Department of Health and Human Services May 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is providing the opportunity for hospitals, vendors, and other interested parties to voluntarily test the 27-item Hospital CAHPS (HCAHPS[reg]) instrument suggested by the National Quality Forum's Review Committee. The purpose of this project is to provide another opportunity to the hospital industry to use the revised draft of the HCAHPS[reg] instrument with the option to add items to the instrument, if desired. It should be noted that the HCAHPS[reg] instrument may undergo further refinement prior to finalization for the national implementation effort as a result of the National Quality Forum (NQF) Consensus process. In effect, this project provides an occasion to test items that survey vendors, hospitals, and others wish to add to the HCAHPS[reg] instrument and to evaluate the impact of integrating HCAHPS into the instruments currently being used, as well as to try out and evaluate the methods of data collection prior to national implementation of HCAHPS[reg]. After permission to use the instrument is granted by AHRQ, a site or sites may field the instrument until the start of the ``dry run'' of the survey, which is expected in the Summer/Fall of 2005. As part of the dry run, hospitals and vendors will begin collecting HCAHPS data and transmitting it to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), but it will not be publicly reported. For more information about this project or to download an application for authorization, please visit the CAHPS User Network Web site at http: //www.cahps-sun.org.

This notice announces the availability of Fiscal Year (FY) 2005 grant funds for embryo adoption public awareness campaigns. Approximately $950,000 in funding is available on a competitive basis for three to four new projects each in the range of $200,000 to $250,000. Grants will be made for a project period of two years. This announcement seeks applications to develop and implement public awareness campaigns regarding embryo adoption. Applicants must demonstrate experience with embryo adoption programs that conform with professionally recognized standards governing embryo adoption and other applicable Federal or State requirements. For the purposes of this announcement, embryo adoption is defined as the donation of frozen embryo(s) from one party to a recipient who wishes to bear and raise a child or children.

On December 1, 2004 the Policy Committee for the 2005 WHCoA voted to invite 1,200 individuals to serve as delegates to the 2005 White House Conference on Aging, scheduled to take place fall 2005 in Washington, DC. These delegates will vote on resolutions and develop implementation strategies to be presented to the President and the Congress to help guide national aging policies for the next decade and beyond. The 2005 WHCoA will be the fifth in the history of the United States and the first of the 21st Century.

Notice is hereby given that a program expansion supplement in the amount of $99,227 is being award to the Community Services for Children, Incorporated CSC) by the Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE). CSC has requested additional funds and a one-year extension to build on the success of its program by offering the Family Formation and Development Project (FFDP) to 40 additional unwed, low-income couples. The current project has shown promising results. During the past two years CSC has administered a successful Special Improvement Project (SIP) project. It has served 40 couples, meeting all stated objectives. The project serves only unwed couples with children. The majority of these families are Hispanic and are enrolled in Head Start and Early Head Start programs to ensure comprehensive family services. CSC's objectives are: To improve family formation and development including marriage as a choice. CSC will provide an 8-week family formation and development course called ``Healthy Relationship and Marriage Education'' to 40 low-income, unwed couples with children in Head Start or Early Head Start programs. To promote stable families. CSC will present through course materials, other resources and home visits, information on the long-term benefits of two-parent families on the health and success of their children. To increase awareness of the importance of providing financial and medical support of children. CSC will collaborate with the Office of Child Support Enforcement to provide training and referral on the benefits of paternity establishment and child support services. Section 452(j) of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. 652(j), provides Federal funds for information dissemination and technical assistance to States, training of Federal and State staff to improve child support programs, and research, demonstration, and special projects of regional or national significance relating to the operation of State child support enforcement programs.

