Foa_Content_of_HHS-2022-ACF-OCC-TH-0074_published.pdf

Administration for Children and Families

Office of Child Care

Tribal Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program: Development and Implementation Grants

HHS-2022-ACF-OCC-TH-0074

Application Due Date: 04/15/2022

Table of Contents Executive Summary

I. Program Description

II. Federal Award Information

III. Eligibility Information

III.1. Eligible Applicants

III.2. Cost Sharing or Matching

III.3. Other

IV. Application and Submission Information

IV.1. Address to Request Application Package

IV.2. Content and Form of Application Submission

Required Forms, Assurances, and Certifications

The Project Description

The Project Budget and Budget Justification

Application Submission Options

IV.3. Unique Entity Identifier and System for Award Management (SAM)

IV.4. Submission Dates and Times

Explanation of Due Dates

Acknowledgement of Received Application

IV.5. Intergovernmental Review

IV.6. Funding Restrictions

IV.7. Other Submission Requirements

V. Application Review Information

V.1. Criteria

V.2. Review and Selection Process

V.3. Anticipated Announcement and Federal Award Dates

VI. Federal Award Administration Information

VI.1. Federal Award Notices

VI.2. Administrative and National Policy Requirements

VI.3. Reporting

VII. HHS Award Agency Contact(s)

VIII. Other Information

Reference Websites

Application Checklist

Appendix

Funding Opportunity Title:

Tribal Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program: Development and Implementation Grants Announcement Type:

Initial Funding Opportunity Number:

HHS-2022-ACF-OCC-TH-0074

Primary CFDA Number:

93.872 Due Date for Applications:

04/15/2022 Executive Summary Notice:

Applicants are strongly encouraged to read the entire notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) carefully and observe the application formatting requirements listed in Section IV.2. Content and Form of Application Submission. For more information on applying for grants, please visit "How to Apply for a Grant" on the ACF Grants & Funding Page at https://www.acf.hhs.gov/grants/how-apply-grant.

The Office of Child Care within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) announces the availability of funds for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 Tribal Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Grant Program: Development and Implementation Grants. Funds will support 63-month grants (cooperative agreements) between ACF and federally-recognized Indian tribes (or a consortium of Indian tribes), tribal organizations, or urban Indian organizations to support the following: conduct community needs and readiness assessments;

develop the infrastructure needed for planning and implementation of evidence-based maternal, infant, and early childhood home visiting programs; provide high-quality, evidence-based home visiting services to pregnant women and families with young children aged birth to kindergarten entry; implement performance measurement and continuous quality improvement (CQI) activities; and engage in activities to strengthen early childhood systems of support for families with young children.

Home visiting programs are intended to promote outcomes such as improved maternal and prenatal health, infant health, and child health and development; reduced child maltreatment;

improved parenting practices related to child development outcomes; improved school readiness;

improved family socio-economic status; improved coordination of referrals to community resources and supports; and reduced incidence of injuries, crime, and domestic violence. The goals of the Tribal Home Visiting program are to support healthy, happy, successful American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) children and families through a coordinated, high-quality, evidence-based home visiting strategy, and to continue to build the evidence base for home visiting in tribal communities. ACF and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), the agencies collaborating to implement the Tribal Home Visiting program within the https://www.acf.hhs.gov/grants/how-apply-grant

Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), also intend for the program to result in a coordinated system of early childhood home visiting in tribal communities that has the capacity to provide infrastructure and supports to assure high-quality, evidence-based practice.

This funding is intended for tribal entities that do not have prior experience with implementing evidence-based home visiting models, performance measurement systems, and CQI activities.

I. Program Description Statutory Authority Social Security Act, Title V, section 511(h)(2)(A) (42 U.S.C. 711(h)(2)(A))

Description Background

The Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program The Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting program (MIECHV), administered by HRSA, in collaboration with ACF, responds to the diverse needs of children and families in at-risk communities and provides an opportunity for significant collaboration and partnership at the federal, state, tribal, and community levels to improve health and development outcomes for at-risk children through evidence-based home visiting programs. The goals of the MIECHV program are as follows: (1) strengthen and improve the programs and activities carried out under Title V of the Social Security Act, Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grant; (2) improve coordination of services for at-risk communities; and (3) identify and provide comprehensive services to improve outcomes for eligible families who reside in at-risk communities.

Information about the HRSA MIECHV grants to states and territories can be found at http://mchb.hrsa.gov/programs/homevisiting/.

Congress appropriated $400 million annually for FY 2018-2022 for the MIECHV program as part of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (Public.Law. 115-123). Section 511(h)(2)(A) of Title V of the Social Security Act authorizes the Secretary of the HHS to award grants to Indian tribes (or a consortium of Indian tribes), tribal organizations, or urban Indian organizations to conduct an early childhood home visiting program. The legislation sets aside 3 percent of the total MIECHV appropriation for grants to tribal entities and requires that the tribal grants, to the greatest extent practicable, be consistent with the requirements of the MIECHV grants to states and territories, and include conducting a needs assessment and establishing benchmarks.

