Rehabilitation Research and Training Centers (RRTC): Equity Center in the Health and Function Domain | HHS 2022 ACL NIDILRR RTHF 0029

Opportunity Information: Apply for HHS 2022 ACL NIDILRR RTHF 0029

The Rehabilitation Research and Training Centers (RRTC): Equity Center in the Health and Function Domain opportunity is a federal discretionary funding announcement from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Administration for Community Living (ACL), through the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR). It is offered as a cooperative agreement, which typically means the federal funder expects to have substantial involvement during the life of the project (for example, ongoing coordination, technical input, or shared responsibilities around priorities and deliverables). The overall RRTC program is grounded in the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (as amended) and is meant to strengthen the effectiveness of rehabilitation-related services by supporting well-designed research, training, technical assistance, and dissemination in areas NIDILRR identifies as important.

This specific RRTC competition focuses on equity in the health and function domain for people with disabilities. The central aim is to build new knowledge and directly support efforts to reduce disparities in health and function outcomes experienced by people with disabilities, with particular attention to underserved communities and underserved geographic areas as defined by the Executive Order On Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government. In practice, the Center is expected to examine how outcomes differ within the disability community rather than treating people with disabilities as a single, uniform group. The opportunity calls for detailed exploration of disparities across subpopulations defined by race, ethnicity, LGBTQ status, and poverty status, recognizing that structural barriers and unequal access to resources can shape health and functional outcomes in distinct ways across different groups.

A key expectation is that the Center does more than document inequities. The new knowledge generated by the RRTC is expected to feed into the development and implementation of evidence-based policies, practices, or interventions that can improve equity in measurable ways. That implies a research-to-impact pathway: identifying and characterizing disparities, understanding contributing factors, testing or informing solutions, and then translating findings into actionable guidance for systems, providers, communities, and policymakers. Alongside its research role, the RRTC must function as a national resource center in this topic area, meaning it should actively disseminate findings, provide training and technical assistance, and make itself useful to the broader field as a hub for credible, practical information on disability-related equity in health and function.

The announcement also emphasizes culturally competent disability and rehabilitation research. This positions the Center as a resource not just for what it discovers, but for how it conducts the work. Cultural competence here points to approaches that appropriately reflect the lived experiences of diverse disability communities, engage stakeholders respectfully, and use research methods that are responsive to differences in language, identity, community context, and historical inequities. In effect, the Center is expected to help raise the standard of equity-focused research practice across the rehabilitation and disability research ecosystem.

In terms of logistics and funding structure, the project period is 60 months, organized into five 12-month budget periods. The opportunity anticipates a single award, with an annual award ceiling of $933,333. The funding opportunity number is HHS-2022-ACL-NIDILRR-RTHF-0029, and it is categorized under Science and Technology and other Research and Development with CFDA number 93.433. Eligible applicants are broad and include various levels of government (state, county, city/township, and special district), public and private institutions of higher education, federally recognized tribal governments and other tribal organizations, nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status (other than IHEs), for-profit organizations (other than small businesses), small businesses, and other entities as allowed by the program’s eligibility clarification. The original application closing date listed was June 21, 2022, with electronic submissions due by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on the due date.

• The Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Community Living in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Rehabilitation Research and Training Centers (RRTC): Equity Center in the Health and Function Domain" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.433.
• This funding opportunity was created on Apr 20, 2022.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jun 21, 2022 Electronically submitted applications must be submitted no later than 1159 p.m., ET, on the listed application due date.. (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 $933,333.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), 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 (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for HHS 2022 ACL NIDILRR RTHF 0029

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