Funds are provided for Head Start-University Partnership Research Grants: Curriculum Development and Enhancement for Head Start and Early Head Start Programs, for research activities to develop and test curricular approaches, adaptations or targeted curriculum enhancements for use by Head Start and Early Head Start programs. This grant program is part of a larger Head Start research effort. Three other grant funding mechanisms are being offered concurrently with the one described in this announcement. They include: (1) American Indian-Alaska Native Head Start Research Center, (2) Head Start Graduate Student Research Grants, and (3) Head Start Graduate Student Research Partnership Development Grants. For more information, please see these other Head Start Research announcements listed in the Federal Register or listed on https://www.Grants.Gov, or send an e-mail inquiry to opre@xtria.com. Priority Area: Head Start-University Partnership Research Grants: Curriculum Development and Enhancement for Head Start and Early Head Start Programs.

This document corrects the two notices that were published in the Federal Register on Monday, May 2, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 83, Pages 22663 and 22664. It corrects the information on page 22663 under Notice of Computer Matching Program; the information beginning with ``A. Participating Agencies and ending with E. Inclusive Dates of the Matching Program'' should be placed on page 22664 under Notice of Computer Matching Program and the information on page 22664 under Notice of Computer Matching Program beginning with ``A. Participating Agencies and ending with E. Inclusive Dates of the Matching Program'' should be placed on page 22663 under Notice of Computer Matching Program. On page 22664 under Notice of Computer Matching Program. A. Participating Agencies please correct the transposed letters from ``OSCE'' to read ``OCSE.'' This transposition occurred at the Federal Register.

The Office of Population Affairs (OPA), Office of Family Planning (OFP), announces the anticipated availability of funds for Fiscal Year (FY) 2006 family planning services grants under the authority of Title X of the Public Health Service Act, and solicits applications for competing grant awards to serve the areas and/or populations listed in Table I. Only applications which propose to serve the populations and/or areas listed in Table I will be accepted for review and possible funding.

This final rule updates the annual payment rates for the Medicare prospective payment system (PPS) for inpatient hospital services provided by long-term care hospitals (LTCHs). The payment amounts and factors used to determine the updated Federal rates that are described in this final rule have been determined based on the LTCH PPS rate year July 1, 2005 through June 30, 2006. The annual update of the long-term care diagnosis-related group (LTC-DRG) classifications and relative weights remains linked to the annual adjustments of the acute care hospital inpatient diagnosis-related group system, and will continue to be effective each October 1. The outlier threshold for July 1, 2005 through June 30, 2006 is also derived from the LTCH PPS rate year calculations. We are adopting new labor market area definitions for the purpose of geographic classification and the wage index. We are also making policy changes and clarifications.

This is notice, in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 209(c)(1) and 37 CFR 404.7(a)(1)(i), that the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Department of Health and Human Services, is contemplating the grant of an exclusive license to practice the invention embodied in:

The Department of Health and Human Services gives notice as required by 42 CFR 83.12(e) of a decision to evaluate a petition to designate a class of employees at the Pacific Proving Grounds, to be included in the Special Exposure Cohort under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000. The initial proposed definition for the class being evaluated, subject to revision as warranted by the evaluation, is as follows: Facility: Pacific Proving Grounds, Marshall Islands. Locations: Enewetak Atoll. Job Titles and/or Job Duties: All scientists and scientific couriers. Period of Employment: July 1, 1958, until August 31, 1958 (Operation Hardtack I).

