§300w–4 Application for payments; State plan

Summary

To get federal payments, a State must send an application that includes a State plan, a certification by the State’s chief executive, any assurances the federal official requires, and it must be in the form and sent by the date the federal official sets. The State plan must be made by the agency in charge of public health with help from the advisory committee. The plan must list which authorized activities will be done with the money (including the year 2000 health objectives), which groups in the State will be served, and which groups have extra needs. For each group the plan must explain the strategy, describe the programs or projects, estimate how many people will be served, estimate how many public health workers are needed, and show how much money will be spent overall, by activity, and for each group (including those with greater need). The State’s chief executive must certify that the chief health officer held public hearings and made the plan proposals public so people could comment. If the plan is changed during the year, the State must hold hearings again, make changes public, and send a description of the changes to the federal official. The State must also agree to spend the money only on allowed activities and follow the plan, measure progress for each population, collect and report data as required, and use the uniform data items or criteria set by the federal official. The State must keep its own spending on these activities at least at the average level of the two years before the year it applies. The State must set fair rules to judge organizations that get funds and offer independent state review if funds are withheld. The State must allow federal investigations, protect patient and sex-offense victim records from improper disclosure, and let the State highway safety officer participate in and review emergency medical services plans and related federal grant uses when they affect highway safety. The advisory committee must be called the State Preventive Health Advisory Committee. It must hold public hearings on the plan and make recommendations on public health assessments, which activities to carry out, how to spend the payments, how to coordinate with other programs, and how to collect and report data. The committee should include members of the public and local health department officials, and may include community groups (including minority groups), schools of public health, and organizations that get State grants or contracts. The State public health officer must chair the committee, and the committee must meet at least twice each fiscal year.