Final RFA WIC Substance Use Edu in the WIC Program.pdf

Information Collection: 0584-0512 Expiration date: 07/31/2025

Substance Use Prevention Education in the WIC Program

Fiscal Year 2024 Request for Applications (RFA) Assistance Listing Number (ALN): 10.557

Release Date: April 30, 2024

Application Due Date: July 8, 2024; 11:59 pm, Eastern Daylight Time

(EDT)

Anticipated Award Date: September 2024

OMB BURDEN STATEMENT:

This information is being collected to assist the Food and Nutrition Service to support WIC staff in the delivery of services to program participants. This is a voluntary collection and FNS will use the information to award a competitive cooperative agreement for substance use prevention education in the WIC program. This collection does not request any personally identifiable information under the Privacy Act of 1974. According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number for this information collection is 0584-0512. The time required to complete this information collection is estimated to average 20 hours per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service, Office of Policy Support, 1320 Braddock Place, 5th Floor, Alexandria, VA 22314 ATTN: PRA (0584-0512). Do not return the completed form to this address.

Application Checklist

This Application Checklist provides applicants with a list of the required actions and documents that must be completed. However, FNS expects that applicants will read the entire RFA prior to the submission of their application and comply with all requirements outlined in the solicitation.

The Application Checklist is for applicant use only and should not be submitted as part of the Application Package.

Complete the following at least four weeks prior to submission:

Obtain a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) number;

Register the UEI number in the System for Award Management (SAM); and, Register in grants.gov.

When preparing your application, ensure:

Application format and narrative meet the requirements included in Section 4 –

Application and Submission Information. This includes page limits, priorities outlined in Section 5 – Application Review Information, and all necessary attachments.

When preparing your budget, ensure the following information is included:

All key staff proposed to be paid by this grant.

The percentage of time the Project Director will devote to the project in full-time equivalents (FTEs).

Your organization’s fringe benefit rate and amount, as well as the basis for the computation.

The type of fringe benefits to be covered with Federal funds.

Itemized travel expenses (including type of travel), travel justification, and basis for lodging estimate.

Types of equipment and supplies, justifications, and estimates, ensuring that the budget is in line with the project description.

Information for all contracts and justification for any sole-source contracts Justification, description, and an itemized list of all consultant services.

Indirect cost information (either a copy of a Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement

(NICRA) or if no agreement exists and the applicant has never been approved for a NICRA, they may charge up to 10% de minimis). If an applicant is requesting the de minimis rate or indirect costs are not required, please state this in the budget narrative.

When submitting your application, ensure you have submitted the following:

SF-424 – Application for Federal Assistance (fillable PDF in Grants.gov) SF-424A – Budget Information and Instruction Form (fillable PDF in Grants.gov) SF-424B – Assurances for Non-Construction Programs (fillable PDF in Grants.gov) SF-LLL – Disclosure of Lobbying Activities AD-3030 – Representations Regarding Felony Conviction and Tax Delinquent Status for

Corporate Applicants (fillable PDF in Grants.gov). This document is only required if your organization is a corporation. The form is located in the optional tab of the grants.gov application package.

FNS-906 – Grant Program Accounting System & Financial Capability Questionnaire (contained in the related document section on grants.gov) http://www.grants.gov/ https://apply07.grants.gov/apply/forms/sample/SF424_4_0-V4.0.pdf https://apply07.grants.gov/apply/forms/sample/SF424A-V1.0.pdf https://apply07.grants.gov/apply/forms/sample/SF424B-V1.1.pdf https://apply07.grants.gov/apply/forms/sample/SFLLL_2_0-V2.0.pdf

Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (PDF - Upload using the “Add Attachments” button under SF-424 item #15) Resumes of key staff

Table of Contents

1. Program Description and Objectives

Executive Summary

Program Description

Key Objectives

2. Federal Award Information

Allowable Costs

Unallowable Costs

3. Eligibility Information

Eligible Applicants

Those applicants who fail to submit any required documents or forms will be deemed NONRESPONSIVE and therefore will be INELIGIBLE to participate in the competition and removed from further consideration

Cost Sharing or Matching Considerations

Pre-Award Screening Requirements

Acknowledgement of USDA Support

4. Application and Submission Information

Content and Form of Application Submission

Special Instructions:

Cover Sheet

Table of Contents

Application Project Summary

Project Narrative

Activities/Indicators Tracker

Application Budget Narrative

Indirect Cost Rate

Required Grant Application Forms

Submission Date

Preparing for Electronic Application Submission through Grants.gov

How to Submit an Application via Grants.gov

Grants.gov Receipt Requirements and Proof of Timely Submission

File attachment names longer than approximately 50 characters can cause problems processing packages. Please limit file attachment names. Also, do not use any special characters ( This includes periods (.) and spacing followed by a dash in the file. To separate words in naming a file, use underscore Intergovernmental Review

