CFVPI-0004 Q&A 2 (1).pdf

Reducing Gun Violence in Maryland Through Prevention, Assessment, Intervention, and Response (Grant # CFVPI-0004)

Questions & Answers 2

Purpose: To provide responses to submitted questions

● Question 1: Scope of Prevention Activities–Does CFVPI-0004 allow prevention projects that focus primarily on firearm violence/suicide prevention while also incorporating education and safe storage strategies related to other lethal means (such as medications or sharps), when framed as comprehensive suicide prevention and caregiver support? This would look like the purchase of medication lock boxes/bags, medication destruction bags, sharps containers, etc..

○ Answer 1: Projects may leverage existing programs and resources to support and enable project implementation, but funding should be used to support firearm violence specific items only.

● Question 2: Evaluation and Performance Measures–Are brief pre- and post-tests measuring changes in participant knowledge, confidence, attitudes, and intended safety behaviors considered acceptable performance measures for prevention- and education-focused projects under CFVPI-0004?

○ Answer 2: Performance metrics to be collected and reported by awardees are specified in Appendix A of the RFA, which are designed to capture a variety of work conducted across awardees. These performance metrics are outputs and do not capture short-term outcomes such as behavioral or attitudinal change. Short-term outcomes are often project- and organization-specific, and so are not specified in the RFA. Inclusion of short-term outcomes is welcomed and may be incorporated in the project narrative.

● Question 3: Staffing and Supervision–For community-based prevention initiatives, does

CFVPI-0004 support funding for a Program Director role with benefits, and could that include supervision of project staff or contractors supporting outreach, education, and evaluation activities?

○ Answer 3: Personnel expenses, including salary and benefits, are allowable. The budget narrative should justify the connection between the line item(s) requested and how it relates and supports the proposed project.

● Question 4: Safe Storage Resource Locator / Database–Does CFVPI-0004 allow funding for the development, coordination, and ongoing maintenance of a publicly accessible safe storage resource locator or database that identifies locations where community members can obtain firearm safe storage options (such as gun locks or safes) and related safety supplies, when designed to support firearm suicide prevention, education, and referral efforts and kept regularly updated in partnership with local organizations?

○ Answer 4: Safe storage projects are allowable within the Pillar II category.

● Question 5: Voluntary Firearm Safe Storage Infrastructure and Access–For prevention-focused projects under CFVPI-0004, are funds permitted to support the establishment of voluntary, legally compliant firearm safe storage options, including costs associated with appropriate licensing, secure storage infrastructure (such as firearm storage lockers and related security measures), and short-term facility rental, when these elements are designed to function as community-based access points that also provide educational materials and referral information as part of a broader firearm suicide prevention and community prevention strategy?

○ Answer 5: Safe storage projects are allowable within the Pillar II category.

● Question 6: Animal-Assisted Support in Postvention–For post-crisis and postvention activities supported under CFVPI-0004, are costs related to evidence-informed, supportive services, such as animal-assisted support provided during post-incident outreach, survivor support, or community healing activities, allowable expenses? If so, would associated costs such as training, veterinary care, or handler support be considered eligible?

○ Answer 6: Within Pillar III, projects and costs related to direct support services for survivors of firearm violence are expected to be included in the budget. A list of allowable and unallowable costs are specified in the Scope of Work section of the RFA

(see section VI.1.a.ii.3-4). Should project costs that are not unallowable not fit into an existing allowable category (such as Contractual), the “Other” category may be used.

● Question 7: Health Care System Collaboration–Does CFVPI-0004 support prevention-focused collaboration with health care systems, such as working with hospitals or discharge planners to provide education and referral information related to firearm safe storage, lethal means access/education, and suicide prevention for patients and families following emergency department visits or inpatient care?

○ Answer 7: Safe storage projects are allowable within the Pillar II category. Projects should focus on populations/subpopulations/demographic categories that are at heightened risk for the type of firearm violence that the proposed project aims to reduce.

● Question 8: Is an application eligible if it includes, as a subaward partner, an organization that previously received funding under this award and is currently completing work supported by it?

○ Answer 8: Yes, an applicant can include a current awardee as a subaward partner in their proposal.

● Question 9: Is eligibility affected if the proposed scope overlaps conceptually with work that was previously funded, but the new application would involve a substantially expanded approach

(e.g., enhanced qualitative and community-based components, additional analytic elements) and would be led by a different organization?

○ Answer 9: Both new and continuing projects are eligible to apply, regardless if it’s the same project or an expansion of an existing project.

● Question 10: Regional Data & Needs Justification–Will applications be disadvantaged or penalized for lower aggregate incident counts if the per‑capita rate demonstrates a significant public health need? Additionally, Dashboard data is sometimes limited or suppressed for specific rural ZIP codes.

○ Answer 10: Demonstration of high rates of gun violence and/or counts for this funding opportunity. A demonstration of Dashboard functionality is available online here, which shows how to use some of the mapping tools to capture local and geographic data.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sS7FCE847g

● Question 11: Regional Data & Needs Justification–When Dashboard data is unavailable, may we rely on local data sources (e.g., law enforcement, EMS, hospital or health system data) to substantiate the Needs Justification?

