Part 1. Overview Information

Key Dates

It is critical that applicants follow the instructions in the Research (R) Instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide,except where instructed to do otherwise (in this FOA or in a Notice from 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.

Part 2. Full Text of Announcement

Section I. Funding Opportunity Description

Background

Substantial progress has been made in the development and testing of efficacious theory-based developmentally focused prevention interventions designed to address modifiable proximal risk and protective factors with the goal of having an impact on distal mental health outcomes, including suicide behaviors and the occurrence of serious mental illness. Pediatric-serving primary care (including obstetrics/gynecological for pregnancy and post-partum, pediatric care, family practice, adolescent medicine) is a health care setting that holds potential for the implementation of mental health prevention interventions because it offers broad access and is non-stigmatizing. In addition, there is the potential for prevention interventions found to be efficacious in the primary care setting to be endorsed by the United States Prevention Services Task Force (USPSTF) and covered under insurance.

Because pediatric primary care offers broad access and is non-stigmatizing, it may be an appropriate setting for reaching populations who experience mental health disparities, including racial/ethnic minority groups, sexual and gender minorities, individuals living in rural areas, socioeconomically disadvantaged persons, or any other subgroup with documented disparities in prevalence of mental illnesses, mental illness trajectories, access to prevention services, and quality and outcomes of mental health care. Accordingly, this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) encourages studies that involve diverse populations, including groups that might experience health disparities, and as appropriate, it encourages examination of whether prevention services in primary care can potentially reduce or eliminate disparities.

To date, many of the research-supported prevention interventions have been developed and tested in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) with children recruited for the study through academic centers and delivery of relatively intensive and complex interventions by study-hired and trained clinicians. Ultimately, sustainable approaches to prevention will require: 1) delivery in a system where youth who might benefit from prevention can be systematically identified and served; and 2) interventions that are matched in terms of intensity/dose to the severity/need, to the child's/family’s tolerance, and to the capacity within the delivery setting, such that they can be delivered with fidelity by setting providers.

Purpose/Research Objectives

The purpose of this FOA is to encourage practice-based research aimed at refining and pilot testing developmentally-focused, theory-based efficacious prevention interventions that may impact mental health outcomes, including suicide behaviors and serious mental illness. The research should test prevention approaches that are both scalable and sustainable for implementation in pediatric serving primary care settings, including being able to identify at-risk youth and match and deliver prevention interventions of appropriate intensity. In this pilot phase of effectiveness research, the trial should be designed to evaluate the feasibility, tolerability, acceptability, safety, and potential effectiveness of the approach, and to obtain necessary preliminary data as a pre-requisite to a larger-scale, definitive effectiveness trial. Specifically, this initiative encourages research that leverages health care systems or other existing health services resources:

• As a platform for rapidly refining and pilot testing efficacious prevention interventions (e.g., for identifying, recruiting, delivering and assessing the outcome of interventions); AND
• As a platform for ultimately delivering scalable interventions in a sustainable manner.

NIMH Specific Areas of Interest

The general Scope of Research would include developing and pilot testing:

• Service-ready prevention interventions that are efficacious, are of appropriate intensity/dose, and are scalable, such that they can be delivered with fidelity by setting providers
• Strategies that can be used to train providers and support them in delivering the interventions with fidelity
• Algorithms and strategies for identifying at-risk youth and for matching youth to prevention interventions of appropriate intensity/dose, when appropriate.

Important research activities and goals at this stage of pilot effectiveness research include:

• Obtaining a good understanding of the primary care context in order to be able to successfully implement mental health prevention interventions in the pediatric primary care setting
• Refining interventions to be appropriate for the primary care settings (e.g., to align intervention complexity or intensity/duration with consumer demand and/or capacity within the primary care setting)
• Determining how to optimize recruitment, engagement, and retention of children and their families in the trial
• When appropriate, developing and testing sustainable strategies for operationalizing risk and identifying youth who might benefit from prevention intervention in the primary care setting (e.g., using data available from EHRs or through routine screening)
• Developing and testing strategies for implementing efficacious interventions with fidelity by trained providers in the primary care setting
• Determining how technology can be used: 1) to optimize recruitment, engagement, retention of children and their families; 2) for the implementation of interventions; and/or 3) for training, technical assistance, and fidelity of implementation of interventions

Examples of responsive research include, but are not limited to, studies that:

• Pilot test prevention interventions with prior evidence of reducing risk for suicidal ideation and behaviors. This may include prevention interventions previously shown to have long-term and/or cross-over effects,unanticipated beneficial effects, on suicidal ideation and behaviors in secondary data analyses
• Conduct pilot pragmatic prevention trials that use refined interventions and take advantage of electronic health records to examine outcomes
• Refine and pilot test interventions that target core common substrates (i.e., trans-diagnostic risk factors designed to have an effect on a broad array of behaviors) that place youth at risk for a range of disorders (e.g., externalizing and/or internalizing disorders)
• Pilot test technology-assisted approaches to deliver low-intensity, first-line interventions or to facilitate the delivery of in-person interventions
• Pilot test personalized prevention approaches to determine whether they improve effect sizes
• Pilot test different strategies for identifying at-risk youth (e.g., via routinely collected EHR data) and for approaching and engaging families to facilitate participation in the interventions
• Develop and pilot test strategies that can be used to train providers to competence and to support them in delivering interventions with fidelity
• Test tiered approaches (e.g., more than one level of prevention to address intensity need)
• Address an "I statement " of the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) (i.e., insufficient evidence statements, or I statements, report areas of clinical preventive services for which evidence is lack, of poor quality, or conflicting, and the balance of benefits and harms for a clinical prevention serve cannot be determined.)
• Examine strategies that target developmental transitions, which are good opportunities for the implementation of prevention interventions
• Use EHR data to examine risk patterns/trajectories and develop algorithms that can be used with existing EHR data to identify candidates for prevention interventions
• Test approaches for integrating screening and monitoring of risk factors into EHR data collection and provider workflow (e.g., alerts to flag high-risk individuals, prompts for additional assessments that can facilitate matching individuals to appropriate interventions) as a means of identifying youth who might benefit from prevention interventions
• Develop and test decision-aids for matching youth to interventions of appropriate intensity/dose

Scale and Scope of Studies Covered Under this Announcement

This FOA is intended to support pilot studies that optimize and test theory-based developmentally focused efficacious prevention interventions for delivery in pediatric serving primary care settings (e.g., obstetrics/gynecological for pregnancy and post-partum, pediatric care, family practice, adolescent medicine). Populations with mental health disparities are of interest and this may include racial/ethnic minority groups, sexual and gender minorities, individuals living in rural areas, socioeconomically disadvantaged persons, or any other subgroup with documented disparities in prevalence of mental illnesses, mental illness trajectories, access to prevention services, and quality and outcomes of mental health care.