Funding Restrictions

5. Application Review Information

Review Criteria

Management Plan (15 points)

Review and Selection Process

6. Federal Award Administration Information

Federal Award Notice

Administrative and National Policy Requirements

Confidentiality of an Application

Conflict of Interest and Confidentiality of the Review Process

Administrative Regulations

Code of Federal Regulations and Other Government Requirements

Reporting Requirements

Financial Reports

Performance Progress Reports (PPR)

7. Federal Awarding Agency Contacts

8. Other Information

Debriefing Requests

Appendix

RFA Budget Narrative Checklist

FNS-906 Grant Program Accounting System & Financial Capability Questionnaire

FNS-908 Performance Progress Report (PPR)

1. Program Description and Objectives

Executive Summary

The purpose of the Substance Use Prevention Education in the WIC Program project grant is to develop trainings and resources to assist State and local agency WIC staff when addressing substance use prevention and referrals with WIC participants. This opportunity provides funding to develop and deliver a train-the-trainer model substance (i.e., drug and alcohol) use education program for WIC State agencies to deliver to WIC staff, revise the WIC Substance Use Prevention Guide, develop a custom online training course for WIC staff, develop a minimum of two participant education materials, and develop and present outcomes of these four activities to FNS staff.

Legislative Authority Under P.L. 117-328, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 USDA is provided the legislative authority “for necessary expenses to carry out the special supplemental nutrition program as authorized by section 17 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1786)” of which $14,000,000 are appropriated for infrastructure and technical assistance.

Nutrition risk is one of four eligibility criteria for participation in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). Nutrition risk includes conditions such as alcoholism or drug abuse. The Section 17 (e)(1) requires WIC State agencies to provide nutrition education and drug abuse education to all pregnant, postpartum, and breastfeeding participants and to parents or caretakers of infant and child participants in the program. Section 17 10(e)(2) further requires the USDA to prescribe standards to ensure that adequate nutrition education services and breastfeeding promotion and support are provided. The State agency must in turn provide training to WIC staff providing nutrition education. Section 17(h)(10) The Child Nutrition Act (CNA) of 1966 authorizes the use of infrastructure funds for the activities associated with this grant opportunity.

Therefore, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) seeks to enter a one-time, three-year cooperative agreement for up to $1,550,000 with an eligible entity to:

1. Develop a multi-day, in-person, train-the-trainer substance use education program for WIC staff and deliver seven trainings, one in each FNS region, to WIC State agency staff.

2. Review and deliver a revised WIC Substance Use Prevention Guide.

3. Develop a custom online training course for WIC staff on substance use education and deliver a finished product that is Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM) compatible to be used on the WIC Learning Online learning management system (LMS).

4. Develop and deliver at least two participant education materials on the dangers of substance use during pregnancy, postpartum, lactation and the dangers of substance use exposure to infants and children.

5. Develop and present outcomes of these four activities to FNS staff.

This request for application (RFA) announcement is for substance use prevention education and eligible entities include United States’ universities and colleges that are publicly or privately funded institutions of higher education. To be eligible, applicants must also demonstrate knowledge and expertise in substance use prevention and show a willingness to collaborate with https://wicworks.fns.usda.gov/resources/wic-substance-use-prevention-guide https://wicworks.fns.usda.gov/resources/wic-substance-use-prevention-guide https://wicworks.fns.usda.gov/resources/wic-substance-use-prevention-guide https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.congress.gov%2F117%2Fplaws%2Fpubl328%2FPLAW-117publ328.pdf&data=05%7C02%7CSavina.Sparker%40usda.gov%7C62eddbb0432442fb019608dc3e29a111%7Ced5b36e701ee4ebc867ee03cfa0d4697%7C1%7C0%7C638453595713448217%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=PQGBpjwzwTF9tzAy7pl1Rp%2Bsemsb%2BL1fehvVByBMjVE%3D&reserved=0 https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.congress.gov%2F117%2Fplaws%2Fpubl328%2FPLAW-117publ328.pdf&data=05%7C02%7CSavina.Sparker%40usda.gov%7C62eddbb0432442fb019608dc3e29a111%7Ced5b36e701ee4ebc867ee03cfa0d4697%7C1%7C0%7C638453595713448217%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=PQGBpjwzwTF9tzAy7pl1Rp%2Bsemsb%2BL1fehvVByBMjVE%3D&reserved=0 https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.govinfo.gov%2Fcontent%2Fpkg%2FCOMPS-10328%2Fpdf%2FCOMPS-10328.pdf&data=05%7C02%7CSavina.Sparker%40usda.gov%7C62eddbb0432442fb019608dc3e29a111%7Ced5b36e701ee4ebc867ee03cfa0d4697%7C1%7C0%7C638453595713440281%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=JBrs7yPZBx7cNL4xybvIhaa1XCShsaM8TY26Ug25IpY%3D&reserved=0 https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.govinfo.gov%2Fcontent%2Fpkg%2FCOMPS-10328%2Fpdf%2FCOMPS-10328.pdf&data=05%7C02%7CSavina.Sparker%40usda.gov%7C62eddbb0432442fb019608dc3e29a111%7Ced5b36e701ee4ebc867ee03cfa0d4697%7C1%7C0%7C638453595713440281%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=JBrs7yPZBx7cNL4xybvIhaa1XCShsaM8TY26Ug25IpY%3D&reserved=0 https://wicworks.fns.usda.gov/resources/wic-substance-use-prevention-guide the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration of the Department of Health and Human Services as outlined in this RFA.

