Appendix I Program Requirements and Organization Information

APPENDIX I

PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS AND ORGANIZATION INFORMATION

FAMILY SUPPORT PROGRAMS

25-RFA-13800

The Applicant should carefully review the instructions and each section of this APPENDIX I.

INSTRUCTIONS:

The Applicant must:

1. SIGN PAGE 12 OF THIS DOCUMENT acknowledging the Applicant reviewed, understands, and, if selected, will maintain full compliance with all requirements in this APPENDIX I; and

2. SUBMIT these pages as part of the Application Package.

Failure to sign and return this document, as required, may affect Applicant’s eligibility.

Failure to fully implement all program requirements and fiscal terms in this APPENDIX I may affect award, renewal of the agreement, ability to compete in the next competitive application process, or may result in the reduction or revocation of the award.

For the purpose of the requirements in this APPENDIX I, Evidence Based Home Visiting (“EBHV”) is an approved program on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children & Families Home Visiting Evidence of Effectiveness (“HomVEE”) website (https://homvee.acf.hhs.gov/home).

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS:

1. The Office of Child Development and Early Leaning (“OCDEL”) may release Policy Announcements that contain pertinent information including best practices in service provision and clarifications of policies or grant requirements. The Grantee shall monitor the Family Support web site for Policy Announcements and shall comply with any applicable requirements contained in published Policy Announcements.

2. The Grantee shall continuously implement, with fidelity, at least one approved EBHV Model as described in PART I, Section I-3.A of this RFA throughout the term of the agreement.

a. The Grantee shall implement its chosen Model or Models according to national Model developer guidelines, with fidelity to the Model or Models.

b. The Grantee may not make changes to an evidence-based or evidence-informed Model that alters the core components related to program outcomes, as the changes could impair fidelity and undermine the program’s effectiveness.

3. The Grantee shall review and comply with all the requirements of Reports and Project Controls, PART

III, Section III-6 of this RFA throughout the term of the agreement.

https://homvee.acf.hhs.gov/home

4. The Grantee shall request written approval from the Commonwealth prior to subcontracting or outsourcing any part of this project and shall provide a subcontracting plan as described in Part III, Section III-3.B.8 of this RFA.

5. The Grantee shall maintain approval for implementation from the Model Developer for the duration of the term of the agreement. The Applicant should submit approval for implementation from the Model developer with their Application Package. Verification of approval from the National or State Model Office is acceptable.

6. The Grantee shall retain all documentation received from the model developer including information demonstrating adherence to model fidelity, and shall provide the documentation to the Department annually, or upon request.

7. The Grantee shall implement the Strengthening Families™ Protective Factors Framework (“SFPFF”) within their service delivery. Additional information on the SFPFF is included in Appendix K, Strengthening Families Protective Factors Framework.

8. The Grantee shall comply with all applicable federal, state, and local statutes, regulations, and policies, including, but not limited to:

a. Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for HHS Awards, 45 C.F.R. Part 75 and 2 C.F.R. Part 300.

b. Section 511 of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 711, Maternal Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting (“MIECHV”).

c. Title II of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 5116-5116i, Community- Based Grants for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect.

d. Title IV-B, Subpart 2 of the Social Security Act , 42 U.S.C. §§ 629-629i, Promoting Safe and Stable Families (“PFSF”).

e. Child Protective Services Law (“CPSL”), 23 Pa. C.S. § § 6301—6388 and 55 Pa. Code § 3490.

9. The Grantee shall fully comply and follow through with any corrective action plans agreed to by the Department, as detailed in PART III, Section III-6.A.6 of this RFA. The Grantee understands that failure to comply with all requirements as described in this RFA may result in the Department finding the Grantee in default under the agreement.

A. TRAINING

1. The Grantee, or its designee, shall attend all mandatory training, meetings, or conferences as directed by the Department.

2. The Grantee shall require any individual, paid or unpaid, who, on the basis of the individual's role as an integral part of a regularly scheduled program, activity, or service, has direct contact with children, to obtain three hours of approved mandated reporter training, and to retake an approved three-hour training every five years thereafter. The Grantee shall store documentation of the completed training in the employee’s file including the training title, training provider’s name, participant name, and date of completion.

B. POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

1. The Grantee shall create procedures to ensure home visitors and family support staff explain and obtain informed consent from their families. For more information review informed consent FAQ.

https://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/regulations-and-policy/guidance/faq/informed-consent/index.html

2. The Grantee shall establish a confidentiality policy that satisfies the following requirements, and shall adhere to the policy:

a. Details for maintenance and storage all client information in a locked location (i.e., office or filing cabinet);

b. Maintenance of a staff list of everyone who will have access to the files;

c. Detailed procedures for accessing the files that protect client confidentiality;

d. Detailed procedures for accessing the files in the event of a Department-led monitoring, court order, police investigation, or medical emergencies;

e. Detailed procedures for written consent to access, disclose, or share files;

f. Detailed procedures for the maintenance of files for the length of the agreement;

g. Detailed procedures to train new staff and periodically update current staff on the policy;

h. Procedure for reviewing the confidentiality policy with any new staff upon hire and with continuing staff once a year, at a minimum, and procedures for verifying the reviews were completed with a dated signature;

i. Procedure for reviewing the confidentiality policy annually, updating as necessary, and verifying the review was completed with a dated signature; and

j. Procedure to submit the confidentiality policy to the Department upon request.

