Foa_Content_of_HHS-2022-ACF-OCSE-FD-0017.pdf

Administration for Children and Families

Office of Child Support Enforcement

Safe Access for Victims’ Economic Security (SAVES) Demonstration

HHS-2022-ACF-OCSE-FD-0017

Application Due Date: 05/29/2022

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

Funding Opportunity Title:

Safe Access for Victims’ Economic Security (SAVES) Demonstration Announcement Type:

Initial Funding Opportunity Number:

HHS-2022-ACF-OCSE-FD-0017

Primary CFDA Number:

93.564 Due Date for Applications:

05/29/2022 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 Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) invites eligible applicants to submit competitive grant applications to implement comprehensive domestic violence policies, procedures, and program services to increase the safety of domestic violence victims/survivors currently receiving child support services and increase access to child support services for victims/survivors who need child support but are not currently receiving services. The Safe Access for Victims’ Economic Security (SAVES) Demonstration is a national demonstration model designed to develop, evaluate, and implement model practices for safe access to child support and parenting time services. The SAVES Demonstration will consist of the following components:

Policy development and implementation Training for child support, judicial system, and domestic violence program staff Cross-system coordination Enhancement of child support and parenting time legal practice Public and victim/survivor education and outreach strategies Implementation of evidence-informed screening and response protocols Development of responsive good cause policies and procedures for victims/survivors receiving public benefits Implementation of comprehensive, domestic violence expert-informed case processing practices for victims/survivors and perpetrators Meaningful, respectful engagement of individuals with lived experience to inform and guide all aspects of demonstration implementation Establishment and assessment of specialized domestic violence triage teams https://www.acf.hhs.gov/grants/how-apply-grant

Structured peer-to-peer learning model for model practice dissemination with state and tribal child support agencies that are not funded to be participants in the demonstration

Recipients must support and fully participate in OCSE-funded cross-site training, technical assistance, and evaluation. The training, technical assistance, and evaluation of these grant projects will be funded through an OCSE cooperative agreement under a companion Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) HHS-2022-ACF-OCSE-FD-0018 - Safe Access for Victims’ Economic Security (SAVES) Center. Applicants for this grant may also apply under the companion funding opportunity, but it is not a requirement for application or selection under this opportunity. A successful applicant under this funding opportunity may also be selected as a successful applicant under the companion funding opportunity, but one award is not dependent on the other. A conflict of interest mitigation plan is required if recipients of funding under this NOFO are also recipients of funding in the companion NOFO (SAVES Center). The demonstration project period is 5 years.

I. Program Description Statutory Authority Title IV, part D (42 U.S.C. 651 et. seq.) and section 1115 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.

1315)

Description Background:

The existence of domestic violence in the child support caseload has been acknowledged for decades, but scant research has been conducted on the incidence of domestic violence between parties in the child support system. In 2013, the Child and Family Research Partnership (CFRP) at the University of Texas conducted the only recent large-scale study to gather information on domestic violence, paternity, and child support participation. The CFRP study was based on a representative sample of approximately 1,200 mothers and 300 fathers with a non-marital birth in Texas. The sample was split between parents surveyed 3 months and 3 years after their child’s birth. For the first time, child support program administrators have data specific to domestic violence experienced by custodial parents in the IV-D program and the data highlights several critical issue areas for child support agencies’ attention. Unless otherwise noted, all research referenced comes from CFRP:[i]

Underreporting of domestic violence in the child support system is significantly more prevalent than previously estimated. Thirty-seven percent of custodial parents with formal child support orders in the CFRP study reported domestic violence by the time their child was 3 years old - a rate approximately four times greater than the rate of family violence indicator (FVI) flags on custodial parents in the Federal Case Registry (FCR). The rate of custodial parent FVI flags on the FCR is 10 percent. Nineteen states and territories have less than 5 percent of custodial parents with family violence indicators or protections on their cases.

Many victims/survivors do not have a formal child support order and would like one.

