Application requirements 17AC02.docx

Attachment: APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS

Applicants must register in and submit applications through Grants.gov, a “one-stop storefront” to find federal funding opportunities and apply for funding. Find complete instructions on how to register and submit an application here. Applicants that experience technical difficulties during this process should call the Grants.gov Customer Support Hotline at 800-518-4726 or 606–545–5035, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, except federal holidays. Registering with Grants.gov is a one-time process; however, processing delays may occur, and it can take several weeks for first-time registrants to receive confirmation and a user password. NIC encourages applicants to register several weeks before the application submission deadline. In addition, NIC urges applicants to submit applications 72 hours prior to the application due date to allow time to receive validation messages or rejection notifications from Grants.gov, and to correct in a timely fashion any problems that may have caused a rejection notification.

Applications should be typed, double spaced, in 12-point font, and reference the project by the “NIC Opportunity Number” 17AC02 and the project title “T4C Implementation Initiative Training to Alabama Department of Corrections”. The package must include: a cover letter that identifies the audit agency responsible for the applicant’s financial accounts as well as the audit period or fiscal year that the applicant operates under (e.g., July 1 through June 30); a concisely written program narrative, not to exceed 30 numbered pages, in response to the statement of work, and a detailed budget with a budget narrative explaining projected costs. Applicants may submit a description of the project teams’ qualifications and expertise relevant to the project, but should not attach lengthy resumes. Attachments to the proposal describing your organization or examples of other past work beyond those specifically requested above are discouraged.

The following forms must also be included: OMB Standard Form 424, Application for Federal Assistance; OMB Standard Form 424A, Budget information – Non-Construction Programs; OMB Standard Form 424B, Assurances – Non-Construction Programs (these forms are available at http://www.grants.gov) and DOJ/NIC Certification Regarding Lobbying; Debarment, Suspension and Other Responsibility Matters; and the Drug-Free Workplace Requirements (available at http://nicic.gov/Downloads/General/certif-frm.pdf Failure to supply all required forms with the application package will delay consideration of your application.

Note: NIC will NOT award a cooperative agreement to an applicant who does not have a Dun and Bradstreet Database Universal Number (DUNS) and is not registered in the Central Contractor Registry (CCR). A DUNS number can be received at no cost by calling the dedicated toll-free DUNS number request line at 1–800-333-0505 (if you are a sole proprietor, you would dial 1-866–705–5711 and select option 1).

Acquire registration with the System for Award Management (SAM). SAM is the repository for standard information about federal financial assistance applicants, recipients, and sub-recipients. NIC requires all applicants (other than individuals) for federal financial assistance to maintain current registrations in the SAM database. Applicants must be registered in SAM to successfully register in Grants.gov. Applicants must update or renew their SAM registration annually to maintain an active status.

Your proposal will be subject to the NIC Review Process. Since this is a noncompetitive award, the review process is “pass-fail”. The criteria for the evaluation of each application will be as follows:

Programmatic: Are all of the project tasks adequately discussed? Is there a clear statement of how each task will be accomplished, to include the overall project goal(s), major tasks to achieve the goal(s), the strategies to be employed in completing the tasks, required staffing, and other required resources? Are there any approaches, techniques, or design aspects proposed that are new to NIC and will enhance the project?

Organizational: Do the proposed project staff members possess the skills, knowledge, and expertise necessary to complete the tasks listed under the scope of work? Does the applicant organization, group, or individual have the organizational capacity to complete all project tasks? Does the proposal contain project management and staffing plans that are realistic and sufficient to complete the project within the project time frame?

Project Management/Administration: Does the applicant identify reasonable objectives and/or milestones that reflect the key tasks, and measures to track progress? If consultants and/or partnerships are proposed, is there a reasonable justification for their inclusion in the project, and a clear structure to ensure effective coordination? Is the proposed budget realistic, does it provide a sufficient cost detail/narrative, and does it represent good value relative to the anticipated results?

Please note that all documents or other media that are produced under this award must follow these guidelines: Prior to the preparation of the final draft of any document or other media, the awardee must consult with NIC's Writer/Editor concerning the acceptable formats for manuscript submissions and the technical specifications for electronic media. For all awards in which a document will be a deliverable, the awardee must follow the guidelines listed herein, as well as follow the Guidelines for Preparing and Submitting Manuscripts for Publication as found in the “General Guidelines for Cooperative Agreements,” which can be found on our website at www.nicic.gov/cooperativeagreements.

All final documents and other materials submitted under this project must also meet the federal government’s requirement for Section 508 accessibility, including those provisions outlined in 1194 Subpart B, Technical Provisions, Subpart C, Functional Performance Criteria; and Subpart D, Documentation and Support, NIC’s government product accessibility template (see www.nicic.gov/section508) outlines the agency’s minimum criteria for meeting this requirement; a completed form attesting to the accessibility of project deliverables should accompany all submissions.

Note concerning the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA)number: This number is entered into box 10 of the SF 424. The CFDA number for this solicitation is 16.602 Research and Policy Development. You are not subject to Executive Order 12372 and should check the box indicating.