3. The Grantee shall develop, implement, and maintain a written policy and procedures to meet or exceed the minimum staffing requirements. Minimum staffing means the minimum number of staff required to https://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/regulations-and-policy/guidance/faq/informed-consent/index.html maintain full implementation of all approved project activities and services, including established caseloads and enrollment numbers and fulfillment of requirements, at all times. Within its policy, the Grantee shall address continuity of operations during staff absences, including long-term leave and staff turnover.

At a minimum, the Grantee shall include in the policy:

a. The Grantee-defined minimum staffing necessary to fully implement all requirements and expectations;

b. Strategies and procedures to ensure coverage so staffing levels are maintained at all times; and

c. Procedures for managing uncovered caseloads, including reassignment protocols and expectations for new staff caseload ramp-up.

4. The Grantee shall develop and implement policies and procedures regarding required clearances and mandated reporter training. The Grantee shall, at minimum, address the following within the policy:

a. Define which clearances and mandated reporter training staff must obtain;

b. Define which staff, or roles within the program, are required to obtain clearances and mandated reporter training;

c. The timeframe for initial receipt of clearances and mandated reporter training;

d. The timeframe for renewing clearances and mandated reporter training and how the Grantee will track these timeframes; and

e. A detailed description of how the Grantee will store clearances and mandated reporter training records.

5. The Grantee shall coordinate services with agencies in their service area such as Early Intervention and other local home visiting and family support service providers. The Grantee shall establish collaborative working relationships with these agencies to provide families with a full array of services, programs, and available resources in their community. The Grantee shall document this coordination through the establishment of a Memorandum of Agreement (“MOA”).

In the MOA the Grantee shall, at a minimum:

a. Detail procedures for referral to other agencies, programs, or organizations such as Early Intervention;

b. Identify a point of contact at each agency;

c. Detail dates and content of annual meetings which will be conducted in person or virtually, as a collaborative or individually, to review referral policies between agencies and current and new services provided by respective programs;

d. Outline protocols to share information and coordinate services as appropriate;

e. Connect families to multiple services and other resources as allowed;

f. Define a frequency for the MOA to be reviewed and revised; and

g. Include a signature from an authorized individual from each agency.

6. The Grantee shall implement programs with fidelity to the Model, which may include development of policies and procedures to recruit, enroll, disengage, and re-enroll family participants. In the Enrollment policies, the Grantee shall strive to balance continuity of services to eligible families and availability of slots to unserved families.

7. The Grantee shall develop and implement policies and procedures to avoid dual enrollment by screening and enrolling families in the Model that best meets their needs. Families may be enrolled in an EBHV Model and Enhancement or Enhancements concurrently as appropriate for the family or caregiver.

8. The Grantee shall develop and implement written policies and procedures to ensure families and their children are voluntary participants of the Family Support Program.

9. The Grantee shall educate applicable families and, if applicable, implement requirements specified in the OCDEL Inclusion and Reduction of Suspension/Expulsion announcement.

10. The Grantee shall develop written transition plans with each child or caregiver served through their EBHV program. Transition planning may include a change in eligibility circumstances for a child or a family, the family or child is moving, or the program has changed services or relinquished their grant funding.

11. The Grantee shall implement high-quality supervision, including reflective supervision for EBHV staff.

The Grantee shall develop and implement policies and procedures for the effective provision of reflective supervision program-wide with fidelity to the Model or Models implemented. Refer to Appendix O for the definition of reflective supervision.

C. ENROLLMENT / GOAL NUMBER TO BE SERVED

1. The Grantee shall rely on the guidance regarding their selected Model or Models when determining a family capacity for home visiting staff.

2. The Grantee shall maintain enrollment at 100% of its budgeted capacity for each EBHV Model implemented. The Grantee shall participate in improvement activities if enrollment of families falls below 85% for any of the EBHV Models implemented. The Department will consider extenuating circumstances, such as, but not limited to, new staff vacancies and new program startup time, prior to placing a Grantee on an improvement plan for enrollment.

For Family Support Programs with a goal number of families to be served each year, the Grantee may be required to participate in improvement activities if 25% of goal numbers of families are not served by the end of each quarter. The Department will consider the number of classes offered, attendance, and frequency, prior to placing a Grantee on an improvement plan for enrollment.

The Grantee’s failure to improve enrollment or reach the goal number of families by the next renewal process may result in reduction of award.