In this pilot phase of effectiveness research, the trial should be designed to evaluate the feasibility, tolerability, acceptability, safety, and potential effectiveness of the approach, and to obtain necessary preliminary data as a pre-requisite to a larger-scale, definitive effectiveness trial. Consistent with the NIMH experimental therapeutics approach, this FOA is intended to support studies that not only examine the intervention effects on outcomes of interest, but also inform understanding of the intervention’s mechanisms of action. As such, the scope of work must include specification of intervention target mechanism(s) and assessment of intervention-induced changes in the presumed target mechanism(s) that are hypothesized to account for the intervention outcomes (see the NIMH Clinical Trials web page for additional information).

For purposes of this announcement, efficacious prevention interventions include theory-based developmentally focused prevention interventions that have been tested in randomized controlled trials or other rigorous designs and have been found to have significant effects on mental health outcomes. Developmental stages? can include pregnancy through adolescence. Levels of prevention interventions can include universal prevention, which focuses on entire populations of children and adolescents, selective prevention, aimed at children with identified risks, and indicated interventions, for those beginning to exhibit symptoms. Tiered approaches include the implementation of more than one level of prevention intervention. Justification needs to be made for the population, stage of development, setting, intervention, its level of evidence, theoretical basis for the intervention/study, level of intervention (universal, selective, indicated, tiered), and outcomes.

Because existing prevention approaches have primarily been developed and tested in efficacy studies, applications may include a focus on gaining a better understanding of what will be needed to successfully implement prevention interventions in the primary care setting and refining interventions to facilitate implementation in this setting. NIMH encourages a deployment-focused model of intervention refinement and testing that considers the perspective of relevant stakeholders (e.g., consumers, providers, administrators, payers) and the key characteristics of the settings that are intended to implement optimized mental health interventions. This attention to end-user perspectives and characteristics of the pediatric primary care setting is intended to ensure that the resultant interventions and service delivery strategies are acceptable to consumers and providers, to ensure that the approaches are feasible and scalable in the settings where individuals are typically served, and to ensure that the research results will have utility for end users. Accordingly, input from practice partners should guide the selection of the target population (in terms of age and risk status), the problem focus (considering the base-rate, burden, and alignment with the primary care mission/priorities), and the intervention (in terms of its focus, content, intensity/complexity and delivery format), while taking into account consumer demand and capacity within the setting for delivering the intervention.

Given the focus on scalable, sustainable approaches, NIMH encourages intervention approaches that can readily be integrated into practice, that can be delivered using primary care personnel/resources, and that incorporate features that are specifically designed to prevent threats to implementation fidelity. Strategies that might be used to enhance sustained implementation and scalability include but are not limited to consumer-facing technology (e.g., self-administered content) and provider-facing technology (e.g., technology to support provider training and sustained implementation with fidelity). Applications that propose complex, provider-intensive interventions without incorporating features that can, by design, enhance scalability, will be considered of low priority for NIMH.

Effective prevention of mental illness has the potential to reduce morbidity and mortality associated with intentional injury (i.e., suicide attempts and deaths, see: www.suicide-research-agenda.org). Lack of attention to the assessment of these outcomes has limited our understanding regarding the degree to which effective mental health interventions might offer prophylaxis. Accordingly, where feasible and appropriate, NIMH encourages effectiveness research that includes assessment of suicidal behavior using assessment strategies that facilitate data sharing and integration, in order to advance understanding of how effective prevention of mental disorders might impact suicide relevant outcomes. In addition, interventions focused on suicide prevention or have outcomes on suicide are of interest, including prevention interventions that have shown cross-over effects, unanticipated beneficial effects, on suicidal ideation and behaviors.

This FOA is intended to support pilot studies to refine and examine preliminary effectiveness of scalable prevention approaches in pediatric primary care. Applicants pursuing fully powered effectiveness trials with this focus are referred to the companion R01 FOA, RFA-MH-20-505 , Practice-Based Research for Implementing Scalable Evidence-Based Prevention Interventions in Primary Care Settings (R01 Clinical Trial Required). Potential applicants are strongly encouraged to consult with NIH staff as early as possible when developing plans for an application (see Scientific/Research Contacts, Section VII ). This early contact will provide an opportunity to clarify NIH policies and guidelines and help to identify whether the proposed project is consistent with NIMH program priorities and the goals

See Section VIII. Other Information for award authorities and regulations.

Section II. Award Information

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

Section III. Eligibility Information

1. Eligible Applicants

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

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.

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) 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 to register in eRA Commons. Organizations can register with the eRA Commons as they are working through their SAM or Grants.gov registration , but all registrations must be in place by time of submission. 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 (PD(s)/PI(s))

All PD(s)/PI(s) must have an eRA Commons account. PD(s)/PI(s) should work with their organizational officials to either create a new account or to affiliate their existing account with the applicant organization in eRA Commons. 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.

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.

The NIH will not accept duplicate or highly overlapping applications under review at the same time. This means that the NIH will not accept:

• A new (A0) application that is submitted before issuance of the summary statement from the review of an overlapping new (A0) or resubmission (A1) application.
• A resubmission (A1) application that is submitted before issuance of the summary statement from the review of the previous new (A0) application.
• An application that has substantial overlap with another application pending appeal of initial peer review (see NOT-OD-11-101)

Section IV. Application and Submission Information

1. Requesting an Application Package

The application forms package specific to this opportunity must be accessed through ASSIST, Grants.gov Workspace or an institutional system-to-system solution. Links to apply using ASSIST or Grants.gov Workspace are available in Part 1 of this FOA. See your administrative office for instructions if you plan to use an institutional system-to-system solution.