The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) has supported the field of microenterprise development since 1991 with discretionary grants to various State governments, community economic development agencies, community action and other human service agencies, local mutual assistance associations, and voluntary agencies. Organizations with successful programs have typically been those with a long-term commitment to microenterprise, particularly access to lending, and to its adaptation to the refugee experience. They have committed agency resources to support refugee programs; and their work in refugee microenterprise development has been consistent with the overall agency mission. A public or private non-profit agency interested in receiving funding under this announcement must have the organizational capacity to work with refugees who have low incomes, limited English-language proficiency, and neither assets nor American business experience. Many newly arrived refugees do not qualify for commercial loans or for admission into mainstream microenterprise development programs for these reasons. Organizations that cannot support in-house lending and essential loan-servicing responsibilities may experience difficulties in implementing a microenterprise project. Refugees bring positive attributes to microenterprise development projects, including a diverse and rich array of business ideas, skills, experiences, and ambitions. These characteristics have been largely responsible for the success of the ORR program. During the last 14 years, refugees have started or expanded more than 1,800 micro- businesses (with a business survival rate of over 88 percent). ORR grantees have provided over $4 million in financing to these entrepreneurs and clients have used these loans to leverage an additional $4,500,000 in loans from other sources. The loan repayment rate is close to 100 percent. Additionally, 2,666 new jobs have been created. Over 10,500 refugees have gained new entrepreneurial skills and knowledge; and the additional business income is helping refugee families to achieve economic self-sufficiency. By commonly accepted measures of performance (business survival rates, loan default rates, etc.), the ORR-funded programs have excelled and frequently led the field in achievement. Building on the experience of the last 14 years, ORR seeks in this announcement to continue support to this field, particularly on behalf of those refugees who, because of language and cultural barriers, are unlikely to gain access to commercial loans or business training through other programs. To be successful in this competition, refugee- serving organizations must demonstrate their organization's capacity to provide the technical expertise necessary to help refugees start, expand, or strengthen businesses, and to provide access to credit. Economic development agencies must show how they will modify their existing programs to serve refugees effectively. The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) invites eligible entities to submit competitive grant applications for microenterprise development projects for refugees.\1\ Applications will be accepted pursuant to the Director's discretionary authority under section 412(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) (8 U.S.C. 1522(c)), as amended. Applications will be screened and evaluated as indicated in this program announcement. Awards will be contingent on the outcome of the competition and the availability of funds.

Specialized Outreach Demonstration Projects for Services to Underserved and Diverse Populations: In order to further the commitment to bring diverse voices and approaches to the discussions on the elimination of domestic violence, the Administration on Children, Youth and Families announces grant funds to support projects that convene researchers, activists, survivors of domestic violence, and practitioners who have been advocates of a more culturally appropriate and familial orientation to the elimination of domestic violence. The Administration on Children, Youth and Families seeks to support coordinated outreach efforts to underserved and diverse communities, of which each effort is staffed and/or supported by expert and multi- disciplined teams that are culturally responsive and competent in regard to the issue of domestic violence in their particular communities. On a nationwide basis the expertise assembled within the Special Outreach projects will offer assistance on resource accumulation and information, capacity building within community organizations, policy analysis and review, training, and technical assistance for public and private organizations providing service in the domestic violence community. This assistance will be available to the entire domestic violence community as well as the specific communities to be served by these demonstration projects. Domestic Violence/Runaway and Homeless Youth Collaborations on the Prevention of Adolescent Dating Violence: The collaboration of the Runaway Youth and Domestic Violence communities will foster the development and implementation of effective strategies and program requirements for the use of domestic violence prevention services concurrently with services provided through Basic Center, Transitional Living and Street Outreach Projects. These collaborations will help to eliminate adolescent dating violence. These collaborative efforts will focus on the youth who are identified within the domestic violence and runaway and homeless youth communities as individuals that may be responsive to a collaborative set of interventions that are useful as effective prevention and intervention strategies. Minority Training Grant Stipends in Domestic Violence for Historically Black, Hispanic-Serving, and Tribal Colleges and Universities: The Minority Training Grant Stipends to Historically Black, Hispanic Serving, and Tribal Colleges and Universities will assist in generating skill-building and training opportunities in domestic violence prevention and services. These projects will be particularly responsive to issues of cultural content and designed to increase the extent to which minority groups participate in the domestic violence service community. A substantial proportion of the domestic violence that occurs in the general population involves underserved populations, including populations that are underserved because of ethnic, racial, cultural, language diversity or geographic isolation. The purpose of this effort and priority area is to increase the numbers and the capacity of the advocates and allies to do the work that is needed in these communities to prevent domestic violence.