Hub and Spoke Centers of Excellence in Harm Reduction: Key Projects to Support Regional Centers of Excellence in Harm Reduction

About NASTAD

NASTAD is a leading non-partisan non-profit association that represents public health officials who administer HIV and hepatitis programs in the U.S. NASTAD work to advance the health and dignity of people living with and impacted by HIV/AIDS, viral hepatitis, and intersecting epidemics by strengthening governmental public health through advocacy, capacity building, and social justice.

Each of NASTAD’s seven programmatic teams—Health Care Access, Health Systems Integration, Policy & Legislative Affairs, Hepatitis, Prevention, Health Equity, and Drug User Health—interpret and influence policies, conduct trainings, offer technical assistance (TA), and provide advocacy mobilization for U.S. health departments to improve health outcomes for people living with HIV and hepatitis.

Questions about this RFP should be directed to the Drug User Health team at druguserhealthTA@nastad.org.

Funding Opportunity Title

Key Projects to Support Regional Centers of Excellence in Harm Reduction

Awarding Agency

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC), Division of Overdose Prevention (DoP) 

Federal Award Project Title

Strengthening Public Health Systems and Services through National Partnerships to Improve and Protect the Nation’s Health, CDC-RFA-PW-24-00800101SUPP24: Hub and Spoke Center of Excellence (CoE) in Harm Reduction

Assistance Listing Number

93.421

Number of Awards

2 – 3

Award Amount

$150,000 total; anticipated funding is $50,000 - $75,000 per award.

Period of Performance

Year 1 of this program will run from February 1, 2025 – July 31, 2025.

Project Background

Harm reduction programs, specifically syringe services programs (SSPs), mitigate harmful consequences of drug use through low-threshold, stigma-free care centered on the needs of people who use drugs and are critical to individual and public health. Despite their key role in addressing significant public health needs and advancing holistic health for underserved people, harm reduction programs situated in community-based settings are often isolated from other public health infrastructure and lack systems of support, coordination, and peer learning. Due to variation in policy environment, drug supply, and local needs, harm reduction services, supplies, and service models can vary greatly regionally and even locally. This variation encourages a regional support model to supplement national-level training, capacity building, and resources. 

In collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Division of Overdose Prevention (DoP) within the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC), NASTAD will develop a hub-and-spoke model for harm reduction training and capacity building. NASTAD will serve as a “hub”, or National Center of Excellence (CoE), coordinating the development and delivery of support, training, resource creation, and workforce development opportunities for public health and harm reduction staff and stakeholders. NASTAD will work with “spokes”, or Regional Centers of Excellence, as well as a network of subject matter experts, to increase capacity and connection at the local and regional levels while working to strengthen relationships among harm reduction programs and with local health departments.

This project that aims to improve health outcomes for people who use drugs at the regional level by increasing access to regional harm reduction support and building capacity to develop partnerships among SSPs and between community-based harm reduction organizations and the local public health infrastructure through the following activities:

• Establishing a National Center of Excellence in Harm Reduction, in partnership with the National Association of City and County Health Officials (NACCHO) and the University of Washington Supporting Harm Reduction Programs (SHaRP) team, to support the Regional Centers of Excellence and develop and disseminate national-level trainings, webinars, templates, tools, and resources.
• Through this RFP, increasing access to tailored support, training, and consultation that is responsive to emerging needs and supports SSP organizational development, sustainability, and workforce development.
• Increasing investment in regional networks of mutual aid, collaboration, and cross-program learning through supporting SSPs to become Regional Centers of Excellence, which will: develop and implement a plan to inform support, training, capacity building and workforce development activities; build or expand peer to peer relationships and partnerships across the region; and advise the National CoE (NASTAD) and national partners on local/regional trends, emerging needs, challenges, and promising practices.

Funding Opportunity Description

NASTAD will select 2-3 organizations with experience in delivering drug user health and harm reduction support, training, and capacity building activities to carry out key projects in the following priority areas of focus: 

1. Workforce Development 

Proposals should support leadership, mentorship, and professional development for the SSP and harm reduction workforce, with an emphasis on people who use drugs and people of color, particularly Black and/or Indigenous harm reduction practitioners.

2. Grief Support and Community Care

Proposals should aim to address high rates of stress, burnout, and grief among the harm reduction workforce, particularly direct service staff in community-based SSPs. Proposed activities may be at either the organizational/program level (for example, establishing and implementing supportive policies and procedures) or the individual level (for example, therapeutic interventions, a peer support/cohort model).

3. Funding Management and Financial Systems

Proposals should include activities that build capacity and infrastructure for financial processes and fiscal management among community-based SSPs (for example, management across varied funding sources, navigating audit requirements and processes, board engagement and financial transparency, leveraging financial management applications and platforms, finding and maintaining insurance, etc.).

