Expired RFA-DA-14-009: HIV/AIDS and Substance Use Among the Homeless and Unstably Housed (R01)

Part 1. Overview Information

Participating Organization(s)	National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Components of Participating Organizations	National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
Funding Opportunity Title	HIV/AIDS and Substance Use Among the Homeless and Unstably Housed (R01)
Activity Code	R01 Research Project Grant
Announcement Type	New
Related Notices	August 21, 2013: Removed reference to ASSIST in section IV.3, since ASSIST is currently only available for multi-project applications. May 30, 2013 (NOT-OD-13-074) - NIH to Require Use of Updated Electronic Application Forms for Due Dates on or after September 25, 2013. Forms-C applications are required for due dates on or after September 25, 2013.
Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) Number	RFA-DA-14-009
Companion Funding Opportunity	RFA-DA-14-010, R01 Research Project Grant RFA-DA-14-011, R01 Research Project Grant RFA-DA-14-012, R21 Exploratory/Developmental Grant RFA-DA-14-007, U01 Research Project Cooperative Agreements
Number of Applications	See Section III. 3. Additional Information on Eligibility.
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number(s)	93.279
Funding Opportunity Purpose	To improve understanding of the intersection of HIV/AIDS and drug abuse, this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is part of a multipronged 2014 expansion of HIV and AIDS-related research within the context of drug and alcohol abuse among understudied populations and in understudied settings that show promise for the development of effective prevention and treatment efforts. In addition to this funding opportunity, others included in the 2014 expansion address substance use, HIV, and Black/African American women and young Men who have Sex with Men (MSM) (RFA-DA-14-010); the integration of substance abuse and HIV prevention and treatment within HIV/AIDS service delivery settings (RFA-DA-14-011); exploratory research on comorbid HIV, chronic pain, and substance use among older adults (RFA-DA-14-012), and Seek, Test, Treat, and Retain Data Harmonization Coordinating Center (RFA-DA-14-007). This FOA invites research grant applications focused on homeless or unstably housed persons to elucidate the interconnections among substance use, HIV/AIDS and other co-morbidities. The FOA encourages studies on the development, implementation, evaluation, and dissemination of effective HIV-prevention interventions, research related to the epidemiology of HIV infection and substance use, and health services studies to improve the quality of substance use prevention and treatment services for the homeless and unstably housed populations.

Key Dates

Posted Date	June 10, 2013
Open Date (Earliest Submission Date)	October 15, 2013
Letter of Intent Due Date(s)	October 15, 2013
Application Due Date(s)	November 15, 2013, by 5:00 PM local time of applicant organization. Applicants are encouraged to apply early to allow adequate time to make any corrections to errors found in the application during the submission process by the due date.
AIDS Application Due Date(s)	November 15, 2013, by 5:00 PM local time of applicant organization.
Scientific Merit Review	February/March 2014
Advisory Council Review	May 2014
Earliest Start Date	July 2014
Expiration Date	November 16, 2013
Due Dates for E.O. 12372	Not Applicable

Required Application Instructions

It is critical that applicants follow the instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide, except where instructed to do otherwise (in this FOA or in a Notice from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts). Conformance to all requirements (both in the Application Guide and the FOA) is required and strictly enforced. Applicants must read and follow all application instructions in the Application Guide as well as any program-specific instructions noted in Section IV. When the program-specific instructions deviate from those in the Application Guide, follow the program-specific instructions. Applications that do not comply with these instructions may be delayed or not accepted for review.

Table of Contents

Part 1. Overview Information
Part 2. Full Text of the Announcement
Section I. Funding Opportunity Description
Section II. Award Information
Section III. Eligibility Information
Section IV. Application and Submission Information
Section V. Application Review Information
Section VI. Award Administration Information
Section VII. Agency Contacts
Section VIII. Other Information

Part 2. Full Text of Announcement

Section I. Funding Opportunity Description

Purpose & Objectives

To improve understanding of the intersection of HIV/AIDS and drug abuse, this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is part of a multipronged 2014 expansion of HIV and AIDS related research within the context of drug and alcohol abuse among understudied populations and in understudied settings that show promise for the development of effective prevention and treatment efforts. In addition to this funding opportunity, others included in the 2014 expansion address substance use, HIV, and Black/African American women and young Men who have Sex with Men (MSM) (RFA-DA-14-010); the integration of substance abuse and HIV prevention and treatment within HIV/AIDS service delivery settings (RFA-DA-14-011); and exploratory research on comorbid HIV, chronic pain, and substance use among older adults (RFA-DA-14-012). This FOA invites research grant applications focused on homeless or unstably housed persons to elucidate the interconnections among substance use, HIV/AIDS and other co-morbidities. The FOA solicits (1) studies on the development, implementation, evaluation, and dissemination of effective HIV-prevention interventions, (2) research related to the epidemiology of HIV infection and substance use, and (3) health services studies to improve the quality of substance use prevention and treatment services for homeless and unstably housed populations.

