrative
A budget summary narrative which links the core infrastructure,
research, training, and dissemination program to the Center funding
level. This section should discuss how the three-year budget supports
proposed research, training, and dissemination activities and should
link the first year funding to a three-year plan. The discussion should
include the appropriateness of the level and distribution of funds to
the successful completion of the research, training, and dissemination
plans. Given the limited amount of funds available for this award,
applicants are encouraged to use these funds as partial, core support
for the proposed Center and applicant having or seeking additional
support from other sources. The availability, potential availability or
hope for other funds (from the host university, other universities,
foundations, states, other Federal agencies, etc.) and the uses to
which they would be put, should be documented in this section. We
encourage applications to pursue or plan to pursue supplemental
funding.
D. Application Submission
1. Mailed applications postmarked after the closing date will be
classified as late.
2. Deadline. The closing (deadline) date for submission of
applications is August 19, 2002. Mailed applications should be
considered as meeting the announced deadline if they are either
received on or before the deadline date or sent on or before the
deadline date and received by ASPE in time for the independent review
to: Michael J. Loewe, Deputy Grants Management Officer, Grants
Management Branch, National Institute of Child Health and Human
Development, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 6100
Executive Boulevard, Room 8A01, Bethesda Maryland 20892-7510 (Regular
Mail), Rockville Maryland 20852 (Express Mail), Phone: (301) 435-6995
Fax: (301) 402-0915.
Applicants must ensure that a legibly dated, machine produced
postmark of a commercial mail service is affixed to the envelope/
package containing the application. To be acceptable as proof of timely
mailing, a postmark from a commercial mail service must include the
logo/emblem of the commercial mail service company and must reflect the
date the package was received by the commercial mail service company
from the applicant. Private Metered postmarks should not be acceptable
as proof of timely mailing. (Applicants are cautioned that express/
overnight mail services do not always deliver as agreed.)
Applications hand-carried by applicants, applicant couriers, or by
other representatives of the applicant should be considered as meeting
an announced deadline if they are received on or before the deadline
date, between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. EST, at the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services, Grants Management Branch
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services, 6100 Executive Boulevard, Room
8A01 Bethesda Maryland 20892-7510 (Regular Mail), Rockville Maryland
20852 (Express Mail) ) The address must appear on the envelope/package
containing the application with the note ``Attention: ( Michael J.
Loewe, Deputy Grants Management Officer `` (Applicants are cautioned
that express/overnight mail services do not always deliver as agreed.)
Applications transmitted by fax or through other electronic means
will not be accepted regardless of date or time of submission or
receipt.
3. Late applications. Applications that do not meet the criteria
above are considered late applications. NICHD should notify each late
applicant that its application will not be considered in the current
competition.
4. Extension of deadlines. NICHD may extend an application deadline
when circumstances such as acts of God (floods, hurricanes, etc.)
occur, or when there are widespread disruptions of the mail service, or
in other rare cases. Determinations to extend or waive deadline
requirements rest with Michael J. Loewe , Deputy Grants Management
Officer, Grants Management Branch, National Institute of Child Health
and Human Development.
C. Disposition of Applications
1. Approval, disapproval, or deferral. On the basis of the review
of the application, the Assistant Secretary will either (a) approve the
application as a whole or in part; (b) disapprove the application; or
(c) defer action on the application for such reasons as lack of funds
or a need for further review.
2. Notification of disposition. The Assistant Secretary for
Planning and Evaluation will notify the applicants of the disposition
of their applications. If approved, a signed notification of the award
will be sent to the business office named in the ASPE checklist.
3. The Assistant Secretary's Discretion. Nothing in this
announcement should be construed as to obligate the Assistant Secretary
for Planning and Evaluation to make any awards whatsoever. Awards and
the distribution of awards among the priority areas are contingent on
the needs of the Department at any point in time and the quality of the
applications that are received.
D. The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number
The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number is 93.239.
E. Components of a Complete Application
A complete application consists of the following items in this
order:
1. Application for Federal Assistance (Standard Form 424);
2. Budget Information--Non-construction Programs (Standard Form
424A);
3. Assurances--Non-construction Programs (Standard From 424B);
4. Table of Contents;
5. Budget Justification for Section B Budget Categories;
6. Proof of Non-profit Status, if appropriate;
7. Copy of the applicant's Approved Indirect Cost Rate Agreement,
if necessary;
8. Project Narrative Statement, organized in five sections,
addressing the following topics (See Part IV, Section B):
(a) Key Trend Analysis
(b) Research Agenda Prospectus
(c) Staff and Organizational Data
[[Page 41429]]
(d) Summary of Past Work
(e) Budget Appropriateness
9. Any appendices or attachments;
10. Certification Regarding Drug-Free Workplace;
11. Certification Regarding Debarment, Suspension, or other
Responsibility Matters;
12. Certification and, if necessary, Disclosure Regarding Lobbying;
13. Supplement to Section II--Key Personnel;
14. Application for Federal Assistance Checklist.
Dated: June 10, 2002.
William Raub,
Principal Deputy for Secretary for Planning and Evaluation.
[FR Doc. 02-15232 Filed 6-17-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4110-60-P