NOTICES
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
Availability of Title V Funds through Infant Safe Sleep Promotion Mini-Grants
[36 Pa.B. 4270]
[Saturday, August 5, 2006]The Bureau of Family Health is accepting mini-grant applications of up to $3,000 to support initiatives that directly address the promotion of safe sleeping practices and environments for infants. Funds acquired through the Infant Safe Sleep Promotion Program (Program) are to be used for activities to improve the health and safety of infants and reduce infant mortality rates across the Commonwealth.
Purpose
The Program will provide financial support to local communities for efforts to decrease the incidence of infant death due to factors such as Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and accidental suffocation/strangulation of infants in adult beds. Communities are encouraged to focus efforts on high-risk and minority populations and use funding to eliminate health disparities among these groups. Examples of activities can include community outreach, education for families and the public on proper sleep practices for infants and training for professionals regarding the risk of injury and death of infants due to unsafe sleep environments.
Project funds must be used to reimburse purchases and activities occurring between July 1, 2006, and June 30, 2007. Copies of this application and its attachments are available on the Department of Health website at www. health.state.pa.us; search word: ''Bureau of Family Health Mini-grants.''
Requirements
Eligible applicants include public and private organizations, foundations or community-based agencies of this Commonwealth as recognized by Federal Tax ID number. Individuals may not apply. Informal groups without Federal Tax ID numbers are encouraged to partner with a sponsor organization who may apply on behalf of the group. For-profit organizations may apply. However, an applicant may not take a profit from these funds and certain fund restrictions apply to both for-profit and nonprofit entities (see Application Attachment A). Applicants may not have received any other Department of Health mini-grant during the same State fiscal year.
Applicants may include but are not limited to:
* Day care centers/child care providers.
* Medical providers.
* Educational providers.
* Places of worship/congregations.
* Community groups/civic clubs.
* Minority groups.
Application Deadlines
It is anticipated that 16 awards of $3,000 or less will be made for this fiscal year period. To apply for funding, a complete application must be postmarked and sent to the Department of Health (Department) no later than 5 p.m., September 18, 2006. Applications may be mailed or hand delivered. Applications may not be faxed. Late applications will not be accepted regardless of the reason.
Application Process
Please complete ''2006-2007 APPLICATION'' and attach a clear and concise narrative of no more than five typewritten pages that includes the following information, labeled by section:
1. The organization's mission and primary activities.
2. A description of need for the proposed activity and target audience.
3. A plan that describes how infant safe sleep will be addressed, how the efforts will be measured and evaluated and the degree to which efforts will be long-lasting and/or ongoing.
4. A description of how funds will be expended.
An authorized official of the organization must sign and date the application. Submit an original and three complete copies of your application (including the narrative and any supporting attachments). Applications should be page-numbered and unbound. Incomplete applications will not be reviewed.
Award Determination
Funding decisions are contingent upon the availability of allocated Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grant funds and Department approval. Applications are scored by a three-member review panel using a rating scale with the following preestablished criteria:
1. The degree of need for the proposed activity, as justified by the applicant;
2. The extent to which the activity can demonstrate a change in awareness and actions; and
3. The likelihood that the proposed activity will be of ongoing, systemic benefit to the community.
Notification of Award
Applicants will be notified of their award status within 6 weeks of the submission due date. This program reimburses applicants once after they have purchased the approved budget items.
Eligible Costs
Applicants may apply for funding reimbursement of multiple purchases or activities. However, the maximum cumulative award to any one applicant (as identified by Federal Tax ID number) is $3,000 per fiscal year. The Department is the payer of last resort; grant funds may not supplant existing funds. Grant funds may be used for reimbursement of one time purchases only. Grantee is the sole owner of the purchased property. The budget section of your application must include a budget narrative detailing by line item how project funds will be used and the degree to which competitive bids were secured for purchases. Price quotes, estimates, catalog samples or any other proof of cost must be submitted for every purchase proposed.
Expenses eligible for reimbursement under this project include, but are not limited, to:
1. Equipment: cribs, pack n plays, mattresses, and the like.
2. Education: training materials, books, workbooks, brochures, posters; translation of educational materials into different languages and for different populations, and the like.
3. Technology: computer equipment/software, videos, tapes, cds, DVDs, and the like.
Ineligible Costs
The following costs are not eligible for reimbursement under this program:
1. Administrative/indirect costs (for examply, costs not uniquely attributable in full to the programmatic activity).
2. New building construction or structural renovation of an existing space.
3. Capital expenses or equipment.
4. Staffing/personnel.
5. One-time consumables (for example, event tickets, food/refreshments, child care, and the like).
By applying for mini-grant funding, applicants acknowledge and affirm that they will abide by the spending limitations and the provisions of the Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grant legislation (Application Attachment A), for all money awarded under that application.
Mini-Grant Evaluation Procedures
Grantees will receive at least one onsite visit from a Department's Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Consultant located within the applicant's health district. The results of the visit will be provided to the Infant Safe Sleep Promotion Program Administrator (Administrator) in writing and used for project evaluative purposes. The Administrator will facilitate initial contact between the grantee and MCH Consultant at the time project funds are awarded.
Summary Report and Invoice Procedures
Approved applicants will be reimbursed with one check for all approved expenses. To receive reimbursement of approved expenses, awardees must submit the following documentation, found in Application Attachment B, to the Bureau within 30 days following completion of funded activity, but no later than July 28, 2007:
1. A summary report of funded activities, including evaluation results.
2. A continuation plan for the program or activities.
3. An invoice with expense documentation supporting line item amounts.
Applications should be submitted to Infant Safe Sleep Promotion Program Administrator, Department of Health, Bureau of Family Health, Division of Child and Adult Health Services, Health and Welfare Building, 7th Floor East Wing, 7th and Forster Streets, Harrisburg, PA 17120, (717) 772-2762.
Persons with a disability who require an alternative format of this notice (for example, large print, audiotape, Braille) should contact Carolyn S. Cass at the Department of Health, Division of Child and Adult Health Services at (717) 772-2762 or for speech and/or hearing impaired persons, V/TT (717) 783-6514 or the Pennsylvania AT&T Relay Services at (800) 654-5984.
CALVIN B. JOHNSON, M. D., M.P.H.,
Secretary
[Pa.B. Doc. No. 06-1508. Filed for public inspection August 4, 2006, 9:00 a.m.]
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