The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced the release of $373 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to fund the first part of a new $650 million public health initiative, Communities Putting Prevention to Work.  This initiative will put money into the hands of communities, states and territories with the goals of reducing risk factors for chronic diseases and promoting wellness.

The initial $373 million will support grants which will be awarded through a competitive selection process to communities to support evidence-based prevention strategies for youths and adults and to promote partnerships across communities and sectors.

Funded projects will emphasize high-impact, broad-reaching policy, environmental, and systems changes in schools (K-12), communities, and states. For example, states and communities will be encouraged to get comprehensive smoking bans into place and to provide quality physical education in the nation’s schools. Every funded community and state will work to make snack foods and sugar sweetened beverages less available in schools and other community sites and to use media to promote healthy choices.

Approximately 30-40 community awardees will be selected for the Communities Putting Prevention to Work Initiative. Eligible entities include: large cities (population > 1 million), urban areas (population > 500,000, but less than 1 million), tribal communities, and State-coordinated small cities and rural areas (populations of up to 500,000 people).

Awards for both categories will vary with size of jurisdiction and the needs of communities. Potential approximate ranges are:

• Category A: Obesity/Physical Activity/Nutrition
  o Large city applicants: $10 million – $20 million;
  o Urban area applicants: $4 million – $10 million;
  o Tribal applicants: $500,000 – $1.2 million; and
  o State coordinated small city and rural area applicants: $3 million - $8 million.
  
  
• Category B: Tobacco Prevention and Control
  o Large city applicants: $10 million – $20 million;
  o Urban area applicants: $4 million – $10 million;
  o Tribal applicants: $500,000 – $1.2 million; and
  o State coordinated small city and rural area applicants: $3 million - $8 million. 

Eligible applicants will be asked to propose activities in Category A or Category B or both. If applying for both categories, a separate application must be submitted for each category. A letter of intent from communities is highly recommended. Funded entities will have two years to complete their work.

Communities that wish to apply for awards can find more information at www.grants.gov.

An additional $277 million will be made available in the coming weeks to states, territories, and other organizations and networks to support and extend the reach and impact of the community projects. The deadlines for the state, territory, and other prevention projects that are part of the Communities Putting Prevention to Work initiative will be announced soon.

Communities that wish to apply for awards will be able find a funding opportunity announcement here through the grants.gov web site.  The application deadline for the community projects is December 1, 2009. 

Several forms of pre-application support will be available.  Specific information about how to access this support will be posted shortly as a featured item on CDC’s Community Health Web Portal at www.cdc.gov/CommunityHealthResources. Forms of support include:

1. Pre-application conference calls will be conducted.  Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) information will be available for potential applicants on three separate conference calls, conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  These are anticipated for September 30, 2009 and October 1, 2009.  Watch www.cdc.gov/CommunityHealthResources for specific dates and times and for information on how to access these calls.
2. A dedicated mailbox for inquiries as been established.  Questions can be E-mailed to: CPPW@cdc.gov.  Answers to submitted questions will be posted for all website users to view on www.cdc.gov/CommunityHealthResources.
3. A series of expert-led webinars will be offered, each offered live and then available by web archive covering the following topics:  Obesity/ Physical activity/ Nutrition Policy, Tobacco Policy, and Evidence-based Policy Intervention. The scheduled dates and times for these webinars will be located on CDC’s Community Health Web Portal at www.cdc.gov/CommunityHealthResources.
4. A single source for community tools for application development is available via CDC’s Community Health Web Portal.