FAQ: Graduate Psychology Education (GPE) Program

Funding Opportunity Number: HRSA-22-043

 
Application Submission
Applicant Eligibility
Accreditation
Use of GPE Funds
Infrastructure
Stipends/Tuition Support
Internships and Field Placements
Funding Preference and Priority

Application Submission

How can I obtain a copy of the full notice of funding opportunity (NOFO)?

You can obtain a copy of the Graduate Psychology Education (GPE) Program NOFO on grants.gov. Select the Related Documents tab and you will have access to download the NOFO.

How can I obtain access to the technical assistance webinar recording? 

 Access the technical assistance webinar recording. 

When does the GPE Program HRSA-22-043 funding opportunity close? 

Apply for funding opportunity by Thursday, December 9, 2021 at 11:59 p.m. ET.

Do all attachments count towards the page limit? 

No. Standard OMB-approved forms that are included in the workspace application package do NOT count in the page limitation. Applicants are strongly encouraged to take appropriate measures to ensure their application does not exceed the specified 75 page limit. If an application goes over the page limit, it will be considered non-responsive and it will not go forward for panel review. Refer to page 8 of the NOFO more information. 

If an attachment is not applicable, should we skip that number in the attachment section or renumber the attachments? 

Please do not renumber the attachments. Attachments should be submitted with the same numbers as specified in the NOFO. 

Can an application have more than one Program Director/Program Investigator? 

No. HRSA only recognizes one Program Director/Program Investigator, who will be accountable to HRSA. 

If placements do not serve a high need and high demand population or area, would the program be considered an eligible applicant? 

Yes. Your program does not need to be located in a Mental Health HSPA area or in a county with less than 10 licensed psychologists per 100,000 population in order to apply. 

Note: However, the goal of this funding opportunity is to prepare and build the capacity of the doctoral health psychology workforce to provide mental/behavioral health care, including Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) and other Substance Use Disorder (SUD) prevention and treatment services, in high need and high demand areas.

Are Letters of Support required for this grant application? 

No. Letters of support are not required for this grant application. They are considered to be as applicable to the proposed project and should be submitted as Attachment 11. Applicants should provide a description of support and commitment for each organization or department involved in your proposed project. See page 26 of the NOFO for more details. 

What should the logic model include?

A logic model is a one (1) page diagram that presents the conceptual framework for a proposed project and explains the links among program elements to achieve the relevant outcomes. 

A logic model must contain the activities and processes and must summarize the connections between the goals of the project, assumptions, inputs, target population, activities, outputs, and outcomes. Refer to pages 16-17 of the NOFO for more information. 

Note: Access additional information on developing logic models (PDF - 104 KB). 

Are multiple applications allowed?

Multiple applications from an organization are not allowable. An institution must select and submit an application for only one (1) of either a: 

•    Doctoral school or program of health service psychology or 
•    Doctoral internship in professional psychology or 
•    Post-doctoral residency program in practice psychology. 

Independent organizations are those entities that have unique DUNS/UEI numbers.

Our student numbers are relatively modest but we have the only APA-accredited graduate program in our rural state. Will the small number of students count against us in the evaluation if we can meet other criteria? 

No. Small numbers do not count against your application.  

The psychology matching period for interns will be announced after the GPE Program award start date. How can institutions recruit and/or match interns for HRSA’s period of performance of July 1, 2022 - June 30, 2023 if we do not know if our institution will have the funding for trainees?

The timeline of the project cannot be changed. The application budget must include 50 percent in stipends budgeted per year of the project. 

Note: However, trainees can be appointed anytime during a budget period for a 12 month (full-time trainee) or 24 month (part-time trainee) period. In doing so, the stipend is obligated/committed to the current year. Thus, an internship that begins in January of 2023 during the year 1 budget period may extend beyond the budget period end date. Since the entire stipend is obligated/committed at the time of the appointment, the stipend amount committed but not yet expended at the end of the budget period should be reported as an unliquidated obligation on the annual Federal Financial Report.

Applicant Eligibility

Are federally recognized tribes eligible applicants? 

Yes. Federally recognized tribes are eligible. Please refer to page 6 of this NOFO for more information. 

