Rigorously Evaluating Approaches to Prevent Adult-Perpetrated Child Sex Abuse (CSA) | RFA CE 20 005

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA CE 20 005

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), through the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC), is funding research projects that can clearly test whether specific programs, policies, or real-world practices actually prevent child sexual abuse (CSA) perpetrated by adults. For this opportunity, CSA is defined broadly as any sexual victimization that occurs during childhood, meaning before age 18. The overall goal is to build a stronger evidence base for primary prevention, focusing on stopping abuse before it happens rather than responding after harm has occurred.

A core requirement is that applicants propose a rigorous evaluation, meaning the study design must be strong enough to support credible conclusions about whether the approach caused changes in CSA outcomes or related prevention outcomes. The CDC is explicit that both experimental and quasi-experimental methods are acceptable, as long as they are well justified and appropriately executed. Examples of acceptable designs include randomized controlled trials, as well as quasi-experimental approaches such as comparative interrupted time series, difference-in-differences, instrumental variables, regression discontinuity, regression point displacement, stepped wedge designs, propensity score matching, and other comparison-group strategies. In practice, this means proposals should go beyond descriptive studies or simple pre-post assessments and instead use designs that address selection bias, confounding, and alternative explanations for observed effects.

Projects must evaluate an approach that fits into one of three specific research priorities. The first priority is to evaluate existing primary prevention approaches aimed at adult-perpetrated CSA that are already being used or proposed but have not yet been rigorously tested and demonstrated effective for preventing CSA. The second priority is to take approaches that are already considered evidence-based for reducing other forms of violence (for example, interventions shown to reduce intimate partner violence, youth violence, or other related harms) and rigorously test whether those same approaches also prevent adult-perpetrated CSA, since effectiveness in one violence domain does not automatically translate to another. The third priority is focused on community-level or society-level strategies (such as broader policy, systems, or environmental changes) that are intended to prevent adult-perpetrated CSA but have not yet been evaluated with rigorous methods. Across all three priorities, the emphasis is on generating actionable evidence about what works, for whom, and under what conditions, using evaluation methods that can support confident decision-making by communities and policymakers.

Administratively, this is a discretionary funding opportunity offered as a cooperative agreement, which typically means the CDC expects to have substantial involvement during the project period (for example, collaborating on evaluation planning, measurement, implementation monitoring, or dissemination). The opportunity is listed under CFDA 93.136 and is open to an unrestricted range of eligible applicants, meaning it is broadly available to many entity types as long as they meet any eligibility clarifications in the full announcement. The funding opportunity number is RFA CE 20 005. The award ceiling is $400,000, and the CDC anticipated making about two awards under this announcement. The notice was created on March 26, 2020, with an original application deadline of May 29, 2020, and electronic submissions were due by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on the due date.

Taken together, the grant is designed to move the field beyond promising ideas and toward well-supported prevention strategies by funding high-quality evaluations of interventions and policies intended to prevent adult-perpetrated CSA, particularly in areas where current practice outpaces the strength of the available evidence.

• The Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - ERA in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Rigorously Evaluating Approaches to Prevent Adult-Perpetrated Child Sex Abuse (CSA)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.136.
• This funding opportunity was created on Mar 26, 2020.
• Applicants must submit their applications by May 29, 2020 Electronically submitted applications must be submitted no later than 500 p.m., ET, on the listed application due date.. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $400,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 2 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility.

Apply for RFA CE 20 005

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: