Scaling the National Diabetes Prevention Program in Underserved Areas | CDC RFA DP17 1705

Opportunity Information: Apply for CDC RFA DP17 1705

Scaling the National Diabetes Prevention Program in Underserved Areas (CDC RFA DP17-1705) is a CDC funding opportunity designed to expand access to the National Diabetes Prevention Program (National DPP) lifestyle change program in places and communities that are currently not being reached at adequate levels. The CDC is responding to the scale of prediabetes in the United States, estimated at about 86 million adults, and the fact that only a small fraction of people with prediabetes know they have it. The National DPP is built on strong clinical evidence from the NIH Diabetes Prevention Program study and related translation research showing that modest behavior changes, including healthier eating and increased physical activity, can lead to about 5 to 7 percent weight loss and major reductions in risk of progressing to type 2 diabetes (with particularly strong effects among adults over 60). A central feature of this work is quality and fidelity: the CDC Diabetes Prevention Recognition Program (DPRP) sets national standards and recognizes organizations that deliver the lifestyle change program using approved curricula and that can document meaningful participant outcomes.

The focus of this announcement is not simply expanding programs in general, but closing persistent gaps in who is being served and where programs are available. Despite a large national footprint of CDC-recognized providers (more than 1,200 organizations across states and territories, offering in-person, virtual, or hybrid delivery), several groups remain underrepresented compared to their disease burden and estimated need. The FOA highlights Medicare beneficiaries, men, people with disabilities, and multiple racial and ethnic minority groups as populations that are not enrolling at rates that match their risk. It also notes that many underserved areas have few or no programs, and that even where programs exist, they may lack the tailored expertise and supports needed to help participants overcome barriers and complete the year-long intervention.

CDC plans to fund this work through a five-year cooperative agreement, meaning awardees will implement CDC-directed strategies with substantial involvement from the agency rather than operating as fully independent grantees. The target applicants are national or regional organizations that already have, or can credibly build, multi-state networks capable of scaling delivery through affiliate sites. A key structural requirement is geographic reach and early performance: applicants must identify affiliate delivery sites in at least three states and must enroll at least 1,000 participants from priority populations in year 1, with continued growth in both sites and participant enrollment expected in years 2 through 5. The program is explicitly non-research; CDC will not consider research applications under this announcement, and the emphasis is on implementation, service delivery, infrastructure development, and measurable outcomes.

Priority populations are clearly defined and include men; African Americans; Asian Americans; Hispanics; American Indians; Alaska Natives; Pacific Islanders; and non-institutionalized individuals with visual impairments or physical disabilities. Applicants are expected to demonstrate specialized experience delivering a CDC-recognized lifestyle change program (or another evidence-based behavior change program) to general populations, Medicare beneficiaries, and at least one of these priority populations in underserved areas, and to show the ability to document outcomes. The FOA makes an important distinction that merely having enrolled some priority population participants in the past is not automatically sufficient to prove specialized experience. If an applicant does not substantially meet the experience requirement, the CDC allows the applicant to partner formally with one or more organizations that do have that experience. Those partnerships must be documented through a memorandum of understanding (MOU) or memorandum of agreement (MOA) that spells out roles, responsibilities, and how the collaboration will achieve the required strategies, outcomes, and performance measures.

Awardees are required to implement activities across five core strategies that together address both supply (program availability and capacity) and demand (awareness, referrals, enrollment, and completion), as well as financing (coverage). The five strategies are: (1) increasing the availability of CDC-recognized organizations in underserved areas, essentially expanding the delivery infrastructure and bringing recognized programs to communities that lack them; (2) increasing clinician screening, detection, and referral so that more adults with prediabetes or high risk are identified and connected to CDC-recognized providers; (3) increasing awareness of prediabetes and enrollment in the lifestyle change program through outreach and engagement approaches suited to underserved communities; (4) increasing retention so participants stay in the program long enough to achieve meaningful behavior change and outcomes; and (5) increasing benefit coverage so that cost and reimbursement barriers do not block participation, including alignment with payers and benefit structures that can sustain the program beyond grant funding.

From a results standpoint, the CDC is aiming for a measurable expansion of the National DPP delivery system in underserved areas and a reduction in the enrollment gap affecting priority populations. The intended pathway is straightforward: build or strengthen networks of CDC-recognized providers, improve clinical referral pipelines, increase community awareness and enrollment, support participants so they complete the program, and secure coverage so participation is financially feasible and scalable. By the end of the cooperative agreement, the expectation is that more people from priority populations with prediabetes will complete the lifestyle change program, achieve the typical 5 to 7 percent weight loss associated with reduced diabetes risk, and ultimately contribute to fewer new cases of type 2 diabetes.

Administratively, this was published by the Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), through NCCDPHP, as a discretionary funding opportunity using a cooperative agreement mechanism. The CFDA number is 93.261. Eligibility is described as unrestricted (open to any type of entity), subject to clarifications in the full announcement. The listed award ceiling is $1,500,000, and CDC anticipated making about 12 awards. The original posting date was April 10, 2017, with an original application deadline of June 12, 2017 (with electronic submissions due by 11:59 p.m. ET on the due date).

• The Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control - NCCDPHP in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Scaling the National Diabetes Prevention Program in Underserved Areas" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.261.
• This funding opportunity was created on Apr 10, 2017.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jun 12, 2017 Electronically submitted applications must be submitted no later than 1159 p.m., ET, on the listed application due date.. (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 $1,500,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 12 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility.

Apply for CDC RFA DP17 1705

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