Day 2

1
Navigating Cooperative Agreements

• Day 2

2
Today's Agenda

• Budget and Work Plan Changes Prior Approvals and
  Unobligated Balances
• Break
• Roles and Relationships in Cooperative Agreements
  
• Lunch
• Getting Technical Assistance
• Break
• Communicating Challenges and Successes
• Wrap-Up and Evaluations

3

• Budget and Work Plan Changes
• Prior Approvals and Unobligated Balances

4
Prior Approvals Scenarios

• Groups of 4
• Take 15 minutes to read 3 scenarios concerning
  prior approval, and answer the questions
• Scenarios are in your binders

5
Common Prior Approvals (1 of 2)

• Revision of project scope or objectives
• Time extension
• Change in project director, PI, or other key
  staff
• Contracting an activity out, or changing an
  existing contract

6
Common Prior Approvals (2 of 2)

• Change in the state organization
• Activity involves medical care (research)
• Request for additional funds
• For a C.A. over 100K, request to re-budget more
  than 25 of funds
• Moving money into an object class you didnt
  originally have money in
• Carryover

7
Prior Approval Tips

• Include grant number and GMS name on each page
• Have PO review a draft of your request
• Inform PO when you send the request
• Must be signed by program AND fiscal officials

• Make your request for change or carryover by the
  time specified in NOA
• Allow time for approval/signing procedures
  required by your state.

8
Redirection Request

• Where the money is coming from
• Where it will be redirected to
• Objectives for the tasks proposed
• How these objectives tie to program outcomes
• Itemized budget justification showing how the
  funds will be used

9
Sample Redirection Summary
10
Carryover Request

• Include
• Final FSR
• Objectives for the tasks proposed
• How new tasks tie to program outcomes
• Itemized budget justification showing how the
  funds will be used

11
Unspent v. Unobligated

• Unspent
• the expenditure is planned and the money will be
  spent this year, but hasn't been spent yet
• Unobligated
• no plans to spend the money this budget year
• Report estimated unobligated funds, but not
  unspent funds

12
Anticipating Unobligated Funds

• Observe delays to the release of funds
• Consider impact of technical, political, or other
  challenges on timelines and expenditures
• Use all available info to compare expenditures to
  work accomplished
• Estimate project costs for the coming year based
  on your experiences of the past year

13
Using Unobligated Balances

• Re-budget (redirect) funds for current budget
  year
• Request carryover to next budget year CDC adds
  the funds to next year's award
• Request carryover CDC uses the funds to offset
  next year's award

14

• Break

15

• Roles and Relationships in the
• Cooperative Agreement Process

16
Six Key Roles

• State Program Manager
• State Principal Investigator
• State Financial Manager or Fiscal Office
• State Chronic Disease Director
• CDC Project Officer
• CDC Grants Management and intermediaries

17
Relationships

•  

18
Relationships with PI



19
Roles Relationships Exercise

• Reflection on your CA roles relationships
• 10 minutes
• Small group discussion
• 20 minutes
• Large group debrief

20
Program Managers

• Program management, leadership and direction
• Determining and advocating for priority health
  needs.
• Maximizing the use of resources to achieve
  program objectives

• Representing their state
• Ensuring the program adheres to all applicable
  laws and regulations (state and federal)
• Coordinating partnerships
• Providing expertise on the content and their state

21
Chronic Disease Director (1 of 2)

• Oversees multiple chronic disease and related
  programs
• May help to coordinate the activities and budgets
  of several programs
• May have decision-making authority over program
  activities
• May serve as a principal investigator.
• Often involved in recommending policies that
  influence the programs

22
Chronic Disease Director (2 of 2)

• Point of contact for many key partners
• Often has a unique relationship with
  decision-makers in the state health department
• May have a close relationship with higher level
  staff at CDC
• Your connection to key people in your partner
  organizations and high-level officials in your
  state

23
When there's a Principal Investigator

• Principal Investigator (PI) is sometimes called
  the Program Director
• Does not have the same role as a PI for NIH or
  other research initiative
• PI (PD) must sign all official documentation and
  ensure the program adheres to all applicable laws
  and regulations (state and federal)

