Funding Opportunities

International Tobacco and Health Research and Capacity Building Program (R01)

Deadline: September 15, 2011

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) solicits collaborative research and capacity building projects that address the burden of tobacco use in low-and middle-income countries (LMIC) by (1) pursuing observational, intervention and policy research of LMIC relevance and (2) building capacity in epidemiological and behavioral research, prevention, treatment, communications, implementation, health services and policy research. The level of research and research training specialization in any given project will vary based on the strengths of the particular investigators and institutions and the specific need to build capacity to support locally relevant research on tobacco control interventions. The overall intent of the program is to encourage trans-disciplinary research to the international tobacco epidemic and to reduce the global burden of morbidity and mortality caused by tobacco use. The program is designed to promote international cooperation between investigators in the U.S. or other high-income countries (HIC) pursuing research programs on tobacco control, and scientists and institutions in LMIC where tobacco consumption is a current or anticipated public health urgency. The program allows U.S. and other HIC investigators to gain expertise working under LMIC-specific conditions and strengthens the research base of the U.S. and foreign institution(s), especially those institutions in LMIC. To this end, capacity strengthening must be an integrated and significant part of the research proposal. Note that in this FOA, the term tobacco includes both smoked and smokeless (non-combusted) forms of tobacco. Click here for more information.

University Partnership Research Grants for the Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG) under the Affordable Care Act (ACA)
Deadline: August 5, 2011
The University Partnership grants are intended to support research and evaluation that will inform and improve HPOG program performance and complement ACF's multi-pronged evaluation of the HPOG programs.  Proposed studies may be applied, basic, or methodological, and may seek to answer specific questions or address broader research topics of interest.  Applicants are required to demonstrate a partnership with an HPOG program(s) as an integral part of the research plan development and execution.  Proposed studies should benefit the welfare and employment research field more broadly by seeking to advance the state of the art and knowledge of healthcare workforce development and education and training programs, and should inform relevant policy decisions and solutions, particularly for underserved populations. The full announcement is available online. Eligible applicants include public, private, and state-controlled institutions of higher education, non-profit institutions with or without 501(c)(3) status, for-profit organizations, and small businesses.  Applicants may apply for up to four years of funding and may be awarded up to $500,000 for each year.  

DoD Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder In-Home Therapy Clinical Trial Award
Deadline: October 10, 2011
The PH/TBI Research Program Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder In-Home Therapy Clinical Trial Award mechanism is being offered for the first time in FY11. This Program Announcement/Funding Opportunity seeks applications for funding to support randomized controlled trial comparative effectiveness research comparing behavioral health care delivered via three distinct treatment modalities: Face-to-Face In-Office, Face-to-Face In-Home, and Tele-Behavioral Health (provider-to-in-home patient). The selected studies will employ a study design including at least three treatment arms. The target population is OIF/OEF veterans who have returned from deployment (e.g., post-deployment Active Duty Service Members, demobilized Reservists, discharged veterans) who are currently diagnosed with PTSD and have been referred for behavioral health treatment. This Program Announcement/Funding Opportunity seeks applications that will directly compare these treatment modalities across several dimensions. Proposed projects should be designed to include treatment outcome (e.g., patient symptom reduction to below diagnostic threshold) as the metric of primary importance. However, other comparisons and factors of importance include patient compliance, treatment satisfaction, optimizing patient match to treatment modality, ease of treatment delivery, provider/patient safety issues, cost, program management issues, and a resultant best practice guide to implementation. Click here for more information.

Costs of Student-Centered Learning at Secondary Schools
Deadline: July 29, 2011
(From the Philanthropy News Digest)
The Nellie Mae Education Foundation, which focuses on the promotion and integration of student-centered approaches to learning at the middle- and high-school levels in New England, is seeking a research team to study cost and funding issues at a small sample of student-centered secondary schools in the U.S. Through the project, NMEF hopes to learn about how secondary schools allocate resources to support student-centered learning, what sources of revenue they harness, and about the school-level costs of shifting toward student-centered learning approaches to education. Click here for more information.

Next Generation Social Sciences in Africa: Fellowships in Peace, Security & Development
Deadline: August 31, 2011
(From Philanthropy News Digest)
Launched in June 2011, the Next Generation Social Sciences in Africa: Fellowship in Peace, Security & Development program offers fellowships to nurture the intellectual development and increase retention of early-career faculty in Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda. The program assists fellows working to develop research opportunities and skills, obtain doctoral degrees, and participate in robust research communities. Toward this end, the project features a thematic focus in order to renew basic research agendas addressing peace, security, and development topics and to strengthen interdisciplinary social science research capacity on these issues. Topics can be broadly conceived to include, for example, work on civil society, humanitarian intervention, human security, law and political practice, media and human rights, peace and reconciliation, public culture and associational life, religion and conflict resolution, social movements, and democratic participation.  Click here for more information.