The Tribal Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program

Along with the goals of the overall MIECHV program, the Tribal MIECHV Program has the following specific goals:

Supporting the development of happy, healthy, and successful AI/AN children and families through a coordinated home visiting strategy that addresses critical maternal and child health, development, early learning, family support, and child abuse and neglect prevention needs;

Implementing high-quality, culturally relevant evidence-based home visiting programs in AI/AN communities;

http://mchb.hrsa.gov/programs/homevisiting/

Expanding the evidence base around home visiting interventions with Native populations;

and

Supporting and strengthening cooperation and coordination and promoting linkages among various programs that serve expectant families, young children, and families, resulting in coordinated, comprehensive early childhood systems in recipient communities.

The Tribal MIECHV program aims to provide critical maternal, infant, and early childhood home visiting services to eligible families in AI/AN tribal communities, including Indian tribes or urban Indian centers (as defined by section 4 of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act, Public.Law. 94-437). For generations, many AI/AN people have taken care of and attended to the needs of young families in their communities through informal home visits as a traditional cultural practice. More recently, tribal communities have recognized the potential of more structured home visiting programs to support improved child and family outcomes in tribal communities and are implementing a variety of home visiting programs using diverse tribal, public, and private funding streams.

While strong evidence indicates that home visiting is an effective intervention strategy for working with vulnerable families, less is known about the value of these services in tribal settings. Evidence-based home visiting services - that may include prescriptive curricula, intensive training, fidelity monitoring, and data collection - remain a relatively new approach in many tribal settings, and may be challenging to adopt in the context of tribal sovereignty and self-determination. These challenges are complicated further by the lack of evidence-based practices developed specifically in and for use with AI/AN populations; there is currently only one home visiting model that meets the HHS criteria for evidence of effectiveness in tribal communities, though several other models have a long history of successful implementation in tribal communities (for more information, see http://homvee.acf.hhs.gov). As is true of most research on home visiting and other prevention and intervention approaches, the limited inclusion of diverse study samples limits understanding of the applicability of study findings for communities that differ from those included in the specific research studies. There is a great need to expand and strengthen the evidence base for home visiting interventions targeted to AI/AN populations and communities.

Since 2010, ACF and HRSA have supported the planning and implementation of the MIECHV program. Through these and other initiatives, tribal communities have spent years developing strong capacity and infrastructure for delivering evidence-based home visiting services, implementing performance measurement and continuous quality improvement systems, developing early childhood systems, and conducting rigorous evaluation. With 48 grants and $128.5 million awarded to 30 tribal entities to date, the Tribal MIECHV Program has been an unprecedented expansion of high-quality, culturally-relevant, evidence-based home visiting services for vulnerable AI/AN families and children.

More information about the Tribal MIECHV Program, current recipients, and the communities they serve can be found at https://www.acf.hhs.gov/occ/initiatives/tribal-home-visiting

Required Grant Activities http://homvee.acf.hhs.gov/Models.aspx https://www.acf.hhs.gov/occ/initiatives/tribal-home-visiting

Please note that a Definitions section is located in the Appendix and provides important additional information about expectations for recipients under this NOFO; items that are italicized are defined in this section.

This NOFO provides FY 2022 funds for Tribal MIECHV Development and Implementation Grants (cooperative agreements) and is intended for tribal entities that do not have prior experience with implementing evidence-based home visiting models, performance measurement systems, and CQI activities. For the purposes of this NOFO, tribal entities include Indian tribes (or a consortium of Indian tribes), tribal organizations, or urban Indian organizations. Please refer to Section III.1. Eligible Applicants for a complete list of eligible applicants.

This NOFO is intended to reach communities that are underserved by evidence-based home visiting programs designed for AI/AN populations.

During the 63-month project period of the cooperative agreements, funds will support the following:

Conducting a coordinated community needs and readiness assessment of at-risk tribal communities through a collaborative process that engages all relevant community members and interested parties

Collaborative planning efforts to address identified needs by developing capacity and infrastructure to fully plan and implement high-quality home visiting programs;

Providing high-quality culturally relevant, evidence-based home visiting services to expectant families, and parents and primary caregivers of young children aged birth to kindergarten entry;

Engaging in activities to support stronger early childhood systems and cross-program collaboration in tribal communities to maximize the success of home visiting programs and support the comprehensive needs of expectant families, parents and caregivers, and children from birth to kindergarten entry living in at-risk tribal communities;

