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Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children; Nutrition Education Innovations
The grantees and recipients are expected to work cooperatively with FNS to:
- Support researcher-initiated projects that use a common approach to reporting findings to ensure transparency and facilitate a meta-analysis of all projects;
- Coordinate activities among researchers;
- Effectively use technology and digital media to achieve desired outcomes; and
- Advance communication and coordination to improve target behaviors.
The grants and cooperative agreements plan to enable FNS to be more responsive to program needs and the food, nutrition, and health needs of FNS program participants.
The objective of the WIC Periconceptional Grant is to establish a university-based grant series for researcher-initiated projects to demonstrate creative approaches to evaluate the impacts of WIC on periconceptional nutrition.
FNS focus for this project is the direct and indirect effects of WIC participation by one or more family members during the periconceptional period and the implications for service delivery.
During the periconceptional period, the time period immediately prior to conception and in the first few days and weeks following conception, nutrition can impact placental and embryonic development with critical lifelong implications.
This project supports a university-based grant series for researcher-initiated projects to demonstrate creative approaches to evaluate WIC impacts on periconceptional nutrition, coordinate activities among researchers, and widely disseminate findings from current research.
The WIC Nutrition Educations Innovations' Grant's objective is to enhance the effort to identify, develop, evaluate, and disseminate innovative and effective WIC nutrition education interventions.
This is to be accomplished by providing grant funding for a university-based center with this charge, including a program of sub-grants to support development and evaluation of WIC-focused researcher-initiated innovations from researchers across the nation.
Examples of Funded Projects
Fiscal Year 2016: see https://www.bcm.edu/departments/pediatrics/sections-divisions-centers/childrens-nutrition-research-center/research/wic-nutrition-education.
Fiscal Year 2017: see above.
Fiscal Year 2018: n/a.
Established in 1862, the Department of Agriculture serves all Americans through anti-hunger efforts, stewardship of nearly 200 million acres of national forest and rangelands, and through product safety and conservation efforts. The USDA opens markets for American farmers and ranchers and provides food for needy people around the world.
Program Accomplishments
Fiscal Year 2016: In 2016, the grantees worked on the final report, presentations, and publications. Fiscal Year 2017: The final report and associated materials from this grant are published on the Baylor School of Medicine website: https://www.bcm.edu/departments/pediatrics/sections-divisions-centers/childrens-nutrition-research-center/research/wic-nutrition-education. Fiscal Year 2018: n/a.
Uses and Use Restrictions
For both the WIC Periconceptional Grant and the WIC Nutrition Education Innovations Grant, the following uses and use restrictions apply:
Cooperative Agreement Grants will be made to State and local governments, universities, hospitals, and non-profit organizations for awarding cooperative agreements, and grants to design, develop and evaluate innovate approaches for Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) programs, such as WIC, to meet FNS program needs and to strengthen their impact on the food, nutrition and health of program eligible participants.
The grant and cooperative agreement recipient is task with:
- making sub-grants,
- coordinating efforts among sub-grantees,
- evaluating impact of FNS programs, such as WIC, on food, nutrition and health,
- providing a summary and syntheses of these and related efforts, such as meta-analysis on the results,
- composing and coordinating a conference on observations and findings, and
- providing FNS with cost neutral approaches to improving FNS programs.
FNS' primary objective for these grants and cooperative agreements is to support interest in exploring better ways to improve and assess Food and Nutrition Service program needs and their impact on the food, nutrition and health of program eligible participants.
The grants should enhance knowledge and further research activities by the academic community, FNS and others.
See the RFP.
The grant and cooperative agreement funds are provided to recipients (grantees) responsible to spend the funds in accordance with what is set forth in the grant or cooperative agreement, and applicable Federal circulars such as A-110.
The source and use of the funds for the grants and cooperative agreements will be tied to a project of interest to one or more of FNS' program areas.
FNS has the discretion to select (through competition) what institution will receive the funds and to what research endeavors they will be applied, assuming that research is not specified in the law or other directive.
Eligibility Requirements
Applicant Eligibility
The grant is to be used to establish grants and cooperative agreements to identify, develop and undertake projects to meet Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) program needs and the food, nutrition, and health needs of program eligible participants.
Beneficiary Eligibility
Cooperative agreements are awarded to State and local governments, hospitals, non-profit organizations and accredited colleges/universities offering advanced degrees at the PhD level in biological and social sciences such as sociology, psychology, education, nutrition, public health and economics. This is a requirement for the selected recipient of the grants and cooperative agreements, not the sub-grantees. Cooperative agreement recipients are to award sub-grants to researchers to identify, develop, and evaluate interventions and innovative approaches to strengthen the impact of Food and Nutrition Service programs, such as WIC, on the food, nutrition, and health of program eligible participants.
Credentials/Documentation
OMB Circulator No. A-87 applies to this program. Nonprofit organizations are required to submit proof of nonprofit status. 2 CFR 200, Subpart E - Cost Principles applies to this program.
Aplication and Award Process
Preapplication Coordination
Preapplication coordination is not applicable.
Environmental impact information is not required for this program.
This program is excluded from coverage under E.O.
12372.
Application Procedures
2 CFR 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards applies to this program. Applicants were required to submit a grant or cooperative agreement proposal, along with an Application for Federal Assistance SF-424(R&R). Requirements, (such as submission, formatting, budget, etc.) for the grant or cooperative agreement proposal were specified in the Request for Application. All applications had to be submitted electronically through www.grants.gov. Applicants were only allowed to submit paper-copy applications under extenuating circumstances, such as outages of the Grants.gov website that can be substantiated by a valid case number with the Grants.gov support center.
