FY18 Tier 1 FOA TA Webinar

FY18 Tier 1 FOA TA Webinar

May 8, 2018

12:00pmCT

Coordinator:Welcome and thank you for standing by. At this time, all participants are on listen only mode. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. If you have any objections, you may disconnect at this time. Now I'd like to turn the meeting over to (Dr. Jo Anne Jensen). You may begin.

(Jo Anne Jensen):Thank you, (Brittney). Welcome. This webinar will introduce Tier one funding for phase one of replicating programs effective in the promotion of healthy adolescence through reduction of teenage pregnancy and associated risk factors. This technical assistance webinar introduces you to this funding opportunity announcement, or FOA. We are glad that you could join us.

Today we're going to spend time reviewing the new funding announcement, discussing eligibility requires, program expectations, and highlighting how to apply for these funds. Non-binding letters of intent for this FOA are due by May 21, 2018 and should be submitted via email to the address listed on the slide. Competitive applications are due by June 29, 2018 by 6:00 pm Eastern time. Instructions on submitting your applications will be covered later in the webinar.

You will hear today from (Jaclyn Ruiz), (Alexandra Warner), (Latrece Timmons), and myself, (Jo Anne Jensen) on behalf of the Office of Adolescent Health. (RoscoeBunson) will be with us from the Office of Grants Management. We will begin with an overview of the Office of Adolescent Health followed by program expectations, application content and the application submission and review process.

Before we get started, there are a few logistics. First, all participants should be able to hear the audio and view the slides. If you are unable to log in to the net conference to view the slides today, they will be available along with the transcript and a recording of the webinar on the OAH website in a few days. Second, all participants are in listen only mode. And third, if you have questions as we go through today's webinar, please email them to the email address listed on the slide, . Please note that we will not be able to answer your questions that are specific to individual applications on today's webinar.

The vision of the Office of Adolescent Health, or OAH, is leading the nation to ensure that America's adolescents thrive and become healthy, productive adults. OAH is responsible for coordinating an adolescent health initiative across the department of health and human services and is also the convener of adolescent health, think, act, grow, or we refer to this as TAG which some of you are probably aware of. This is a national partner engagement strategy that is focused on adolescent health.

In addition, the office administers and supports several grant programs including teen pregnancy prevention, the Pregnancy AssistanceFund, and the National Resource Center for HIV/AIDSPrevention among adolescents. We also have led efforts to conduct several large, national evaluations focused on teen pregnancy prevention and providing support for expectant and parenting teens.

The Office of Adolescent Health announced the availability of funds for fiscal year 2018 cooperative agreement awards under the authority of Division H, Title 2 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018. There are two funding opportunities being offered. Tier one, grantees are required to replicate a program and Tier two, grantees are required to test new and innovative strategies. The webinar for the tier two opportunity is May 10 of 2018. This webinar focuses on the Tier one announcement.

Estimated funds available for this competition is $61 million. Anticipated number of awards is 270. The period of performance is not to exceed two years. The range of awards is 200 to $500,000 annually. Anticipated start date is September 1, 2018 and the budget length period is 12 months. The type of award is a cooperative agreement award.

Now let’s look at program expectations and turn the webinar over to (Jacklyn Ruiz).

(Jaclyn Ruiz):Thank you, (Jo Anne). The purpose of this FOA is to replicate and scale up programs that include the protective factors shown to be effective in the prevention of risk behaviors including teen pregnancy. The overall goal is promoting healthy adolescents and to address youth sexual risk holistically or across the interrelated factors that promote optimal health and result in healthy decision making in teen pregnancy prevention.

Tier one has two phases. Phase one is to establish project merit, fidelity to the program guidelines, feasibility, and capability of generating preliminary data prior to seeking further support for phase two. Phase one is the first two years of this award. Phase two will be a separate competition and will be limited to those grantees who successfully implement the selected program model in years one and two.

Tier one projects are required to replicate a risk avoidance or a risk reduction model that incorporates the common characteristics outlined in one of two effective programs that include the protective factors shown effective in preventing teen pregnancy and, or sexual risk behaviors with youth. The center for relationship education’s systematic method for assessing risk avoidance tool, also known as the SMARTool, which describes nine elements essential for effective sexual risk avoidance or the the Tool to Assess the Characteristics of Effective Sex and STD/HIV Education Programs developed by ETR which describes 17 elements of effective sexual risk reduction projects.