2. Content and Form of Application Submission

It is critical that applicants follow the instructions in the Research (R) 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.

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: [email protected]

All page limitations described in the SF424 Application Guide and the Table of Page Limits must be followed The following section supplements the instructions found in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide and should be used for preparing an application to this FOA. All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed. All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed. All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed. All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed. All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed. All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed. All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed. All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed, with the following additional instructions:

Research Strategy

Significance:

• Justify the practical effect of the intervention in terms of the estimated hypothesized potential effect size. Address the potential impact of the intervention in terms of both (1) the empirical basis for the anticipated effect size (e.g., citing data regarding the magnitude of the association between the target and the clinical endpoint of interest and/or effect sizes obtained in prior efficacy studies), and (2) the clinical meaningfulness of the anticipated effect size.
• Describe how the proposed research will generate data that will lead to a firm conclusion regarding the feasibility of conducting a full-scale effectiveness trial as the next stage of this line of research.

Investigators:

• Without duplicating information in biosketches, describe the investigator team's expertise in pediatric serving primary care settings, theory-based developmentally focused prevention interventions, designated mental health outcomes, and methodology/statistics.

Innovation:

• Detail innovative approaches that will be used to conduct the research and to enhance the scalability and implementation fidelity of the intervention, including the use of technology in different aspects of the research project and intervention delivery (e.g., recruitment/engagement, implementation of the intervention, measuring fidelity of implementation, etc.).

Approach:

• Justify whether the chosen prevention intervention has the potential to be implemented and scaled in the pediatric serving primary care setting
• Describe whether the study involves a diverse population, and/or includes groups that might experience health disparities, and as appropriate, encourages examination of whether prevention services in primary care can potentially reduce or eliminate disparities.
• Justify the selection of (1) the target population (e.g., age, risk status, evidence regarding disparities); (2) the problem focus and the corresponding mental health outcome(s) that will be assessed, (considering the developmental age of focus, the base-rate and associated burden associated with the problem, and the alignment with the primary care mission/priorities); and (3) the intervention (e.g., prior evidence regarding efficacy; level of the intervention (i.e., universal, selective, indicated, tiered); its content, intensity/complexity and delivery format).
• Justify how the proposed prevention approach aligns with consumer demand and with capacity within the setting for delivering the intervention. Describe efforts to determine whether the pediatric serving primary care context is an appropriate setting for the implementation of mental health prevention interventions, including the assessment of consumer-, provider- and setting- factors that may facilitate or impede implementation and outcomes. Describe efforts to refine the intervention to be appropriate for the primary care setting, including plans to incorporate end-user feedback to help ensure the strategy aligns with clinic workflow and design a delivery approach that is robust against threats to implementation fidelity.
• Consistent with NIMH's experimental therapeutics approach, detail plans to explicitly address whether the intervention engages the target(s)/mechanism(s) presumed to underlie the intervention effects (the mechanism that accounts for changes in clinical/ functional outcomes, changes in patient or provider behavior, etc.). Specifically, include; (1) a conceptual framework that clearly identifies the target mechanisms and the empirical evidence linking the mechanisms to the study outcomes; (2), plans for assessing engagement of the target mechanisms, including the specific measures and the assessment schedule; and (3) analytic strategies that will be used to conduct a preliminary examination of whether target engagement is associated with clinical benefit.
• As appropriate, detail the plan for operationalizing risk status and for identifying at-risk youth within the pediatric primary care setting (e.g., using routinely implemented screening or data from electronic health records).
• Focus on optimizing recruitment, engagement, and retention of children and their families in the interventions
• Describe how the intervention will be implemented by trained providers within the infrastructure of the pediatric serving primary care setting, including strategies that will be used to ensure that the intervention can be implemented as intended and sustained over time
• Describe provisions for the assessment and monitoring of fidelity of implementation via procedures that are feasible and valid for use in the healthcare setting being used.
• Incorporate outcome measures that are validated and generally accepted by the field.
• As appropriate, detail plans for the assessment of suicidal behavior and related outcomes using strategies that can facilitate integration and sharing of data (e.g., see NOT-MH-15-009 and https://www.phenxtoolkit.org/ for constructs and corresponding assessment strategies). Justify the rationale for the selection of suicide-related constructs and corresponding assessment instruments (e.g., measures of ideation, attempts), the time periods assessed (e.g., lifetime history, current), and the assessment schedule for administration (e.g., baseline, during intervention, post-intervention, follow up), taking into account the nature of the target population, participant burden, etc. Address provisions for clinical management when suicidal behavior is reported, accordingly.
• Describe how technology can be used: 1) to optimize recruitment, engagement, retention of children and their families; 2) for the implementation of interventions; and/or 3) for training, technical assistance, and fidelity of implementation of interventions.

Timelines and Milestones: Applications must provide a timeline for reaching important study benchmarks such as: (1) finalizing the study procedures and training participating clinical site staff; (2) finalizing the intervention manual and assessment protocols, including fidelity measures/procedures, where applicable; (3) enrollment benchmarks; (4) completing all subject assessments and data collection activities, including data quality checks; (5) analyzing and interpreting results; and (6) preparing de-identified data and relevant documentation to facilitate data sharing, as appropriate.

Resource Sharing Plan: Individuals are required to comply with the instructions for the Resource Sharing Plans as provided in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide.

The following modifications also apply:

• All applications, regardless of the amount of direct costs requested for any one year, should address a Data Sharing Plan.

In order to facilitate the goal of advancing research through widespread data sharing among researchers, investigators funded under this FOA are expected to share those data via the National Database for Clinical Trials related to Mental Illness (NDCT; http://ndct.nimh.nih.gov/; see NOT-MH-19-033). Established by the NIH, NDCT is a secure informatics platform for scientific collaboration and data-sharing that enables the effective communication of detailed research data, tools, and supporting documentation. NDCT links data across research projects through its Global Unique Identifier (GUID) and Data Dictionary technology. Investigators funded under this FOA are expected to use these technologies to submit data to NDCT.

