Federal grant programs / Department of Health and Human Services

Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity for Infectious Diseases (ELC) (93.323)

Also known as ELC Cooperative Agreement

• Awarded, FY 2021 to 2025$31 billion
• Grant awards300
• Typical award$1.8 million
• Awarded in FY 2025-$2.0 billion
• Size rank20 of 1824
• Type of assistanceCooperative agreements

Key findings

• It is the 20th largest of 1,824 federal grant programs by five-year awards.
• The 20 largest recipients received 67% of the money.
• Awards went to recipients in 59 states and territories.

What the program funds

The purpose of this program is to protect the public health and safety of the American people by enhancing the capacity of public health agencies to effectively detect, respond, prevent and control known and emerging (or re-emerging) infectious diseases. This is accomplished by providing financial and technical resources to: (1) strengthen epidemiologic capacity; (2) enhance laboratory capacity; (3) improve health information systems; and (4) enhance collaboration among epidemiology, laboratory, and information systems components of public health departments.

From the federal Assistance Listing. Read the full listing on SAM.gov.

Open opportunities

No opportunity under this program is open or forecast on Grants.gov right now. Programs often post once a year, so the funding history below shows what to expect.

Rules from the program listing

Who can apply

To maximize the impact of available funding, the ELC program has chosen to leverage the legislative authorities associated with this funding to limit recipients to those meeting the population thresholds described below. Working with recipients of sizeable populations allows ELC to take advantage of economy of scale in implementing programs and reducing the marginal cost of additional resources added per population served. This strategy allows ELC to reach the greatest number of people for its budget while also balancing the need for direct support to some of the United States’ largest cities and counties. Pursuant to 42 USC 300hh-31, eligible applicants include: 1. The 51 State health departments or their bona fide agents, including the District of Columbia. 2. Local health agencies or their bona fide agents, if they serve a city population of 1.5M or more (i.e., Chicago, Houston, New York City, Philadelphia). If the city does not have a public health department, then the county covering the jurisdiction may apply (i.e., Los Angeles, CA covered by Los Angeles County and Phoenix, AZ covered by Maricopa County). 3. All U.S. territories and affiliates in the Caribbean and Pacific (American Samoa, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, Puerto Rico, Republic of Palau, Republic of the Marshall Islands, and U.S. Virgin Islands). *Population for county and city jurisdictions. Source: U.S.

Continue reading on SAM.gov

What the money can and cannot pay for

Financial and technical resources are intended to be utilized for non-research activities that (1) strengthen epidemiologic capacity; (2) enhance laboratory capacity; (3) improve information systems; and (4) enhance collaboration among epidemiology, laboratory, and information systems components of public health departments. Activities may include those that enable a public health organization to establish and maintain a capable and qualified workforce, achieve modern and well-equipped public health laboratories, implement up-to-date health information systems, and institute systems that foster communication and appropriate integration across epidemiology, laboratory, and health information systems. Federal Financial Assistance (FA) and Direct Assistance (DA) are authorized. Project funds may be used for costs associated with planning, organizing, and the implementation of other program elements to build public health epidemiology, laboratory, and health information systems capacity. Recipients may only expend funds for reasonable program purposes, including personnel, travel, supplies, and services (e.g., contractual support). Funds may not be used for research or clinical care. Funds may not be used for construction-related costs.

Continue reading on SAM.gov

Matching requirements

This program has no statutory formula. Matching requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing. This program has MOE requirements, see funding agency for further details. Statutory formula is not applicable to this assistance listing. Matching requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing. MOE requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing.

Deadlines

Check Grants.gov for any relevant NOFO information regarding processes for applying for assistance.

Award range and average, in the agency's words

Financial assistance under the ELC Cooperative Agreement is awarded through six (6) programs and fifteen (15) projects. All program/project awards are based on recipient need, strength of application, and subject to availability of funds. While there are 65 ELC recipients, not all receive funding under all 21 programs and projects.

Quoted from the program's federal Assistance Listing. The notice of funding opportunity is the official source for each competition's rules.

Who usually wins

State and local governments received 86% of the money, nonprofits 0.2% and colleges and universities 0.1%.

By state

Each state below has its own page for this program, with its recipients and yearly totals.

Award amounts are federal obligations reported to USAspending.gov for fiscal 2021 to 2025; see how our data works.