Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) | RFA DP 16 001

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA DP 16 001

The Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) grant opportunity (RFA DP 16-001) is a CDC-led cooperative agreement designed to help states and other eligible public health jurisdictions run a standardized surveillance system that captures what mothers report about their health, behaviors, and experiences before, during, and after pregnancy. PRAMS started in 1987 in response to concerns that infant mortality rates were no longer improving as quickly as they had in earlier years, and it has since become a major data source for understanding maternal and infant health risks that are not well captured in clinical records alone. The core idea is straightforward: by systematically collecting information directly from people who recently had a baby (and, under one component, people who experienced a stillbirth), public health agencies can identify gaps in care, track risk factors over time, and tailor programs and policies to what is actually happening in their communities.

This funding announcement focuses on supporting jurisdictions to either establish PRAMS where it does not exist or maintain and strengthen existing PRAMS operations. The CDC is seeking to ensure that PRAMS functions as a high-quality, ongoing monitoring system for maternal and infant health risk factors across the United States, and that it can be adapted quickly to address emerging issues during a data collection cycle. That includes the ability to add survey supplements or modules when urgent topics arise, such as post-disaster needs or pandemic-related surveillance questions. A major expectation of the award is not only collecting the data, but also producing results that are timely and usable for decision-making, helping inform both state-level and national programs and policies, supporting partnerships, and demonstrating PRAMS value as a core surveillance resource.

The opportunity is structured into four distinct funding components. Component A, Core Surveillance, is the main PRAMS model and supports implementation of ongoing surveillance on selected maternal behaviors and experiences that occur prior to, during, and shortly after pregnancy. It is intended to cover the broad PRAMS network, including maintaining current sites and establishing new ones, while also using PRAMS methods and optional survey supplements to track emerging issues, including surveillance needs following disasters or during public health emergencies. Component B, Point-in-time Surveillance, is designed for jurisdictions that cannot reasonably operate PRAMS continuously, often because they have a small annual birth population (under 20,000 births), lack electronic birth records, or have limited resources. Instead of continuous surveillance, this component supports a one-time or single-birth-year effort to collect information covering pregnancy and early infancy, allowing smaller or less-resourced areas to still generate actionable data without committing to a permanent system.

Component C is a Stillbirth Surveillance Pilot, which extends PRAMS sampling and methods to include women who experienced a stillbirth. This is meant to fill important data gaps because stillbirth is often underexplored in standard maternal and child health data systems, despite being a critical outcome with significant medical and emotional impacts. The aim is to capture information that can improve understanding of stillbirth-related factors, including prenatal, obstetric, and postpartum care experiences, and to support prevention strategies as well as better care and support for families affected by stillbirth. Component D expands PRAMS to include a focused survey on family history of breast and ovarian cancer among women who recently delivered a live birth. By adding these questions to PRAMS methods and sampling, the program can contribute to identifying populations at increased cancer risk, support appropriate referral and medical evaluation, and strengthen prevention efforts targeted to women of reproductive age.

Eligibility is limited to public entities with a direct public health and vital records role. Specifically, eligible applicants include official state, local, or territorial public health agencies that are designated registration areas for vital statistics, federally or state recognized American Indian or Alaska Native tribal governments with at least 1,000 births annually, and Tribal Epidemiology Centers applying as a bona fide agent for a tribal government. Jurisdictions that include a Tribal Epidemiology Center are encouraged (but not required) to collaborate with the TEC to improve surveillance among American Indian and Alaska Native populations. Across the announcement, the terms "state" or "site" are used broadly to include any eligible local, state, territorial, or tribal jurisdiction.

Administratively, this is a discretionary CDC cooperative agreement under CFDA 93.946, meaning recipients should expect substantial involvement from CDC consistent with cooperative agreement models (for example, alignment with PRAMS standards, methods, and data quality expectations). The opportunity listing indicates an award ceiling of $175,000 and an anticipated 61 awards. The original closing date shown is November 20, 2015, with a creation date of September 20, 2015. For program context and technical background, CDC directs applicants and stakeholders to the PRAMS program website at www.cdc.gov/prams.

• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - ERA in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.946.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2015-09-20.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2015-11-20. (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 $175,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 61 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Others.

Apply for RFA DP 16 001

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