FY 2011 Research Design Project
Deadline: August 15, 2011
Pursuant to its National Technical Assistance program, the Economic Development Administration (EDA) seeks applications to develop and test measures, metrics, indicators, and methodologies to help the agency more effectively assess, evaluate, and report the full impact of its economic development investments on regional economies across the Nation. Strategic resource allocation decisions are heavily informed by assessing the efficacy of EDA's efforts and initiatives. Thus, it is crucial that these assessments are predicated upon an abundance of relevant data. Currently, EDA's primary metrics for assessing potential investments focus on economic outcomes related to job creation, private investment leveraged, and bolstering regional capacity. Under this competitive solicitation, the agency seeks to identify a broader array of measures which could be utilized to assess the impact of EDA's investments on regional economies, particularly measures which help identify the outcomes that result from EDA's investments. Additionally, the agency seeks information which could inform and enhance its forecasting and validation methods. EDA solicits competitive applications from organizations or consortia that will build on the agency's existing body of research and experience related to performance measurement to identify, pilot, and refine appropriate performance and outcome measures, data collection processes, and forecasting and validation methods. EDA envisions that the results of this proposed study would include a recommendation on an optimal data set that EDA could develop and use in measuring its performance. This data set could be collected and submitted by grantees (e.g., as a condition of awarding grant funds or as a post-approval condition under an award) to document the results of their own activities and the activities of beneficiaries, or could take the form of an easily accessible, independent data source(s) that help inform EDA's measurement of its own activities. Click here for more information.

Health Insurance Doesn't Always Protect People From Medical Debt

(From the Health Behavior News Service)

In 2010, about 40 percent of Americans-or 73 million people-had trouble paying medical bills, up from 34 percent in 2005. Now, a new study confirms that having health insurance coverage is no guarantee against accumulating medical debt for working-age adults. Not surprisingly, the study likewise finds that both medical debt and lack of insurance coverage lead to reduced access to health care. The study, which appears online and in the August issue of the American Journal of Public Health, used data from the 2008 Arizona Health Survey of 4,200 state households. The survey included items about whether households were having trouble paying medical bills, if participants had delayed or not obtained medications or other needed medical care and whether participants had chronic health conditions. It also asked questions about household income, ethnicity and health insurance status. Click here for the full report.

Research Brief Series on "Topics in Research and Evaluation of Quality Rating and Improvement Systems"
As part of the work of the Quality Initiatives Research and Evaluation Consortium (INQUIRE), ACF OPRE has published three briefs that summarize research and evaluation issues to be addressed by researchers, policy makers and implementers working with Quality Rating and Improvement Systems in states and localities. The briefs were produced for ACF by experts in the field of early childhood under a contract with Child Trends. The briefs can be found here.

Building Strong Families - BSF's Effects on Couples Who Attended Group Relationship Skills Sessions: A Special Analysis of 15-month Data
ACF OPRE released a reported related to the Building Strong Families (BSF) Demonstration Evaluation.  This report, completed by Mathematica Policy Research, follows the release of an impact evaluation report in May 2010.  This new report uses quasi-experimental analysis to examine effects for those who participated in the core program component, relationship skills workshops.  The report can be found here.

Catalog of Research: Programs for Low-Income Fathers
ACF OPRE recently released a report, completed by Mathematica Policy Research, entitled "Catalog of Research: Programs for Low-Income Fathers." This report presents findings from a systematic review of impact, implementation and descriptive studies of programs serving low-income fathers. The report can be found here.

Learning As We Go: A First Snapshot of Early Head Start Programs, Staff, Families and Children
ACF OPRE recently released a report entitled "Learning As We Go: A First Snapshot of Early Head Start Programs, Staff, Families and Children," based on the first year of data collection of the Descriptive Study of Early Head Start (Baby FACES). A nationally representative sample of 89 Early Head Start programs are participating in the study. Approximately 1200 children and families are being followed through their time in the program, in two cohorts: a perinatal group and a group where children are approximately one at the time of the first site visit. The Baby FACES project is being conducted for ACF by Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. The report can be found here.

Lessons Learned from the Home Visiting Evidence of Effectiveness Review (HomVEE)
ACF OPRE and HRSA MCHB released a new report, "Lessons Learned from the Home Visiting Evidence of Effectiveness Review," developed through a contract with Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. This paper describes key lessons learned from the first year of the HomVEE review about the current state of evidence on the effectiveness of early childhood home visiting, gaps in the research literature that create challenges for assessing effectiveness, and suggestions for strengthening future research in this area. The report briefly reviews the systematic review of the home visiting literature. The remainder of the paper highlights research design issues, measurement issues, interpretation of findings and other key lessons learned regarding the state of the literature on home visiting. The report can be found here.

Six new home visiting model reviews from the Home Visiting Evidence of Effectiveness Review (HomVEE)
ACF OPRE and HRSA MCHB released six new home visiting model reviews conducted as part of the Home Visiting Evidence of Effectiveness Review through a contract with Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. The reviews include: Even Start-Home Visiting (Birth to Age 5), Family Connections (Birth to Age 5), Health Access Nurturing Development Services (HANDS) Program, HOMEBUILDERS (Birth to Age 5), Maternal Infant Health Outreach Worker (MIHOW) and Nurturing Parenting Programs (Birth to Age 5). These reports are part of the ongoing systematic review of evidence of effectiveness of home visiting models. The reports can be found here.

ICPSR Data Archive Updates

Below is a list of new data collection additions to the Interuniversity Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) data archive.

25881 Systems Change Analysis of Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) Programs in One Midwestern County of the United States, 1994-2007

26081 Evaluation of the Phoenix, Arizona, Homicide Clearance Initiative, 2003-2005

26501 Transatlantic Trends Survey, 2008

27921 Evaluation of the Hawaii Opportunity Probation with Enforcement (HOPE), Community Supervision Strategy, 2007-2009

29981 Crime Incident Data for Selected HOPE VI Sites in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 2002-2010, and Washington, DC, 2000-2009

31001 Physicians in Massachusetts: Views of the Massachusetts Health Care Reform Law, 2009

31161 Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics (LEMAS), 2007

31264 Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN), 2008

31341 New York City Community Health Survey, 2009

31562 CBS News Monthly Poll #1, January 2010

31601 New York City Trafficking Assessment Project, 2007-2008

Click here for more information.