In the United States, the current rate of homelessness in the general population is estimated to be 21 homeless persons per 10,000 people. Using the January 2011 point-in-time count data, 636,017 people experienced homelessness on any given night in the United States. The prevalence of HIV infection among the homeless and unstably housed individuals is higher in the United States than in any other country worldwide. Homelessness and marginal housing is associated with higher incidence of drug use, HIV and sexual risk behaviors, HIV infections, and poorer health outcomes. Homelessness and unstable housing are also associated with unemployment, recent incarceration, family dissolution, mental illness, and other health problems. Efforts to move these populations toward stable housing often require attention to a variety of issues, including, but not limited to disruptive health conditions, provision or re-establishment of social welfare benefits, employment, and reunification of families involved in the child welfare system. The involvement and coordination of multiple service systems are typically required.

Reducing HIV-related mortality and morbidity in this population requires comprehensive and integrated prevention and health care delivery systems that work effectively across multiple systems within the public and private sectors (child welfare, juvenile justice, criminal justice, education, and other social service systems). Given the current resource constraints on health delivery systems, new approaches are needed to ensure effective and efficient delivery and use of HIV/AIDS and substance abuse prevention and treatment services among homeless and unstably housed populations. In general, structural interventions have been fewer in number than those focusing on individuals in service or outreach settings. The complexity of needs associated with being homeless or unstably housed creates challenges for achieving internal validity with traditional experimental designs, and exploration of rigorous alternatives is needed.

Applications that consider rigorous alternatives to common randomized control trial designs to test interventions (e.g., optimization-type trials, Solomon 4-group designs) are encouraged. Vulnerable populations exist across the age span. Important gaps remain in serving youth, particularly those at greatest risk such as ethnic minority gay youth, who have particularly high rates of homelessness and new HIV cases. Although Native Americans are overrepresented among homeless populations and some data indicate that among the homeless they are more likely to be substance abusers as well, very little research has focused on this sub-population. Additional vulnerable populations receiving less attention include: youth in and transitioning out of the foster care system, run away youth, women, women of color, women with children, pregnant/parenting teens, victims of intimate partner violence and military veterans.

Homeless and unstable housing studies should examine co-morbidities and co-occurrence of HIV/AIDS, HIV and sexual risk behaviors, substance use and other drug-related co-morbidities in the homeless and unstably housed. Examples of research topics include, but are not limited to the following:

* Epidemiologic studies utilizing systems science methodologies (e.g., agent based modeling, system dynamics modeling, network analysis), or geographic information systems (GIS).

* Social network studies exploring access, intervention and retention of homeless or unstably housed persons in substance use or HIV prevention or treatment interventions, treatments, or services.

* Studies employing innovative technology approaches/interventions (e.g. mobile devices, social media) to reach, provide services, and retain homeless persons.

* Studies focusing on gay youth, with particular attention to observational or intervention research focusing on the multiple conditions that often accompany homelessness in this population (e.g., estrangement from families of origin, substance use, juvenile justice or criminal justice system involvement).

* Studies focusing on the Native American homeless population that might include understanding the unique trajectories to homelessness and disparities in the health consequences of homelessness, exploring the sexual and social network risks for HIV and substance abuse, intervention strategies, or willingness to use or access services.

*Comprehensive interactions addressing housing needs (e.g., sustained, stable housing) and other multiple needs of the population (e.g., with coordination of services for substance abuse disorder and other co-occurring needs such as economic support, psychiatric care, child and family welfare, etc.) with the objective of reducing HIV transmission or acquisition risk, or improving health outcomes for HIV seropositives.

* New or adapted models of HIV prevention intervention addressing the needs of homeless youth, particularly ethnic minority and sexual minority youth, women, ethnic minority women, women with children and military veterans.

* Novel interventions addressing structural and organizational factors (e.g., access/utilization of health care, neighborhood context, etc.) to facilitate sustained stable housing for HIV-seropositives, and persons at highest risk for HIV acquisition.

* Studies examining access and utilization of services, capacities of service providers to retain patients and facilitate adherence to both substance abuse and HIV treatment regimens among the homeless and marginally housed.

* Studies examining organizational level interventions and outcomes for implementing evidence based practices in organizations that address HIV and HIV-risk behaviors among homeless and unstably housed populations.

* Research assessing the impact of the Affordable Care Act on integration of substance use, HIV and other behavioral health services into health care systems, and also examining access and utilization of these services by homeless and unstably housed populations.

