FAQs_Innovation_Lab_2023.docx

Frequently Asked Questions

ACL Innovation Lab

HHS-2023-ACL-AOA-ACIL-0061

Update to Funding Announcement (5/24/2023):

· “Supplemental Information for the SF-424" Form will be required to be completed and submitted with application. Instructions for this form are available on pgs. 24-25 and pgs. 47-51 of the funding announcement. The form is included as a part of the mandatory forms on grants.gov.

Update to Funding Announcement (5/15/2023):

· In-direct costs have been added, and should be included in, the up to 40% of the federal funds that can be used for administrative costs.

· Administrative costs should include the development of the taxonomy, the system for collecting structured data, and in-direct costs.

Questions Related to Applicant Eligibility/Capacity

1. Question: Who may apply for this funding opportunity?

Answer: Domestic public or private non-profit entities including state and local governments, Indian tribal governments and organizations (American Indian/Alaskan Native/Native American), faith-based organizations, community-based organizations, hospitals, and institutions of higher education.

2. Question: Are for-profit companies, foreign entities, or individuals eligible to apply?

Answer: No.

3. Question: Are other federal agencies eligible to apply?

Answer: No, but any federal agencies interested in exploring partnership opportunities with ACL are encouraged to contact Shannon Skowronski at shannon.skowronski@acl.hhs.gov.

4. Question: Does ACL have the expectation that a single organization would have the existing, internal capacity to complete achieve the four, broad set of activities required for the Lab?

Answer: No. ACL does not expect that one single organization would have the internal capacity to achieve all of these activities (noted below).

The four primary activities for the Lab include the following:

Formal partnerships and collaborations with relevant and skilled organizations and stakeholders are essential for successful completion of these activities. Applicants must include detailed letters of support from all organizations and partners that will have a key role in the project, and a description of their anticipated role/responsibilities with respect to the grant. Letter quality is more important than quantity.

Questions Related to Letters of Intent

5. Question: Are potential applicants required to submit a Letter of Intent?

Answer: Letters of Intent are not required but they are highly recommended to help ACL in planning for the independent review process.

6. Question: Can ACL let us know who else from our state submits a Letter of Intent or application so we are better able to collaborate with other interested parties?

Answer: This type of information is considered “pre-decisional” and cannot be released publicly.

7. Question: Should applicants provide letters of support from community-based organizations that might be sub-awardees, should the grant be funded?

Answer: Applicants are encouraged to develop/strengthen partnerships with relevant community-based organizations prior to application. However, the Lab is required to work with ACL upon award to develop an agreed upon application process, requirements, and selection process for sub-awardees. As a result, during the application process, applicants should not make guarantees of sub-award to community-based organization partners.

Questions Related to Proposal Format

8. Question: Is there a maximum page limit for the Project Narrative?

Answer: Twenty pages is the maximum length allowed. The Project Work Plan, Letters of Commitment, Vitae of Key Personnel, Budget Narrative/Justification, and references are not counted toward the 20-page limit as long as they are clearly labeled as Appendices.

9. Question: Should applicants submit one comprehensive work plan that includes goals for all three years or should proposals include a separate work plan for each of the three years?

Answer: Applicants must provide a separate work plan for each year (year one, year two, and year three). The work plans for each year should match the separate budget plans for each year. The overall proposal should describe the goals or accomplishments that are expected over the three-year period. Applicants are encouraged to use the sample workplan provided in the funding opportunity appendix.

10. Question: Do we need to create partner-specific work plans for our major contributing partners?

Answer: You do not need to provide any additional work plans for your partners. However, in the work plan, you should indicate any lead persons at the partnering agencies that are responsible for tasks included in the work plan. Applications are reviewed to determine the extent to which the application narrative, work plan, and support letters reflect an adequate commitment from partners and description of their activities and areas of responsibility.

11. Question: Can we use a font size smaller than 11 for tables included in the narrative?

Answer: No. The entirety of the Projective Narrative, including tables, graphics, and headings must be double-spaced, and of a standard font size of not less than 11. You can use smaller font sizes to fill in the Standard Forms and Sample Formats outside of the Project Narrative sections, such as the Project Work Plan and Budget Narrative/Justification.

12. Question: How should we list/cite references? Are references subject to the Project Narrative criteria regarding page limit and double-spacing?

Answer: There is not a particular citation style that you are required to use with respect to references. You may include your references as footnotes, endnotes, or a separate appendix (please be sure to clearly label). References may be single-spaced, and, if included as a separate appendix, are not subject to the 20-page limit for the Project Narrative.

13. Question: Which elements of the application can we include as an appendix?

Answer: Applicants must include a Table of Contents for any Appendices. The Project Work Plan, Letters of Commitment, Vitae of Key Project Personnel, Budget Narrative/Justification, Project Map, applicable references, and other supporting material (e.g. organization chart) can be included as appendices and not counted toward the 20 page narrative limit.

Questions Related to Target Population

14. Question: Who meets the definition of older adult?

Answer: For the purpose of this FOA and consistent with the definition in the Older Americans Act (42 U.S.C. §3002(8)), we are defining an older adult as an individual who is 60 years of age or older. For tribes and tribal organizations, the age of older Indians is defined by the tribe and may vary.

15. Question: Who meets the definition of an older adult with a disability?

Answer: For the purpose of this FOA and consistent with the definition of disability in the Older Americans Act (42 U.S.C. §3002(8)), we are defining an adult with a disability as one who has a developmental, physical, and/or mental impairment that results in substantial functional limitation in one or more major life activities including self-care, communication, learning, mobility, capacity for independent living, self-direction, economic self-sufficiency, cognitive functioning or emotional adjustment.

