Opportunity Information: Apply for CDC RFA PS20 2008
The Community-Based Approaches to Reducing Sexually Transmitted Diseases (CARS) grant opportunity is a CDC cooperative agreement (Funding Opportunity Number CDC RFA PS20-2008; CFDA 93.978) that supports organizations with proven experience using community engagement and multi-sector partnerships to improve sexual health and reduce sexually transmitted infection (STI) disparities. The core idea is that STI prevention is more effective when communities help shape the solutions, when health systems and local environments make healthy choices easier, and when public health programs are connected to trusted local partners that can reach people most affected. The program is housed within the Department of Health and Human Services, CDC (NCHHSTP), and it is intended to start on September 30, 2020, replacing the earlier FOA PS17-1707.
The public health targets align with Healthy People 2020 and focus heavily on reducing infection and transmission among adolescents, young adults, and women, while also addressing serious outcomes like congenital syphilis. Specifically, the FOA emphasizes reducing the proportion of adolescents and young adults with Chlamydia trachomatis infections, reducing chlamydia rates among females ages 15-44, reducing gonorrhea rates (including GC incidence), reducing sustained domestic transmission of primary and secondary syphilis, reducing congenital syphilis, and reducing the proportion of young adults with genital herpes infection due to herpes simplex virus type 2. In practical terms, applicants are expected to design and implement work that can measurably reduce risk, improve prevention and treatment access, and close gaps between populations experiencing disproportionate STI burden and those who are not.
CARS is organized around five major focus areas. First, it funds the implementation of community engagement methods, including approaches like community-based participatory research, with an explicit goal of advancing health equity. This means the community is not treated as an audience but as a decision-making partner, often through structures like a Community Advisory Board (CAB) that helps set priorities and guide intervention design. Second, it supports identification and implementation of systems and environmental change strategies. These strategies are expected to (a) promote sexual health and support healthy behaviors and (b) strengthen community-clinical linkages, so that prevention activities in the community connect smoothly to testing, treatment, partner services, and other clinical resources. Third, the FOA emphasizes building, enhancing, and sustaining multi-sector partnerships, recognizing that reducing STI disparities often requires collaboration across public health, healthcare, schools, community organizations, faith organizations, local government, and other stakeholders. Fourth, it supports communication strategies that highlight STD program successes, raise awareness of disparities and sexual health issues, and help leverage additional resources for STI control and prevention, including the use of mixed communication channels such as social media. Fifth, it requires evaluation of both the effectiveness of the overall approach and the fidelity and success of intervention implementation, so results can be documented and used to refine and scale what works.
The FOA lays out several categories of measurable outcomes that show what success should look like. In the community engagement category, outcomes include active community participation and satisfaction with the CAB process, increased perceived power among CAB members, identification of priority social determinants of health affecting STI disparities, meaningful community involvement in intervention design, and stronger linkages to and access for target groups most impacted by disparities. In the systems and environmental strategies category, outcomes include mapping and using existing clinical resources, implementing community-prioritized and community-designed interventions in ways that are evaluated and sustained, documenting positivity and treatment rates associated with community events and screenings, reducing exposure to neighborhood and social disorder (examples given include trash and lack of community cooperation), decreasing risky sexual behaviors, and ultimately reducing STI disparities. For partnerships, the FOA expects the creation of new partnerships and stabilization of existing ones, along with evidence that partner resources and influence are being used to implement, evaluate, and support community-designed interventions. For communication, outcomes include increased awareness of disparities and sexual health issues through multi-modal outreach, improved access to and use of community health resources and support services among priority populations, increased use of educational opportunities by the groups most impacted, and adoption of communication methods that effectively advance health equity and sexual health.
In terms of eligibility and administrative details, the FOA is broadly open to many types of applicants, including state, county, and city governments; special districts; independent school districts; public and private institutions of higher education; federally recognized tribal governments and other tribal organizations; public housing authorities; nonprofit organizations with or without 501(c)(3) status; for-profit organizations (including small businesses); and other entities as allowed by the additional eligibility language. The opportunity is classified as discretionary funding and uses a cooperative agreement model, which typically implies substantial involvement by CDC in collaborating, providing technical input, and supporting implementation and evaluation. The posting lists an expected number of awards of 4, with an original application deadline of May 11, 2020 (electronic submissions due by 11:59 p.m. ET). The award ceiling is shown as 0 in the source data, which generally indicates that the specific maximum amount was not provided in that field and would need to be confirmed in the full FOA or related budget guidance.