Program Description

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) serves income-eligible pregnant, postpartum, and breastfeeding women, infants, and children up to age 5 who are at nutritional risk. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) administers WIC at the Federal level. At the state level, WIC is administered by 89 State agencies including all 50 states, 33 Indian Tribal Organizations, and American Samoa, the District of Columbia, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. WIC provides participants supplemental foods, nutrition education, including breastfeeding promotion and support, and referrals to health care and other social services. WIC staff delivers substance use education as part of the nutrition education and referral benefit.

Substance use among pregnant individuals contributes to low birth weight among newborn infants and infant mortality. The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 (Public Law 100-690) requires “drug abuse” (hereafter referred to as substance use) education for WIC participants by amending the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to include:

(1) substance abuse among health problems covered by such Act;

(2) substance abuse education along with the nutrition education provided under such Act;

and

(3) substance abuse education and instruction relating to such education under specified requirements for State plans.

It also requires the USDA to study appropriate methods of substance use education instruction and to prepare and distribute substance abuse education and materials.

Delivery of Substance Use Education in WIC WIC provides program participants with education, referrals, and coordination of services, with the goal of preventing substance use. Delivery of substance use education should be part of WIC’s routine services. It should not burden local agencies or reduce or interfere with providing supplemental food, nutrition education, and other health and human service referrals. WIC staff may conduct basic substance use screening but are not expected to diagnose or provide in-depth counseling related to substance use. WIC State agencies are responsible for ensuring that all local agencies appropriately integrate substance use information into the nutrition education provided to all women participants, parents, and caretakers.

This is an announcement of the availability of funds, up to $1,550,000, for a new cooperative agreement for FY 2024 through FY 2027 with a university or college that is a publicly or privately funded institution of higher education with experience in substance use education specific to the WIC population.

Through this opportunity, FNS seeks to support WIC State agencies in delivering substance use education through the development of technical assistance and training that reflects current substance use prevention practices. The awardee will:

https://www.fns.usda.gov/wic https://www.congress.gov/bill/100th-congress/house-bill/5210 https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/COMPS-10328/pdf/COMPS-10328.pdf

1. Develop a multi-day, in-person, train-the-trainer substance use prevention program for WIC staff and deliver seven trainings, one in each FNS region, to WIC State agency staff.

2. Review and deliver a revised WIC Substance Use Prevention Guide.

3. Develop a custom online training course for WIC staff on substance use education and deliver a finished product that is shareable content object reference model (SCORM) compatible to be used on the WIC Learning Online learning management system (LMS).

4. Develop and deliver at least two participant education materials on the dangers of substance use during pregnancy, postpartum, lactation and the dangers of substance use exposure to infants and children.

5. Develop and present outcomes of these four activities to FNS staff.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is the Federal agency that leads public health efforts to advance the behavioral health of the nation. One of their missions is to prevent substance misuse.

FNS is partnering with SAMHSA to:

• provide consultation to the awardee,

• serve as a resource for FNS and the awardee, and

• ensure materials created for this RFA are consistent with SAMHSA recommendations.

The awardee will create deliverables that align with SAMHSA and other relevant federal agencies recommendations on the topic of substance use (e.g., Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)).

The following expands on the activities necessary and required for the awardee to meet the aforementioned objectives by specifying a minimum set of activities that the awardee will conduct, in collaboration with FNS. We expect that applicants will propose innovative approaches to meet the overall goals and objectives of this cooperative agreement:

Objective 1: Trainings The awardee, in cooperation with FNS, will develop and deliver train-the trainer trainings on substance use prevention in WIC to support staff who provide drug and harmful substance use information and referrals to program participants.

• This multi-day, in-person, train-the trainer style training will take place in each of the seven FNS regions and will be led by a subject-matter expert, approved by FNS with feedback from SAMSHA. Trainings will deliver core content and be tailored to also address the “hot topics/issues” identified by each region through pre training queries for regional feedback, such that additional content/topics may be added, as appropriate, to meet the region-specific needs.

• Applicant should outline and propose topics that are relevant in substance use prevention education and referrals to the WIC population. Awardee will also propose how to determine topics and how to identify differences in relevant topics in the regions.

