Introduction

Five regional pre-application workshops are being offered to provide interested organizations with an overview of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)/Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) Special Projects of Regional and National Significance (SPRANS) Community-Based Abstinence Education Program, and the programmatic and fiscal expectations of applying for the upcoming funding competition.

Over 350 applications from a broad array of organizations were submitted for the initial year of the funding competition. Fifty-three grants (33 implementation grants and 20 planning grants) were awarded.

During the second funding competition conducted this past year, over 300 applications for program funding were received. Fifty nine grants (40 implementation grants and 19 planning grants) were awarded.

Funding Competition

The funding competition is open to any public or private agency/organization interested in promoting abstinence-only education, as defined in Section 510 of Title V of the Social Security Act, within their communities. Prior grantee organizations have included faith-based organizations, hospitals, health centers, school systems, youth services agencies, community action agencies, and State/city governmental agencies.

The HRSA Preview announced that approximately $30 million will be available to fund only implementation grants under this program. Implementation grants are for a three-year period, with a funding range of $250,000 to $800,000 available annually per project.

Application Guidelines

The printed Application Guidance for this competition is available at http://www.mchb.hrsa.gov/grants/default.htm#cbabstinence. The Application Guidance is also available by calling the HRSA Grants Application Center at (877) 477-2123 (or by e-mailing hrsagac@hrsa.gov). The CFDA # for this competition is 93.110 - HRSA 03-058 SPRANS Community-Based Abstinence Education Project Grants (CBAE). Please note: You will not automatically receive a grant application kit by registering for one of the regional pre-application workshops. You must either download or request the grant application materials through one of the methods noted above.

Completed applications for this funding competition must be postmarked by Tuesday, January 21, 2003.

Letters of Intent to submit an application are due to the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, Division of State and Community Health, Abstinence Education Program, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rm. 18-31, Rockville, MD 20857 on Friday, December, 6, 2002, but may also be submitted at the regional pre-application workshops. (Please note that a letter of intent is not a pre-requisite to the submission of a grant application.)

Locations

The five pre-application workshops are open to representatives of public and private organizations interested in submitting an application for this funding competition. There is no registration fee to attend a workshop and registration is limited to one person per organization.You must register in advance to attend a workshop. As space is limited, please register early to ensure a workshop slot.

The five locations are as follows:

Questions

Should you have any questions regarding the workshops, please feel free to contact Mike Hess at Health Systems Research, Inc. at mhess@hsrnet.com, or by phone at (202) 828-5100.