Overall, CARS is designed for applicants that can demonstrate real capacity to work with communities, not just deliver services to them, and to translate community priorities into structural changes, clinical linkages, and communications that collectively reduce STI burden and narrow persistent disparities. The emphasis on multi-sector partnerships and evaluation signals that the CDC is looking for work that is both locally grounded and rigorously documented, with results that can guide future STI prevention efforts beyond a single site or short-term campaign.Apply for CDC RFA PS20 2008
- The Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control - NCHHSTP in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Community-Based Approaches to Reducing Sexually Transmitted Diseases (CARS)" and is now available to receive applicants.
- Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.978.
- This funding opportunity was created on Mar 11, 2020.
- Applicants must submit their applications by May 11, 2020 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.)
- The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 4 candidate(s).
- 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 (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification), Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility.
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs): Community-Based Approaches to Reducing Sexually Transmitted Diseases (CARS)
1) What is the CARS grant opportunity?
The Community-Based Approaches to Reducing Sexually Transmitted Diseases (CARS) opportunity is a CDC cooperative agreement that supports organizations using community engagement and multi-sector partnerships to improve sexual health and reduce sexually transmitted infection (STI) disparities. It is identified as Funding Opportunity Number CDC RFA PS20-2008 and CFDA 93.978.
2) Which federal agency is running this program?
CARS is housed within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), specifically within NCHHSTP.
3) What does it mean that CARS is a cooperative agreement?
This opportunity uses a cooperative agreement model, which typically means the CDC will have substantial involvement in the project through collaboration, technical input, and support for implementation and evaluation (rather than operating as a hands-off pass-through funder).
4) What is the overall goal of CARS?
The overall goal is to reduce STI burden and narrow persistent disparities by ensuring communities help shape solutions, strengthening linkages between community efforts and clinical services (testing, treatment, partner services), and making healthy choices easier through systems and environmental change.
5) How does CARS define the basic approach to STI prevention?
The program is built around the idea that STI prevention is more effective when (1) communities are decision-making partners, (2) health systems and local environments support healthy behaviors, and (3) public health programs are connected to trusted local partners who can reach the people most affected by disparities.
6) What populations does the FOA emphasize?
The FOA emphasizes adolescents, young adults, and women, while also addressing severe outcomes such as congenital syphilis.
7) What specific STI outcomes does the FOA highlight?
The FOA highlights reducing:
- The proportion of adolescents and young adults with Chlamydia trachomatis infections
- Chlamydia rates among females ages 15-44
- Gonorrhea rates (including gonorrhea incidence)
- Sustained domestic transmission of primary and secondary syphilis
- Congenital syphilis
- The proportion of young adults with genital herpes infection due to herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2)
8) Are the targets connected to any national public health framework?
Yes. The targets align with Healthy People 2020.
9) When was the program intended to start?
The FOA indicates the program was intended to start on September 30, 2020.
10) Does this funding opportunity replace an earlier CDC opportunity?
Yes. It was intended to replace the earlier FOA PS17-1707.
11) How is CARS structured?
CARS is organized around five major focus areas: (1) community engagement methods, (2) systems and environmental change strategies, (3) multi-sector partnerships, (4) communication strategies, and (5) evaluation.
12) What does the FOA mean by "community engagement methods"?
Community engagement methods include approaches such as community-based participatory research and are explicitly intended to advance health equity. The community is treated as a decision-making partner, not simply an audience for services or messages.
13) What is a Community Advisory Board (CAB), and how does it fit into CARS?
The FOA describes the CAB as a structure commonly used to support shared decision-making. A CAB can help set priorities, guide intervention design, and ensure that interventions reflect community perspectives and needs.