Conducting performance measurement activities and developing a data system and mechanism to measure, track, and report on progress toward meeting legislatively mandated benchmarks for participating children and families;

Engaging in CQI activities; and Participating in MIECHV-funded evaluation opportunities to promote learning and contribute to the MIECHV Learning Agenda (https://mchb.hrsa.gov/sites/default/files/mchb/programs-impact/miechv-learning-agenda-overview.pdf)

The first 15 months of the grant will be considered Year 1 for this project. Funds for Year 1 will be awarded to recipients to complete the following: (1) conduct a comprehensive community needs and readiness assessment; and (2) develop a plan and begin to build capacity to respond to identified needs through a home visiting program. Pending successful Year 1 activities and submission of a non-competing continuation application that includes a needs assessment and approvable plan for responding to identified needs through an evidence-based home visiting program, funds will be provided for implementation in Years 2-5. In Years 2-5, recipients will implement the various components of their approved plan to respond to identified needs (submitted during Year 1) and work closely with ACF and HRSA to ensure https://mchb.hrsa.gov/sites/default/files/mchb/programs-impact/miechv-learning-agenda-overview.pdf https://mchb.hrsa.gov/sites/default/files/mchb/programs-impact/miechv-learning-agenda-overview.pdf implementation of high-quality, evidence-based home visiting programs in their community and participation in performance measurement and CQI activities.

The activities that recipients carry out throughout this grant will support tribally and locally driven decision-making, development, implementation, and evaluation of grant-funded projects that are high-quality, evidence-based, and culturally responsive to the community. Throughout the cooperative agreement, ACF and contractors will provide technical assistance and support to carry out required activities while respecting tribal sovereignty and self-determination.

Year 1: Needs Assessment, Planning, and Capacity Building Year 1 grant activities are designed to support recipients in understanding the needs and capacities of their communities and designing and building capacity to implement and evaluate programs that meet these needs and fulfill grant requirements. In Year 1 of the cooperative agreement, recipients must therefore: (A) conduct a comprehensive community needs and readiness assessment; (B) build organizational and community infrastructure and capacity to:

implement high-quality evidence-based home visiting services, conduct performance measurement and CQI activities, and participate in MIECHV-funded evaluation activities, and

(C) develop an implementation plan that describes how the recipient will carry out these activities during Years 2-5.

A. Comprehensive Community Needs and Readiness Assessment

The goals of the needs and readiness assessment that will be completed by Tribal MIECHV Development and Implementation Grant recipients are to identify program and community strengths and needs and, based on this, prioritize goals and strategies to meet needs through home visiting programs. The assessment will give recipients the opportunity to assess the quality and capacity of existing community services to meet the needs of young children and families in the community, and develop and sustain partnerships with a comprehensive array of services at the community, tribal, and state level. The needs and readiness assessment that will be conducted in Year 1 must use mixed methods to complete the following:

Identify the at-risk tribal community (or communities) in the recipient's target area by collecting data on the health and well-being of individuals and families in these communities, including both strengths/protective factors and risk factors such as:

premature births; low birth weight; infant mortality, including infant death due to abuse and neglect or other indicators of at-risk prenatal, maternal, newborn, or child health;

poverty; crime; domestic violence; high-school dropout; substance abuse; unemployment;

and child maltreatment.

Assess the quality and capacity of any existing maternal, infant, and early childhood home visiting programs in the at-risk community.

Assess the community’s capacity for providing substance abuse treatment and counseling services to individuals and families in need of such treatment or services.

Assess the community’s status and capacity to implement and integrate home visiting services into an early childhood system of support for families, including an assessment of existing or ongoing efforts or resources to develop a coordinated network of supports for expectant families and families with young children at the community level.

The needs and readiness assessment must involve and engage community members and partners.

In addition, the assessment must be coordinated with and take into account, to the greatest extent possible and as appropriate for the community, other needs assessments conducted by federal, state, tribal, local, and private entities, such as the State MIECHV needs assessment and those related to maternal and child health; public health; mental health and substance abuse; child abuse and neglect; domestic violence, crime, homelessness, and poverty; and those conducted by Head Start and Early Head Start and other early care and education programs in the community.

Finally, recipients will consider data-source characteristics as they develop and carry out their assessments.

Through conducting a needs and readiness assessment, recipients will set the stage for strengthened cooperation and coordination and promote linkages among various programs that serve expectant families, young children, and families in tribal communities. Coordination across programs helps ensure that high-quality, evidence-based home visiting programs are part of a comprehensive, aligned strategy for improving child and family well-being in tribal communities.

B. Planning and Capacity Building

During Year 1, recipients will develop infrastructure and capacity necessary to implement and sustain high-quality, culturally-relevant, evidence-based maternal, infant, and early childhood home visiting programs in AI/AN communities. Planning and capacity building activities include, but are not limited to, the following.

Based on the results of the needs assessment, recipients, in collaboration, with tribal, organizational, and community partners, their local advisory committee, model developers, and ACF, will develop capacity to implement evidence-based home visiting models that meet the needs of the community and families, as well as any necessary cultural or contextual adaptations, enhancements, and supplements. This includes the following:

o Determining the target population for services o Setting program goals and objectives;

o Selecting the home visiting model or models it plans to implement to meet the identified needs of the community and target population;

o Determining and developing necessary adaptations and enhancements;

o Working with developers of selected home visiting models to establish formal agreements;

o Participating in training needed to implement selected models, adaptations, enhancements, and supplements;

o Developing program policies and procedures; and o Engaging in other activities that will support effective implementation with fidelity of the selected home visiting models, adaptations, enhancements, and supplements.

Selecting, developing, and supervising a qualified home visiting program workforce, including managers:

o During Year 1, recipients will build administrative and management capacity to support effective implementation of home visiting services. In particular, building on the needs assessment, recipients will hire, train, and develop staff and establish infrastructure to effectively implement the home visiting program as designed, including data collection, performance measurement, and CQI activities.

o Recipients will also build infrastructure to ensure the provision of reflective supervision, administrative supervision, clinical supervision, and infant and early childhood mental health consultation to home visitors funded through the MIECHV grant. This includes developing and implementing policies and procedures that assure the effective provision of reflective supervision program-wide with fidelity to the home visiting model or models implemented.

Developing or improving an integrated data management information system o During Year 1, recipients will consider the ability of existing management information and data systems to support the collection, input, use, and reporting of data, including but not limited to participant demographic and service utilization data, program service delivery data, performance measurement data, and implementation data to support home visiting model program quality and fidelity and CQI. Recipients will work with ACF and technical assistance providers to begin to develop and/or improve their management information systems to be able to meet the implementation and evaluation needs of the program.

Developing plans and infrastructure to support performance measurement and data-driven CQI activities o In coordination with efforts to develop or improve management information systems, recipients will develop individualized performance measurement plans that will reflect the Tribal MIECHV performance measurement system. Building on these performance measurement plans and management information systems, recipients will build systems, policies, and processes for conducting data-driven CQI activities.

Working together with early childhood program partners, tribal leaders, elders, families, and community members to consider how best to meet the needs of families from pregnancy to kindergarten entry through the home visiting program and development of an early childhood system of support for families.

o Recipients are expected to continually engage tribal leaders, community members, families, and partners throughout the development and implementation of their home visiting programs to maximize the potential for successful, sustainable, and responsive services. In addition, in partnership with other tribal, local, and state partners (including providers of health, mental health, oral health, early childhood development, home visiting, substance abuse, domestic violence, child maltreatment prevention, child welfare, education, housing, and other social services), recipients must engage in activities to support the development, improvement, and implementation of an early childhood system of supports for families that includes home visiting. Where applicable and appropriate, and in order to support ACF and HRSA’s strong commitment to state/tribal collaboration, this list of partners should include state MIECHV awardees.

C. Development of an Implementation Plan

Upon award, ACF will provide recipients with detailed guidance for submitting a needs and readiness assessment and an implementation plan that describes how the recipient will carry out required grant activities in Years 2-5, including implementing home visiting services, conducting performance measurement and CQI activities, and participating in MIECHV-funded evaluation opportunities to promote learning and contribute to the MIECHV Learning Agenda. This detailed guidance will clearly lay out the deliverables that recipients will be required to submit.

Recipients will be expected to submit the needs assessment and implementation plan in accordance with submission milestones provided by ACF during Year 1. Recipients must engage in needs and readiness assessment, planning, and capacity-building activities during Year 1, but will not fully implement their plan or begin providing services until this plan is approved by

ACF.

Upon award, recipients will work closely with ACF and technical assistance (TA) providers from the Programmatic Assistance for Tribal Home Visiting (PATH) and the Tribal Evaluation Institute (TEI) in the development of the plan. The overall goals of TA are to build the capacity of recipients to carry out grant activities. While ACF recognizes that many home visiting models that recipients are likely to implement provide model-specific TA, ACF anticipates providing TA in several areas, including: identifying and accessing data sources and developing methodologies for needs assessments; strategic planning; collaboration and partnerships; communication and marketing; fiscal leveraging; implementing home visiting programs; selecting, adapting, and enhancing home visiting model(s) to meet the target populations' needs; data and information systems; continuous quality improvement; workforce development; strategies for coordinating and providing TA to programs within the community; early childhood systems building; training;

outreach; sustainability; and evaluation. The above list of topics is not meant to be exhaustive and ACF intends to tailor TA to meet needs identified by the recipients.