16. Question: Are adults with disabilities an appropriate target population, or only older adults with disabilities?

Answer: Due to the authorizing legislation for this program, the primary population targeted for this grant must be older adults 60+ (including older adults with disabilities).

Questions Related to Grant Administration

17. Question: What is the difference between a grant and a “cooperative agreement”?

Answer: In the United States, Federal grants are financial assistance issued by the U.S. Government. A cooperative agreement is a variation of a grant, which is awarded when a grant provider anticipates having substantial involvement with the grantee during the performance of a funded project. These grants will be issued as cooperative agreements because they are significant and multifaceted endeavors in which AoA anticipates having substantial involvement with the recipients during performance of funded activities. Therefore, throughout the project period of the grant award, AoA will furnish technical assistance, oversight, and support to each grantee to help ensure program success. The cooperative agreement structure will allow AoA to provide a higher level of technical assistance, oversight and support than a grant relationship offers. For more information, see the HHS Grants Policy Statement at https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/grants/grants/policies-regulations/hhsgps107.pdf.

18. Question: What are fully funded cooperative agreements?

Answer: These cooperative agreements are fully funded upfront for their three-year project and budget period. Grantees will not have to compete for the second and third years of funding.

19. Question: Can we subcontract some or all grant activities?

Answer: Yes. Grantees, not the Federal government, must decide whether it is in their best interest to subcontract grant activities. However, it is very important that grantees realize that the administrative responsibility and oversight of all grant activities remains with the grantee. Grantees must serve as the central, core, and active partner in the grant and not simply be a conduit for pass-through funding to sub-contractors. When subcontracting, the grantee should retain sufficient funding to adequately fulfill its administrative and oversight responsibilities. Applicants who propose to subcontract out a significant portion of their grant activities should provide a rationale in their proposal that justifies any additional overhead costs that affect the funding for programmatic activities.

20. Question: How are grantees able to access grant funds? Is payment based on cost reimbursement?

Answer: Grantees will draw down funds using Payment Management Services (PMS). Costs are not reimbursed, but rather requests are made through PMS for the release of funds.

21. What are the reporting requirement associated with this cooperative agreement?

Answer: Applicant Notice of Awards will provide more detailed information about required programmatic and financial reporting.

Questions Related to Letters of Commitment

22. Question: To whom should letters of commitment be addressed?

Answer: Letters of commitment should be addressed to the applicant.

Questions Related to the Budget Narrative/Justification

23. Question: Is there a match requirement?

Answer: No, there is no match requirement. Applicants that do provide match will not be viewed differently or given more points during the independent review process. We encourage applicants to not include match because if they choose to do so, then the match amount will become a part of their award notice and the awardee will be held to that match.

24. Question: Does the budget range include indirect costs? What indirect rate can we use?

Answer: Any indirect costs charged by the applicant would be included in the amount of the federal award and should be a part of the up to 40% that the applicant can retain for administrative purposes (with the remaining 60% being awarded in sub-grants to community-based organizations in Year 2 of the grant).

Indirect costs must be supported by an approved indirect cost rate agreement, which also defines the direct charges against which the rate applies. Indirect charges may only be requested if: (1) the applicant has a current indirect cost rate agreement approved by the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) or another Federal agency; or (2) the applicant is a state or local government agency. State governments should enter the amount of indirect costs determined in accordance with DHHS requirements. If indirect costs are to be included in the application, a copy of the approved indirect cost agreement must be included with the application. Further, if any sub-contractors or sub-grantees are requesting indirect costs, a copy of the latest approved indirect cost agreements must also be included with the application, or reference to an approved cost allocation plan.

Per 45 CFR § 75.414(f) Indirect (F&A) costs, “any non-Federal entity (i.e., applicant) that has never received a negotiated indirect cost rate, may charge a de minimis rate of 10% of modified total direct costs (MTDC).”

Applicants should consult their organization’s financial representative to see if you should be charging indirect costs and if so, what the approved rate is.

25. Question: Regarding the budget template, can you clarify the difference between non-Federal cash versus non-Federal in kind?

Answer: These are both forms of match, and match is not required for this program. Non- Federal cash is any cash from you or your partners; it does not include funds from the Federal government. In kind includes any third-party non-cash items that are program-related such as meeting room space that can be used as match for this program (please note, there is no match requirement in this funding opportunity). Applicants who voluntarily decide to add a match to their application will be held to that match and the match dollar amounts will be in their Notice of Award.

26. Question: Should the federal funds be spread evenly allocated across the three-year project period?

Answer: No. Funds should not be spread evenly allocated across the project period. Please be sure that your budget is aligned with your work plan with respect to project activities, outcomes, and outputs, and that it follows the general guidance below (noted on pg. 4 of the funding announcement):

· Anticipated Lab Annual Budget

· Year 1: Approximately $1.0 million

· Year 2: Approximately $3.29 M (including sub-awards for up to 15 sub-awardees)

· Year 3: Approximately $500,000 (no sub-awards anticipated)

27. Question: What is the make-up of the application review panels?

Answer: We recruit a variety of reviewers to participate in the review. We convene multiple panels comprised of individuals who may be former or current grantees (who are not applying for the current grant), representatives of various partnering agencies, academics, and other people with expertise in chronic disease self-management education and evidence-based, community programming.

28. Question: Does the disclaimer noted in Section II. Award Information (Cooperative Agreement Terms) impact grantee intellectual property rights?

Answer: No. The disclaimer noted in Section II. Award Information of the Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) does not relinquish intellectual property of the grantee. This disclaimer specifically emphasizes that the points of view or opinions of the grantee do not necessarily represent official Administration for Community Living (ACL) policy.