To accomplish this objective, it will be important to formulate a) an enrollment strategy that will obtain the information necessary to generate a GUID for each participant, and b) a budget strategy that will cover the costs of data submission. The NDCT web site provides two tools to help investigators develop appropriate strategies: 1) the NDCT Budgeting Spreadsheet http://ndct.nimh.nih.gov/preplanning/budget - a customizable Excel worksheet that includes tasks and hours for the Program Director/Principal Investigator and Data Manager to budget for data sharing; and 2) plain language text to be considered in your informed consent http://ndct.nimh.nih.gov/preplanning/informed-consent. Investigators are expected to certify the quality of all data generated by grants funded under this FOA prior to submission to NDCT and review their data for accuracy after submission. Submission of descriptive/raw data is expected semi-annually (every January 15 and July 15); submission of all other data is expected at the time of publication, or prior to the end of the grant, whichever occurs first (see Data Sharing Expectation http://ndct.nimh.nih.gov/preplanning/#tab-1 for more information); Investigators are expected to share results, positive and negative, specific to the cohorts and outcome measures studied by using the Study functionality(see http://ndct.nimh.nih.gov/results). The NDCT Data Sharing Plan is available for review on the NDCT web site (http://ndct.nimh.nih.gov/wp-content/uploads/NDCT_Data_Sharing_Policy_20141002.pdf ). NDCT staff will work with investigators to help them submit data types not yet defined in the NDCT Data Dictionary http://ndct.nimh.nih.gov/submit/data-dictionary .

Only limited Appendix materials are allowed. Follow all instructions for the Appendix as described in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide. When involving human subjects research, clinical research, and/or NIH-defined clinical trials (and when applicable, clinical trials research experience) follow all instructions for the PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information form in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide, with the following additional instructions:

If you answered Yes to the question Are Human Subjects Involved? on the R&R Other Project Information form, you must include at least one human subjects study record using the Study Record: PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information form or Delayed Onset Study record.

Study Record: PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information

All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.

Delayed Onset Study

Note: Delayed onset does NOT apply to a study that can be described but will not start immediately (i.e., delayed start).All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.

All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.

3. Unique Entity Identifier and System for Award Management (SAM)

See Part 1. Section III.1 for information regarding the requirement for obtaining a unique entity identifier and for completing and maintaining active registrations in System for Award Management (SAM), NATO Commercial and Government Entity (NCAGE) Code (if applicable), eRA Commons, and Grants.gov

4. Submission Dates and Times

Part I. Overview Information contains information about Key Dates and times. Applicants are encouraged to submit applications before the due date to ensure they have time to make any application corrections that might be necessary for successful submission. When a submission date falls on a weekend or Federal holiday , the application deadline is automatically extended to the next business day.

Organizations must submit applications to Grants.gov (the online portal to find and apply for grants across all Federal agencies). Applicants must then complete the submission process by tracking the status of the application in the eRA Commons, NIH’s electronic system for grants administration. NIH and Grants.gov systems check the application against many of the application instructions upon submission. Errors must be corrected and a changed/corrected application must be submitted to Grants.gov on or before the application due date and time. If a Changed/Corrected application is submitted after the deadline, the application will be considered late. Applications that miss the due date and time are subjected to the NIH Policy on Late Application Submission.

Applicants are responsible for viewing their application before the due date in the eRA Commons to ensure accurate and successful submission.

Information on the submission process and a definition of on-time submission are provided in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide.

5. Intergovernmental Review (E.O. 12372)

This initiative is not subject to intergovernmental review.

6. Funding Restrictions

All NIH awards are subject to the terms and conditions, cost principles, and other considerations described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement .

Pre-award costs are allowable only as described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.

7. Other Submission Requirements and Information

Applications must be submitted electronically following the instructions described in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide. Paper applications will not be accepted.

Applicants must complete all required registrations before the application due date. Section III. Eligibility Information contains information about registration.

For assistance with your electronic application or for more information on the electronic submission process, visit How to Apply Application Guide. If you encounter a system issue beyond your control that threatens your ability to complete the submission process on-time, you must follow the Dealing with System Issues guidance. For assistance with application submission, contact the Application Submission Contacts in Section VII.

Important reminders:

All PD(s)/PI(s) must include their eRA Commons ID in the Credential field of the Senior/Key Person Profile Component of the SF424(R&R) Application Package. Failure to register in the Commons and to include a valid PD/PI Commons ID in the credential field will prevent the successful submission of an electronic application to NIH. See Section III of this FOA for information on registration requirements.

The applicant organization must ensure that the DUNS number it provides on the application is the same number used in the organization’s profile in the eRA Commons and for the System for Award Management. Additional information may be found in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide.

See more tips for avoiding common errors.

Upon receipt, applications will be evaluated for completeness and compliance with application instructions by the Center for Scientific Review and responsiveness by NIMH, NIH. Applications that are incomplete, non-compliant and/or nonresponsive will not be reviewed.

Use of Common Data Elements in NIH-funded Research

NIMH encourages the use of common data elements (CDEs) in basic, clinical, and applied research, patient registries, and other human subject research to facilitate broader and more effective use of data and advance research across studies. CDEs are data elements that have been identified and defined for use in multiple data sets across different studies. Use of CDEs can facilitate data sharing and standardization to improve data quality and enable data integration from multiple studies and sources, including electronic health records. NIH ICs have identified CDEs for many clinical domains (e.g., neurological disease), types of studies (e.g. genome-wide association studies (GWAS)), types of outcomes (e.g., patient-reported outcomes), and patient registries (e.g., the Global Rare Diseases Patient Registry and Data Repository). NIH has established a "Common Data Element (CDE) Resource Portal" (http://cde.nih.gov/) to assist investigators in identifying NIH-supported CDEs when developing protocols, case report forms, and other instruments for data collection. The Portal provides guidance about and access to NIH-supported CDE initiatives and other tools and resources for the appropriate use of CDEs and data standards in NIH-funded research. Investigators are encouraged to consult the Portal and describe in their applications any use they will make of NIH-supported CDEs in their projects.

Applicants responding to this FOA are encouraged to incorporate CDEs available in the PhenX Toolkit of mental health research measures. In addition to CDEs for the assessment of mental disorders, the PhenX Toolkit contains measures of demographic features, substance use, suicidal ideation and behaviors, and clinical service measures. These CDEs, along with selected measures from the NIH Toolbox, the National Outcome Measures (NOMs), and the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS), may also be appropriate for the proposed clinical assessment battery solicited in this FOA.

