Community Transformation Grant Funding Opportunity Announcement

Today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced available funding of $70 million to improve the health of small communities across the nation. Grants will be awarded to governmental agencies and non-governmental organizations across a variety of sectors, including transportation, housing, education, and public health, in an effort to save lives and control the nation's growing health care costs associated with preventable chronic diseases.

The small-community investments are part of the Community Transformation Grant (CTG) program, a comprehensive prevention and wellness initiative launched in 2011 by HHS and administered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CTG Small Communities program targets intervention populations of up to 500,000 in neighborhoods, school districts, villages, towns, cities and counties in order to increase opportunities for people to make healthful choices and improve health.

These areas can be specific counties, cities, towns and villages with populations up to 500,000 or neighborhoods, sections, or subgroups of the population (e.g., children or seniors) within a metropolitan area. In addition, HHS is continuing to support the initial group of 68 CTG awardees that have the potential to reach about 120 million Americans.

The CTG Small Communities Program grantees will work toward one or more of the five outcome measures described in Section 4201 of the Affordable Care Act: changes in weight, proper nutrition, physical activity, tobacco use and social and emotional well-being and align with the five priority areas of the CTG Program:

1. tobacco-free living;
2. active living and healthy eating;
3. evidence-based quality clinical and other preventive services, specifically prevention and control of high blood pressure and high cholesterol;
4. social and emotional wellness, such as facilitating early identification of mental health needs and access to quality services, especially for people with chronic conditions; and
5. healthy and safe physical environments.

CDC expects to make 25 to 50 competitive grant awards under the CTG Small Communities Program, with successful applicants announced in September 2012. The final number of awards will depend on the quality of applications, sizes of communities to be served, sizes of awards, and other factors. Applicants specifically must demonstrate how they can improve the health of their communities through increasing the availability of healthy foods and beverages, improving access to safe places for physical activity, and reducing tobacco use and encouraging smoke-free environments. The awards are one-time funding with a two year project period.

The official funding opportunity announcement for the Community Transformation Grant program Small Communities component can be found at http://www.Grants.gov by searching for NCCDPHP CDC-RFA-DP12-1216PPHF12: PPHF 2012: Community Transformation Grants - Small Communities Programs financed solely by 2012 Prevention and Public Health Funds (http://www.grants.gov/search/search.do;jsessionid=RgW1PFPFQshPqDGLW5sBW8ZQTmTpXQwjMLllqTy7zJdwfc1QLpXP!-1021879135?oppId=173114&mode=VIEW).

The letter of intent deadline is June 18, 2012 and the application deadline is July 31, 2012, 5pm Eastern Daylight Savings Time. To learn more about the Community Transformation Grant program, including a list of the current 68 awardees, please visit http://www.cdc.gov/communitytransformation.

For more information about how the Prevention and Public Health Fund is helping promote prevention in every state, visit http://www.HealthCare.gov/news/factsheets/prevention02092011a.html.

For an overview fact sheet about the Community Transformation Grant program, visit: http://www.healthcare.gov/news/factsheets/2011/09/community09272011a.html