Does a training site need to have both a county Mental Health HPSA and a Facility HPSA score of 16 or above? 

No it is not a requirement. However, per the Review Criterion 1(a) on page 30 of the NOFO, applicants that list at least one training site, located in one of the following high need and high demand areas, (as listed in Table 1 in Attachment 4) will receive up to five points on their application score. 

Can students receive a BHWET and GPE stipend or just one or the other?  

No. Stipend supplementation may only be provided by non-federal sources of funds. A traineeship/fellowship or other training program (i.e., residency) under a HRSA funded training award may not be held concurrently with another federally sponsored fellowship or similar federal award that provides a stipend or otherwise duplicates provisions of the training/fellowship award.  The concurrent benefit refers to participant support per participant. Applicants may hold concurrent federal awards.  

Can individual students apply for this grant? 

No. This program is not intended for individual applicants. Refer to page 6 of the NOFO for eligible entities. 

If our programs do not have a focus on OUD and other SUD, will they be competitive or is this training/focus needed? 

One of the program requirements is to ensure at least twenty-five (25) percent of the time in the experiential training site(s) is in the delivery of OUD and other SUD prevention, treatment, and recovery services. Refer to page 9 of the GPE NOFO for more information.  

Accreditation

We are currently under review for APA reaccreditation. APA is scheduled to complete our site visit after our current expiration date. Would we still be eligible to apply?

Yes. Your current APA accreditation status is valid through the reaccreditation review period. Programs that are under review for reaccreditation by APA and have not received site visits at the time of their accreditation expiration date will be considered eligible for this program. Programs that are not APA accredited but are currently under review will not be considered eligible for this program. Please contact APA for additional questions regarding the reaccreditation process.

Do individual programs have to have specialized accreditation to apply? 

Doctoral-level schools and programs of health service psychology, professional psychology internships, and post-doctoral psychology residencies must provide documentation of their institution’s APA or PCSAS accreditation, specifying the type of program accredited, dates covered by the active accreditation, including expiration date, and link to the accreditation status as Attachment 6.

We are in the process of applying for accreditation, but we will not have our official accreditation letter until after the NOFO deadline. Can we still apply? Are programs that are APA-accredited on contingency eligible to apply? 

Applicants applying for APA-accredited doctoral, internship, and post-doctoral residency programs of health service psychology (including clinical psychology, counseling, and school psychology) and PCSAS accredited doctoral level schools of psychology must provide documentation of their institution’s accreditation, specifying the dates covered by the active accreditation, including expiration date letter as Attachment 6. Programs may apply if they are accredited on contingency, and should include a statement identifying that the program is accredited on contingency.

Can any APA-accredited counseling psychology or clinical psychology doctoral program be eligible for the HRSA-22-043 funding opportunity or does the program need to be identified by APA exclusively as a health psychology doctoral program? 

Eligible entities are APA-accredited doctoral, internship, and post-doctoral residency programs of health service psychology (including clinical psychology, counseling, and school psychology) and PCSAS-accredited doctoral level schools of psychology. All applicants must provide proof of accreditation that corresponds to the psychology doctoral level to which their HRSA-22-043 application applies. 

Domestic faith-based and community-based organizations and tribal organizations are also eligible to apply, if otherwise eligible.

Refer to page 6 of the NOFO for more information. 

Do faith-based, juvenile justice, or jail programs licensed for substance abuse treatment need to be accredited in order to be eligible to apply for the grant? 

Yes. Per the NOFO on page 6, eligible entities are required to be an APA-accredited doctoral, internship, and post-doctoral residency program of health service psychology (including clinical psychology, counseling, and school psychology) or PCSAS-accredited doctoral level school of psychology. 

Domestic faith-based and community-based organizations and tribal organizations are also eligible to apply, if otherwise eligible. All applicants must provide proof of accreditation that corresponds to the psychology doctoral level to which their HRSA-22-043 application applies.

If the institution has an APA-accredited internship program, but would like to focus on developing a postdoctoral program for this grant, is the institution also required to be an APA-accredited postdoctoral program? To clarify, to qualify for this grant would one must already be an APA accredited internship and/or doctoral program? 

