Children's Environmental Health Awards 99J-I 9UUO|L|O S suocHSOci %Q9 lu 9£-9 ' aivd S33d QNV39VlSOd ssvno isaid a3iaos3dd LOO-frO-H-OOLVd3 00£$ sseujsng iBjOj 09t?03 00 ' AoueBy uo (VZOU) Apply on or before December 15th, 2005 ------- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA.) 2006 Children's Environmental Health Excellence Awards Children may be more susceptible to environmental haz- ards than adults. Their nervous, immune, digestive, and other sys- tems are still developing and their ability to metabolize or inactivate toxicants may be different than adults. They eat more food, drink more fluids, and breathe more air in proportion to their weight than adults, and their behavior—such as crawling and placing objects in their mouths—may result in greater exposure to environmental con- taminants. Environmental health hazards that may affect children include: 1 air pollutants, both indoor and ambient; 2 toxic chemicals such as lead, mercury, arsenic, organochlorines such as polychlorinated biphenyls, and dioxins; 3 endocrine disruptors; 4 environmental tobacco smoke; 5 ultraviolet radiation; 6 water pollution; 7 pesticides; 8 brominated flame retardants; 9 radon; and 10 carbon monoxide. Many environmental health problems can be prevented, managed, and treated. While EPA retains a major role in safeguarding children from environmental risks, industry, communities, and organizations can take action where they live, learn, and play. The Children's Environmental Health Excellence Awards are designed to recognize ongoing and sustainable dedication to, and notable leadership in, protecting children from environmental health risks at the local, regional, national, and international level. Excellence Award winners will be invited to a reception in Washington, D.C. Excellence Awardees will also receive the right to use the children's environmental health excellence awards logo, recognition on EPA's Web site and in a press release, and photos with a senior EPA official. Organizations or individuals who do not receive the Excellence Award may qualify for a special Recognition Award. Recognition Awardees will receive a certificate of recognition and use of the children s envi- ronmental health recognition awards logo. Excellence Award Categories The EPA Office of Children's Health Protection (OCHP) is accepting Applications for the 2006 Children's Environmental Health Excellence Awards within one of the following five categories: 1. Government - State, Local, Federal, and Tribal. 2. Non-Governmental Organizations - Including domestic and International for-profit and non-profit organizations and all United Nations' agencies. 3. Corporate - Commercial and Industrial sector. 4. Individual. 5. K-12 and Higher Education. You must apply under ONLY ONE category. Please note that if the program or project you are applying for is a collaboration of entities that fall under more than one category, choose the category that corresponds with the prime entity that is managing the program/project. Examples of Projects EPA will be looking for programs/projects that have a significant impact in addressing chil- dren's environmental health issues through: • Research—programs or projects that generate, and or apply scientific research, tools, and assessments to allow for increased understanding of the relationship of the environment to the health of children; science and research that leads to more pro- tective public policy on children's environmental health is included here. • Indicators—programs or projects that contribute to the identification, development, and compilation of a set of measures that fully reflect environmental factors impor- tant for children's health. These could include measures that reflect trends in levels of environmental contaminants in air, water, food, and soil; concentrations of lead measured in children's bodies; and childhood diseases that may be influenced by environmental factors. • Capacity Building—programs or projects that provide tools and or information to state, tribal, and local governments, international entities, health care providers, private companies, and NGOs to ensure that more and more organizations are able to take effective action to protect children from environmental risks. Includes projects that aim to incorporate protection of children into existing environment or health programs. • Regulatory and Policy Innovations—programs or projects that inform or implement policies that reduce or eliminate environmental hazards to children's health on the local, regional, state, national, or international level. • Education and Outreach—programs or projects that increase public awareness of children's environmental health issues or teach the public about the relationship between their environment and children's health. Education and Outreach programs must be based on peer-reviewed science. • Interventions—programs or projects that take direct action to reduce or eliminate environmental pollutants that adversely affect children. For example, this could include programs to reduce diesel emissions in school buses or to eliminate lead paint sources in public housing. Award Selection/Evaluation Criteria Applications will be evaluated by a panel of reviewers from EPA who are authorities in the field of children's environmental health. Reviewers will score each application in the areas listed below for a maximum of 100 points. 1. Program/Project Design (30 points) Please explain how your program/project addresses the following issues (limit narra- tive to 400 words): • Describe the goals, objectives, and outputs (if applicable) of your program/project. • Describe how you identified your target audience (if applicable) and why. • Discuss the relationship of these goals and objectives to the target audience (if applicable). • Discuss the relevance and scope of your program/project to children's environ- mental health. 2. Results (40 points) Please explain how your program/project measures success using the following criteria (limit narrative to 400 words): • Describe your program/project results (both quantitative and qualitative). • Discuss how you evaluate the effectiveness and sustainability of your program/project. • Discuss how your program/project had, or is having a direct or indirect effect on reducing children's environmental health hazards. Research programs can discuss the potential future effects. • Discuss the resources (including people and funding) for the program/project and address whether they provide a good return on the investment. • Discuss whether and how your program/project findings could be shared with others in the field and how it could be replicated. 3. Supporting Materials (15 points) Make sure to include any collateral materials developed under your program/project— news articles, journal articles, photos, brochures, fact sheets, posters, etc.—with your application. Please address the following issues (limit narrative to 200 words): • Describe how materials were developed to support project goals. • In the case of outreach and educational materials, describe how the messages were crafted to reach the target audience. Describe the distribution methods of your sup- porting materials. Describe any feedback you received from the target audience on the materials you developed. Since application forms will be submitted electronically, if possible, please also submit supporting materials electronically. Should you need to send in a hard copy, please mail it to the address on the right. 4. References (15 points) Submit two letters from individuals or groups outside your immediate organization discussing your efforts to protect children from environmental health risks. Letters should specifically address how your program/project makes you a leader in the field of children's environmental health protection. Application Your application must provide the following information: 1. Name of your organization; 2. Program or project name exactly as you would have it appear on an award; 3. Name of main contact (person who applied or is being nominated and will receive all correspondence); 4. Address; 5. Phone number and fax number; 6. Email address; 7. Web site, if any; 8. Award category (choose ONLY ONE category that best represents your organization: Government, NGO, Corporate, Individual, or K-12 and Higher Education); 9. Project Type (Science/Research, Indicators, Capacity Building, Regulatory/Policy Innovations, Education/Outreach). CHOOSE ALL THAT APPLY. Should your project goals and objectives combine more than one of these project types, please make sure that you address each of these areas in the narrative section of your application; 10. Narrative (see #1 and 2 under Award Selection/Evaluation Criteria above); 11. Supporting Materials (see # 3 under Award Selection/Evaluation Criteria above); and 12. References (see # 4 under Award Selection/Evaluation Criteria above). Please email your application, along with all supporting materials, to OCHPapplications@icfconsulting.com. Although submitting your application electronically is the preferred way, should you need to send a hard copy, please mail it to the following address: ICF Consulting, Inc. Attn: Children's Health Awards Coordinator 1725 Eye Street, NW Suite 1000 Washington, DC 20006 Tel: 202-862-1200 Fax:202-862-1144 Organization Logo: Please provide both a color and a black-and-white version of your organization's logo in EPS, JPEG, or TIFF format that will allow for a printable resolution of 300 dpi at a size of 4 inches. Please provide the logo electronically when you email your application. In the event that your organization is chosen for an award, this logo will be used in the Excellence Awards Ceremony materials. Logos meeting the specifications mentioned above will allow us to present your organization's mark to its best advantage. Note: Winners will be announced in the spring of 2006. ------- |