Demonstration Projects to Research and Evaluate Strategies Aligned with CDC’s What Works in Schools Approach | RFA DP 24 138

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA DP 24 138

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is offering a competitive grant opportunity titled "Demonstration Projects to Research and Evaluate Strategies Aligned with CDC's What Works in Schools (WWIS) Approach" under funding opportunity number RFA-DP-24-138. This is a discretionary cooperative agreement (meaning CDC will likely have substantial involvement in the project through collaboration, guidance, or oversight rather than providing funds with minimal interaction). The opportunity is administered through CDC's electronic research administration system and falls under the health funding activity category (CFDA/Assistance Listing 93.941).

This NOFO is essentially a reposting of a previously forecasted announcement (RFA-PS-24-038) that was removed because the CDC's Division of Adolescent and School Health (DASH) began transitioning in October 2023 from the National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention (NCHHSTP) to the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP). With that organizational move, the funding announcement was reissued under the new CDC center with the updated NOFO number RFA-DP-24-138.

The core purpose of the funding is to support research that implements and evaluates strategies aligned with CDC's What Works in Schools approach, with a strong emphasis on real-world feasibility and successful implementation in local education agencies and schools. The targeted settings are those serving rural adolescents and/or American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) adolescents. The research focus is intentionally broad across youth health domains, but it prioritizes student health behaviors, experiences, and outcomes related to sexual and reproductive health and to mental and behavioral health. It also explicitly includes prevention and reduction efforts connected to suicidality, substance use, and experiences of violence, recognizing that these issues often overlap and can compound risks for young people.

A major theme in this opportunity is building the evidence base for innovative school-based or school-linked strategies. In practice, that means applicants are expected not only to deliver programming, policies, or practices, but also to rigorously study whether those approaches work, how they work, and under what conditions they can be implemented effectively. The "WWIS-aligned" framing signals that CDC is looking for strategies that fit within a school-centered public health approach, including efforts that can be sustained and integrated into education systems rather than remaining one-off interventions. The NOFO also stresses translation and dissemination, so the intent is not just to generate findings for a single community, but to produce lessons, tools, and evidence that can be shared and adapted by other districts, schools, and partners working in similar contexts.

Health equity is a key expectation woven into the purpose statement. The NOFO is looking for strategies that improve sexual and reproductive health and mental and behavioral health in ways that address inequities affecting youth in rural communities and AI/AN communities. That could include culturally responsive approaches, community and tribal engagement, reducing barriers to access, tailoring services and supports to local needs, and designing implementation methods that work in settings with limited resources or unique governance and service structures.

In terms of who can apply, eligibility is broad and includes state, county, and city or township governments; special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; federally recognized Native American tribal governments; other tribal organizations; public housing authorities and Indian housing authorities; nonprofit organizations with or without 501(c)(3) status; for-profit organizations (including entities other than small businesses as well as small businesses); and other unrestricted applicants. This wide eligibility range suggests CDC is open to applications led by education agencies, universities, tribal entities, community organizations, or cross-sector partnerships, as long as they can carry out implementation and evaluation work in the target school and community settings.

The application deadline listed for the opportunity was April 1, 2024. CDC anticipated making 2 awards, with an award ceiling of $500,000. The limited number of expected awards suggests a highly selective process and signals that proposed projects likely need to be well-developed demonstration and research efforts with clear evaluation plans, strong partnerships with schools or districts (and, where relevant, tribal communities and leadership), and a credible pathway to producing actionable evidence that can inform broader practice aligned with WWIS.

• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - ERA in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Demonstration Projects to Research and Evaluate Strategies Aligned with CDC’s What Works in Schools Approach" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.941.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-01-09.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-04-01. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $500,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 2 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, For-profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses, Others, Unrestricted.

Apply for RFA DP 24 138

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