State-based Healthcare Extension Cooperatives to Accelerate Implementation of Actionable Knowledge into Practice (U19) | RFA HS 24 004

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA HS 24 004

The Agency for Health Care Research and Quality (AHRQ) is soliciting applications under Funding Opportunity Number RFA HS 24 004, titled "State-based Healthcare Extension Cooperatives to Accelerate Implementation of Actionable Knowledge into Practice (U19)." This is a discretionary grant mechanism offered as a cooperative agreement (meaning AHRQ is expected to have substantial involvement in the work as it is carried out), and it sits within the health funding activity category (CFDA 93.226). The application closing date listed is January 7, 2025.

The core purpose of this opportunity is to establish and support State-based Healthcare Extension Cooperatives (referred to as "Cooperatives") that can speed up the real-world adoption of evidence into everyday care. The initiative each Cooperative proposes must be grounded in PCOR evidence, which refers to patient-centered outcomes research evidence meant to inform decisions that matter to patients and caregivers in practical settings. A defining requirement is that the initiative focus specifically on behavioral healthcare, and it must aim to improve care for medically underserved people. In other words, the program is not simply asking for research in isolation; it is asking for organized, state-based infrastructure that helps systems and frontline care settings actually implement proven, patient-centered improvements in behavioral health care for populations that face access barriers, resource constraints, or persistent inequities.

AHRQ lays out several major expectations for what a Cooperative will do. First, the Cooperative is expected to actively engage key stakeholders in the state, with particular emphasis on Medicaid agencies and managed care organizations, along with other organizations that address the health needs of medically underserved populations. This engagement is intended to be practical and implementation-oriented: identifying real barriers and facilitators to putting patient-centered, PCOR-based healthcare delivery improvements into routine practice, and then helping stakeholders address those factors. Second, the Cooperative is expected to work across multiple sectors that influence whether evidence-based improvements can be adopted and sustained, including healthcare policy and payment entities, community organizations, care delivery organizations, and research organizations that serve medically underserved people. The goal here is capacity-building: strengthening these organizations' ability to implement PCOR-based, patient-centered delivery improvements in behavioral healthcare and supporting ongoing learning so that improvements continue beyond a single rollout or project phase. Third, the Cooperative must conduct evaluations of its activities, indicating that applicants should plan to measure what they do, how well implementation proceeds, and what outcomes or process changes result, rather than treating the effort as purely technical assistance without accountability or learning. Fourth, the Cooperative must provide an overall support structure that keeps all of these activities integrated and aligned, so that stakeholder engagement, capacity-building, learning supports, and evaluation function as a coordinated system rather than disconnected workstreams.

Eligibility is broad and includes many types of domestic U.S. entities that could anchor or participate in a statewide cooperative model. Eligible applicants include state governments and a range of local governmental units (county, city/township, special district governments), independent school districts, public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, private institutions of higher education, federally recognized Native American tribal governments, tribal organizations other than federally recognized tribal governments, public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, nonprofits with and without 501(c)(3) status (excluding institutions of higher education in those nonprofit categories), for-profit organizations other than small businesses, and small businesses. The NOFO also explicitly notes additional eligible applicant categories and partners often central to serving underserved communities, such as historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-serving institutions, tribally controlled colleges and universities (TCCUs), Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian serving institutions, Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander serving institutions (AANAPISIs), faith-based or community-based organizations, regional organizations, eligible federal agencies, and U.S. territories or possessions.

At the same time, the opportunity draws a clear line around foreign involvement. Non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities (foreign organizations) are not eligible to apply, and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are also not eligible to apply. However, "foreign components" as defined in the HHS Grants Policy Statement may participate only as members of consortia or as subcontractors, meaning limited participation is possible in supporting roles, but not as the primary applicant and not as a non-U.S. organizational component of a U.S. applicant.

Overall, this funding opportunity is designed for applicants that can lead a statewide, stakeholder-driven implementation effort in behavioral healthcare for medically underserved populations, using PCOR evidence as the backbone. The emphasis is on practical adoption in real systems (especially those connected to Medicaid and managed care), building lasting implementation capacity across policy, payment, community, and care delivery partners, and evaluating and coordinating the work so that it is coherent, measurable, and sustainable.

• The Agency for Health Care Research and Quality in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "State-based Healthcare Extension Cooperatives to Accelerate Implementation of Actionable Knowledge into Practice (U19)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.226.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-09-06.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-01-07. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, For-profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses, Others.

Apply for RFA HS 24 004

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