TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO OBTAIN LOCAL LEVEL GOVERNMENTAL AND

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The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) is a staff division of the Office of the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). ASPR leads the national efforts to prevent, protect against, mitigate, respond to, and recover from the adverse health effects of public health incidents. ASPR focuses on preparedness planning, and response; federal emergency medical operational capabilities; countermeasures research, advance development, and procurement; and grants to strengthen the capabilities of hospitals and health care systems in public health emergencies and medical disasters. The office provides federal support, including medical professionals through the ASPR National Disaster Medical System, to augment state and local capabilities during an incident. On December 19, 2006, President George W. Bush signed the Pandemic and All Hazards Preparedness Act (PAHPA). PAHPA had broad implications for HHS™ preparedness and response activities. Among other things, PAHPA amended the Public Health Service Act to establish an Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response position in HHS; provided new authorities for a number of programs, including the advanced research and development of medical countermeasures; and called for the establishment of a quadrennial National Health Security Strategy (42 U.S.C. 300hh-1). President Barack Obama signed the Pandemic and All Hazards Preparedness Reauthorization Act (PAHPRA) in March 2013; it reauthorizes appropriations for certain programs and further amended the Public Health Service Act. The first National Health Security Strategy (2009) (NHSS) was submitted to the U.S. Congress and the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee of the Senate on December 30, 2009. The first Implementation Plan (IP) was released on May 17, 2012. The nation is now implementing the 2015-2018 NHSS across dynamic time, economic, cultural, risk, and other factors. ASPR is currently engaged in the NHSS quadrennial review (QR) of progress made toward national health security, facilitators and barriers to progress, and contextual changes and factors (e.g., threats, economy, and world events) that influence national health security. The analytic results of the QR will be formally presented in an Evaluation of Progress (EOP). The analytic results will serve as inputs for the planning phase of the national health security strategic planning and management cycle. The next NHSS, NHSS IP, and EOP are due to Congress by the end of 2018. The NHSS and the ASPR Strategic Plan identify the strategic issues and approaches that ASPR, as an organization, takes to contribute to national health security. The ASPR Strategic Plan, which ASPR is currently implementing, prioritizes stakeholder engagement and joint planning. This cooperative agreement will further the actions to accomplish strategic activities of the plans. After making the award, ASPR will work with the awardee to establish a final work plan. The work plan will detail the activities, projects, written products, etc. that the awardee will develop under the cooperative agreement to further its objectives. The work plan will also specify milestones and timelines for completing activities under this cooperative agreement. ASPR will work with the awardee to determine an appropriate meeting schedule to review progress on the work plan and to identify priorities. The meeting schedule may include regular check-in meetings with ASPR to discuss progress on activities and towards milestones, identify issues that ASPR can assist with or activities that ASPR can contribute to, and identify any barriers to carrying out this cooperative agreement that need to be overcome. ASPR will also advise the awardee on ASPR policies and goals as an agency and provide guidance on how the activities under the cooperative agreement can support these aims. In addition, ASPR will advise the awardee on issues related to prioritization of activities under this cooperative agreement.

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