Summary of Module 2: Understanding Funding Opportunity Announcements This module provided an overview of the Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) process from planning to publication. You learned to:

• Explain the importance of the FOA. • List the steps for planning an FOA. • Discuss the project officer’s role in assisting with the FOA process. • Describe the steps in the clearance process for an FOA.

Lesson 1: Importance of the Funding Opportunity Announcement

The Life Cycle of Cooperative Agreements Developing the FOA is one of the major events in the life cycle of cooperative agreements. The FOA serves as a roadmap that guides grantees in accomplishing the goals of your program’s health objective.

Types of FOAs The FOA is a solicitation for applications to fund grantees that will perform activities that are intended to reduce the incidence of disease and impact the leading causes of death and disability. It is the method by which a federal agency makes known its intention to award discretionary funds for a specified financial assistance program or initiative in the form of grants or cooperative agreements.

FOAs may solicit competitive and non-competitive applicants. Federal agencies are required by Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regulations to publish the availability of discretionary federal funds on http://www.Grants.gov.

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FOA Guidelines

The CDC program should provide the following when writing an FOA:

• A provision of fair and equitable opportunity for applicants to create a competitive proposal.

• An explanation of the expectations and parameters of the program.

• A description of requirements such as eligibility, capabilities, and sustainability.

• The benefits of the program.

• An expectation of outcomes.

• A foundation for building a collaborative relationship and mutual responsibility.

Because CDC funds programs to accomplish a public purpose, the activities listed in the FOA are tailored by work plans submitted by applicants. The work plan describes the strategies, interventions, and protocols the applicant will implement to meet the goals of the FOA.

An FOA should be developed with a focus on the goals to be achieved by the time the FOA ends. Each budget year of the project period is devoted to attaining specific objectives that are phased throughout the life of the FOA.

Authorization and Appropriation for FOAs Before federal agencies can begin implementation of a national program strategy, they must be legally authorized to do so. Based on an identified public health need, CDC requests funding from Congress in its budget to address the need, and Congress authorizes the expenditure and appropriates funds.

After authorization and appropriation, CDC can solicit applications through an FOA to fill the identified need. The FOA affords states, localities, and non-government organizations the opportunity to receive federal funding to address the needs in their locality.

FOAs and CDC’s Mission and Priorities CDC develops FOAs to engage grantees to join us in support of our mission. FOAs serve as CDC's central vehicle for communicating its priorities to applicants who may apply for federal discretionary funds. Grantees funded through FOAs expand the reach of public health practices and allow for greater dissemination of prevention tools and resources.

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Lesson 2: Writing an FOA

Planning an FOA During the Program Strategy Design (Planning) step of the FOA process, you will create a plan so that the writing process progresses smoothly. The plan should include the steps shown on the graphic to the right.

When determining applicant eligibility, all FOAs should be full and open competition unless a determination can be supported by:

• Legislative requirements. • Goals and activities that may

limit the applicant pool (i.e., single source eligibility or limited source eligibility).

• Justification to support single source eligibility or limited source eligibility, which must be approved by PGO prior to submission of the draft FOA.

• Request an FOA number from PGO prior to writing the draft FOA.

The Project Officer’s Role in Assisting with the FOA Process As a project officer, you might have an opportunity to help draft an FOA. Follow these general guidelines:

1. Use the current standard required templates outlined for research and non-research FOAs.

2. Ensure that the announcement is accurate and precise in its intent for using federal funds.

3. Include fixed requirements (standard language within the FOA template) within each component of an

announcement in addition to those that describe the purpose and background.

4. Meet with PGO, together with your program management, to address the FOA logistics and understand the programmatic aspects of the FOA.

Before you start writing, create a plan so the writing process progresses smoothly. The plan should include the steps shown below.

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Standard Templates for FOAs

When you move into the Funding Opportunity Announcement (Solicitation) step, keep in mind that all FOAs must be formatted using the standard template for either the research or non-research announcement. These templates are located on the Know PGO and PPEO websites.

Reasons to use a standard template are

• Different types of announcements require different templates.

• FOA templates are periodically updated by PGO and PPEO to conform to changing federal requirements.

Remember, a research template should be used when a program is conducting an intensive study, intended to increase knowledge or understanding of the subject studied. This format is required when a project involves research on human or animal subjects.

Use a non-research template when the activity is to identify and control a health problem or improve a public health program or service and intended benefits are primarily or exclusively for the participants or the participants’ community.

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Lesson 3: Components of an FOA

FOA Components Overview There are two parts to an FOA.

• Part I provides a general overview and gives a potential applicant the necessary information to evaluate their eligibility and interest in applying for a published funding opportunity.

• Part II describes all necessary information for an applicant to understand and apply for an FOA.

FOA Clearance Process After drafting an FOA, the document must go through a clearance process. The purpose of clearance is to make sure that all information is scientifically and technically accurate and does not contain statements that are inconsistent with CDC or HHS policies. Each program has its own clearance process and timelines. Find out your program’s specific process before you submit the FOA to PGO.

The FOA may go through the following levels of clearance:

1. Writer/Editor Review: This process ensures the FOA is well-written quality document meeting all objectives and standards.

