Description

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) is accepting applications for fiscal year (FY) 2017 International President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief Addiction Technology Transfer Centers (Short Title: INT PEPFAR-ATTC) Cooperative Agreements. Applicants may apply for one or more of the Cooperative Agreements described in this FOA. The purpose of this program is establish INT PEPFAR-ATTC programs in Vietnam, Ukraine, and South Africa that increase the capacity, skills, and abilities of Vietnamese, Ukrainian, and South African HIV/AIDS programs, governmental agencies, and the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) programs to address problematic substance use, including the treatment of opioid dependence, and mental disorders to impact the goals of national HIV prevention, care, and treatment programs. Eventually, with approval of Embassy and PEPFAR leadership, the INT PEPFAR-ATTCs in Ukraine and South Africa may extend these activities to other countries in the respective regions.

The internationally-based PEPFAR-ATTCs will address substance use dependence as part of PEPFAR and host country governments’ approach to HIV prevention, care, and treatment. INT PEPFAR-ATTCs will provide training and technical assistance on behavioral health service provision, including education, skills development, and knowledge transfer on HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and treatment; substance-related and addictive disorders care; treatment in the context of co-occurring substance use and mental disorders; and the establishment of peer recovery programs. The Vietnam, Ukraine, and South Africa INT PEPFAR-ATTC programs will work collaboratively with other SAMHSA-funded internationally-based PEPFAR-ATTCs and the U.S. based National ATTC Program in developing evidence-based technical assistance for information exchange and technology transfer.

Since 2005, SAMHSA, as an implementing partner in the PEPFAR, has supported and provided technical assistance to countries where the HIV epidemic is driven by illicit drug and harmful alcohol use. Technical assistance and trainings have been provided to Ministries of Heath (MOH), Labor, Social Affairs, and of Justice, country PEPFAR teams, and PEPFAR implementing partners as part of country and regional PEPFAR programs to augment HIV prevention, care, and treatment programs that address illicit drug use and harmful alcohol use.

The grantee will provide training and technical assistance to PEPFAR implementing partners to enhance their capacity, knowledge, and expertise in: (1) national and regional development of drug and alcohol policies that enable the implementation of evidence-based best practices for substance use and mental disorders treatment; (2) evidence-based best practices and quality services as part of the treatment for substance use disorders in key and priority populations; (3) assessing and removing barriers to HIV care and treatment for key and priority populations with substance use and co-occurring disorders; and (4) initiation and implementation of peer and other recovery support service programs for key populations.

Eligibility

Eligible applicants are international non-governmental organizations (NGOs), currently funded U.S. based SAMHSA ATTCs or universities with international technical assistance experience and workforce development capabilities with a demonstrated history of working with PEPFAR implementing partners. Applicants must sign the Certificate of Eligibility in Appendix C, which certifies that the organization meets the eligibility criteria described. The Certificate of Eligibility must be submitted in Attachment 4 of the application or the application will be screened out and will not be reviewed.

SAMHSA believes that these entities are uniquely qualified to implement the behavioral health service regional programs because of their knowledge of and experience in working with the PEPFAR country teams and PEPFAR implementing partners. This knowledge and experience ensures that they are able to successfully collaborate with on-going PEPFAR-funded programs for behavioral health technology transfer and use their regional awareness to conduct culturally appropriate activities.

While an eligible organization may apply for more than one of the INT PEPFAR-ATTC programs (Vietnam, Ukraine, or South Africa), a separate application must be submitted for each. (Note: If submitting multiple applications in response to this FOA, each application must have a unique project title for each country or applications may be flagged as duplicates.) Only one application may be submitted per country (i.e., Vietnam, Ukraine, or South Africa). Therefore, an organization may submit a maximum of three applications. However, an applicant organization may receive only one INT PEPFAR-ATTC award. If an applicant submits multiple high scoring applications, award decisions will be made at SAMHSA’s discretion.

Award Information

Funding Mechanism: Grant

Anticipated Total Available Funding: Up to $1,200,000 per year

Anticipated Number of Awards: Up to three (3) awards

Anticipated Award Amount: Up to $500,000 per year

Length of Project: Up 5 years

Cost Sharing/Match Required?: No

Proposed budgets cannot exceed estimated award amounts listed above in total costs (direct and indirect) in any year of the proposed project. Annual continuation awards will depend on the availability of funds, grantee progress in meeting project goals and objectives, timely submission of required data and reports, and compliance with all terms and conditions of award