You must provide proof of accreditation that corresponds to the psychology doctoral level to which their HRSA-22-043 application applies. Refer to page 25 of the NOFO for more information. 

We are in year 3 of a current GPE-FY 19 grant focused on developing the doctoral student level of training. Can we apply to continue training at the doctoral student level or are we required to apply GPE-FY 22 funds to a different accredited training level? 

Yes. You must provide proof of accreditation that corresponds to the psychology doctoral level to which their HRSA-22-043 application applies. Current GPE award recipients whose grants are scheduled to end on August 31, 2022 are eligible to apply for this funding opportunity and should apply as “Competing Continuations.” All other applicants should apply as “New.” If funded, for-profit organizations are prohibited from earning profit from the federal award (45 CFR part 75.216(b)). Refer to page 6 of the NOFO for more information. 

Use of Funds – Infrastructure

Is the purchase of hardware and software for students, faculty, and participants an allowable cost? 

Yes, this can be part of the administrative costs. 

Can we pay field instructors/supervisors out of the administrative costs? 

Yes. Please refer to the Administration and Management GPE Program section on page 28 of the NOFO for more info.  

Is the award $450,000 per year for 3 years, or $450,000 for the total 3 year period? 

Applicants may apply for a ceiling amount of up to $450,000 total cost (includes both direct and indirect, facilities, and administrative costs) per year.

Is travel to a rural site covered for the trainee? 

Yes. Funds can be used to cover trainee costs to and from a rural placement site.

Use of Funds – Stipends/Tuition Support

Can funds be used to enhance internship programs and field placements? 

Yes. Funds may be used to enhance or expand field placements and internships within the focus of the program. 

Can we provide stipends to doctoral students that are more than $25,000? 

Doctoral students in APA-accredited or PCSAS-accredited doctoral schools and programs in health service psychology in practice for ten (10) or more hours per week, per academic semester, shall receive a stipend of $25,000 per year. The stipend amounts that can be charged to the award are fixed. Award recipients may not provide stipends lower than the amounts specified above; however, award recipients may choose to provide higher stipend amounts by including funds from other non-federal sources. Refer to page 23 of the NOFO for more information. 

Does the grant allow us to include tuition in the budget in addition to trainee stipends?

This NOFO does not restrict tuition; tuition is an allowable participant/trainee support cost. Only students/interns/post-doctoral residents who receive stipends under this funding opportunity can receive other participant/trainee support. The applicants must budget at least 50% of the requested amount for participant support. Refer to page 23 of the NOFO for more information. 

Is health insurance for trainees an allowable expense? 

Yes. Per the NOFO on page 23, health insurance is allowable as a trainee-related expense. Per the NOFO, only students/interns/post-doctoral residents who receive stipends under this funding opportunity can receive other participant/trainee support.

What is the applicant’s match for student, intern, and resident stipends? 

Match is not required for the GPE Program. The stipend amounts that can be charged to the award are fixed. Award recipients may not provide stipends lower than the specified amounts specified in the NOFO, which can be found on page 23. Award recipients may choose to provide higher stipend amounts by including funds from other non-federal sources.

Is the 50% funding allocation for trainee support restricted exclusively to stipends or does it include salaries and fringe benefits as well? 

No. Salaries and fringe benefits are not an allowable participant support cost. 

The GPE program provides trainees support in the form of a stipend. Fringe benefits for participant/trainees are restricted; please refer to the funding restrictions on page 29. You are required to provide a budget with no less than fifty (50) percent of a recipient’s overall requested budget dedicated and distributed as participant/trainee support costs. Applicants must list:  

1. Stipend 
2. Health insurance
3. Attendance at one professional conference
4. Travel related expenses
5. Other, as well as the number of trainees

Budget breakdown must separate trainee costs and include a separate sub-total entitled “total Trainee Support Costs” which includes the summation of all trainee costs. 

Refer to page 23 of the NOFO for more information. 

We are a state university. Would we use our negotiated cost agreement rate or the 8%? 

Indirect costs for all applicants other than state, local, or Indian tribal governments are capped at the fixed rate of eight (8) percent. For this policy, state universities or hospitals are not considered governmental agencies.

