Deadline: 22-Apr-22
The Coordination and Data Collection Center (CDCC) is pleased to solicit applications for its Community Collaboration Mini-Grant Program to support community partners to help advance capacity, training, support, and community experience with COVID-19 testing initiatives.
The CDCC’s Community Collaboration Mini-Grant Program seeks to support the inclusion of additional community partners and stakeholder groups who are not currently part of the RADx-UP program through CDCC subawards.
Duke University in partnership with the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, is serving as the Coordination and Data Collection Center (CDCC) for the National Institutes of Health (NIH)-supported Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics-Underserved Populations (RADx-UP) program.
The goal of the program is to improve access to and uptake of diagnostic COVID-19 testing in underserved, COVID-19 medically, geographically, and socially vulnerable populations (referred to as underserved and vulnerable elsewhere in this RFA).
Engagement in the evaluation and adoption of established and new diagnostic tests by the communities adversely affected by COVID-19 is critical to reducing the disease burden in the United States. This program will provide CDCC subawards to increase the capacity for COVID-19 testing expertise within the community.
Increasing training, education, communication, information dissemination, and capacity building related to COVID-19 testing, isolation, contact tracing, among others, in communities will increase the ability to decrease COVID-19 transmission and save lives.
These CDCC mini-grant funds can be used to support personnel costs, contracted service costs (e.g., participant transportation, translation, and interpretation, etc.), and non-personnel costs (e.g., other participant incentives, information and technology equipment) to:
- remove barriers to COVID-19 communication and outreach, COVID-19 testing and diagnosis, and COVID-19 data collection and dissemination testing;
- develop communities of practice between community collaboration CDCC mini-grant sub-awardees and current RADx-UP awardees which will extend communication and outreach, expand testing availability, and enhance data collection and dissemination capacities; and
- evaluate strategies for the communication of test results and follow-up measures to underserved and vulnerable populations;
- provide training and education for community members around COVID-19 testing topics of interest to the community;
- provide funding to increase capacity for COVID-19 testing activities in the community;
- generate communication materials related to COVID-19 testing;
- provide funding for community personnel training on specific aspects of COVID-19 related research including informatics, data collection methods, standardized survey administration, and others.
- collaborate with CEAL programs on activities such as understanding attitudes about testing and vaccines.
An evaluation component is encouraged to identify critical barriers and identify best strategies for removing these barriers to facilitate COVID-19 communication and outreach, COVID-19 testing, and COVID-19 testing data collection and dissemination.
Funding Information
- The mini-grant budget covers expenditures of up to $50,000 in direct costs for a 12-month period.
Eligibility Criteria
- The following organizations are eligible to apply: community serving organizations, faith-based organizations, community-based clinics, and tribal nations and organizations.
- They are particularly interested in receiving proposals to work with underserved and vulnerable communities not currently engaged with existing RADx-UP awardees; the awardees of the NIH Community Engagement Alliance (CEAL) Against COVID-19 Disparities program; and from organizations with a track record of outreach and service to underserved and vulnerable populations.
- Though not required, they also encourage partnerships with existing RADx-UP and CEAL awardees who may be able to collaborate with mini-grant sub-awardees on their outreach and communication, testing, and data collection and dissemination strategies.
- Eligible organizations may also include in their applications, collaborations (e.g., consultations and in-kind services) with academic institutions, clinical practices, and others.
- Applicants should propose a process to evaluate the results of their community engagement activities.
For more information, visit https://radx-up.org/apply-for-grant/