Family Leadership in Language and Learning (FL3) Center Frequently Asked Questions

What service area does this address? Is it national, regional, or defined by the respondent?

Answer: The Family Leadership in Language and Learning Center grant funding opportunity will provide services nationally as well as to each of the state and territory (HRSA-20-047) Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Program award recipients.

You require that a FL3 Center website is “stand-alone” (p. 8) and “freestanding” (p. 13). Does the FL3 Center website need to be separate from an organization, or can the FL3 website be a separate section of an organization’s existing website as long as it meets these requirements? More specifically, can the URL be organizationname.org/FL3 or does the URL need to be something like FL3Center.org?

Answer: The FL3 website’s URL may be part of (“child”) an organization’s existing (“parent”) website. You may use something like organizationname.org/FL3. The information on this stand-alone/free-standing website must be distinct and separate from that of the parent organization and specific to the work of the cooperative agreement. This separation communicates the FL3 Center’s activities as funded and supported by HRSA-20-051 as distinct from the parent organization’s website and other sources of funding that support the organization.  

Is the “Attachment 7: Progress Report” for competing continuations counted in the page limit of 70 pages?

Answer: Yes, we include the Progress Report document, as uploaded in Attachment 7, and its number of pages in the total page count, with a limit of 70 pages. Review the Application Page Limit section on p.10 for more information, and the top of p.20 where it says “Unless otherwise noted, attachments count toward the application page limit.”   

One of the program requirements (p.12) is to “convene National Learning Communities comprised of teams...” Is there an operational definition for “learning communities” to guide us?  Is the expectation of the national Learning Communities to convene ongoing meetings or a one-time meeting?

Answer: The NOFO does not provide a specific definition for “learning community.” However, we encourage you to provide a definition of “learning community” in your application.

For the requirement (p.12) of “Convene an annual meeting for family leaders of state/territory EHDI Program (HRSA-20-047) activities for family engagement, leadership, and family support,” can this be a part of an existing meeting or does it need to be a stand-alone event?

Answer: You should propose how you will convene the meeting. The NOFO does not specify whether the meeting should be part of an existing meeting or as a stand-alone event.  

Are the Optional Projects one-time funding opportunities? Or might funding continue each year throughout the period of the cooperative agreement?

Answer: Per the HRSA-20-051 NOFO, on p. 15, we intend that Optional Projects are one-time, one-year projects. You may submit a separate SF-424 budget form for each project, and we won't count these SF-424 forms towards the 70-page application limit. 

In several places the NOFO indicates using “evidence-based” strategies, information, resources, practices, data, etc. Do you have a preferred definition for “evidence-based” that we may use as a guideline?

Answer: We do not have a preferred definition for “evidence-based.” For resources about using evidence-based strategies for public health initiatives in Maternal and Child Health, the HRSA Maternal and Child Health Bureau supports the Strengthen the Evidence Base for Maternal and Child Health Programs, operated by the National Center for Education in Maternal and Child Health.

Additionally, you may find information on the Maternal and Child Health Digital Library, and the MCH Navigator. The MCH Navigator states that “in terms of public health interventions, evidence typically refers to the effectiveness of programs or initiatives aimed at improving the health of a population in a measurable way.