• Trainings will be held in seven regional locations*:

o San Fransisco, CA o Denver, CO o Chicago, IL o Boston, MA o Robbinsville, NJ o Atlanta, GA o Dallas, TX https://wicworks.fns.usda.gov/resources/wic-substance-use-prevention-guide https://www.samhsa.gov/ https://www.samhsa.gov/ https://www.cdc.gov/ https://nida.nih.gov/ https://www.fns.usda.gov/fns-regional-offices

*Exact locations may be negotiable with FNS with regional office approval. Final locations within each region must be accessible via airport and public transportation with access to lodging nearby.

• Awardee is responsible for all meeting logistics, to include but not be limited to audiovisual needs, venue, catering services, meeting materials for attendees, communications, etc. It is preferred that the awardee complete all trainings within the first two years of the cooperative agreement.

• Applicant should propose an evaluation of the in-person trainings. Awardee will report these findings to FNS at the conclusion of the project.

Objective 2: Revise the WIC Substance Use Prevention Guide The awardee will review and revise the Substance Use Prevention: Screening, Education, and Referral Resource Guide to reflect updated evidence based information and terminology.

Content must be consistent with federal agency recommendations (HHS SAMHSA, CDC, NIDA, etc.) and incorporate plain language and destigmatizing language throughout. The awardee will:

• Propose and execute a comprehensive plan to update the guide based on the latest science. The awardee will use subject matter expertise and knowledge of current evidence to ensure materials are relevant to the target population.

Objective 3: Develop Online WIC Staff Training Course The awardee will develop an online interactive WIC staff training course (e.g., Self-study videos). The applicant will propose and execute a plan that incorporates the following:

• Utilize at least 3 topics from the FNS approved in-person training (e.g. stigma reduction, communication skills, conversation starters, etc.) to develop the online training course.

• Course deliverable must be SCORM compliant for use on the WIC Learning Online LMS. Awardee will provide both the SCORM and native files to FNS.

• The entire course length should not exceed 1 hour, with each topic ranging from 15-20 minutes in length. Courses should build in a test your knowledge component (e.g. pre and post-test survey, etc.).

Objective 4: Create Participant Education Materials The awardee will create a minimum of two participant education materials to assist WIC staff. These materials will be made available by FNS to WIC staff through the publication ordering process and should be available as printable PDFs.

• Propose a plan to create a minimum of two participant education materials that addresses diversity and lays out a plan to deliver 500 printed copies of each participant education material to FNS.

o Diversity may be considered in a number of ways (e.g., utilizing images with diverse individuals, participants with different abilities, etc.).

• Awardee will provide FNS with all design files of the deliverable in an editable format for FNS’ use.

Objective 5: Present Outcomes Develop and present education materials to FNS National Office and Regional Offices that reflects outcomes of trainings and recommendations.

• Propose and execute a plan to evaluate trainings and propose topics that may be relevant to present to FNS.

Key Objectives

Below is a list of the Program Objectives. As noted in Section 4, within the “Activities/Indicators Tracker,” proposed activities should be clearly aligned to these objectives and their associated activities and indicators.

Application proposals must include all of the objectives listed below. Note that if awarded, awardee will be required to report on progress towards activities aligned with the required objective(s) and must use the FNS-908 Performance Progress Report. Carefully considering proposed activities and indicators will prepare awardee for their progress reporting requirements if awarded.

# Objective 1 Develop and deliver FNS approved trainings on substance use prevention in WIC to support staff who provide drug and harmful substance use information and referrals to program participants.

2 Review and revise the Substance Use Prevention: Screening, Education, and Referral Resource Guide to reflect updated evidence based information and terminology.

3 Develop an online interactive WIC staff training course (e.g., Self-study videos).

4 Create a minimum of two participant education materials to assist WIC staff (e.g., handout, pamphlet).

5 Develop and present materials to FNS National Office and Regional Offices that reflects outcomes of trainings and recommendations.

2. Federal Award Information The following information is intended to provide applicants with information to help make informed decisions about proposal submissions.

• Total amount of funding expected to award: $1,550,000

• Anticipated number of awards: 1

• Minimum award amount (award floor): $0

• Maximum award amount (award ceiling): $1,550,000

• Anticipated award announcement date: September 2024

• Anticipated period of performance (start and end date of the award): September 2024 –

September 2027

• Application due date: July 8, 2024

Please note:

• Grant awards are subject to the availability of funding and/or appropriations of funds.

• FNS reserves the right to use this solicitation and competition to award additional grants this year or the subsequent fiscal year, should additional funds become available.

Allowable Costs

Allowable costs may include but are not limited to:

• Equipment and Supplies: Expenditures for both equipment (i.e., items of personal property having a useful life of more than one year and a cost of $5,000 or more) and supplies are allowable expenses with prior approval by FNS. While these expenditures are allowable, FNS reserves the right to approve/disapprove these expenditures based upon the needs of the Agency and the proposed project.

• Travel: Expenditures for required personnel to travel to 7 trainings.