Award Procedures
Proposals were evaluated on the criteria of research merit, overall approach, feasibility, and staffing/budget/time line. Based on the responses to the criteria, applications were reviewed and scored by panel evaluators. The proposals were ranked by score, starting with the highest score and presented to selecting officials based on this ranking. Selecting officials considered the panel rankings and comments, recommendations from Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) staff, and other pertinent information before deciding which proposals to fund. FNS selecting officials reserved the right to fund proposals out of rank order based on written assessments made by evaluation panel members, information provided by regional office staff, and agency priorities.
Deadlines
Not Applicable.
Authorization
National Agriculture Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977, Section 1403(8), 7 U.S.C. 3102, Section 1403(8), 7 U.S.C 3102.
Range of Approval/Disapproval Time
Contact the Headquarters contact mentioned at the end of this description.
Appeals
Specified in the RFAs for the WIC Nutrition Education Innovations Grant and the WIC Periconceptional Grant.
Renewals
Specified in the RFA for the WIC Periconceptional Grant and the WIC Nutrition Education Innovations Grant.
Assistance Considerations
Formula and Matching Requirements
Statutory formulas are not applicable to this program. Matching requirements are not applicable to this program. This program does not have MOE requirements.
Length and Time Phasing of Assistance
The total time period for which a grant or cooperative agreement is awarded may not exceed 60 months. See the following for information on how assistance is awarded/released: Funding is distributed as specified in the terms of the grant or cooperative agreement with Food and Nutrition Service or as applicable under federal regulation requirements.
Post Assistance Requirements
Reports
Program reports are required according to the terms of the grant or cooperative agreement with Food and Nutrition Service or as applicable under federal regulation requirements.
Report SF-PPR is to be filed by the recipient according to the terms of the grant or cooperative agreement.
Cash reports are not applicable.
Quarterly progress reports are required according to the terms of the grant or cooperative agreement with Food and Nutrition Service or as applicable under federal regulation requirements.
Expenditure reports are required according to the terms of the grant or cooperative agreement with Food and Nutrition Service or as applicable under federal regulation requirements.
Report SF 425 is to be filed by the recipient according to the terms of the agreement or as applicable under federal regulation requirements.
Performance monitoring reports are required to be filed by the recipient according to the terms of the cooperative agreement with Food and Nutrition Service or as applicable under federal regulation requirements.
Audits
In accordance with the provisions of 2 CFR 200, Subpart F - Audit Requirements, non-Federal entities that expend financial assistance of $750,000 or more in Federal awards will have a single or a program-specific audit conducted for that year. Non-Federal entities that expend less than $750,000 a year in Federal awards are exempt from Federal audit requirements for that year, except as noted in 2 CFR 200.503.
Records
Records (financial/administrative/grant) are to be maintained according to the time requirements specified in the terms of the grant, or cooperative agreement with Food and Nutrition Service or as applicable under federal regulation requirements.
Financial Information
Account Identification
12-3510-0-1-605 - To be supplied at time of grant or cooperative agreement award.
Obigations
(Salaries) FY 16 $740,960; FY 17 est $397,559; and FY 18 Estimate Not Available(Exp: grant ended) - In 2012, the WIC Nutrition Education Innovations Grant was awarded in the amount of $1,999,980 to a university-based institution, Baylor College of Medicine, to administer the grant and make awards to sub-grantee researchers working with a WIC agency. Two sub-grant awards have been made to: Dr. Rafael Perez-Escamilla at Yale and Dr. Lorrene Ritchie at UC Berkeley. Two more sub-grant awards were made in August 2014 to Dr. Jennifer Di Noia from William Paterson University and Dr. M. Jane Heinig from UC Davis. The grant funds are being distributed over a 4 year period (2012-2016) to the primary grantee, Baylor College of Medicine-Houston, who distributes the sub-grant awards. (Salaries) FY 16 $136,686; FY 17 est $102,431; and FY 18 Estimate Not Available(Exp: grant ended) - In 2011, the WIC Periconceptional Grant was awarded in the amount of $997,759 to a university-based center to award subgrants. The total amount award was distributed over the 5 year period (2011-2016) to the primary grantee, UCLA. The 7 WIC clinics that are involved through subgrant awards are: ? Oregon WIC Program ? East Baton Rouge Parish WIC Clinic, and Capitol City Family Health Center WIC Clinic at Family Roads ? San Luis Valley WIC Clinic ? Public Health Foundation (PHFE) WIC Program ? Massachusetts WIC Program ? the WIC Nutrition in Pregnancy Clinic (NIP) in the Johns Hopkins Obstetrics and Gynecology (OB/GYN) Department ? Sonoma County WIC Program, and the San Francisco County WIC Program.
Range and Average of Financial Assistance
The two grants to primary grantees described in this announcement range from $997,759 to $1,999,980, with the average being $1,498,869.50.
Regulations, Guidelines, and Literature
Not Applicable.
Information Contacts
Regional or Local Office
None.
Headquarters Office
Karen A. Castellanos-Brown 3101 Park Center Dr., Alexandria, Virginia 22302 Email: Karen.Castellanos-Brown@fns.usda.gov Phone: 7033052732
Criteria for Selecting Proposals
Proposals for these two Food and Nutrition Service grants were evaluated on the criteria of research merit, overall approach, feasibility, and staffing/budget/time line. Based on the responses to the criteria, applications were reviewed and scored by panel evaluators. The proposals were ranked by score starting with the highest score and presented to selecting officials based on this ranking. Selecting officials considered the panel rankings and comments, recommendations from Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) staff, and other pertinent information before deciding which proposals to fund. FNS selecting officials reserve the right to fund proposals out of rank order based on written assessments made by evaluation panel members, information provided by regional office staff, and agency priorities.
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