You will find these elements listed in the FOA on pages 12 and 13. Applicants can choose any curriculum as long as it incorporates the evidence-based elements of one of two - of these two programs.

Replications should be conducted to address the key elements of one of the two effective programs. Curriculum must be selected to address and replicate each of the elements in one of the two programs. If needed, adaptations may be made and/or supplemental materials may be presented in tandem with an established curriculum. Applicants must describe in detail how they will replicate each element of one of the two programs.

Applicants identified as a risk reduction should replicate ETR's Tool to Assess the Characteristics of Effective Sex and STD/HIV Education Programs and applicants identifying as risk avoidance should replicate the SMARTool. Projects that are on a continuum between the two teen pregnancy prevention programs may select either of the two programs which identifies successful elements for addressing youth risk.

Applicants should target participants and communities most at risk. Applicants should select a population within a community that has a teen birth rate, STD rate, sexual activity rate, or other measure of sexual risk that is either at or above the national average or one that has not experienced a decline commensurate with national declines.

Each selected community must be defined by clear geographic boundaries in order to assure that the number of youths served can be identified and sexual risk rates can be monitored. Applicants should propose projects that will serve at a minimum, those populations identified by current federal statistical reports as being most vulnerable to teen pregnancy, STDs, and other risks associated with sexual activity.

Applicants should also propose to serve age groups most likely to engage in sexual risk behaviors. While younger adolescents may be included in the project, OAH expects that services will also focus on high school students, 15 to 19 years of age, recognizing the importance of reinforcing healthy decision making throughout adolescence.

After selecting one of the two effective programs, each applicant should then describe how they will also emphasize priorities that comport with public health protocols for addressing negative risk behaviors. This includes weaving the goal of optimal health into every component of the project. Optimal health is a term that refers to the best possible outcomes for an individual's physical, emotional, and social health. Optimal health is integral to health promotion across a variety of health domains as it creates opportunities that open access to environments that make positive health practices the easiest choice.

Additional priorities include clearly communicating risk, providing skills to avoid sexual risk, and providing cessation support. Projects will clearly communicate that teen sex is a risk behavior for both the physical consequences of pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections as well as sociological, economic, and other related risks.

Both risk avoidance and risk reduction approaches can and should include skills associated with helping youth delay sex as well as skills to help those youth already engaged in sexual risk to return to risk-free choices in the future. This funding announcement requires all grantees to implement strategies that will help youth achieve healthier outcomes.

Providers should therefore place a priority on providing information and practical skills to assist youth in successfully avoiding sexual risk. Sexual risk is defined as engaging in any behavior that increases one's risk for any of the unintended consequences of sexual activity, including by not limited to pregnancy.

In addition, recipients will provide affirming and practical skills for those engaged in sexual risk to make healthier choices in the future, thereby improving the chances for achieving optimal health outcomes. Applicants should describe how they will ensure that their approach is age-appropriate, relevant to the proposed target population, and aligned with specific needs identified.

Age-appropriate means it will be appropriate for the general developmental and social maturity of the targeted age group as opposed to the cognitive ability to understand a topic or the a-typical maturation of a small segment of the targeted population. Applicants should also design a project in such a way to increase the potential to make meaningful impact.

All materials used in the funded projects are expected to be medically accurate, as mentioned before, age-appropriate, culturally and linguistically appropriate, and trauma informed. Recipients are expected to conduct their own review to ensure all program materials meet these requirements.

Applicants who choose to use any copywriter curriculum materials in their proposed project must include a signed agreement with the developer or purveyor of the materials that demonstrates that the applicant has permission to use the materials as planned. This should include but is not limited to, permission to use the materials as proposed in the application and or alter them as needed for compliance with medical accuracy review. Without an agreement with the developer or purveyor, the project will not be funded for implementation by OAH.

OAH expects funded recipients to implement and maintain a training and technical assistance plan for the professional development of project staff that is relevant to their project. OAH expects funded recipients to select partners as needed to assist with training and professional development. If sub awarding, the recipient should ensure training is provided to sub-recipients as well as to recipient staff. Applicants should address plans for training staff with their project narrative and work - within their project narratives and work plans.