There will be many TA opportunities to support recipients with the development of a quality implementation plan, including monthly calls, webinars, individual TA, the grant kickoff meeting, and the possibility of on-site TA, as well as additional tools and resources. The Implementation Plan guidance is designed in a way such that each section builds on the previous.

Recipients will follow an iterative process and timeline to submit sections of the Implementation Plan in accordance with submission milestones provided by ACF during Year 1. An example of past Implementation Plan Guidance is available, but will be revised to be applicable to this grant:

(https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/occ/Tribal%20MIECHV%20Implementat ion%20Plan%20Guidance%20and%20Form%201%20FINAL.pdf)

Years 2-5: Implementation, Performance Measurement and Continuous Quality Improvement, Early Childhood Systems Building, and MIECHV Learning Agenda Activities In Years 2-5 of the cooperative agreement, recipients will fully implement the various components of their approved implementation plan and work closely with ACF to ensure implementation of high-quality, evidence-based home visiting programs in their community.

Grant activities include the following:

Implementing high-quality, culturally-relevant evidence-based home visiting programs that meet the needs of at-risk tribal communities and providing home visiting services to eligible families, in alignment with the definition of a MIECHV caseload slot;

https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/occ/Tribal%20MIECHV%20Implementation%20Plan%20Guidance%20and%20Form%201%20FINAL.pdf https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/occ/Tribal%20MIECHV%20Implementation%20Plan%20Guidance%20and%20Form%201%20FINAL.pdf

Collaborating with tribal, local, and state early childhood partners to ensure a successful home visiting program and to support the comprehensive needs of expectant families, parents and caregivers, and children from birth to kindergarten entry living in at-risk tribal communities through development of an early childhood system;

Conducting performance measurement and CQI activities; and Participating in MIECHV-funded evaluation opportunities to promote learning and contribute to the MIECHV Learning Agenda including the following o The authorizing legislation for MIECHV requires that HHS carry out a continuous program of research and evaluation activities in order to increase knowledge about the implementation and effectiveness of home visiting programs (Section 511(h)(3) of Title V of the Social Security Act). Primary goals for ACF's Tribal MIECHV Program have been to expand the evidence base on home visiting in Native populations and to increase the representation of tribal home visiting programs in broader MIECHV learning. An overview of MIECHV-funded research and evaluation questions and examples of recent and ongoing ACF research and evaluation projects is available:

https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/opre/Home%20Visiting%2 0%28Snapshot%29-508_0.pdf o ACF requires recipients to participate whenever feasible in MIECHV-funded evaluation activities, including but not limited to: serving as collaborators/subject matter experts for MIECHV evaluation projects, participating in data collection activities, and participating in evaluation dissemination activities.

Due to the nature of the activities conducted under this program, recipients must commit a reasonable and adequate amount of federal funds to comply with the requirements for data and evaluation activities. In Year 1, this could entail planning and building capacity to conduct these activities. In Years 2-5, this could include conducting these activities. In all years, this would include processes to communicate and coordinate these activities with tribal leaders, community members, and the local advisory committee.

NOTE: Consistent with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, (44 U.S.C. § 3501-3521), under this NOFO, OCC will not conduct or sponsor – and a person is not required to respond to a collection of information covered by such Act, unless it displays a currently valid Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number. If any of these evaluation activities are subject to PRA, OCC will obtain OMB approval for the activities, as appropriate.

Travel for ACF-Initiated Meetings The recipient's Project Director and up to three other key staff members must attend a 2-3 day kickoff meeting in Washington, DC, to be held within 90 days of grant award. The recipient must allocate sufficient funds for participation in this meeting in Year 1, as well as funds to send the Project Director and at least one other key staff member to an annual 2-3 day all-Tribal MIECHV meeting in Washington, DC. In Years 2-5, the recipient must allocate sufficient funds for the Project Director and at least one other key staff member to attend an annual 2-3 day all Tribal MIECHV meeting in Washington, DC, as well as one 2-3 day annual regional meeting in a location to be determined.

Subawards https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/opre/Home%20Visiting%20%28Snapshot%29-508_0.pdf https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/opre/Home%20Visiting%20%28Snapshot%29-508_0.pdf

Recipients under this grant program may opt to transfer a portion of substantive programmatic work to other organizations through subaward(s). The prime recipient must maintain a substantive role in the project. ACF defines a substantive role as conducting activities and/or providing services funded under the award that are necessary and integral to the completion of the project. Subrecipient monitoring activities alone as specified in 45 CFR § 75.352 do not constitute a substantive role. Furthermore, ACF does not fund awards where the role of the applicant is primarily to serve as a conduit for passing funds to other organizations unless that arrangement is authorized by statute.

Subrecipient(s) must meet the eligibility requirements identified in the NOFO, Section III.1.