We currently have a GPE-FY 19 grant and are applying for GPE-FY 22 funding. Can trainees from GPE- FY 19 be funded with GPE-FY 22 funds?  

No. Per the NOFO on page 23, GPE only allows a full-time student/intern/post-doctoral resident (trainee) to receive a stipend for no more than one (1) year or twelve (12) consecutive months. Part-time trainees are allowed to receive a stipend prorated at one-half of the fixed amount per budget year for no more than twenty-four (24) consecutive months.

If the stipend is $25,000 for doctoral students and they are doing a part time practicum, it could be 2 years, but GPE is a 3 year grant. What would occur for the third year of practicum students if it was extended for the 24 months in the third year of the grant cycle?

Applicants may budget part-time students in year 2, where the trainee will complete the program by the end of year 3. Or, an applicant may budget part-time in year 3, in which case, either an extension of the liquidation period of the final Federal Financial Report, or a no cost extension would be needed at the end of the project to complete the activities. 

Internships and Field Placements

In regards to Table 1 Attachment 4, we anticipate partnering with multiple training sites. Should we list all of these training sites within Attachment 4, or only select a few sites to highlight? 

The applicant must list all of the partnering sites in Table 1. 

Given the page count, do we need to include Letters of Agreement (LOA) for all training sites we will be using or should we pick several to highlight? We anticipate potentially 15 training sites. Is there any specific language the LOAs need to include? 

LOAs for all training sites need to be included and will go towards the applicant’s page count. In the past, applicants have formatted more than one LOA onto one page of their application. However, all LOAs need to be legible. For specific language of the LOAs please refer to Attachment 2 of the NOFO which can be found on page 24. 

Do we need multiple disciplines at the education site or just at the placement sites? 

Experiential training/internship sites must provide integrated, interdisciplinary behavioral health for placement into community-based primary care settings in high need and high demand areas with two (2) or more health disciplines other than psychology, and also ensure at least twenty-five (25) percent of the time in the experiential training site(s) is in the delivery of OUD and other SUD prevention, treatment, and recovery services participate in integrated and/or interprofessional team-based care with two or more health disciplines focusing on OUD and other SUD prevention, treatment and recovery services. Refer to page 9 of the NOFO for program requirements. 

Our internship program has a comprehensive substance abuse clinic in our academic medical center setting but the rural placement is a primary care setting that has some substance abuse training. Is this workable, or does all of the SUD training have to be in the rural setting? 

You must ensure at least twenty-five (25) percent of the time in the experiential training site(s) is in the delivery of OUD and other SUD prevention, treatment, and recovery services. Refer to page 9 of the NOFO for more information. 

Does a placement site need to be physically located in an area that meets the NOFO criterion for a high need high demand area or does a placement site qualify if it provides services to clients (in person or telehealth) located in those areas? 

Refer to page 30 of the NOFO for more information. All data submitted is subject to verification.

If our experiential partner qualifies based on being located in a Mental Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) how can we tell that from the search tool results? Will they just be identified as "Mental Health HPSA - Yes"? Would there be anything in the results that would alert us that in spite of being identified as being in a Mental Health HPSA they do not qualify for this area? 

You must include the specific addresses for the partnering training sites in order to validate the data. Refer to pages 24-25 of the NOFO for more information. 

Note: All data must be appropriately cited as valid at the time of application, and is subject to verification. 

Funding Preference and Priority

Is there a funding preference for this NOFO?

Yes. The GPE Program provides funding preference for applicants scoring above the 20th percentile of proposals that have been recommended for approval by peer review groups. Funding preference will be granted to any qualified applicant that demonstrates that they meet the criteria for the preference(s) of 1) High Rate; 2) Significant Increase; or 3) New Program as stated on pages 37-40 of the NOFO.

Note: In order to qualify for the funding preference, you must clearly indicate in the Project Abstract the funding preference you are applying for and provide supporting information and data in Attachment 8.

How do I meet the funding priority?

You must submit as Attachment 8 any supporting information and/or data as evidence that they have trained psychology, psychiatry, and social work professionals to work in integrated care settings in order to qualify. Refer to pages 36-37 of the NOFO for more information.