Applicants are required to follow the instructions for post-submission materials, as described in the policy. Any instructions provided here are in addition to the instructions in the policy.

Section V. Application Review Information

1. Criteria

Only the review criteria described below will be considered in the review process. Applications submitted to the NIH in support of the NIH mission are evaluated for scientific and technical merit through the NIH peer review system.

A proposed Clinical Trial application may include study design, methods, and intervention that are not by themselves innovative but address important questions or unmet needs. Additionally, the results of the clinical trial may indicate that further clinical development of the intervention is unwarranted or lead to new avenues of scientific investigation.

Reviewers will provide an overall impact score to reflect their assessment of the likelihood for the project to exert a sustained, powerful influence on the research field(s) involved, in consideration of the following review criteria and additional review criteria (as applicable for the project proposed).

Reviewers will consider each of the review criteria below in the determination of scientific merit, and give a separate score for each. An application does not need to be strong in all categories to be judged likely to have major scientific impact. For example, a project that by its nature is not innovative may be essential to advance a field.

Significance

Does the project address an important problem or a critical barrier to progress in the field? Is the prior research that serves as the key support for the proposed project rigorous? If the aims of the project are achieved, how will scientific knowledge, technical capability, and/or clinical practice be improved? How will successful completion of the aims change the concepts, methods, technologies, treatments, services, or preventative interventions that drive this field?

• How well does the application justify the practical effect of the intervention in terms of the estimated hypothesized potential effect size? To what extent does the application address the potential impact of the intervention in terms of both (1) the empirical basis for the anticipated effect size (e.g., citing data regarding the magnitude of the association between the target and the clinical endpoint of interest and/or effect sizes obtained in prior efficacy studies), and (2) the clinical meaningfulness of the anticipated effect size?
• Will the proposed research generate data that will lead to a firm conclusion regarding the feasibility of conducting a full-scale effectiveness trial as the next stage of this line of research?

Are the scientific rationale and need for a clinical trial to test the proposed hypothesis or intervention well supported by preliminary data, clinical and/or preclinical studies, or information in the literature or knowledge of biological mechanisms? For trials focusing on clinical or public health endpoints, is this clinical trial necessary for testing the safety, efficacy or effectiveness of an intervention that could lead to a change in clinical practice, community behaviors or health care policy? For trials focusing on mechanistic, behavioral, physiological, biochemical, or other biomedical endpoints, is this trial needed to advance scientific understanding?

Investigator(s)

Are the PD(s)/PI(s), collaborators, and other researchers well suited to the project? If Early Stage Investigators or those in the early stages of independent careers, do they have appropriate experience and training? If established, have they demonstrated an ongoing record of accomplishments that have advanced their field(s)? If the project is collaborative or multi-PD/PI, do the investigators have complementary and integrated expertise; are their leadership approach, governance and organizational structure appropriate for the project?

• Does the project include provisions for collaborations that include expertise in pediatric serving primary care settings, theory-based developmentally focused prevention interventions, designated mental health outcomes, and methodology/statistics?

With regard to the proposed leadership for the project, do the PD/PI(s) and key personnel have the expertise, experience, and ability to organize, manage and implement the proposed clinical trial and meet milestones and timelines? Do they have appropriate expertise in study coordination, data management and statistics? For a multicenter trial, is the organizational structure appropriate and does the application identify a core of potential center investigators and staffing for a coordinating center?

Innovation

Does the application challenge and seek to shift current research or clinical practice paradigms by utilizing novel theoretical concepts, approaches or methodologies, instrumentation, or interventions? Are the concepts, approaches or methodologies, instrumentation, or interventions novel to one field of research or novel in a broad sense? Is a refinement, improvement, or new application of theoretical concepts, approaches or methodologies, instrumentation, or interventions proposed?

• Are innovative approaches included to conduct the research and to enhance the scalability/implementation fidelity of the intervention, such as the use of technology in different aspects of the research project (e.g., recruitment/engagement, implementation of the intervention, measuring fidelity of implementation, etc.)?

Does the design/research plan include innovative elements, as appropriate, that enhance its sensitivity, potential for information or potential to advance scientific knowledge or clinical practice?

Approach

Are the overall strategy, methodology, and analyses well-reasoned and appropriate to accomplish the specific aims of the project? Have the investigators included plans to address weaknesses in the rigor of prior research that serves as the key support for the proposed project ? Have the investigators presented strategies to ensure a robust and unbiased approach, as appropriate for the work proposed? Are potential problems, alternative strategies, and benchmarks for success presented? If the project is in the early stages of development, will the strategy establish feasibility and will particularly risky aspects be managed? Have the investigators presented adequate plans to address relevant biological variables, such as sex, for studies in vertebrate animals or human subjects?

