Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Procurement & Grants Office, Program Acquisition Branch, 255 East Paces Ferry Rd, NE, Rm 500, Atlanta, GA 30305

B -- PROJECT BEGIN (BRINGING EARLY GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT INTO NEIGHBORHOODS) SOL 98B161(N) DUE 071398 POC Dale F. DeFilipps, Contract Specialist, (404) 842-6785 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) intends to solicit proposals to continue a set of longitudinal research projects on the efficacy of early intervention for children aged less than five. These contracts will be awarded to organizations that will build on the foundation for research established during the three year Concept Development phase of a set of fourteen separate research contracts awarded in September, 1995. Since that time, the CDC, the contracted study sites, and a contracted Project Coordinating Center (PCC, Research Triangle Institute) have developed the general concepts and much of the research infrastructure that will support the expected studies. This solicitation leads to the implementation of the research at those sites awarded funds. Based on decisions reached during the previous Concept Development period, CDC provides the parameters within which the intervention research studies will be conducted, including both the acceptable range of intervention activities and the permissible research designs. In the SOW, reference is made to documents developed by the PCC during the previous Concept Development period that deal with such issues as measurements on study participants, cost data collection plans, and data management. Plans outlined in these PCC documents will serve as the template upon which final study implementation is built. Some modification of these plans is expected on the basis of research and intervention concerns. Because the contracts contemplated will fund the continuation of an ongoing set of research projects based on decisions reached during the past three years of contracted activities, ELIGIBLE OFFERORS WILL BE LIMITED TO THOSE WHO ARE CURRENTLY UNDER CONTRACT TO CDC ON THESE PROJECTS. Also, because the 14 sites currently under contract have been working on this research study in conjunction with the Project Coordinating Center for the past two and one half years (will be three years at the time of contract award expected by September 1998), and have made substantial progress towards the government's objective of conducting such research, the consideration of any potential offerors other than those currently under contract would result in unacceptable delay to the government in conducting this program of longitudinal research on early intervention. The original 14 sites were awarded contracts after a national competition, based on their unique expertise and capabilities in conducting this very complex type of research. This knowledge and expertise has continued to expand during the past two and one half years of contracted Concept Development work. Each site has worked on establishing effective, ongoing working relationships with both CDC and the contracted Project Coordinating Center, including plans for compliance with protocols, communication, inter-site coordination, monitoring, blinded data collection, and data transmission. In addition, each site has established effective working relationships within its local community to identify possible intervention strategies that would fulfill the local communities' desires and the government's research requirements. Because of this long history of work on this ongoing research project, each site has further enhanced what were originally very strong qualifications to meet the objectives of the government. After three years of funded contractual work, each now possesses unique and superior qualifications above and beyond those of any potential offeror that has not participated in the project to this stage. The continuation of the project will build on the existing scientific and project management infrastructure and build on the relations that currently contracted sites have built within their local communities in anticipation of later research activities. The current solicitation will result in both modifications to the Statement of Work and will reduce the number of sites participating in the project (not all existing contractors will be awarded funds under this solicitation). The individual site will be responsible for proposing the details of its intervention and research design plan, within the limits set forth in the SOW and developed during the previous Concept Development phase of the existing contracts. Research projects funded under this solicitation will be longitudinal studies of children and families involving intervention (INT) and comparison (COMP) cohorts. The INT cohort will be chosen from a target population and will participate in a program of services (the intervention) intended to promote child development through influencing parental behavior. The comparison cohort will be chosen from the same or very similar population but will not receive the intervention. A series of measurements of participating children and families will be taken over the life of the project. The Government desires to determine whether development can be promoted by influencing the environment, in particular, the parent's behavior. The model seeks to determine whether a program designed to influence and affect parental behavior and not merely provide developmental information or facilitate access to social services can have a beneficial influence on child developmental outcomes. Although previous research shows there are strong correlations between many parent characteristics and child outcomes, it is not known to what extent these parent-child correlations are due to common genetic factors or, if due to environmental factors such as parenting behavior, to what extent these factors can be influenced by a targeted approach. CDC would like to investigate this question by studying a model that targets parenting in a broad sense and also anticipates possible beneficial outcomes across a range of child development domains. The CDC model assumes that parents will more likely adopt and continue with the parenting behaviors advanced by the intervention if they receive support in this endeavor from others in their community and peer group. The project also assumes that in order for parents to feel that they can make a difference in their child's life, it would be preferred that the parent have a sense of belonging to a community larger than herself. The offeror must discuss how its project will promote a sense of community with the parent's peers. A "sense of community" in this context is not specifically referring to a geographical community, but could refer to the community or supportive relationships established between individuals involved in the study. The CDC-supported models will depend upon the following factors: 1) Parents must believe their behavior can have a positive influence on their child's short and long term developmental outcomes; 2) Parents must believe that they can have this beneficial influence on their child's outcomes independently of their own personal circumstances or the external stressors in their lives; 3) Parent behavior influence (change or reinforcement) models may take one or more of the following paths (listed in order of importance to the government): A) Parental responsibility, parental investment, parentaldevotion of time and energy; B) Parent-child interaction style; C) Parent as guide of child's socialization behavioral guidance and regulation; and D) Parent as guide of child's verbal and cognitive development. The proposed contract action is for services for which the government intends to solicit only the 14 organizations currently under contract for "Project BEGIN" services as specified above. This notice of intent is NOT a request for competitive proposals. All responsible sources may be submit a response which will be considered by the agency. (0110)

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