State Maternal Health Innovation & Data Capacity Program FAQ

Funding Opportunity Number: HRSA-22-149

Estimated Number and Type of Award(s)

HRSA expects to fund up to nine awards in the form of cooperative agreements.

Estimated Annual Award Amount?

Each award will be funded up to $1,000,000 per year during the five-year project period.

When is the application due?

Monday, June 13, 2022 at 11:59 p.m. ET.

Who is eligible to apply?

Eligible applicants include any domestic public or private entity, including an Indian tribe or tribal organization (as those terms are defined at 25 U.S.C. 5304 (formerly cited as 25 U.S.C. 450b)). See 42 CFR § 51a.3(a). Domestic faith-based and community-based organizations are also eligible to apply. Please read the entire Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) to make sure your organization is in compliance with all aspects of the NOFO.

Can current State MHI awardees apply to this program?

Existing award recipients under the FY19 State Maternal Health Innovation (State MHI) Program funding opportunity, HRSA-19-107, are eligible to apply for funding under this announcement. If funded, the existing State MHI award recipients will be required to relinquish their existing award, and a new award period will begin. If an existing recipient applies but is not awarded funding under this announcement, then the existing award will continue at the original level of funding through the project period end date of September 29, 2024.

Will HRSA fund more than one project per state?

No.

How does this funding opportunity relate to the FY 19 State MHI Program (HRSA-19-107)?

This NOFO, HRSA-22-149, is a new competition for State MHI funds. This NOFO bridges the State MHI activities with HRSA’s Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health (AIM) Program by requiring award recipients to submit quarterly AIM data measures to HRSA. New and current State MHI awardees are eligible to apply. Please note, only one awardee is funded per state.

How does this program relate to the AIM Program?

A portion of funding for this program is dedicated to supporting the improvement of AIM data collection, reporting, and analysis in the respective state. Applicants must include AIM Program activities in their response, if the state is currently enrolled in the AIM Program. If the applicant organization’s state is not currently enrolled in the AIM Program, the applicant must submit information stating that they intend to enroll in the AIM program within six months of the award date.

Do I have to be an AIM State to apply?

No. If the applicant organization is not currently enrolled in the AIM Program, the application must note that the state intends to enroll in the AIM program within six months of the award date.

How much of the budget must be allocated for AIM data enhancement activities?

At least 20% of the budget must be allocated toward supporting AIM data enhancement activities. Applicants are required to indicate within their budget which line items are contributing to the 20%.

If someone else, other than the entity who is currently the State MHI award recipient, would apply from the state of the awardee which currently has a State MHI award, how will this be handled?

Only one project will be funded per state under this notice. If another entity applied within a state that currently has a State MHI award and that State MHI program was not re-competing under this NOFO, the new application would not be funded.

Do applicants need to address more than one core bundle within their state?

No. Applicants do not need to currently be addressing more than one core AIM patient safety bundle within their state. If funded, the awarded state is expected to meet each of the applicable measures and objectives outlined on pages 17 and 18 of the NOFO, which includes:

• By September 29, 2027, each recipient is expected to increase from baseline the number of core AIM bundles implemented in the state.

Work Plan is required in both the project narrative and as an attachment. Should we duplicate the information in both places?

You must submit a work plan in table format as Attachment 1, and include all of the information and activities detailed in the narrative section of the application. You do not need to duplicate the information by providing the work plan in table format within both the narrative portion of your application and the required attachment. Only provide the table format of the work plan as Attachment 1.

What level of data access do you mean when you say gain access to state maternal mortality or pregnancy-related death data? Our state is legislatively unable to share case level data from the MMRC but can share aggregate data would that meet the program requirements?

Reporting individual case-level maternal mortality or pregnancy-related death data is not required. Aggregate level maternal health data meets the program requirements. Awardees do report on the number of pregnancy-related deaths, leading causes, and the factors that are associated with or contribute to pregnancy-related deaths. Where available and appropriate, awardees are also expected to report pregnancy-related deaths summarized by race/ethnicity, age, level of education, and geography (rural/urban).

Is there required travel to an annual grantee meeting? If so, how many staff are allowed to attend from each state?

There is no requirement for travel to an annual grantee meeting outlined within the NOFO; however, award recipients are expected to participate in technical assistance and capacity building activities provided by the designated TA provider(s), including participation at an annual meeting hosted by the TA provider(s). There are no restrictions outlined at the current time about the number of staff that would be allowed to attend.

Is the 20% budget contribution for AIM data enhancements just a minimum, and is there guidance on how much more could be included?

This program expects award recipients to use 20 percent of program funding to strengthen AIM data collection, reporting, and analysis to support AIM bundle implementation and the provision of safe care for every birth in the United States. Budgets should reflect the amount of work that will be applied towards each activity and indicate which line items are contributing to the 20 percent to support AIM data enhancement activities. Applicants can propose budgets with more than 20 percent of program funding supporting AIM data enhancements.

Is the TA training expected to be in person in North Carolina?

Training may occur in North Carolina and a variety of other locations throughout the United States. The current TA provider, the Maternal Health Learning and Innovation Center, has made in-person and virtual training sessions available for State Maternal Health Innovation Program awardees.

Can the voice of marginalized communities be included as a form of a letter of support for this application?

Yes, letters of support from underserved communities can be included in the application.

Can you clarify the following statements in the NOFO? “Applications should not duplicate existing activities, nor should funds be used to supplant current activities. Funded activities under this announcement should be used to supplement existing maternal health activities.”

Applicants should not propose use of funds under the notice to duplicate existing activities they are already funding and/or use funds under this notice to pay for activities that are already being funded by other sources (i.e., discontinuing the current funding source and moving the activity to the State MHI budget to be funded under this notice). Applicants can propose use of funds to apply additional funding to an existing activity (i.e., supplement) in order to enhance/increase support of that activity for purposes outlined in the NOFO. Federal award funds must supplement, not replace (supplant), a recipient’s non-federal funds which would otherwise have been made available for the applicable program.

Who do I contact if I have any questions?

For additional information and/or technical assistance regarding business, administrative, or fiscal issues related to this NOFO please contact:

Janene P. Dyson

Grants Management Specialist

Division of Grants Management Operations, OFAM Health Resources and Services Administration 5600

Fishers Lane, Mailstop 10SWH03

Rockville, MD 20857

Telephone: (301) 443-8325

Email: JDyson@hrsa.gov

For questions about the overall program issues and/or technical assistance related to this NOFO please contact:

Kimberly C. Sherman

Maternal and Women Health Branch Chief Division of Healthy Start and Perinatal Services

Attn: State Maternal Health Innovation and Data Capacity Program Maternal and Child Health Bureau

Health Resources and Services Administration 5600 Fishers Lane, Room 18N86

Rockville, MD 20857

Telephone: (301) 443-1702

Email: KSherman@hrsa.gov