Almost half of mothers (43 percent) who do not have a formal child support order and who are not receiving any informal support 3 years after their child was born report domestic violence perpetrated by the father of their child. Previous research reported that 90 percent of domestic violence victims/survivors would pursue child support if they could do so safely. The high rates of domestic violence among mothers who are not in the system may be attributable to uncertainty about protections available or fears about lack of protections within the child support system; fears about losing custody or their abuser being granted visitation that does not include safety measures (e.g., supervision, neutral exchange); and the potential for further violence from the father related to pursuing child support.

Additional safeguards are needed for in-hospital voluntary paternity procedures. Nearly 1 in 10 unmarried mothers completing a voluntary paternity acknowledgment at the hospital report being injured by the father during pregnancy. When expanded to include risk of physical or emotional harm, approximately 1 in 5 unmarried mothers experienced relationship violence from the father of their child. Among the 20 percent of unmarried fathers who are abusive, half come to the hospital for the birth of their child, and 85 percent of those fathers execute a voluntary paternity acknowledgment with the mother.

Medical clinicians perform regular domestic violence screening as part of pre- and post-natal care, but those screening activities do not appear to carry over into medical records practices where lack of screening and response to domestic violence disclosures creates significant risk for the potential for coerced “voluntary” completions of paternity acknowledgments.

One of the primary reasons that victims/survivors stay with or return to their abuser after leaving is the lack of financial resources to live independently. Two-thirds (67 percent) of survivors surveyed said that they stayed longer than they wanted or returned to an abusive relationship because of financial concerns, such as not being able to pay bills, afford rent or mortgage, or feed their family.[ii] The core purpose of the child support program--ensuring families receive consistent and reliable support--is ideally aligned to promote victims’/survivors' ability to safely leave violent relationships and establish safe, independent living situations for themselves and their children. When victims/survivors do not know what protections are available to them in the child support process, they go without critical financial support. Not only can consistent financial support help victims/survivors leave an abusive relationship, but knowledge of the dynamics of domestic violence can help child support professionals understand customers, lead to improved case processing, and increase safety for parents and staff.

The Title IV-D program has regulatory prohibitions, 45 CFR 303.21 and 309.80, against the disclosure of information. These regulations specifically provide for protections of information that could result in physical or emotional harm to a party. The State IV-D program also has an FVI. The FVI is an indicator on cases in the state computer system that prohibits the release of specific address and contact information when the IV-D agency has reason to believe that the release of that information may pose a risk of physical or emotional harm to the parent and/or child(ren). The IV-D program also has the statutorily required good cause exemption. The good cause exemption waives the child support cooperation requirements for recipients of public assistance and allows the IV-D agency to either not open a child support case or close an existing case when it’s determined that proceeding with child support is not safe. Specific evidentiary requirements, policies, and procedures for operationalizing the statutory requirement of the FVI and good cause exemption are left to the discretion of states and tribes, resulting in widely reported inconsistencies from state to state, county to county, and tribe to tribe.

An additional, overlooked barrier to victims’/survivors' safe and fair access to child support services is the emphasis child support programs place on neutral delivery of child support services. States and tribes emphasize that their agency and the agency attorneys do not represent either party in child support actions. The unintended consequence of this emphasis on neutrality is it results in victims/survivors being disadvantaged in the child support process. The dynamics of domestic violence are grounded in one partner’s power and control over the other partner.

Those power and control tactics must be mitigated through safety-informed child support practices for the process to be truly neutral for a victim/survivor. Absent safety modifications, the child support process will be biased in favor of a battering party who manipulates, coerces, intimidates, or threatens the other party into making child support agreements or parenting time arrangements that are not based on fact or the best interest of the child. From a federal, state, tribal, and county public policy perspective, child support agencies must not be neutral when it comes to violence and parent and family safety. Developing safety informed practices and taking a proactive policy and programmatic stance to promote safety is not the same as individual legal representation.