Eligible Applicants. Additionally, all subrecipient(s) must obtain a Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number, or after government-wide implementation, a Unique Entity Identifier assigned by the System for Award Management (SAM), if they do not already have one. Prime recipients are required to check the SAM to verify that the subrecipient(s) is/are not debarred, suspended, or ineligible.

Please reference the Award Term and Condition on Subawards on the ACF Administrative and National Policy Requirements website for further requirements involving subawards.

COVID-19 RESPONSE

If, during the project period, OCC and/or recipients are required to adjust program and/or grant requirements due to COVID-19 or other emergency, OCC will exercise maximum flexibilities as needed. Requirements may be conducted virtually, or timelines may be modified in consultation with OCC.

II. Federal Award Information Funding Instrument Type:

CA (Cooperative Agreement) Estimated Total Funding:

$2,800,000 Expected Number of Awards:

Award Ceiling:

$600,000 Per Budget Period

Award Floor:

$100,000 Per Budget Period

Average Projected Award Amount:

$250,000 Per Budget Period

Anticipated Project Start Date:

07/01/2022 https://www.acf.hhs.gov/administrative-and-national-policy-requirements#book_content_14 https://www.acf.hhs.gov/administrative-and-national-policy-requirements https://www.acf.hhs.gov/administrative-and-national-policy-requirements

Length of Project Periods:

Other

Additional Information on Project Periods and Explanation of 'Other' 63-month project period with one 15-month budget period, and four 12-month budget periods

Additional Information on Awards:

Awards made under this funding opportunity are subject to the availability of federal funds.

Applications requesting an award amount that exceeds the Award Ceiling per budget period, or per project period, as stated in this section, will be disqualified from competitive review and from funding under this funding opportunity. This disqualification applies only to the Award Ceiling listed for the first 12-month budget period for projects with multiple budget periods. If the project and budget period are the same, the disqualification applies to the Award Ceiling listed for the project period. Please see Section III.3. Other, Application Disqualification Factors.

Note: For those programs that require matching or cost sharing, recipients will be held accountable for projected commitments of non-federal resources in their application budgets and budget justifications by budget period or by project period for fully funded awards, even if the projected commitment exceeds the required amount of match or cost share. A recipient's failure to provide the required matching amount may result in the disallowance of federal funds.

For more information on these requirements, see Section III.2. Cost Sharing or Matching.

Applicants under this NOFO must provide an SF-424A for the first year of the project (which is considered the first 15 months) and a budget justification only for the first 15-month budget period. In addition, the Award Ceiling disqualification factor noted in Section III.3. Other Application Disqualification Factors applies to the Award Ceiling listed for the first 15-month budget period.

Funds for Years 2-5 will be awarded on the basis of submission and approval of non-competing continuation applications, adequate performance, and availability of funds.

Description of ACF's Anticipated Substantial Involvement Under the Cooperative Agreement Award

A cooperative agreement is a specific method of awarding federal assistance in which substantial federal involvement is anticipated. Cooperative agreements defining the respective responsibilities of ACF and recipients will be negotiated. ACF anticipates that agency involvement will produce programmatic benefits to the recipient otherwise unavailable to them for carrying out the project. The involvement and collaboration includes the following:

ACF review and approval of the needs assessment and implementation plan developed in Year 1;

ACF involvement in the establishment of policies and procedures that maximize open competition; and rigorous and impartial development, review, and funding of recipient activities, if applicable;

ACF and recipient joint collaboration in the performance of key programmatic activities (e.g., strategic planning, implementation, information technology enhancements, training and technical assistance, publications or products, and evaluation);

Close monitoring by ACF of the requirements stated in this NOFO that limit the recipient's discretion with respect to scope of services offered, organizational structure and management processes; and

Close ACF monitoring during performance, which may, in order to ensure compliance with the intent of this funding opportunity, exceed those federal stewardship responsibilities customary for discretionary grant activities.

III. Eligibility Information III.1. Eligible Applicants Eligible applicants are federally recognized Indian tribes (or consortium of tribes), tribal organizations, and urban Indian organizations, as defined by section 4 of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act, Public.Law. 94-437 at http://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/comp2/F094-437.html

"Indian tribe" means any Indian tribe, band, nation, or other organized group or community, including any Alaska Native village or group or regional or village corporation as defined in or established pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (85 Stat. 688), which is recognized as eligible for the special programs and services provided by the United States to Indians because of their status as Indians;

"Tribal organization" means the elected governing body of any Indian tribe or any legally established organization of Indians that is controlled by one or more such bodies or by a board of directors elected or selected by one or more such bodies (or elected by the Indian population to be served by such organization) and that includes the maximum participation of Indians in all phases of its activities; and "Urban Indian organization" means a nonprofit corporate body situated in an urban center, governed by an urban Indian controlled board of directors, and providing for the maximum participation of all interested Indian groups and individuals, which body is capable of legally cooperating with other public and private entities for the purpose of performing the activities described in section 503(a).

