A Guide to Fiscal Year 1991 Federal Funding for HIV Disease: How Dollars are Spent How to Access Them

Congressional direction from the Federal coffers
right into state agencies, which then distribute those
monies.
Provisions in the law require the states to support
community and minority organizations. Therefore,
the likelihood of receiving funding is greater at the
state level than at the Federal level. This guide will
explain how you can access both sources.
Announcements about the availability of Federal
extramural funds in the form of contracts and grants
are, by law, made public through a variety of channels. Contracts are listed in the Commerce Business
Daily (CBD) while grants are listed in the Federal
Register (FR) as they are made available. Each
publication announces Requests for Proposals
(RFPs), Requests for Applications (RFAs), Invitations for Quotes (IFQs), Invitations for Bids (IFBs),
or Program Opportunity Notices (PONs) related to
all areas of the Federal Government. Notices include
details related to project area, amounts to be
awarded, eligibility, deadlines for submissions, and
contact names for additional application information.
Another source of information is the Catalog of
Federal Domestic Assistance. Published for each fiscal
year, the Catalog is a government-wide compendium
of Federal programs, projects, services, and activities
which provide assistance or benefits to the American
public. It contains descriptions of financial and nonfinancial assistance programs administered by
departments or establishments of the Federal
Government. Each entry is identified in terms of its
legal authority, administering office, funding level,
purpose, benefits and beneficiaries. In addition,
detailed information is provided regarding those eligible to apply, examples of funded projects, restrictions, application and award processes, information
contacts, and other related projects. The Catalog lists
AIDS as one of its key areas for funding. You should
be alert, however, to programs listed that fund areas
related to AIDS which may not be identified as AIDS
programs. For example, a project related to IV-drug
use or STDs may not be identified as an AIDS program, yet may entertain submissions from groups
conducting AIDS-related activities provided they fall
within the purview of the program.
The Federal Assistance Programs Retrieval
System (FAPRS) is a computerized question-answer
systems designed to provide rapid access to Federal
domestic assistance program information. The
system provides information on federal programs
which meet the developmental needs of the applicant,
and for which the applicant meets basic eligibility
requirements. Information provided by FAPRS is

determined from input supplied by the requestor,

including: type of applicant, specific function, and
categories of interest. Public access points where
FAPRS searches may be requested are located in
most states. See Appendix C to find the office closest
to you.
Another way of accessing information related to
AIDS/HIV funding is by contacting the office of your
U.S. Representative or U.S. Senators. As their constituent you are entitled to request a Congressional
Research Service (CRS) search on your particular
area of interest. There is no listing of CRS criteria
for requests, so the requestor should be as specific
as possible in defining the type of information sought.
Please refer to Appendix C for information on accessing each of these financial assistance resources.
Perhaps more expedient than the ways listed above
is to locate the actual grant-giving entity or individual
who is responsible for the area in which you wish to
seek funding. That is precisely what this document
will allow you to do. If, for example, you are seeking
a grant to help educate a certain population about the
danger of HIV transmission, you can look under
topics, find education, cross reference the grant
givers listed under different agencies, contact them,
and see if you would qualify for any grants being
offered. At the same time you would want to contact an equivalent state agency to see if monies are
available locally.
Another way to find a broader range of grant
opportunities would be to do the same thing by looking for references from the population index. If, for
example, you are a minority female and want to find
out what programs impact you or your community,
you can do this by simply checking all the crossreferences to your population group. Some population groups will have many references, and, if this
is the case, you must decide which individual or individuals you feel would be most helpful to you.
An understanding of the types of federal assistance
is helpful to those seeking access to such programs.
The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance for FY
1990 lists fifteen types of assistance, seven financial
and eight nonfinancial. Below are listed the types of
assistance which are most often the vehicles for
AIDS/HIV funding:
Formula Grant- An allocation of money to state or
local agencies according to a distribution formula
prescribed by law or administrative regulation, for
continuation of activities not confined to a specific
project. Such grants may contain conditions on their

disbursement.

12

Reproduction By Permission Only

~1991 ASAP

12 Reproduction By Permission Only ~1991 ASAP