24
Financial Manager

• Program accounting
• Tracking funds from different sources
• Ensuring all transactions comply with applicable
  regulations, laws and procedures
• Assisting the program manager in preparing
  budgets and requests for redirection and
  carryovers
• Providing timely, useful expenditure information
  to the program manager

25
CDC Procurement Grants Office

• Grants Management Official
• high-level official who signs the documents
• Grants Management Specialist
• part of the GMO's team processes the work
  associated with your cooperative agreement

26
PGO

• Assists programs with financial and management
  expertise
• Budget discussions
• Budget and costs analyses
• Signs contractual documents
• Maintains official grant file
• Ensures that both federal program staff and
  states fulfil regulatory requirements

27
CDC Project Officer

• Provides technical assistance
• Provides you with feedback on reports
• Provides PGO with information when appropriate
• Gives guidance about how to get things done
  efficiently and effectively at CDC
• Connects you to other relevant programs and
  opportunities at CDC

28
Expect Your Project Officer To...

• Ask good questions
• Listen and learn from you
• Provide timely feedback
• Advise you on how best to comply with HHS and PGO
  requirements and policies
• Help you prepare your documents to expedite the
  approval process.
• Help you work with PGO

29
Difficulties with Project Officers

• Talk to principal investigator, chronic disease
  director, or immediate supervisor
• Call the project officer to discuss concerns
• Have principal investigator or chronic disease
  director work with the project officers
  supervisor
• Ask NACDD for help

30
Regional Public Health Advisor

• Knows CDC and recipient well
• Provides assistance with programmatic aspects of
  the cooperative agreement

31
Transitions program manager

• Ideally meet with prior program manager
• Call project officer
• Learn how the team works together
• Read the relevant project documents
• Consider a site visit or a reverse site visit

32
Transition Kit

• Orientation checklist
• Transition manual- program description -
  organizational charts- partnership descriptions
• Calendar of key dates
• Performance standards and expectations

33
Transitions project officer

• Be proactive -dont wait for the project officer
  to call you
• Brief new project officer on the immediate
  concerns of the program
• Communicate your expectations how you would
  like the PO to communicate and interact with you

34
Get to know your PO

• Expectations of you
• What has (and hasn't) worked for them in the past
• Preferred style of communicating, coordinating,
  and planning
• When documentation is needed, and what
  documentation is helpful
• Constraints and sources of stress

35

• LUNCH

36

• Getting Technical Assistance

37
Technical Assistance

• Gives access to expertise
• Provides the opportunity to learn from others'
  experiences
• Opens the channels of communication about the
  project (esp. with CDC)
• Helps you define and articulate the program's
  progress

38
State Experts

• Info on how a program was implemented in a
  specific context
• Ideas about how to overcome implementation
  barriers
• Input on issues that affect all state programs,
  such as legislation or partnership issues

39
NACDD (1 of 2)

• Info on the latest science and policy issues
• Info on who is doing what and best practices
• Expertise on particular state health departments
• Key current issues within each of the diseases/
  risk factors
• Connection to data sources, helpful resources or
  programs, and relevant reports

40
NACDD (2 of 2)

• Current NACDD legislative or advocacy activities
• Advocacy activities other organizations and
  partners are involved in
• Conferences and professional development
  opportunities, including training and support on
  program management skills
• www.chronicdisease.org/

41
Prevention Research Centers

• Latest research on health- or population-specific
  issues
• Info on conducting research within communities
• http//www.cdc.gov/prc/

42
Other Federal Agencies

• Agency for Healthcare Research Quality (AHRQ)
• NIH Institutes
• Health Resources and Services Agency (HRSA)
• Indian Health Service (IHS)

43
Voluntary Organizations

• Health education materials
• Policy information
• Presentations and papers
• American Cancer Society - www.cancer.org
• American Heart Association - www.americanheart.o
  rg

44
Making the Most of PO's

• Keep them up to date on your project
• Provide information about your state and the
  program's context
• Inform them of all your funding sources and the
  multiple priorities you must address