Applicants serving an emerging, unserved, or underserved population or remote geographic area are encouraged to apply for funding under this NOFO. Collaborative efforts and interdisciplinary approaches are encouraged. Applications from collaborative groups (consortia) must identify a primary applicant responsible for administering the grant (cooperative agreement). Possible partners include but are not limited to AI/AN Head Start, tribal child care, tribal child welfare;

Indian Health Service; and other health, education, or human service agencies as well as the business community.

Applicants must include a fully-executed tribal resolution(s) (including number, voting information, and authorized signatures) from the governing body of each tribe agreeing to participate in the project and receive services (whether the applicant is a tribal government or an organization representing a consortium of tribes). Applicants that are tribal or urban Indian http://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/comp2/F094-437.html organizations but are not planning to serve any specific tribe are not required to submit tribal resolutions. If the applicant is a tribally authorized component or division of the tribal government, the applicant must also include documentation that the governing body of the tribe approves the application submission. All documentation must be signed and dated.

Applications from individuals (including sole proprietorships) and foreign entities are not eligible and will be disqualified from competitive review and from funding under this funding opportunity. See Section III.3. Other, Application Disqualification Factors.

Reference to Legal Status See Section IV.2. Legal Status of Applicant Entity for documentation required to support eligibility.

Funding Restrictions Reference Please see Section IV.6. Funding Restrictions for any limitations on the use of federal funds that could affect the eligibility of an applicant or project.

III.2. Cost Sharing or Matching Cost Sharing / Matching Requirement:

No For all federal awards, any shared costs or matching funds and all contributions, including cash and third-party in-kind contributions, must be accepted as part of the recipient’s cost sharing or matching when such contributions meet all of the criteria listed in 45 CFR § 75.306.

For awards that require matching by statute, recipients will be held accountable for projected commitments of non-federal resources in their application budgets and budget justifications by budget period, or by project period for fully funded awards, even if the projected commitment exceeds the amount required by the statutory match. A recipient’s failure to provide the statutorily required matching amount may result in the disallowance of federal funds.

Recipients will be required to report these funds in the Federal Financial Reports.

For awards that do not require matching or cost sharing by statute, where “cost sharing” refers to any situation in which the recipient voluntarily shares in the costs of a project other than as statutorily required matching, recipients will be held accountable for projected commitments of non-federal resources in their application budgets and budget justifications by budget period, or by project period for fully funded awards. These include situations in which contributions are voluntarily proposed by a recipient or subrecipient and are accepted by ACF. Non-federal cost sharing will be included in the approved project budget so that the recipient will be held accountable for proposed non-federal cost sharing funds as shown in the Notice of Award (NoA). A recipient’s failure to provide voluntary cost sharing of non-federal resources that have been accepted by ACF as part of the approved project costs and that have been shown as part of the approved project budget in the NoA, may result in the disallowance of federal funds. Recipients will be required to report these funds in the Federal Financial Reports.

III.3. Other Application Disqualification Factors Applications from individuals (including sole proprietorships) and foreign entities are not eligible and will be disqualified from competitive review and from funding under this funding opportunity.

Award Ceiling Disqualification

Applications that request an award amount that exceeds the Award Ceiling per budget period or per project period ("per project period" refers only to fully funded awards), as stated in Section II. Federal Award Information, will be disqualified from competitive review and from funding under this funding opportunity. This disqualification applies only to the Award Ceiling listed for the first 12-month budget period for projects with multiple budget periods. If the project and budget period are the same, the disqualification applies to the Award Ceiling listed for the project period.

Required Electronic Application Submission

ACF requires electronic submission of applications at www.Grants.gov. Paper applications received from applicants that have not been approved for an exemption from required electronic submission will be disqualified from competitive review and from funding under this funding opportunity.

Applicants that do not have an internet connection or sufficient computing capacity to upload large documents to the internet may contact ACF for an exemption that will allow the applicant to submit applications in paper format. Information and the requirements for requesting an exemption from required electronic application submission are found in "ACF Policy for Requesting an Exemption from Electronic Application Submission."

Missing the Application Deadline (Late Applications)

The deadline for electronic application submission is 11:59 pm ET on the due date listed in the Overview and in Section IV.4. Submission Dates and Times. Electronic applications submitted to www.Grants.gov after 11:59 pm ET on the due date, as indicated by a dated and time-stamped email from www.Grants.gov, will be disqualified from competitive review and from funding under this funding opportunity. That is, applications submitted to www.Grants.gov, on or after 12:00 am ET on the day after the due date will be disqualified from competitive review and from funding under this funding opportunity.

