Model Continuums of Care Initiative (MCCI) to Advance Health Equity and End Health Disparities Among Women and Girls in Racial/Ethnic Minority and Other Underserved Communities (U34 Clinical Trials Required) | RFA AA 24 012

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA AA 24 012

The Model Continuums of Care Initiative (MCCI) to Advance Health Equity and End Health Disparities Among Women and Girls in Racial/Ethnic Minority and Other Underserved Communities is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding opportunity that supports the planning phase of a larger, multi-institute dissemination and implementation (D and I) science effort. The award mechanism is a U34 cooperative agreement, and it is labeled "Clinical Trials Required," meaning applicants should be prepared to propose planning activities that are aligned with, and capable of leading into, a future clinical trial or trial-like evaluation as part of the initiative's implementation and testing pathway. The central aim is to design practical, scalable care models that can reduce entrenched health disparities and improve health equity for racial and ethnic minority women and girls of reproductive age, particularly those who face the greatest barriers to high-quality care.

At the heart of MCCI is the idea that many women and girls in underserved communities experience not one isolated condition, but multiple, overlapping health challenges that reinforce one another over time. The initiative prioritizes multi-morbidity affecting women and girls ages 15 to 44, with a strong focus on the early reproductive years because this is often when clusters of chronic and behavioral health conditions begin and accelerate, shaping long-term health trajectories. The NOFO specifically highlights mental health disorders, substance use disorders, chronic stress, cardiopulmonary diseases, common metabolic disorders such as diabetes, cancer, and HIV/AIDS. Rather than treating these issues in disconnected silos, the initiative is built around a continuum-of-care approach that connects prevention, primary care, behavioral health, integrative care, and relevant specialty care (including cardiopulmonary and endocrine specialties). The planning grant is intended to help applicants map out how such an integrated model would operate in real-world settings and how it would be implemented and evaluated using contemporary D and I science methods.

A major emphasis of the opportunity is on changing the systems that determine whether people can actually access and benefit from care. The NOFO calls for strong stakeholder partnerships and attention to the kinds of real-world supports that make implementation succeed, such as provider training, workflow redesign, and infrastructure changes. The focus is explicitly on subgroups with the least access to high-quality services, including racial and ethnic minority women and girls living in low-resource environments. In practice, that means planning efforts are expected to engage communities and care settings early, identify local barriers to uptake and continuity, and design implementation strategies that are feasible for under-resourced clinics and service networks while still delivering coordinated, high-quality care across multiple health domains.

The opportunity is categorized as discretionary funding and uses a cooperative agreement structure, which generally indicates substantial NIH program involvement during the project. It falls under the education and health activity category and is associated with CFDA numbers 93.213, 93.273, 93.307, and 93.361. The funding opportunity number is RFA-AA-24-012, and the original closing date listed is 2025-02-19. The NOFO describes this as a planning-phase award; an award ceiling and expected number of awards are not specified in the provided source data, so applicants would need to consult the full announcement for budget and award details.

Eligibility is broad across government, academic, nonprofit, and certain for-profit entities. Eligible applicants include state, county, and local governments; special district governments; independent school districts; public and private institutions of higher education; federally recognized tribal governments; tribal organizations that are not federally recognized; public housing authorities and Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with and without 501(c)(3) status; for-profit organizations other than small businesses; and small businesses. The NOFO also explicitly calls out several institution and organization types as eligible or encouraged, including Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-serving institutions, Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), faith-based and community-based organizations, regional organizations, eligible federal agencies, and U.S. territories or possessions. At the same time, it clearly excludes foreign participation: non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities are not eligible to apply, non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are not eligible, and foreign components (as defined by NIH policy) are not allowed.

Overall, this NOFO is best understood as an NIH-supported planning effort to design and prepare integrated, equity-centered continuums of care that can be implemented and tested in real-world settings to reduce the burden and impact of multi-morbidity among racial and ethnic minority and other underserved women and girls. The planning work is expected to lay the groundwork for rigorous implementation and evaluation, strengthen partnerships with stakeholders, and develop the training and infrastructure needed to make comprehensive, coordinated care more accessible and effective for communities that have historically been left with the fewest options and the highest health risks.

• The National Institutes of Health in the education, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Model Continuums of Care Initiative (MCCI) to Advance Health Equity and End Health Disparities Among Women and Girls in Racial/Ethnic Minority and Other Underserved Communities (U34 Clinical Trials Required)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.213, 93.273, 93.307, 93.361.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-12-13.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-02-19. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• 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.

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