• Training Materials and Supplies: Printing and copying materials for in-person training events. This may also include postage to ship materials to in-person training events.

• Training Expenses: Rental expenses for in-person training venues, catering, and audiovisual equipment.

• Software/Web-based programs: Software used to create training videos or educational materials.

Unallowable Costs

Entertainment: Costs of entertainment, including amusement, diversion, and social activities and any associated costs are unallowable (such as mascot costumes, promotional items, etc.) unless there is a programmatic purpose and prior approval is granted by FNS.

A complete listing of selected items of costs is located at 2 CFR 200.420.

All costs proposed in the budget and detailed in the budget narrative must be allowable, reasonable, necessary, and allocable. Refer to 2 CFR Part 200 Subpart E – Cost Principles for a detailed description of all allowable and unallowable costs.

3. Eligibility Information

Eligible Applicants

Entities not meeting the eligibility definitions will be deemed ineligible and removed from competition without further consideration. The following are eligible entities, which are described in more detail below:

Eligible entities are accredited United States’ universities and colleges that are publicly or privately funded institutions of higher education.

Note: In cases where an applicant is deemed nonresponsive for failing to submit required elements or documents associated with this RFA, they will be considered ineligible and removed from consideration.

Those applicants who fail to submit any required documents or forms will be deemed NONRESPONSIVE and therefore will be INELIGIBLE to participate in the competition and removed from further consideration.

https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/subtitle-A/chapter-II/part-200/subpart-E

Cost Sharing or Matching Considerations

• There are no cost sharing or matching requirements for this award.

Pre-Award Screening Requirements

In reviewing applications in any discretionary grant competition, prior to making a Federal award, Federal awarding agencies, in accordance with 2 CFR 200.205, are required to review information available through any OMB-designated repositories of government-wide eligibility qualifications or financial integrity information. Additionally, Federal awarding agencies are required to have a framework in place for evaluating the risks posed by applicants before they receive Federal awards. The FNS review of risk posed by applicants will be based on the following:

• SAM.gov, the System for Award Management, the Official U.S. Government system that consolidated the capabilities of CCR/FedReg, ORCA, and EPLS

• FAPIIS, the Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System that has been established to track contractor misconduct and performance

• FNS Risk Assessment Questionnaire o Applicants must complete the Grant Program Accounting System & Financial

Capability Questionnaire that allows FNS to evaluate aspects of the applicant’s financial stability, quality of management systems, and history of performance, reports, and findings from audits. The questionnaire contains a number of questions that may be an indicator of potential risk.

The evaluation of the information obtained from the designated systems and the risk assessment questionnaire may result in FNS imposing special conditions or additional oversight requirements that correspond to the degree of risk assessed.

Acknowledgement of USDA Support

As outlined in 2 CFR 415.2, grant recipients shall include acknowledgement of USDA Food and Nutrition Service support on any publications written or published with grant support and, if feasible, on any publication reporting the results of, or describing, a grant-supported activity.

Recipients shall include acknowledgement of USDA Food and Nutrition Service support on any audiovisual which is produced with grant support, and which has a direct production cost of over $5,000.

• When acknowledging USDA support, use the following language: "This material is based upon work that is supported by the Food and Nutrition Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture.” Awardee should follow the USDA Visual Standards Guide when using the USDA logo.

• Grant recipients may be asked to host USDA officials for a site visit during the course of their grant award. All costs associated with the site visit will be paid for by USDA and are not expected to be included in grant budgets.

4. Application and Submission Information

Content and Form of Application Submission

FNS strongly encourages eligible applicants interested in applying to this program to adhere to the following applicant format. The proposed project plan should be presented on 8 ½” x 11” https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/visual-standards-guide-january-2013.pdf white paper with at least 1-inch margins on the top and bottom. All pages should be single-spaced in 12-point font. The project description with relevant information should be capture on no more than 20 pages, not including the cover sheet, table of content, resumes, letter(s) of commitment, endorsement letter(s), budget narrative(s), appendices, and required forms. All pages, excluding form pages must be numbered.

Special Instructions:

• Late application submission will not be considered in this competition. FNS will not consider additions or revisions to applications unless they are submitted via Grants.gov by the deadline. No additions or revisions will be accepted after the deadline.

• Letters of support must be submitted with the application through grants.gov. Letters submitted via email will not be considered.

• Applications submitted without the required supporting documents, forms, and certification will not be considered.

• Applications missing a written proposal or budget narrative will not be considered and deemed nonresponsive, and removed from further consideration.

• FNS reserves the right to request clarification on any application submitted in response to this solicitation.

• Applications not submitted via Grants.gov will not be considered.

• If multiple application packages are submitted through Grants.gov by the same applicant in response to this solicitation, FNS will accept the latest application package successfully submitted. All other packages submitted by the applicant will be removed from this competition.