Recipients are expected to have a robust communication and dissemination plan in place that aligns with their overall project and helps build and share knowledge gained. The communication and dissemination plan should include broadly publicizing information about the project. It should also include efforts to communicate and share knowledge, ongoing activities, milestones, evaluation results, and lessons learned through the project. The recipient should use diverse dissemination and communication methods and techniques.

At a minimum, recipients are expected to have an online presence for their project, use social media effectively, share lessons learned as well as successes with key stakeholders, and publish articles and present at professional conferences as appropriate. OH expects funded recipients to form partnerships and a collaborative culture to support the overall project. Applicant and its key partners should have the collective experience and expertise needed to successfully accomplish the goals and objectives.

Key partners should be pre-established. Additional partners should be added or changed throughout the award period as deemed appropriate by the recipient. The recipient is responsible for ensuring that all partners meet expectations and successfully fulfill their roles and responsibilities. Applicants should clearly demonstrate existence of the partnerships' required to complete the project with layers of commitment, MOUs, or sub-awards.

Upon award, funded recipients are expected to submit copies of all final agreements to OAH. Funded recipients are expected to leverage resources and assets to ensure collaboration and avoid duplication where possible in order to increase impact.

Recipients are expected to design projects with sustainability in mind from the beginning of the grant. Include sustainable - excuse me, an objective or objectives addressing sustainability should be included in the work plan. Objectives and activities should focus on implementing strategies aimed at sustaining the project over time within 12 months of receiving funding.

As a reminder, federal funding cannot be used for fundraising activities or lobbying. For more information about sustainability, visit the OAH resource center online and review the OAH sustainability framework. The link is available on this slide. Now we will move on to evaluation expectations. (Alexandra?)

(Alexandra Warner):Thank you, (Jaclyn). All of Tier one recipients are expected to develop and implement a two-year evaluation agenda, conduct formative and process implementation evaluations, collect performance measure data, propose a summative outcome impact evaluation, use data from the formative evaluation process implementation evaluation and performance measures for continuous quality improvements.

Recipients may conduct an optional economic evaluation and, if selected, begin a summative outcome impact evaluation in year two. Recipients are expected to develop and implement a two-year evaluation agenda that includes plans for all proposed formative and process implementation evaluation as well as a proposal for rigorous evaluation and testing. The evaluation agenda should clearly identify the individual evaluation settings proposed as part of the agenda, the type of evaluation for each -- that is project evaluation, component testing, methodological evaluation, or a combination -- and the timing for each.

Recipients are expected to submit their two-year evaluation agenda for review and approval by the OAH before beginning implementation of their project. Recipients will be expected to update their evaluation agendas at least annually to reflect any changes to the evaluations. All of these updates must be consistent with the scope and objectives of the approved applications.

Recipients are expected to conduct formative and process implementation evaluations throughout the project that systematically documents challenges, successes, and lessons learned to improve the implementation and ensure successful execution strategies. Formative evaluation ensures that a program is feasible, appropriate, and acceptable before full implementation.

Process or implementation evaluation determines whether the program has been implemented as intended. At a minimum, applicants should outline their plans for formative and process evaluation by addressing adherence, quality, comparison group experience, contextual factors, and lessons learned. Recipients are expected to continuously improve the quality of the project by assessing whether the project is being implemented as intended and is relevant andresonant with the intended audience.

Recipients are expected to provide annual interim analysis from the process evaluation beginning at the six-month mark of year one to demonstrate possible readiness for a summativeevaluation as well as the efficacy and utility of the project. All recipients are expected to collect a common set of performance measures to assess project implementation and outcomes and use measures for learning. Final performance measures will be provided to recipients during the first six months of funding, pending OMB approval, and may include measures on reach, dosage, implementation quality, sustainability, partnerships, trainings, and dissemination.

Recipients must collect all performance measures and report to OAH on a semi-annual basis. Recipients should obtain any necessary permissions to collect required data. All applicants should propose a summative outcome impact evaluation plan for year two. Selected projects may begin this evaluation at the beginning of year two, depending upon readiness, based on results from formative and process implementation evaluations.

Projects ready to begin a summative evaluation in year two may be eligible to receive additional funding to implement such evaluation depending upon the availability of funds. Eligible projects will be notified of their selection to participate in summative evaluation before the second year begins in order to explicit the research efforts. Recipients are expected to prepare a summative evaluation plan with annual intermediate results on behavior, attitudes, and intentions.