○ Answer 11: As stated in the RFA, supplemental data sources may be used to demonstrate need. The RFA emphasizes the use of health / public health data.

● Question 12: Budget & Allowable Costs–Can awarded funds be used to support a full‑time staff position dedicated primarily to firearm and suicide prevention activities, as long as this role is essential to the proposed project and its deliverables?

○ Answer 12: Salary and fringe are allowable costs. The budget narrative should describe each line item’s relation to the proposed firearm violence prevention project.

● Question 13: Budget & Allowable Costs–Could you clarify whether this grant is intended to support projects for one year only, or if continuation or renewal funding is anticipated in future fiscal years, pending available appropriations?

○ Answer 13: This funding opportunity is for one fiscal year. No renewal funding is built into this funding opportunity.

● Question 14: Budget & Allowable Costs–For planning purposes, will future fiscal years prioritize new projects, or will existing/continuation projects also be considered?

○ Answer 14: This has not been determined.

● Question 15: For the Annual Organizational Budget, can you provide clarification on the type of information/detail that is required.

○ Answer 15: The purpose of obtaining applicants’ annual budget is to help determine organizational capacity and sustainability. The budget can be derived from several sources, such as: the applicants’ most recently issued annual report; a recently completed audit report; a budget from the most recent year or upcoming year that was passed by the applicants’ board of directors; or an annual budget completed by the applicants’ budget/fiscal staff for financial planning/tracking purposes.

● Question 16: Can employees from one entity within a large umbrella organization be included in the budget of another entity that is also applying?

○ Answer 16: Personnel expenses are allowable. When multiple applications are submitted from within one organization, please know that only one application can be funded.

Therefore, it is recommended to ensure that the proposed projects are not reliant on both being awarded, since only one award per organization can be funded.

● Question 17: Could the Department list the SFY26 awardees by pillar and category?

○ Answer 17: SFY26 awardees and project titles are available on the Center webpage here

(see the first five awards listed).

● Question 18: What geographic areas are currently being served by existing Center-funded projects?

○ Answer 18: Similar to above, SFY26 awardees are available on the Center webpage here.

The first five awards are current grantees for the SFY26 awards funded in a similar RFA to

CFVPI-0004. All of these projects have jurisdiction/area identified in the description, with the exception of Roca which is focused on Baltimore City. Additionally, by clicking on the https://health.maryland.gov/violence-prevention/Pages/Grant-Opportunities.aspx https://health.maryland.gov/violence-prevention/Pages/Grant-Opportunities.aspx

SFY26 awards for local health departments, jurisdictions supported by the Center for a separate funding opportunity are available. For the DVPO and Community Engagement projects (listed in the SFY26 Awarded Projects), both projects are statewide.

● Question 19: What age groups or subpopulations are predominantly targeted by current grantees (for example, youth, families with children, rural gun-owning households, veterans, or individuals in behavioral-health crisis)?

○ Answer 19: Most grantee projects in SFY26 focus on late adolescence through middle age.

● Question 20: Are there populations the Department is especially interested in reaching in the upcoming cycle?

○ Answer 20: The use of rates and other available data to determine high risk populations for the type(s) of firearm violence that the project focuses on is the priority of the

Department.

● Question 21: To what extent is the Department seeking FY27 applicants to complement existing grantees’ work versus replicate proven models in new jurisdictions?

○ Answer 21: The extent to which a proposal complements the work of existing grantees is not an evaluation criterion that will be used to select SFY27 awardees.

● Question 22: How should applicants demonstrate that their proposal fills an unmet geographic or population-level need?

○ Answer 22: The RFA, grant application template, and informational webinar includes details and tips for completing the Needs Justification section of the Project Narrative using the best available public health / health data and supplemental data.

● Question 23: Will continuing grantees from SFY26 be evaluated alongside new applicants using identical scoring criteria?

○ Answer 23: Evaluation criteria is the same for applicants submitting new or continuing projects.

● Question 24: Can you provide guidance on allowable contractor costs under this RFA, including whether there is an hourly rate cap for contractors or consultants? Specifically, should applicants adhere to the federal grant contractor rate cap of $81.25 per hour, or does the program allow higher rates if they are reasonable, justified, and aligned with market standards?

○ Answer 24: Budgets will be evaluated based on the reasonableness of costs and alignment with the intended project and pillar. No contractor of consultant rate or cap is specified. This grant project does not use federal funds.

● Question 25: Data-driven Needs Justification–When it says “Length suggested (for all sections listed below): 600 words”, does this mean 600 words for each section (a., b. and c.), or does it mean 600 words total for all combined?

○ Answer 25: It is 600 words total. Please note that a separate and distinct response for subsections a, b, and c. It's understandable that there would be overlap among these items.

https://health.maryland.gov/violence-prevention/Documents/RFA_Three%20Pillars%20Grant%20Opportunity%20FY%202027.pdf https://health.maryland.gov/violence-prevention/Documents/CFVPI-0004%20Grant%20Application%20Template_Three%20Pillar%20Grant.pdf https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmVH_oRVl7M