• Does the chosen prevention have the potential to be implemented and scaled in the primary care setting??
• Does the study involve a diverse population, and/or include groups that might experience health disparities? And as appropriate, does the application include plans to examine whether prevention services in primary care can potentially reduce or eliminate disparities?
• Is the selection of the following justified in the application: (1) the target population (e.g., age, risk status, evidence regarding disparities); (2) the problem focus and the corresponding mental health outcome(s) that will be assessed, (considering the developmental age of focus, the base-rate and associated burden associated with the problem, and the alignment with the primary care mission/priorities); and (3) the intervention (e.g., prior evidence regarding efficacy; level of the intervention (i.e., universal, selective, indicated, tiered); its content, intensity/complexity and delivery format)?
• Is there a justification for how the proposed prevention approach aligns with consumer demand and with capacity within the setting for delivering the intervention? Does the application describe efforts to determine whether the pediatric serving primary care context is an appropriate setting for the implementation of mental health prevention interventions, including plans to examine consumer-, provider- and setting- factors that may facilitate or impeded implementation and outcomes? Are there plans to refine the intervention to be appropriate for the primary care setting, including plans to incorporate end-user feedback to help ensure the strategy aligns with clinic workflow and design a delivery approach that is robust against threats to implementation fidelity ?
• Are there plans to explicitly address whether the intervention engages the target(s)/mechanism(s) presumed to underlie the intervention effects (the mechanism that accounts for changes in clinical/ functional outcomes, changes in patient or provider behavior, etc.)? Specifically, does it include; (1) a conceptual framework that clearly identifies the target mechanisms and the empirical evidence linking the mechanisms to the study outcomes; (2), plans for assessing engagement of the target mechanisms, including the specific measures and the assessment schedule; and (3) analytic strategies that will be used to conduct a preliminary examination of whether target engagement is associated with clinical benefit?
• As appropriate, is a plan detailed for operationalizing risk status and for identifying at-risk youth within the pediatric primary care setting (e.g., using routinely implemented screening or data from electronic health records)?
• Will the project focus on optimizing recruitment, engagement, and retention of children and their families in the interventions?
• Will the intervention will be implemented by trained providers within the infrastructure of the pediatric serving primary care setting, and include strategies that will be used to ensure that the intervention can be implemented as intended and sustained over time?
• Are there provisions for the assessment and monitoring of fidelity delivery via procedures that are feasible and valid for use in the healthcare setting being used?
• Does the application incorporate outcome measures that are validated and generally accepted by the field?
• As appropriate, does the application include plans for the assessment of suicidal behavior and related outcomes, using strategies that can facilitate integration and sharing of data, and justify the rationale for the selection of suicide-related constructs and corresponding assessment instruments, the assessment schedule and time periods assessed, and the provisions for clinical management when suicidal behavior is reported, accordingly?
• Will the project use technology: 1) to optimize recruitment, engagement, retention of children and their families; 2) for the implementation of interventions; and/or 3) for training, technical assistance, and fidelity of implementation of interventions?

If the project involves human subjects and/or NIH-defined clinical research, are the plans to address 1) the protection of human subjects from research risks, and 2) inclusion (or exclusion) of individuals on the basis of sex/gender, race, and ethnicity, as well as the inclusion or exclusion of individuals of all ages (including children and older adults), justified in terms of the scientific goals and research strategy proposed?

Does the application adequately address the following, if applicable

Study Design

Is the study design justified and appropriate to address primary and secondary outcome variable(s)/endpoints that will be clear, informative and relevant to the hypothesis being tested? Is the scientific rationale/premise of the study based on previously well-designed preclinical and/or clinical research? Given the methods used to assign participants and deliver interventions, is the study design adequately powered to answer the research question(s), test the proposed hypothesis/hypotheses, and provide interpretable results? Is the trial appropriately designed to conduct the research efficiently? Are the study populations (size, gender, age, demographic group), proposed intervention arms/dose, and duration of the trial, appropriate and well justified?

Are potential ethical issues adequately addressed? Is the process for obtaining informed consent or assent appropriate? Is the eligible population available? Are the plans for recruitment outreach, enrollment, retention, handling dropouts, missed visits, and losses to follow-up appropriate to ensure robust data collection? Are the planned recruitment timelines feasible and is the plan to monitor accrual adequate? Has the need for randomization (or not), masking (if appropriate), controls, and inclusion/exclusion criteria been addressed? Are differences addressed, if applicable, in the intervention effect due to sex/gender and race/ethnicity?

Are the plans to standardize, assure quality of, and monitor adherence to, the trial protocol and data collection or distribution guidelines appropriate? Is there a plan to obtain required study agent(s)? Does the application propose to use existing available resources, as applicable?

Data Management and Statistical Analysis

Are planned analyses and statistical approach appropriate for the proposed study design and methods used to assign participants and deliver interventions? Are the procedures for data management and quality control of data adequate at clinical site(s) or at center laboratories, as applicable? Have the methods for standardization of procedures for data management to assess the effect of the intervention and quality control been addressed? Is there a plan to complete data analysis within the proposed period of the award?

Environment

Will the scientific environment in which the work will be done contribute to the probability of success? Are the institutional support, equipment and other physical resources available to the investigators adequate for the project proposed? Will the project benefit from unique features of the scientific environment, subject populations, or collaborative arrangements?

If proposed, are the administrative, data coordinating, enrollment and laboratory/testing centers, appropriate for the trial proposed?

Does the application adequately address the capability and ability to conduct the trial at the proposed site(s) or centers? Are the plans to add or drop enrollment centers, as needed, appropriate?

If multi-sites/centers, is there evidence of the ability of the individual site or center to: (1) enroll the proposed numbers; (2) adhere to the protocol; (3) collect and transmit data in an accurate and timely fashion; and, (4) operate within the proposed organizational structure?

As applicable for the project proposed, reviewers will evaluate the following additional items while determining scientific and technical merit, and in providing an overall impact score, but will not give separate scores for these items.

Study Timeline

Is the study timeline described in detail, taking into account start-up activities, the anticipated rate of enrollment, and planned follow-up assessment? Is the projected timeline feasible and well justified? Does the project incorporate efficiencies and utilize existing resources (e.g., CTSAs, practice-based research networks, electronic medical records, administrative database, or patient registries) to increase the efficiency of participant enrollment and data collection, as appropriate?

Are potential challenges and corresponding solutions discussed (e.g., strategies that can be implemented in the event of enrollment shortfalls)?

Protections for Human Subjects

For research that involves human subjects but does not involve one of the categories of research that are exempt under 45 CFR Part 46, the committee will evaluate the justification for involvement of human subjects and the proposed protections from research risk relating to their participation according to the following five review criteria: 1) risk to subjects, 2) adequacy of protection against risks, 3) potential benefits to the subjects and others, 4) importance of the knowledge to be gained, and 5) data and safety monitoring for clinical trials.

For research that involves human subjects and meets the criteria for one or more of the categories of research that are exempt under 45 CFR Part 46, the committee will evaluate: 1) the justification for the exemption, 2) human subjects involvement and characteristics, and 3) sources of materials. For additional information on review of the Human Subjects section, please refer to the Guidelines for the Review of Human Subjects.

Inclusion of Women, Minorities, and Individuals Across the Lifespan

When the proposed project involves human subjects and/or NIH-defined clinical research, the committee will evaluate the proposed plans for the inclusion (or exclusion) of individuals on the basis of sex/gender, race, and ethnicity, as well as the inclusion (or exclusion) of individuals of all ages (including children and older adults) to determine if it is justified in terms of the scientific goals and research strategy proposed. For additional information on review of the Inclusion section, please refer to the Guidelines for the Review of Inclusion in Clinical Research.

