NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR PUBLIC HEALTH STATISTICS AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS (NAPHSIS) | Apply Online

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1) What is the name of this funding opportunity?

The opportunity is titled the National Association for Public Health Statistics and Information Systems (NAPHSIS) State Vital Statistics Improvement Program.

2) Which federal agency is offering this opportunity?

It is offered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), through the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) in the Division of Vital Statistics.

3) What type of award is this?

This opportunity uses a cooperative agreement award mechanism.

4) What does a cooperative agreement imply for how the program is run?

A cooperative agreement typically means CDC expects substantial programmatic involvement and collaboration with the recipient during the period of performance, rather than providing funds with minimal involvement.

5) Is this a new competitive grant or a continuation?

It is explicitly described as a continuation cooperative agreement, which generally indicates it is intended to extend or maintain previously funded activities rather than launch a brand new, open competition.

6) What is the program area or funding activity category?

The opportunity sits within the health funding activity category.

7) What is the CFDA number for this opportunity?

The CFDA number listed is 93.066.

8) What is the overall purpose of the program?

In practical terms, it supports ongoing work tied to the nation’s vital statistics system, the public health infrastructure used to register, manage, and analyze births, deaths, and other vital events, and to produce timely, accurate statistics for public health decision making.

9) What does "state vital statistics improvement" generally include?

Based on the description, the focus is on strengthening the quality, completeness, and timeliness of vital records data and the systems that produce them.

10) What kinds of activities are commonly associated with vital statistics improvement programs like this?

While the excerpt does not list required activities, it indicates typical improvement areas in this space can include modernizing electronic vital records and registration systems, improving data standards and interoperability, enhancing cause-of-death reporting quality, speeding up reporting cycles so provisional and final statistics are available sooner, strengthening training and technical assistance for state registrars and records staff, and improving data linkage and analytic capacity to support surveillance and research.

11) How does NAPHSIS relate to this program?

NAPHSIS is identified in the title and is described as a national association that works closely with state and territorial vital records jurisdictions. The structure strongly suggests the continuation is oriented around NAPHSIS coordinating improvement efforts across states in partnership with NCHS.

12) Who is eligible to apply?

The eligible applicant category is listed as "Others," with additional eligibility details referenced in the full announcement. This commonly signals eligibility may be limited to a specific organization or a defined set of partners rather than being open to all public entities.

13) Does the public summary specify exactly who "Others" includes?

No. The summary indicates additional eligibility details are referenced in the full announcement, but those details are not included in the provided text.

14) How many awards are anticipated?

The anticipated number of awards is listed as 50.

15) Why might the anticipated number of awards be 50?

The description notes this aligns with the scale of U.S. state-level and jurisdictional participation often associated with vital records improvement work.

16) When was the opportunity created and posted?

The posting information states the opportunity was created and posted on March 8, 2016.

17) What is the application closing date?

The original and current closing date shown is May 1, 2016.

18) What is the award ceiling?

The award ceiling is listed as 0. The summary indicates this usually means the ceiling is not specified in the public summary, is determined by formula or negotiation, or is provided in the full funding announcement rather than in the top-level listing.

19) Are specific required activities or deliverables listed in the excerpt?

No. The excerpt does not list specific required activities, but it does describe the program focus and provides examples of typical improvement areas consistent with NCHS Division of Vital Statistics priorities.

20) What systems or public health functions does this program support?

It supports the systems and processes used to register, manage, and analyze births, deaths, and other vital events, and it supports producing timely and accurate statistics for public health decision making.

21) What is the broader public health significance of this program (as described)?

The description frames the nation’s vital statistics system as core public health infrastructure, emphasizing the need for consistent, high-quality vital data that can be aggregated reliably across jurisdictions.

22) Does the summary indicate whether this is intended to be an administrative continuation action?

Yes. The notice is described as reading like an administrative continuation action to sustain a multi-jurisdiction program operated in close collaboration between NCHS and NAPHSIS.