45
Project officers may connect you to...

• Epidemiologists
• Evaluation specialists
• Health communication specialists
• Other experts
• Other states

46
Tracking Progress Discussion

• Groups of 4 - 5
• Discuss tools and strategies you use to keep
  track of the different program work streams
• 15 minutes for discussion

47
Tracking Progress

• Progress on SMART objectives
• Alignment between resources and work plan
  priorities
• Adequate capacity to meet goals
• Timeliness

48
CDC Response to Program Challenges
Restriction of Funds
PGO
Program Improvement Plan
Site Visit
Consultation w/ program office
Technical assistance
49
Your Documentation Responsibilities

• Interim progress report. Part of non-competing
  continuation application.
• Annual report. Due after the end of the budget
  period.
• Financial status report (FSR). Due after the end
  of the budget period.

50
Documentation at the End of the Award

• Final FSR and progress report
• Data sets, evaluation reports, or other summary
  documents
• For your own records, document lessons learned
  and success stories

51
Your PO's Documentation Responsibilities

• Site visit planning, notes, recommendations for
  action
• Conference call notes and recommended next steps
• Feedback on progress reports and other things you
  submit
• Their understanding of the programs challenges
  and successes, and any technical assistance
  provided in response

52
When to Have a Site Visit

• Within 60 days of a new cooperative agreement
  award
• Change in the program manager
• Change in the project officer
• Coinciding with a special event, activity, or
  special task
• You express a need for it

53
Schedule the Site Visit

• What is most important to accomplish?
• - strategically
• - operationally
• Discuss potential site visit meetings and other
  activities
• - Who should participate?
• - Schedule time to debrief w/ PO at end

54
Once Your Site Visit is Scheduled

• Decide which internal and external stakeholders
  and senior leaders should attend
• Communicate with your program staff and other
  stakeholders about the site visit
• dates
• who is visiting why
• roles
• what your organization expects to get out of the
  experience
• what stakeholders can expect during the site
  visit

55
Setting the Agenda

• Plan end-of-visit debrief w/Project Officer
• Share agenda w/PO
• Brief PO on attendees of each meeting
• Share logistical travel info w/PO
• Book meeting space
• Inform sites

56
Your Project Officer Will Look For.

• Technical assistance needs
• How your organizations infrastructure and
  politics affect the program
• Indicators of capacity to implement program
• level of awareness, engagement, and commitment of
  key partners to the program

57
Preparing Your Messages

• Decide on key messages
• Inform PO of messages stakeholders should hear
  from him/her
• Use PO as voice of CDC authority

58

• Break

59
Balanced Site Visits Discussion

• Groups of 4-5
• Discuss how to have a balanced site visit so you
  can have technical assistance AND promote the
  program
• Use discussion questions in binder
• 15 minutes

60
Presenting Program Challenges

• Frame challenges and technical assistance needs
  without putting your program at a disadvantage-
  Do not create impression that your program is not
  capable or strong.
• Ask for technical assistance or describe a
  program challenge while at the same time
  highlighting the accomplishments of the program.

61
Presenting Program Challenges Example

• REPLACE THIS...
• Unfortunately, we overspent by 8,000 due to some
  trouble we had tracking expenditures.
• WITH THIS...
• We were able to reach more of this population
  than expected, and we overspent by 8,000 as a
  result. Maybe we can discuss how to better
  anticipate these expenses.

62
Presenting Program Challenges Exercise

• Rewrite 5 statements about program challenges so
  they are success-oriented
• Work in pairs
• 10 minutes
• Reconvene as a large group

63
Success Stories

• Prepare you to respond to a legislator
• Help you explain what you did, how it worked, and
  why it was worth the money
• Make the invisible work of public health visible
  to the public
• Inspire programs in other states

64
Success Stories Elements

• Compelling problem statement
• Clear description of the intervention
• Measurable results
• Reproducible actions

65
Writing Success Stories Exercise

• Take 10 minutes to outline a Success Story for
  one of your programs
• Include
• A statement of the public health problem
• A brief description of the program and its
  intentions
• The impact of the program

66
Wrap Up

• Parking Lot review
• Do differently?
• Evaluations