Vertebrate Animals

The committee will evaluate the involvement of live vertebrate animals as part of the scientific assessment according to the following criteria: (1) description of proposed procedures involving animals, including species, strains, ages, sex, and total number to be used; (2) justifications for the use of animals versus alternative models and for the appropriateness of the species proposed; (3) interventions to minimize discomfort, distress, pain and injury; and (4) justification for euthanasia method if NOT consistent with the AVMA Guidelines for the Euthanasia of Animals. Reviewers will assess the use of chimpanzees as they would any other application proposing the use of vertebrate animals. For additional information on review of the Vertebrate Animals section, please refer to the Worksheet for Review of the Vertebrate Animal Section.

Biohazards

Reviewers will assess whether materials or procedures proposed are potentially hazardous to research personnel and/or the environment, and if needed, determine whether adequate protection is proposed.

Resubmissions

For Resubmissions, the committee will evaluate the application as now presented, taking into consideration the responses to comments from the previous scientific review group and changes made to the project.

Renewals

Not Applicable

Revisions

Not Applicable

As applicable for the project proposed, reviewers will consider each of the following items, but will not give scores for these items, and should not consider them in providing an overall impact score.

Applications from Foreign Organizations

Not Applicable

Select Agent Research

Reviewers will assess the information provided in this section of the application, including 1) the Select Agent(s) to be used in the proposed research, 2) the registration status of all entities where Select Agent(s) will be used, 3) the procedures that will be used to monitor possession use and transfer of Select Agent(s), and 4) plans for appropriate biosafety, biocontainment, and security of the Select Agent(s).

Resource Sharing Plans

Reviewers will comment on whether the following Resource Sharing Plans, or the rationale for not sharing the following types of resources, are reasonable: (1) Data Sharing Plan; (2) Sharing Model Organisms; and (3) Genomic Data Sharing Plan (GDS).

Authentication of Key Biological and/or Chemical Resources:

For projects involving key biological and/or chemical resources, reviewers will comment on the brief plans proposed for identifying and ensuring the validity of those resources.

Budget and Period of Support

Reviewers will consider whether the budget and the requested period of support are fully justified and reasonable in relation to the proposed research.

2. Review and Selection Process

Applications will be evaluated for scientific and technical merit by (an) appropriate Scientific Review Group(s) convened by NIMH, in accordance with NIH peer review policy and procedures, using the stated review criteria. Assignment to a Scientific Review Group will be shown in the eRA Commons.

As part of the scientific peer review, all applications:

• May undergo a selection process in which only those applications deemed to have the highest scientific and technical merit (generally the top half of applications under review) will be discussed and assigned an overall impact score.
• Will receive a written critique.

Appeals of initial peer review will not be accepted for applications submitted in response to this FOA. Applications will be assigned to the appropriate NIH Institute or Center. Applications will compete for available funds with all other recommended applications submitted in response to this FOA. Following initial peer review, recommended applications will receive a second level of review by the appropriate national Advisory Council or Board. The following will be considered in making funding decisions:

• Scientific and technical merit of the proposed project as determined by scientific peer review.
• Availability of funds.
• Relevance of the proposed project to program priorities.

3. Anticipated Announcement and Award Dates

After the peer review of the application is completed, the PD/PI will be able to access his or her Summary Statement (written critique) via the eRA Commons. Refer to Part 1 for dates for peer review, advisory council review, and earliest start date.

Information regarding the disposition of applications is available in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.

Section VI. Award Administration Information

1. Award Notices

If the application is under consideration for funding, NIH will request "just-in-time" information from the applicant as described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.

A formal notification in the form of a Notice of Award (NoA) will be provided to the applicant organization for successful applications. The NoA signed by the grants management officer is the authorizing document and will be sent via email to the grantee’s business official.

Awardees must comply with any funding restrictions described in Section IV.5. Funding Restrictions. Selection of an application for award is not an authorization to begin performance. Any costs incurred before receipt of the NoA are at the recipient's risk. These costs may be reimbursed only to the extent considered allowable pre-award costs.

Any application awarded in response to this FOA will be subject to terms and conditions found on the Award Conditions and Information for NIH Grants website. This includes any recent legislation and policy applicable to awards that is highlighted on this website.

Individual awards are based on the application submitted to, and as approved by, the NIH and are subject to the IC-specific terms and conditions identified in the NoA.

ClinicalTrials.gov: If an award provides for one or more clinical trials. By law (Title VIII, Section 801 of Public Law 110-85), the "responsible party" must register and submit results information for certain applicable clinical trials on the ClinicalTrials.gov Protocol Registration and Results System Information Website (https://register.clinicaltrials.gov). NIH expects registration and results reporting of all trials whether required under the law or not. For more information, see https://grants.nih.gov/policy/clinical-trials/reporting/index.htm

Institutional Review Board or Independent Ethics Committee Approval: Grantee institutions must ensure that all protocols are reviewed by their IRB or IEC. To help ensure the safety of participants enrolled in NIH-funded studies, the awardee must provide NIH copies of documents related to all major changes in the status of ongoing protocols. Data and Safety

Monitoring Requirements: The NIH policy for data and safety monitoring requires oversight and monitoring of all NIH-conducted or -supported human biomedical and behavioral intervention studies (clinical trials) to ensure the safety of participants and the validity and integrity of the data. Further information concerning these requirements is found at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/policy/hs/data_safety.htm and in the application instructions (SF424 (R&R) and PHS 398).

Investigational New Drug or Investigational Device Exemption Requirements: Consistent with federal regulations, clinical research projects involving the use of investigational therapeutics, vaccines, or other medical interventions (including licensed products and devices for a purpose other than that for which they were licensed) in humans under a research protocol must be performed under a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) investigational new drug (IND) or investigational device exemption (IDE).

2. Administrative and National Policy Requirements

All NIH grant and cooperative agreement awards include the NIH Grants Policy Statement as part of the NoA. For these terms of award, see the NIH Grants Policy Statement Part II: Terms and Conditions of NIH Grant Awards, Subpart A: General and Part II: Terms and Conditions of NIH Grant Awards, Subpart B: Terms and Conditions for Specific Types of Grants, Grantees, and Activities. More information is provided at Award Conditions and Information for NIH Grants.