Applications submitted to www.Grants.gov at any time during the open application period, and prior to the due date and time, which fail the www.Grants.gov validation check, will not be received at, or acknowledged by ACF.

Each time an application is submitted via www.Grants.gov, the submission will generate a new date and time-stamp email notification. Only those applications with on-time date and time stamps that result in a validated application, which is transmitted to ACF will be acknowledged.

The deadline for receipt of paper applications is 4:30 pm ET on the due date listed in the Overview and in Section IV.4. Submission Dates and Times. Paper applications received https://www.grants.gov/ https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/ACF_Policy_for_Requesting_an_Exemption_from_Required_Electronic_FINAL_0.pdf https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/ACF_Policy_for_Requesting_an_Exemption_from_Required_Electronic_FINAL_0.pdf https://www.grants.gov/ https://www.grants.gov/ https://www.grants.gov/ https://www.grants.gov/ https://www.grants.gov/ after 4:30 pm ET on the due date will be disqualified from competitive review and from funding under this funding opportunity. Paper applications received from applicants that have not received approval of an exemption from required electronic submission will be disqualified from competitive review and from funding under this funding opportunity.

Notification of Application Disqualification Applicants will be notified of a disqualification determination by email or by USPS postal mail within 30 federal business days from the closing date of this NOFO.

IV. Application and Submission Information IV.1. Address to Request Application Package Farha Marfani Administration for Children and Families 330 C Street SW Washington

DC

20201 202-961-8218 farha.marfani@acf.hhs.gov Application Packages

Electronic Application Submission:

The electronic application submission package is available in the NOFO's listing at www.Grants.gov.

Applications in Paper Format:

For applicants that have received an exemption to submit applications in paper format, Standard Forms, assurances, and certifications are available in the "Select Grant Opportunity Package" available in the NOFO's Grants.gov Synopsis under the Package tab at www.Grants.gov. See Section IV.2. Request an Exemption from Required Electronic Application Submission if applicants do not have an Internet connection or sufficient computing capacity to upload large documents (files) to www.Grants.gov.

Federal Relay Service:

Hearing-impaired and speech-impaired callers may contact the Federal Relay Service (FedRelay) for assistance at www.gsa.gov/fedrelay.

IV.2. Content and Form of Application Submission

FORMATTING APPLICATION SUBMISSIONS

Each applicant applying electronically via www.Grants.gov is required to upload only two electronic files, excluding Standard Forms and OMB-approved forms. No more than two files will be accepted for the review, and additional files will be removed. Standard Forms and OMB-approved forms will not be considered additional files.

https://www.Grants.gov/ https://www.grants.gov/ http://www.gsa.gov/fedrelay

FOR ALL APPLICATIONS:

Authorized Organization Representative (AOR) AOR is the designated representative of the applicant/recipient organization with authority to act on the organization’s behalf in matters related to the award and administration of grants. In signing a grant application, this individual agrees that the organization will assume the obligations imposed by applicable Federal statutes and regulations and other terms and conditions of the award, including any assurances, if a grant is awarded.

Point of Contact In addition to the AOR, a point of contact on matters involving the application must also be identified. The point of contact, known as the Project Director or Principal Investigator, should not be identical to the person identified as the AOR. The point of contact must be available to answer any questions pertaining to the application.

Application Checklist Applicants may refer to Section VIII. Other Information for a checklist of application requirements that may be used in developing and organizing application materials.

Accepted Font Style Applications must be in Times New Roman (TNR), 12-point font, except for footnotes, which may be TNR 10-point font. Pages that contain blurred text, or text that is too small to read comfortably, will be removed.

English Language Applications must be submitted in the English language and must be in the terms of United States (U.S.) dollars. If applications are submitted using another currency, ACF will convert the foreign currency to U.S. currency using the date of receipt of the application to determine the rate of exchange.

Page Limitations Applicants must observe the page limitation(s) listed under "PAGE LIMITATIONS AND CONTENT FOR ALL SUBMISSION FORMATS:". Page limitation(s) do not include SFs and OMB-approved forms.

All applications must be double-spaced. An application that exceeds the cited page limitation for double-spaced pages in the Project Description file or the Appendices file will have extra pages removed, and those pages will not be reviewed.

Application Elements Exempted from Double-Spacing Requirements The following elements of the application submission are exempt from the double-spacing requirements and may be single-spaced: the table of contents, the one-page Project Summary, required Assurances and Certifications, required SFs, required OMB-approved forms, resumes, logic models, proof of legal status/non-profit status, third-party agreements, letters of support, footnotes, tables, the line-item budget and/or the budget justification.

Adherence to NOFO Formatting, Font, and Page Limitation Requirements…