2. Approvals and Cross Clearance: The FOA is cleared by the following offices for internal approval prior to submission:

• Office of General Counsel (OGC): Determines whether or not the activities can be completed under the legislation that has been cited.

• Institutional Review Board (IRB): Determines if there are any research activities proposed.

• Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA)/Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Coordinator: Determines whether CDC-required data or reports should have OMB clearance.

3. The Publishing Process: The approved and cleared draft is published.

If various program areas assisted in writing the FOA, it must go through cross clearance and get approval from all programs.

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The FOA Publication Process

The following is a high-level overview of the publishing process, with the estimated time to complete each step in business days.

• The program submits the document to PGO.

• PGO’s Technical Information Management Section (TIMS) uploads the draft FOA and Justification Memo for initial review. This generally takes 3 business days. The Justification Memo explains why the eligible applicants for a funding announcement are pre-determined or why only a single applicant is eligible to apply for the announcement.

• Office of the Director (OD) level reviewers provide comments to TIMS. This process generally takes 21 business days.

• TIMS sends comments back to the Program, generally within 7 business days.

• Reviewers’ comments are sent to the program’s point of contact, the program’s branch chief, the GMS, and the GMO. The program point of contact is responsible for ensuring that each reviewer’s comments are satisfactorily addressed and incorporated. The FOA is then resubmitted to TIMS. This process generally takes 14 business days.

• If the GMO approves the request and clears the FOA for publication, the GMO notifies TIMS. TIMS then notifies the Program and verifies the application receipt date before publishing. This process generally takes 9 business days.

• TIMS publishes the FOA and emails a Publication Notice to the program, the GMO, and the GMS. This process generally takes 10 business days.

• TIMS uploads all final documents in the Funding Opportunity Tracking System after publication, generally within 3 business days.

• If the GMO does not approve the request and clear the document for publication, comments and the reason for rejecting clearance are noted, and the GMO notifies TIMS. TIMS then sends an auto-notification to the Program that the draft FOA was rejected for publication and comments await response. This process generally takes 7 business days.

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• Upon notification that the draft FOA was rejected for publication, the program incorporates GMO’s comments into a revised FOA and submits it to TIMS. They are generally allowed 5 business days for this process.

• TIMS sends the revised FOA to the GMO for approval, which generally takes 5 business days.

• If the GMO approves the request and clears the FOA for publication, the GMO notifies TIMS, who then notifies the Program. TIMS verifies the application receipt date before publication. This process generally takes 3 business days. Then the FOA is published and final documents are uploaded.

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Module 2 Resources Links with this icon ( ) indicate that you are leaving a CDC Web site. The link may lead to a non-federal site, but it provides additional information that is consistent with the intended purpose of a federal site. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) cannot attest to the accuracy of a non-federal site. Linking to a non-federal site does not constitute an endorsement by HHS or any of its employees of the sponsors or the information and products presented on the site. You will be subject to the destination site’s privacy policy when you follow the link.

1. CDC Guidance for Developing FOAs for new, non-research, domestic funding opportunities http://intranet.cdc.gov/od/oadpg/docs/FOA_Guidance_09%2026%202012_508.pdf

This Guidance and the accompanying Template are intended to help CDC programs develop clear and succinct Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs) for new, domestic, non-research funding opportunities.

2. Grants.Gov http://www.grants.gov/

This website provides a place for federal agencies to post discretionary funding opportunities and for grantees to find and apply to them.

3. Know PGO http://pgo.cdc.gov/

The CDC’s Procurement and Grants Office provides information on grants and business opportunities with CDC.

4. Program Performance and Evaluation Office (PPEO) http://intranet.cdc.gov/od/oadpg/grants/index.htm#1

The Program Performance and Evaluation Office (PPEO) sets standards and expectations for agency-wide evaluation; delivers tools, technical assistance and resources to enhance evaluation efforts; and provides support for evaluation capacity-building across CDC programs.

5. Research and Non-Research FOAs Template http://ecm.cdc.gov/PGO/Grants/Pages/Template%20and%20Tools.aspx

After selecting this link, click on “Pre-Award Phases,” to download the templates for research and non-research Funding Opportunity Announcements.

6. FOA Guidance http://intranet.cdc.gov/od/oadpg/grants/docs/2014FOA_Guidance2_30AUG13_FINAL.pdf

This document provides application and submission information.

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7. Healthy People 2020 http://www.healthypeople.gov/2020

Healthy People provides science-based, 10-year national objectives for improving the health of all Americans. This website lists the topics and objectives of the Healthy People 2020 agenda.

8. Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (FFATA) of 2006 https://www.fsrs.gov/

FFATA requires information on federal awards be made available to the public. The FFATA Subaward Reporting System (FSRS) is the reporting tool Federal prime awardees (i.e., prime contractors and prime grants recipients) use to capture and report subaward and executive compensation data regarding their first-tier subawards to meet the FFATA reporting requirements.

9. PGO Interactive Calculator http://ecm.cdc.gov/PGO/Grants/Pages/Template%20and%20Tools.aspx

The PGO interactive calculator can help you plan the timeframe between development and award. Once on the website, select “Pre-Award Phase” under “General” to view the interactive calculator.

Note that this list is not all-inclusive; you should check with your center, division, or branch for additional resources that may be available.

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