Recipients of federal financial assistance (FFA) from HHS must administer their programs in compliance with federal civil rights law. This means that recipients of HHS funds must ensure equal access to their programs without regard to a person’s race, color, national origin, disability, age and, in some circumstances, sex and religion. This includes ensuring your programs are accessible to persons with limited English proficiency. HHS recognizes that research projects are often limited in scope for many reasons that are nondiscriminatory, such as the principal investigator’s scientific interest, funding limitations, recruitment requirements, and other considerations. Thus, criteria in research protocols that target or exclude certain populations are warranted where nondiscriminatory justifications establish that such criteria are appropriate with respect to the health or safety of the subjects, the scientific study design, or the purpose of the research.

In accordance with the statutory provisions contained in Section 872 of the Duncan Hunter National Defense Authorization Act of Fiscal Year 2009 (Public Law 110-417), NIH awards will be subject to the Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System (FAPIIS) requirements. FAPIIS requires Federal award making officials to review and consider information about an applicant in the designated integrity and performance system (currently FAPIIS) prior to making an award. An applicant, at its option, may review information in the designated integrity and performance systems accessible through FAPIIS and comment on any information about itself that a Federal agency previously entered and is currently in FAPIIS. The Federal awarding agency will consider any comments by the applicant, in addition to other information in FAPIIS, in making a judgement about the applicant’s integrity, business ethics, and record of performance under Federal awards when completing the review of risk posed by applicants as described in 45 CFR Part 75.205 Federal awarding agency review of risk posed by applicants. This provision will apply to all NIH grants and cooperative agreements except fellowships.

For additional guidance regarding how the provisions apply to NIH grant programs, please contact the Scientific/Research Contact that is identified in Section VII under Agency Contacts of this FOA. HHS provides general guidance to recipients of FFA on meeting their legal obligation to take reasonable steps to provide meaningful access to their programs by persons with limited English proficiency. Please see https://www.hhs.gov/civil-rights/for-individuals/special-topics/limited-english-proficiency/index.html. The HHS Office for Civil Rights also provides guidance on complying with civil rights laws enforced by HHS. Please see https://www.hhs.gov/civil-rights/for-individuals/section-1557/index.htmlhttps://www.hhs.gov/civil-rights/for-providers/laws-regulations-guidance/index.html. Recipients of FFA also have specific legal obligations for serving qualified individuals with disabilities. Please see https://www.hhs.gov/civil-rights/for-individuals/disability/index.html. Please contact the HHS Office for Civil Rights for more information about obligations and prohibitions under federal civil rights laws at https://www.hhs.gov/ocr/about-us/contact-us/index.html or call 1-800-368-1019 or TDD 1-800-537-7697. Also note it is an HHS Departmental goal to ensure access to quality, culturally competent care, including long-term services and supports, for vulnerable populations. For further guidance on providing culturally and linguistically appropriate services, recipients should review the National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services in Health and Health Care at http://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/omh/browse.aspx?lvl=2&lvlid=53.

Not Applicable

3. Reporting

When multiple years are involved, awardees will be required to submit the Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR) annually and financial statements as required in the NIH Grants Policy Statement. A final RPPR, invention statement, and the expenditure data portion of the Federal Financial Report are required for closeout of an award, as described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.

The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (Transparency Act), includes a requirement for awardees of Federal grants to report information about first-tier subawards and executive compensation under Federal assistance awards issued in FY2011 or later. All awardees of applicable NIH grants and cooperative agreements are required to report to the Federal Subaward Reporting System (FSRS) available at www.fsrs.gov on all subawards over $25,000. See the NIH Grants Policy Statement for additional information on this reporting requirement.

In accordance with the regulatory requirements provided at 45 CFR 75.113 and Appendix XII to 45 CFR Part 75, recipients that have currently active Federal grants, cooperative agreements, and procurement contracts from all Federal awarding agencies with a cumulative total value greater than $10,000,000 for any period of time during the period of performance of a Federal award, must report and maintain the currency of information reported in the System for Award Management (SAM) about civil, criminal, and administrative proceedings in connection with the award or performance of a Federal award that reached final disposition within the most recent five-year period. The recipient must also make semiannual disclosures regarding such proceedings. Proceedings information will be made publicly available in the designated integrity and performance system (currently FAPIIS). This is a statutory requirement under section 872 of Public Law 110-417, as amended (41 U.S.C. 2313). As required by section 3010 of Public Law 111-212, all information posted in the designated integrity and performance system on or after April 15, 2011, except past performance reviews required for Federal procurement contracts, will be publicly available. Full reporting requirements and procedures are found in Appendix XII to 45 CFR Part 75 Award Term and Conditions for Recipient Integrity and Performance Matters.

Section VII. Agency Contacts

We encourage inquiries concerning this funding opportunity and welcome the opportunity to answer questions from potential applicants. eRA Service Desk (Questions regarding ASSIST, eRA Commons, application errors and warnings, documenting system problems that threaten submission by the due date, and post-submission issues)

Finding Help Online: http://grants.nih.gov/support/ (preferred method of contact)
Telephone: 301-402-7469 or 866-504-9552 (Toll Free)

General Grants Information (Questions regarding application instructions, application processes, and NIH grant resources)
Email: [email protected] (preferred method of contact)
Telephone: 301-945-7573

Grants.gov Customer Support (Questions regarding Grants.gov registration and Workspace)
Contact Center Telephone: 800-518-4726
Email: [email protected]

Eve E. Reider, Ph.D.
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Telephone: 301-827-1496
Email: [email protected]

Nick Gaiano, Ph. D.
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Telephone: 301-827-3420
Email: [email protected]

Tamara Kees
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Telephone: 301-443-8811
Email: [email protected]

Section VIII. Other Information

Recently issued trans-NIH policy notices may affect your application submission. A full list of policy notices published by NIH is provided in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts. All awards are subject to the terms and conditions, cost principles, and other considerations described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement. Awards are made under the authorization of Sections 301 and 405 of the Public Health Service Act as amended (42 USC 241 and 284) and under Federal Regulations 42 CFR Part 52 and 45 CFR Part 75.