Cooperative Agreement This grant will be awarded in the form of a cooperative agreement. This agreement is a legal instrument reflecting a relationship between the Federal government and the awardee. The roles and responsibilities of both the awardee and FNS will be stated in the terms and conditions of the cooperative agreement.

FNS’ involvement in this cooperative agreement will largely entail providing feedback on proposed deliverables and other sources of dissemination, reviewing and approving materials before implementation, and suggesting approaches in line with the scope of WIC services, federal regulations, and evidence based federal substance use prevention recommendations.

Roles and Responsibilities of Awardee

• Select or hire appropriately credentialed personnel to manage and operate project components.

• Provide administrative oversight and monitoring for progress and compliance with WIC program-specific requirements.

• Awardee must develop an integrated master plan that includes project milestones and deliverables, as well as periodic reporting.

• Keep FNS informed on critical junctures and checkpoints after award of cooperative agreement, including management plan, budget, administration plan, that are submitted in preliminary form in the application.

• Meet specific obligations and approval points as specified by the cooperative agreement.

• Submit timely progress reports, financial reports and annual reports throughout the award period, and submit a final summary report and final financial report.

• Account for project funds and establish financial and managerial reporting and controls to assure project funds are not used inappropriately. A separate and distinct audit trail must be established and maintained for the expenditure of project funds that clearly demonstrates that they are used solely for project purposes.

• Provide FNS with any data files created and used to generate reports, presentations, and publications resulting from this grant.

• Coordinate other grant-related dissemination activities.

Roles and Responsibilities of FNS

• To the extent practicable, FNS will provide technical consultation to the awardee as needed. FNS will comment on major project aspects and issues in advance of their implementation in a manner and timeframe agreed upon between the awardee and FNS.

• At FNS’s discretion, FNS involvement with the awardee may include:

o Providing comments on and having ongoing conversations with the awardee regarding their plans to meet this RFA’s requirements.

o Providing comments on and discussing presentations, including and not limited to the overall messaging, but region-specific information to be shared.

o Providing learning objectives of LMS recorded training and providing comments on content to be shared.

o Providing comments on and discussing approach to review and revise the WIC

Substance Use Prevention Guide.

o Receiving a courtesy copy of all awardee-produced documents (e.g. Final report, training materials, educational materials, etc.) resulting from this cooperative agreement.

Cover Sheet The cover page should include, at a minimum:

• Applicant’s name and mailing address

• Primary contact’s name, job title, mailing address, phone number and e-mail address

• Grant program title

Table of Contents The Table of Contents should include relevant sections, subsections and associated page numbers.

Application Project Summary The application should clearly describe the proposed project activities and anticipated outcomes that would result if the proposal were to be funded.

Project Narrative The project narrative should clearly identify what the applicant is proposing and how it will address a solution, the expected results and/or benefits once the solution is achieved, and how it will meet the RFA program scope and objectives. The proposed project methodology should describe the project design, address program specific methodology needs, procedures, timetables, monitoring/oversight, and the organization’s project staffing.

In preparing the narrative, provide the following information requested, in the order presented below:

• Introduction/Background:

o Briefly explain the reasons for your interest to apply for this RFA.

o Provide background information that demonstrates the proposed team’s understanding of the WIC program, WIC service delivery operations, substance use and misuse, substance use as it relates to maternal and fetal health, and substance use as it relates to breastfeeding. Include information about experience related to these topics. Please note any successes, lessons learned, and challenges from previous work and education activities on topics previous listed.

• Objectives, Activities, and Timeline:

o Clearly state project objectives, use descriptive statements that discuss what the project team proposes to accomplish, and include specific activities with target dates that accomplish all project objectives and activities. Describe in detail demonstrated experience as it relates to each objective. All objectives should lead to a clearly stated goal of this RFA. The project timeline should start on the award date and end no more than 36 months later.

o Include a project timeline with all activities that will contribute to accomplishing the project objectives. The timeline should incorporate FNS review time of 1-2 weeks for each written deliverable, with a minimum of two rounds of FNS feedback for the review of training content, LMS content, manual and participant education materials. For planning purposes, use the date of award as planned and include dates for important project milestones and deadlines and include dates for items described in the Key Objectives, Purpose of Cooperative Agreement, and Program Specific Requirements sections of this RFA.

• Program Administration:

o Describe a plan to develop and administer all aspects of the project. The proposal demonstrates a clear understanding of the purpose of the project, the needs of FNS as described in the RFA, and the goals of the education content within the public health community-based setting such as the WIC program. The technical approach is appropriate to address the project goals.

o Evidence Review: The project narrative should clearly identify strategies to use evidence-based information as the basis for all education topics (e.g., substance use and misuse, substance use as it relates to maternal and fetal health, substance use as it relates to breastfeeding, etc.).

• Management:

o Provide a clear description of the activities to be undertaken to manage the project to ensure that project activities are completed on time, within budget, and with quality results. Provide a clear description of how funds will be administered.