*Quasi-natural experiments assessing changes in housing policy and how this influences HIV, substance use and other co-morbidities.

The following areas of research will NOT be considered responsive to the FOA:

*Formative or qualitative research only.

*Primary focus of prospective or descriptive epidemiology (e.g., investigations of the health risk or protective factors without addressing mechanisms or systems).

This announcement is aligned with both U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U. S. Interagency Council on Homelessness Opening Doors: Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness, and the White House's Office of AIDS Policy's National HIV/AIDS strategy.

IC Specific Considerations

National Addiction & HIV Data Archive Program (NAHDAP): NIDA strongly encourages investigators to deposit and/or utilize data sets affiliated with NAHDAP hosted by Interuniversity Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR). For details, please see the following website (http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/NAHDAP/). For questions or additional information on this program, please contact Dr. Kathy Etz at [email protected].

NIDA encourages data harmonization to increase comparability, collaboration, and scientific yield of clinical research on drug abuse and HIV. Towards that end, awardees conducting research directly related to HIV/AIDS and substance use among the homeless and unstably housed should employ, whenever possible, measures that are consistent across other grants on this topic in order to harmonize data within the following domains: demographic information, substance use history, mental health functioning, HIV risk behavior, HIV testing and counseling, biological markers of HIV, use of and adherence to HIV treatment, and related issues unique to this vulnerable population. Awardees are also expected to use monies within the grant to cover travel expenses to attend annual meetings of all grantees funded under RFA-DA-14-009 on data harmonization, to be held in Washington DC. For additional information and examples of data harmonization in other NIDA grants, please see: http://www.drugabuse.gov/researchers/research-resources/data-harmonization-projects/seek-test-treat-retain/addressing-hiv-in-criminal-justice-system and http://www.drugabuse.gov/researchers/research-resources/data-harmonization-projects/seek-test-treat-retain/addressing-hiv-among-vulnerable-populations.

HIV/AIDS Counseling and Testing Policy for the National Institute on Drug Abuse: In light of recent significant advances in rapid testing for HIV and in effective treatments for HIV, NIDA has revised its 2001 policy on HIV counseling and testing. NIDA-funded researchers are strongly encouraged to provide and/or refer research subjects to HIV risk reduction education and education about the benefits of HIV treatment, counseling and testing, referral to treatment, and other appropriate interventions to prevent acquisition and transmission of HIV. This policy applies to all NIDA funded research conducted domestically or internationally. For more information see http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-DA-07-013.html.

Section II. Award Information

Funding Instrument	Grant: A support mechanism providing money, property, or both to an eligible entity to carry out an approved project or activity.
Application Types Allowed	New The OER Glossary and the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide provide details on these application types.
Funds Available and Anticipated Number of Awards	NIH intends to fund an estimate of 4-8 awards, corresponding to a total of $4 million, for fiscal year 2014. Future year amounts will depend on annual appropriations.
Award Budget	Application budgets are not limited, but need to reflect the actual needs of the proposed project. Because the nature and scope of the proposed research will vary, it is anticipated that the size and duration of each award will also vary.
Award Project Period	Support may be requested for up to five years.

NIH grants policies as described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement will apply to the applications submitted and awards made in response to this FOA.

Section III. Eligibility Information

1. Eligible Applicants

Eligible Organizations

Higher Education Institutions

Public/State Controlled Institutions of Higher Education
Private Institutions of Higher Education

The following types of Higher Education Institutions are always encouraged to apply for NIH support as Public or Private Institutions of Higher Education:

Hispanic-serving Institutions
Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)
Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs)
Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions
Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs)

Nonprofits Other Than Institutions of Higher Education

Nonprofits with 501(c)(3) IRS Status (Other than Institutions of Higher Education)
Nonprofits without 501(c)(3) IRS Status (Other than Institutions of Higher Education)

For-Profit Organizations

Small Businesses
For-Profit Organizations (Other than Small Businesses)

Governments

State Governments
County Governments
City or Township Governments
Special District Governments
Indian/Native American Tribal Governments (Federally Recognized)
Indian/Native American Tribal Governments (Other than Federally Recognized)
Eligible Agencies of the Federal Government
U.S. Territory or Possession

Other

Independent School Districts
Public Housing Authorities/Indian Housing Authorities
Native American Tribal Organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments)
Faith-based or Community-based Organizations
Regional Organizations

Foreign Institutions

Non-domestic (non-U.S.) Entities (Foreign Institutions) are not eligible to apply.
Non-domestic (non-U.S.) components of U.S. Organizations are not eligible to apply.

Foreign components, as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement, are not allowed.