PROGRAM REVISIONS

1. The Grantee shall seek approval from the Department for specific program revisions, through a method and format determined by the Department, before implementing any of the following:

a. Any percentage increase or decrease of the families to be served through the agreement;

b. A major change in the originally approved design of the program that potentially alters the program’s objectives or funding streams applicable to certain Models, programs, or enhancements;

c. A change in the entity responsible for administering the agreement;

d. A redefinition of the population to be served including geographic territory and other changes;

e. A change in a subcontractor responsible for completion of components of the program; and

f. A change in curriculum or model used that does not alter the program’s objectives or deviate from a Model program’s requirements.

2. The Grantee may initiate a request to increase funding, through a method and format determined by the Department, if the following minimum requirements are met:

a. The program is seeking to request additional funding in order to serve more families;

b. The program is currently maintaining all of the requirements set-forth in Section IV-1; and

c. If a Grantee initiates a request to increase funding and additional funding is available, the

Department may consider the Grantee’s request and increase the total funding awarded under the agreement through a funding adjustment or amendment to the agreement.

D. DATA COLLECTION

1. The Grantee shall participate in and use the Pennsylvania Family Support Data Collection system developed by the Department.

2. The Grantee shall timely and accurately collect federal and state mandated demographic data on all families, caregivers, and children enrolled in the program being funded by the Department through this agreement and shall enter the data into the Pennsylvania Family Support Data Collection system.

3. The Grantee shall timely and accurately collect federal and state mandated Performance Measure Data on all families, caregivers, and children enrolled in EBHV programs being funded by the Department through this agreement and shall enter this data into the Pennsylvania Family Support Data Collection system.

E. FISCAL

1. The Grantee shall develop written fiscal policies on the following:

a. Procurement;

b. Conflict of Interest;

c. Purchasing Process;

d. Record Retention and Record Destruction;

e. Inventory;

f. Proof of Insurances;

g. Security & Storage of Fiscal Records;

h. Cost Allocation Plan; and

i. Gift Card Incentives.

2. If the Grantee receives federal funds, the Grantee shall meet all federal fiscal and program requirements including, but not limited to, implementation of fiscal guidelines regarding purchases.

3. The Grantee shall submit a budget revision when there is a change in the budgeted amounts in a line or category, the addition of a line, or reducing a line to zero.

4. The Grantee shall prepare a line-item budget using the Pennsylvania Family Support Data System.

Within the submitted budgets the Grantee shall account for all necessary program, fiscal, and data personnel. The Grantee shall also prepare and submit with the budget, a budget justification that aligns with the line-item budget and that provides a detailed description of the planned activities and associated costs.

5. The Department may require or request additional information on quarterly expense reports if the amount entered is 5% more or less than the applicable 25%, 50%, or 75% for each quarter.

6. The Grantee shall submit General Ledger (“GL”) reports from their accounting system pursuant to a method and timeframe determined by the Department. The Grantee shall reconcile these reports to their submitted Final Expenditure report each year of the agreement. The Department is aware that GL reports often account for much more than the yearly agreement and will allow for tracking spreadsheets to be submitted with the GL reports to reconcile the amounts that are reported to OCDEL.

7. The Grantee shall comply with all applicable state and federal audit requirements and maintain fiscal records, documents, and other evidence in sufficient detail to support all claims against the funding for the term of the agreement. The Department shall recover or recoup non-allowable costs and undocumented costs from the Grantee.

8. The Grantee shall not use funding for the delivery or costs of direct medical, dental, mental health, or legal services; however, some limited direct services may be provided to the extent required to maintain fidelity to the Model or if the Grantee is implementing an already approved enhancement. The Grantee may provide health education or health literacy training, as well as coordinate with and refer eligible families to direct medical, dental, mental health, or legal services and providers covered by other sources of funding.

9. The Grantee shall seek guidance from the OCDEL Fiscal Analyst, if needed, to understand what expenses are allowable and unallowable when using these state and federal grant awards.

ORGANIZATION INFORMATION

Primary Program Contact Information – Defined as KEY PERSONNEL

Name Title Organization Phone Fax Mailing Address

Email Address

Primary Fiscal Contact Information Name Title Organization Phone Fax

Primary Supervisor Contact Information

Title Organization Phone Fax

ORGANIZATION INFORMATION Continued

Primary Data Contact Information Name Title Organization Phone Fax

Primary CQI Contact Information

Title Organization Phone Fax

Additional Contact Information

Title Organization Phone Fax

ATTACH ORGANIZATIONAL CHART HERE

THE APPLICANT HAS READ AND AGREES TO COMPLY WITH ALL SECTIONS AND

REQUIREMENTS LISTED ABOVE:

APPLICANT AGENCY NAME: _____________________________________________________

SIGNATURE: _____________________________________________________

PRINTED NAME: __________________________________________________________