Describe how administrative procedure, staffing, accounting activities, and quality assurance including data quality assurance procedures, data security and privacy controls, and recordkeeping will be executed.

• Staffing:

o Describe the organizational structure and identify the key personnel who will manage the project. Describe roles and responsibilities of these individuals, as well as their relevant qualifications, expertise, and experience, and a level of effort specified for specific staff proposed. Explain contingency plans for staff turnover.

• Resumes/CVs (this portion will not be considered in the 20-page limit):

o To assist reviewers in assessing the competence and experience of the proposed project staff, include a resume or curriculum vitae of the key personnel expected to work on the project.

Activities/Indicators Tracker Proposed Activities and indicators measuring success must be mapped to Program Objectives (as described in Section 1 – Program Description) in the below format (note that additional Activities/Indicators can be added as needed).

Note: Indicators are defined as any metric you anticipate will be able to be tracked during the period of performance of the grant. Common examples include Number of People Attended, Number of People Impacted, Number of Conferences Delivered, Number of Materials Created, Number of Trainings, Number of People Trained.

Example Objective #1 Develop and deliver FNS approved trainings on substance use prevention in WIC to support staff who provide drug and harmful substance use information and referrals to program participants.

Activity Regional train-the-trainer trainings Indicator(s) No. of trainings; No. of staff trained Activity Measuring attendees’ knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors Indicator(s) No. impacted

Objective # Activity Indicator(s)

Objective # Activity Indicator(s)

Application Budget Narrative The budget narrative, formatted as a table, should correspond with the proposed project narrative and application budget. The narrative must justify and support the bona fide needs of the budget’s direct cost. The budget and budget narrative must be in line with the proposed project description. If the budget includes indirect costs, the applicant must provide a copy of its most recently approved Federal indirect cost rate agreement. Budget categories in this table must match those listed on the SF-424A form. If the budget table is created in a spreadsheet, it must be formatted to fit on an 8.5 x 11-inch page, with a font no smaller than 11-point Times New Roman. All funding requests must be in whole dollars.

Indirect Cost Rate A current Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (NICRA), negotiated with a cognizant Federal agency, should be used to charge indirect costs. Indirect costs may not exceed the negotiated rate. If a NICRA is used, the percentage and base should be indicated. If the applicant does not have, and has never been approved for, a NICRA, they may charge up to 10% de minimis. In this instance, the applicant must indicate they are requesting the de minimis rate. An applicant may elect not to charge indirect costs and instead use all grant funds for direct costs. If indirect costs are not charged, the phrase “none requested” should be stated in the budget narrative. For questions related to the indirect cost rate, please work with the Grant Officer as noted in Section 7 of this RFA.

Note: Each organization is assigned to a single federal agency (by the Office of Management and Budget) that acts on behalf of all federal agencies in indirect cost rate negotiations and is referred to as the “cognizant agency.”

Required Grant Application Forms The required grants.gov forms may be previewed at grants.gov/web/grants/forms/forms-repository.html. These forms are part of the grants.gov Workspace application.

• Non-Construction Grant Projects Forms: SF-424 Family o Application and Instruction for Federal Assistance (SF-424) o Budget Information and Instructions (SF-424A) o Assurance-Non-Construction Programs (SF-424B)

• SF LLL (Disclosure of Lobbying Activities) o Indicate on your form whether your organization intends to conduct lobbying activities. If you organization does not intend to lobby, write “Not Applicable” in boxes required to be completed.

• Additional Required Forms and Information o Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) number. Please see below for further information o SAM registration. Please see below for further information.

Submission Date

Complete grant applications must be uploaded to grants.gov by 11:59 PM EDT on the due date listed on the cover page.

• Applications must be submitted via grants.gov. Mailed, emailed, or hand-delivered application packages will not be accepted. For further instructions, see the “Preparing for Electronic Application Submission through Grants.gov” below.

• Late or incomplete applications will not be considered.

• FNS will not consider additions or revisions to applications unless they are submitted via grants.gov by the deadline. No additions or revisions will be accepted after the deadline.

• If multiple application packages are submitted through grants.gov by the same applicant in response to this solicitation, FNS will accept the latest application package successfully submitted. All other packages submitted by the applicant will be removed from this competition.

• Those applicants who fail to submit any required documents or forms will be deemed NONRESPONSIVE, and therefore will be INELIGIBLE to participate in the competition and removed from further consideration.

FNS strongly encourages applicants to begin the registration process at least four weeks before the due date and to submit applications to grants.gov at least one week before the deadline to allow time to troubleshoot any issues should they arise. Please note that upon submission, grants.gov may send multiple confirmation notices. Applicants should ensure receipt of confirmation that the application was accepted.

https://www.grants.gov/forms/forms-repository/sf-424-family https://www.grants.gov/forms/forms-repository/sf-424-family http://www.grants.gov/

FNS will not accept applications outside of grants.gov. Applicants experiencing difficulty submitting applications through grants.gov should contact applicant support via the toll-free number 1-800-518-4726 and email at support@grants.gov. This service is available 24/7.

