OpportunityTitle: Strengthening the Nations Public Health System through a National Voluntary Accreditation Program for State, Tribal, Local and Territorial Health Departments
AdditionalInformationOnEligibility: Eligibility Information    1. Eligible Applicants: Public Health Accreditation Board, a nonprofit with 501(c)3 IRS status  2. Special Eligibility Requirements:  The only eligible applicant for this award is the Public Health Accreditation Board, a 501(c)3 independent accrediting body that administers the national voluntary public health department accreditation program.  3. Justification for Less than Maximum Competition:  The nature of the activities under this award are best employed by focusing on the entity to which this cooperative agreement is limited, per memorandum for approval for single-eligibility competition, which was approved and dated December 20, 2012.    PHAB was found to be uniquely qualified, as it is the organization that has been established as the national accrediting body for state, tribal, local and territorial health departments.  PHAB was determined to have the experience and program infrastructure, which includes field-driven and tested standards, measures and accreditation assessment process. PHAB is also widely accepted as the national accrediting body for state, local tribal and territorial health departments by the constituency organizations for these agencies and as evidenced by the visible mention of PHAB within national policy documents (e.g., Institute of Medicine reports, Healthy People 2020).  4. Cost Sharing or Matching:  Cost sharing or matching funds are not required for this program. Although there is no statutory match requirement for this FOA, leveraging other resources and related ongoing efforts to promote sustainability is strongly encouraged.   5. Maintenance of Effort:  Maintenance of Effort is not required for this program.
Description: The purpose of this project is to support the operations and continuous improvement of a national accreditation program for state, tribal, local and territorial public health departments. Since 2004, there has been national work in exploring, establishing and launching a national accreditation program. Through a consensus process with national leaders from the major national public health organizations &#150; including those representing the organizations to be accredited &#150; the principles for a national accreditation program were determined and set the foundation for the establishment and incorporation of the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB). Since PHAB&#146;s incorporation in 2007, thousands of national, state, and local public health leaders have been involved in the development of all aspects of the national accreditation program, such as standards, measures and the assessment process. The national accreditation program was launched by PHAB in September 2011. PHAB serves as the accrediting body and also oversees continuous improvement of the elements of the program. Support for the national accreditation program is critical in this early juncture of its existence and will also be vital for determining the opportunities for improvement and impact of the national accreditation activities. Through this project, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will support the awardee to: &#149; Support communications and education regarding the accreditation program, including but not limited to broad communications regarding the value and impact of accreditation, communications with health departments that represent the applicant constituency, and training and technical assistance activities such as training of public health professionals to serve as volunteer site visitors. &#149; Establish a process of continuous improvement of the accreditation standards, tools and processes by monitoring changes needed for the standards, ongoing field-driven input for the national standards, and updates to the processes and information systems to ensure a smoothly functioning program. &#149; Strengthen strategic partnerships through continued collaboration with national partner organizations and other sectors, and the development and enhancement of connections between public health categorical programs and accreditation. &#149; Strengthen the evidence base for accreditation by conducting a comprehensive evaluation, ongoing analysis of the standards and measures for public health agency performance, and by developing a data base suitable for monitoring public health practice nationwide.
GrantorContactEmailDescription: Technical Information Management Section (TIMS)
GrantorContactText: CDC Procurement and Grants Office &lt;br/&gt;(PGO) Technical Information Management Section (TIMS) &lt;br/&gt;Phone:  770-488-2700 &lt;br/&gt;E-mail: pgotim@cdc.gov &lt;br/&gt;
CloseDateExplanation: Dates:    &#149;Letter of Intent Deadline Date:  Not Applicable    &#149;Application Deadline Date:  May 30, 2013,  11:59 p.m. U.S. Eastern Standard Time, on www.grants.gov