Organizations may propose projects in multiple areas of focus; they should demonstrate the relevant subject matter expertise, and proposals must include detailed project plans for each intended area of focus. Applicants can define the structure and nature of proposed support and capacity building activities, which may include, but are not limited to: 

• Written resources (fact sheets, guidance documents, etc.)
• Learning collaborative or cohort model
• Webinars
• E-courses/online learning
• Development and delivery of training curricula (virtual and/or in-person)

Dependent on proposed costs, NASTAD may be able to provide additional planning and facilitation capacity and support some costs for any in-person convening(s). Once selected, the NASTAD Drug User Health team will work closely with organizations to define the detailed scope of work, deliverables, contract type, period of performance and any other necessary instructions. Organizations funded through this initiative will be required to work collaboratively with NASTAD and project partners throughout the project period. Selected organizations will be expected to participate in the evaluation process and collect and report data related to training, support, and capacity building activities and overall progress towards project goals. NASTAD will work with selected organizations to develop a specific scope of work and deliverables, ensuring coordination and alignment with other project components, specifically the Regional Centers of Excellence.

Selection Criteria

Competitive applicants will demonstrate: 

• Experience and expertise in delivering drug user health and harm reduction training, support, and capacity building activities.
• Experience and expertise in one or more of the following priority focus areas: 1) Workforce development, 2) Grief support and community care, 3) Funding management and financial systems.  

*NOTE: Organizations with the requisite subject matter expertise may propose projects in multiple areas of focus.

• Ability to implement short-term projects with measurable impact. 
• Deep understanding of and familiarity with the needs of community-based harm reduction programs, particularly SSPs.
• Realistic proposal and timeline that supports completion of project activities.
• Realistic budget within the range provided ($50,000 - $75,000 for initial project period of February 1 – July 31, 2025).
• Ability to quickly implement a contract with NASTAD via independent contracting, 501c3, fiscal sponsor, LLC, or host institution and to submit invoices in a timely manner.
• Readiness to manage federal funding.
  • It is anticipated that this funding agreement will be a fixed-price (deliverable-based) contract between NASTAD and the selected contractor(s). The selected contractor will need to provide a recent W9, resume or CV, NICRA documentation if claiming indirect costs, and payment information during the contracting process, as well as finalized versions of the workplan and budget proposed in the application.
• Ability to implement project activities quickly once resources have been made available.
• Capacity and willingness to work collaboratively with NASTAD and partners to track, monitor, and report on activities conducted on a regular basis.

Additional Selection Considerations:

• Alignment between proposals, organizational experience, and the NASTAD Drug User Health Grantmaking Values (see below).

The selection process will be informed by and adhere to the following NASTAD Drug User Health Grantmaking Values.

We strive to: 

• Shift power and resources to those most vulnerable to structural violence.
• Center racial justice and leadership for Black, Latinx, Indigenous peoples, and other racialized groups.
• Include and uplift the voices and priorities of people who use drugs. 
• Provide resources to those who are minoritized and historically under-resourced/over-exploited, including those of LGBTQ+ experience, monolingual Spanish speakers, and those who engage in sex work. 
• Ensure that services and resources are available and accessible to those living with disabilities. 
• Create a space for community accountability, including transformative justice, healing justice, and restorative justice. 
• Support geographic diversity, as well as diversity in terms of program size, current capacity, infrastructure/program models and implementation strategies, and unique outreach into communities. 
• Be mindful of the often-harmful impact of the involvement of carceral systems within harm reduction programs and services. 
• Increase health equity and address racial justice in communities relevant to disparities based on economics (or poverty), race/ethnicity, other demographic data (or other populations under attack – such as serving sex workers or migrant communities), and/or geography. 
• Establish and/or expand resources for those in areas of high incidence of HIV and/or viral hepatitis, drug poisoning, and other health-related occurrences associated with the War on Drugs. 
• Practice low barrier grantmaking. 

Review and Selection Process

NASTAD Drug User Health intends to follow the review and selection timeline below:

• January 12, 2025, 11:59 pm PT: Deadline for application submission via ClickUp form,
• January 27-31, 2025: Final selection, notification

Proposals will be reviewed through the following process: 

• Each application will be reviewed and scored by multiple reviewers using a standardized rubric that evaluates the extent to which applicants meet selection criteria.
• Reviewers will meet to discuss scores and identify finalists.
• Dependent upon volume of high-quality applications, project staff may hold virtual interviews with finalists. 
• Project staff will make final selections based on application materials, virtual interview (if applicable), and overall demonstration of ability and readiness to carry out project deliverables. 

Application and Submission Information

For reference, application questions are listed below. Applicants should complete and submit the requested information via a ClickUp electronic form by Sunday, January 12, 2025 at 11:59pm PT. Access the application form here.

• Organization Name
• Contact Person Name
• Contact Email
• Contact Phone Number
• Select the focus area(s) for which you are applying: 
  • Workforce development
  • Grief support and community care
  • Funding management and financial systems
• What is your requested level of funding? (suggested range: $50,000 - $75,000 per focus area)
• Describe your organization’s interest in and goals for this project. (word limit: 300 max)
• Describe your organization’s experience with providing drug user health and harm reduction training, support, and capacity building, in particular, your work supporting community-based SSPs. (word limit: 300 max)
• Describe your experience and expertise in the selected priority focus area(s), including any previous or ongoing related work. (word limit: 500 max)
• Indicate how your proposal aligns with relevant NASTAD Drug User Health Grantmaking Values listed in the RFP. (word limit: 300 max)
• Upload a proposed workplan and timeline for the project period. Include specific goals, activities, and outcomes stated in measurable terms. (suggested length: 2-3 pages)
• Upload a completed budget template. Download budget template.
• Upload a sample work product relevant to focus area and/or proposed project scope (optional).