Preparing for Electronic Application Submission through Grants.gov

Applicants must register with grants.gov and SAM.gov in order to submit an application to FNS via grants.gov as required.

In order to submit an application, you must:

1. Obtain a UEI number

What is a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI)?

A UEI is a unique number assigned to all entities (public and private companies, individuals, institutions, or organizations) who register to do business with the federal government. For more information, visit the U.S. General Services Administration website.

Where do I go to learn more about the UEI?

The U.S. General Services Administration Unique Entity Identifier Update page contains the most up-to-date information about the UEI.

Note: After April 4, 2022, entities can register in SAM.gov and will be assigned their “SAM UEI.” They will no longer obtain or use a “DUNS UEI” for entity registration or reporting.

For additional information on the UEI process, please visit SAM.gov.

2. Register in the System for Award Management (SAM)

• On April 4, 2022, the UEI used across the federal government changed from the DUNS number to the UEI (generated by SAM.gov).

• SAM combines federal procurement systems and the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance into one system. Visit SAM.gov for additional information.

• To register, you must have your organization’s UEI, the organization’s Tax ID Number (TIN), and taxpayer name (as it appears on the last tax return). It may take up to 5 to 7 business days or more to register and/or complete the migration of permissions and/or the renewal of an entity record.

• All applicants must have current SAM status at the time of application submission and throughout the duration of a Federal Award in accordance with 2 CFR Part 25.

• FNS strongly encourages applicants to begin this process at least 3 weeks before the due date of the grant solicitation.

3. Create a Grants.gov Account

The next step in the registration process is to create an account with grants.gov.

Applicants must know their organization’s Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) to complete this process. For more detailed instruction about creating a profile on grants.gov, visit grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/registration.html.

mailto:support@grants.gov http://www.grants.gov/ https://sam.gov/content/home https://www.gsa.gov/about-us/organization/federal-acquisition-service/technology-transformation-services/office-of-systems-management/integrated-award-environment-iae/iae-systems-information-kit/unique-entity-identifier-update?gsaredirect=entityid https://www.gsa.gov/about-us/organization/federal-acquisition-service/technology-transformation-services/office-of-systems-management/integrated-award-environment-iae/iae-systems-information-kit/unique-entity-identifier-update?gsaredirect=entityid https://sam.gov/content/home https://sam.gov/content/home https://www.grants.gov/applicants/applicant-registration

How to Submit an Application via Grants.gov

Applicants must apply online using Workspace. Workspace is a shared, online environment where members of a grant team may simultaneously access and edit different web forms within an application. For each funding opportunity announcement or RFA, you can create individual instances of a workspace.

For additional training resources, including video tutorials, visit grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/applicant-training.html.

Applicant Support: Grants.gov provides applicants 24/7 support (except Federal holidays) via the toll-free number 1-800-518-4726 and email at support@grants.gov. If you are experiencing difficulties with your submission, it is best to contact grants.gov support and get a ticket number.

The Support Center ticket number will assist the Center with tracking your issue.

For programmatic and financial-related questions regarding this specific grant opportunity, please contact the Grant Officer noted in Section 7 – Federal Awarding Agency Contacts of this

RFA.

NOTICE: Special Characters and Naming Conventions All applicants must follow grants.gov guidance on file naming conventions. To avoid submission issues, please follow the guidance provided by grants.gov (per the grants.gov Frequently Asked Questions or FAQ).

Are there restrictions on file names for any attachment I include with my application package?

e.g., ! @ # $ % ^ & * - ‘). (_). For example, Attached_File.pdf.

If these guidelines for file names are not followed, your application will be rejected. FNS will not accept any application rejected from the grants.gov portal due to incorrect naming conventions.

Additional information can be found at grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/applicant-faqs.html#attachments.

Grants.gov Receipt Requirements and Proof of Timely Submission

All applications must be received by 11:59 PM EDT on the due date listed on the cover page, as detailed in Section 4 – Submission Date. Proof of timely submission is automatically recorded by grants.gov. An electronic date/time stamp is generated within the system when the application is successfully received by grants.gov. The applicant Authorized Organization Representative (AOR) will receive an acknowledgement of receipt and a tracking number (e.g., GRANTXXXXXXXX) from grants.gov with the successful transmission of their application. Applicant AORs will also receive the official date/time stamp and a grants.gov tracking number in an email serving as proof of their timely submission.

When FNS successfully retrieves the application from grants.gov and acknowledges the download of submissions, grants.gov will provide an electronic acknowledgement of receipt of the application to the email address of the applicant with the AOR role. Again, proof of timely submission shall be the official date and time that grants.gov receives your application.

Applications received by grants.gov after the established due date for the program will be considered late and will not be considered for FNS funding.

https://www.grants.gov/applicants/workspace-overview.html…