14) What kinds of systems and environmental change strategies are expected?
The FOA expects strategies that (a) promote sexual health and support healthy behaviors, and (b) strengthen community-clinical linkages so community prevention connects smoothly to clinical services such as testing, treatment, and partner services.
15) What are "community-clinical linkages" in this FOA?
Community-clinical linkages refer to the intentional connections between community-based prevention activities and clinical resources, enabling easier access to testing, treatment, partner services, and related care.
16) What does the FOA mean by multi-sector partnerships?
Multi-sector partnerships involve collaboration across multiple parts of the community and system, such as public health, healthcare, schools, community organizations, faith organizations, local government, and other stakeholders.
17) Why are partnerships so central to CARS?
The FOA emphasizes that reducing STI disparities often requires coordinated action beyond public health alone. Partners can contribute reach, trust, resources, influence, and implementation capacity needed to design, deliver, and sustain community-prioritized interventions.
18) What communication work does CARS support?
CARS supports communication strategies that highlight STD program successes, raise awareness of disparities and sexual health issues, and help leverage additional resources for STI prevention and control. The FOA notes the use of mixed channels, including social media.
19) What is the role of evaluation in CARS?
Evaluation is required and includes assessing both (1) the effectiveness of the overall approach and (2) the fidelity and success of implementation. The purpose is to document results, refine what is being done, and inform potential scaling of what works.
20) What are examples of expected outcomes related to community engagement?
The FOA lists outcomes such as:
- Active community participation and satisfaction with the CAB process
- Increased perceived power among CAB members
- Identification of priority social determinants of health affecting STI disparities
- Meaningful community involvement in intervention design
- Stronger linkages to and improved access for target groups most impacted by disparities
21) What outcomes are expected for systems and environmental strategies?
The FOA includes outcomes such as:
- Mapping and using existing clinical resources
- Implementing community-prioritized and community-designed interventions that are evaluated and sustained
- Documenting positivity and treatment rates tied to community events and screenings
- Reducing exposure to neighborhood and social disorder (examples provided include trash and lack of community cooperation)
- Decreasing risky sexual behaviors
- Reducing STI disparities as a longer-term result
22) What outcomes are expected for partnership-building?
The FOA expects the creation of new partnerships and stabilization of existing ones, along with evidence that partner resources and influence are being used to implement, evaluate, and support community-designed interventions.
23) What outcomes are expected for communications?
The FOA lists outcomes such as:
- Increased awareness of disparities and sexual health issues through multi-modal outreach
- Improved access to and use of community health resources and support services among priority populations
- Increased use of educational opportunities by groups most impacted
- Adoption of communication methods that effectively advance health equity and sexual health
24) What types of organizations are eligible to apply?
The FOA is broadly open to many applicant types, including:
- State, county, and city governments
- Special districts
- Independent school districts
- Public and private institutions of higher education
- Federally recognized tribal governments and other tribal organizations
- Public housing authorities
- Nonprofit organizations (with or without 501(c)(3) status)
- For-profit organizations (including small businesses)
- Other entities as allowed by the additional eligibility language
25) Is this mandatory or discretionary funding?
The FOA is classified as discretionary funding.
26) How many awards were expected?
The posting lists an expected number of awards of 4.
27) What was the application deadline listed in the posting?
The original application deadline listed was May 11, 2020, with electronic submissions due by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time.
28) Is the maximum award amount (award ceiling) stated?
The source data shows an award ceiling of 0, which generally indicates the maximum amount was not provided in that particular field. The FOA notes that applicants would need to confirm the maximum or specific budget guidance in the full FOA or related budget documentation.
29) What kinds of results does CDC appear to be looking for under CARS?
Based on the outcomes described, the FOA emphasizes work that is locally grounded and measurably effective, including demonstrated community decision-making, structural and systems change, strong clinical linkages, multi-sector partner engagement, and rigorous evaluation that documents results and supports refinement and scaling.
30) What is a key expectation for applicants in how they work with communities?
A key expectation is that applicants demonstrate capacity to work with communities as partners, translating community priorities into interventions and structural changes, rather than only delivering services to the community.
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