International Resource Group, Ltd., 421 East Sixth St., Suite B, Austin, Texas 78701

R -- A PROJECT TO DEMONSTRATE AND EVALUATE HOW COMMUNITY-BASED INTERVENTIONS CAN ENHANCEAND FACILITATE ACCESS TO FAMILY PLANNING INFORMATION, EDUCATION AND CLINICAL SERVICES FOR HARD TO REACH POPULATIONS. SOL IRGAUS001 DUE 060899 POC Alfonso Carlon, email: Linkages@jba-cht.com; telephone: 512-472-1952. Contracting Officer: Richard Casper, IRG Regional Manager E-MAIL: click here to contact the contracting agency, Linkage@jba-cht.com. Does your organization work with individuals who would benefit from having more opportunities to: learn sexual responsibility; learn to avoid unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases; get reproductive health check uops; obtain birth control methods if desired? Are the individuals you work with homeless, incarcerated/runaway youth, substance abusers, persons living in halfway housing, physically challenged, developmentally challenged, survivors of sexual abuse, survivors of domestic violence or other hard to reach populations? International Resource Group, Ltd., Austin, Texas in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Region VI Family Planning Program, Dallas, Texas is initiating a three-year project to demonstrate and evaluate how innovative community linkages can enhance access to needed family planning information, education and clinical services. During federal fiscal year 1999 (FY'99), up to 15 sub-grants totaling $810,000 will be awarded by International Resource Group, Ltd. to community-based nonprofit organizations. Grant recipients must be nonprofit entities serving hard to reach populations. Current providers of family planning services are not eligible to be direct grant recipients; however, grant recipients are expected to have linkages with such programs as an essential element of their proposed project. Grant recipients may not be individuals, religious institutions, or partisan political groups. For-profit entities wishing to improve the reproductive health and well-being of the populations they serve may participate as members of consortia or subcontractors if the applicant organization is nonprofit. Grant applicants must demonstrate that they already serve or otherwise regularly intereact with populations known to face out-of-the-ordinary challenges obtaining family planning and reproductive health education and clinical services. They must demonstrate that they are accustomed to networking/partnering with a variety of public and private agenciesin their community to enhance access to and improve quality of services to particular populations. They must demonstrate that they already have "memorandums of agreement" or similar written agreements for making and receiving client referrals and/or securing for their clients/constituents various services from other providers. If such documents do not exist, applicants must submit letters from service-providing partners indicating that these partners are willing to formalize their relationships in writing. If the network within which the applicant organization currently operates does not include one or more providers of family planning and reproductive health education and clinical services, the applicant must present practical plans for effectively and quickly bringing those providers into the network, and must include, as part of its application, letter(s) from these providers declaring their willingness to establish formal partnerships. The grant applicant and the family planning and reproductive health providers committing to work with them must demonstrate that one or both already have populations and client-based data systems to document current and future access to family planning and reproductive health education and clinical services, or can readily create or acquire such a system. Applicants for grants from IRG can be funded to undertake a variety of activities. All activites must serve the overrriding goal of making it easier for individual members of hard to reach populations to learn about, value, obtain and benefit from reproductive health information services, education, and clinical services. Hard to reach populations include but are not limited to: males who exclude themselves, or are excluded by service providers, from vital choice making about sexual responsibility, childbearing and child rearing; persons in alcohol or drug treatment programs or halfway houses, homeless persons, adolescents who are remaining abstinent or who are not yet sexually active, sexually active adolescents, populations who are vulnerable as a result of financial circumstances, place of residence, health status, functional or developmental status, ability to comunicate effectively, presence of chronic illness or disability, domestic violence and/or sexual abuse, and other characteristics leading to disability or vulnerability. Parties wanting to participate in this project should obtain a Project Announcement from International Resource Group, Ltd.. To compete for a grant award, applications must be received in the IRG office by the close of business Tuesday, June 8, 1999. Applications received after that time will be returned to the applicant without review. IRG welcomes the opportunity to clarify any questions presented by potential applicants via surface or electronic mail; however, it is strongly recommended thatall application materials be reviwed before seeking consultation. Posted 02/23/99 (W-SN301470). (0054)

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