Required Registrations

Applicant Organizations

Applicant organizations must complete and maintain the following registrations as described in the SF 424 (R&R) Application Guide to be eligible to apply for or receive an award. All registrations must be completed prior to the application being submitted. Registration can take 6 weeks or more, so applicants should begin the registration process as soon as possible. The NIH Policy on Late Submission of Grant Applications states that failure to complete registrations in advance of a due date is not a valid reason for a late submission.

Dun and Bradstreet Universal Numbering System (DUNS) - All registrations require that applicants be issued a DUNS number. After obtaining a DUNS number, applicants can begin both SAM and eRA Commons registrations. The same DUNS number must be used for all registrations, as well as on the grant application.
System for Award Management (SAM) (formerly CCR) Applicants must complete and maintain an active registration, which requires renewal at least annually. The renewal process may require as much time as the initial registration. SAM registration includes the assignment of a Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) Code for domestic organizations which have not already been assigned a CAGE Code.
NATO Commercial and Government Entity (NCAGE) Code Foreign organizations must obtain an NCAGE code (in lieu of a CAGE code) in order to register in SAM.
eRA Commons - Applicants must have an active DUNS number and SAM registration in order to complete the eRA Commons registration. Organizations can register with the eRA Commons as they are working through their SAM or Grants.gov registration. eRA Commons requires organizations to identify at least one Signing Official (SO) and at least one Program Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI) account in order to submit an application.
Grants.gov Applicants must have an active DUNS number and SAM registration in order to complete the Grants.gov registration.

Program Directors/Principal Investigators (PDs/PIs)

All PDs/PIs must have an eRA Commons account and should work with their organizational officials to either create a new account or to affiliate an existing account with the applicant organization’s eRA Commons account. If the PD/PI is also the organizational Signing Official, they must have two distinct eRA Commons accounts, one for each role. Obtaining an eRA Commons account can take up to 2 weeks.

Eligible Individuals (Program Director/Principal Investigator)

Any individual(s) with the skills, knowledge, and resources necessary to carry out the proposed research as the Program Director(s)/Principal Investigator(s) (PD(s)/PI(s)) is invited to work with his/her organization to develop an application for support. Individuals from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups as well as individuals with disabilities are always encouraged to apply for NIH support.

For institutions/organizations proposing multiple PDs/PIs, visit the Multiple Program Director/Principal Investigator Policy and submission details in the Senior/Key Person Profile (Expanded) Component of the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide.

2. Cost Sharing

This FOA does not require cost sharing as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.

3. Additional Information on Eligibility

Number of Applications

Applicant organizations may submit more than one application, provided that each application is scientifically distinct.

NIH will not accept any application that is essentially the same as one already reviewed within the past thirty-seven months (as described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement), except for submission:

To an RFA of an application that was submitted previously as an investigator-initiated application but not paid;
Of an investigator-initiated application that was originally submitted to an RFA but not paid; or
Of an application with a changed grant activity code.

Section IV. Application and Submission Information

1. Requesting an Application Package

Applicants must download the SF424 (R&R) application package associated with this funding opportunity using the Apply for Grant Electronically button in this FOA or following the directions provided at Grants.gov.

2. Content and Form of Application Submission

It is critical that applicants follow the instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide, except where instructed in this funding opportunity announcement to do otherwise. Conformance to the requirements in the Application Guide is required and strictly enforced. Applications that are out of compliance with these instructions may be delayed or not accepted for review.

For information on Application Submission and Receipt, visit Frequently Asked Questions Application Guide, Electronic Submission of Grant Applications.

Letter of Intent

Although a letter of intent is not required, is not binding, and does not enter into the review of a subsequent application, the information that it contains allows IC staff to estimate the potential review workload and plan the review.

By the date listed in Part 1. Overview Information, prospective applicants are asked to submit a letter of intent that includes the following information:

Descriptive title of proposed activity
Name(s), address(es), and telephone number(s) of the PD(s)/PI(s)
Names of other key personnel
Participating institution(s)
Number and title of this funding opportunity

The letter of intent should be sent to: [email protected]

Applicants are encouraged to send the letter of intent by email to the email address above but as an alternative the letter may also be sent to:

Director - DA-14-009
Office of Extramural Affairs
National Institute on Drug Abuse/NIH/DHHS
6001 Executive Boulevard, Suite 4243, MSC 9550
Bethesda, MD 20892-9550

Page Limitations

All page limitations described in the SF424 Application Guide and the Table of Page Limits must be followed.

Required and Optional Components

The forms package associated with this FOA includes all applicable components, required and optional. Please note that some components marked optional in the application package are required for submission of applications for this FOA. Follow all instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide to ensure you complete all appropriate optional components.

SF424(R&R) Cover