In 2020, seven additional questions were added to the Intergovernmental Resource Guide (IRG) requiring states to provide basic information on domestic violence safeguards, FVI practices, and when the state last reviewed FVI and domestic violence procedures. Responses to the IRG questions indicate that most states are not reporting implementation of specialized policies and procedures for providing safety-informed child support services to victims/survivors of family violence; many states have not reviewed FVI policies for over 15 years; and FVI policies and procedures are markedly inconsistent from state to state.

In recent years, OCSE has provided the following range of non-regulatory guidance to states and tribes:

Information Memoranda

IM-14-03, Domestic Violence Awareness Month: Focus on Resources, Collaboration and Confidentiality (October 3, 2014): https://www.acf.hhs.gov/css/policy-guidance/domestic-violence-awareness-month-focus-resources-collaboration-and

IM-15-02, Safe Access to Child Support Services: Scope of the Issue (October 21, 2015): https://www.acf.hhs.gov/css/policy-guidance/safe-access-child-support-services-scope-issue

IM-19-06, Model Procedures for Domestic Violence Cases (August 21, 2019): https://www.acf.hhs.gov/css/policy-guidance/model-procedures-domestic-violence-cases

Agency Resource Guides

Domestic Violence Expert-informed Model Screening Questions and Practices (August 2019): https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/ocse/dv_guidance_and_mo del_questions.pdf

Enhancing Safe Access to Child Support: IV-D Program Inventory and Planning Resource (October 2015): https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/ocse/enhancing_safe_access _inventory.pdf https://www.acf.hhs.gov/css/policy-guidance/domestic-violence-awareness-month-focus-resources-collaboration-and https://www.acf.hhs.gov/css/policy-guidance/domestic-violence-awareness-month-focus-resources-collaboration-and https://www.acf.hhs.gov/css/policy-guidance/safe-access-child-support-services-scope-issue https://www.acf.hhs.gov/css/policy-guidance/safe-access-child-support-services-scope-issue https://www.acf.hhs.gov/css/policy-guidance/model-procedures-domestic-violence-cases https://www.acf.hhs.gov/css/policy-guidance/model-procedures-domestic-violence-cases https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/ocse/dv_guidance_and_model_questions.pdf https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/ocse/dv_guidance_and_model_questions.pdf https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/ocse/enhancing_safe_access_inventory.pdf https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/ocse/enhancing_safe_access_inventory.pdf

Educational Resources

Safely Pursuing Child Support: A Caseworker Desk Card (September 3, 2021): https://www.acf.hhs.gov/css/outreach-material/safely-pursuing-child-support-desk-card

Child Support When You’re Afraid of the Other Parent: Guide for Domestic Violence Advocates and Survivors (October 27, 2020): https://www.acf.hhs.gov/css/outreach-material/child-support-when-youre-afraid-other-parent

Training and technical assistance provided to individual state and tribal child support agencies

While OCSE increased the development of domestic violence resources and expanded delivery of domestic violence training over the past 5 years, state and tribal child support agencies continue to request more training, policy and practice guidance, model protocols and procedures, and additional support to coordinate with external domestic violence service provider partners.

Resource and training development are also limited by a marked lack of research on victims’/survivors' needs and promising or best practices for safe delivery of child support services. The SAVES Demonstration sites will receive extensive training, technical assistance, and evaluation support from the SAVES Center funded under the companion NOFO to address these shortfalls. Developing and incorporating consistent, comprehensive, evidence-informed domestic violence policies and procedures into the child support program is likely to increase victims’/survivors' access to financial stability, increase safety for staff and program participants, reduce gender and related racial bias in access to child support services, and promote greater access to justice for victims/survivors of domestic violence. The child support program cannot take sides between parents when delivering child support services, but it should not be neutral when it comes to domestic violence. Incorporating specialized, safety-informed child support and parenting time services for parents who have experienced domestic violence is essential to overcome the intimidation, manipulation, and coercion used by perpetrators of violence, thereby creating a fair and equitable access to child support for victims/survivors.

[i] Osborne, Cynthia et al. (2013). A Portrait of Father Involvement and Support in the First Three Years after a Nonmarital Birth. Child and Family Research Partnership.

https://childandfamilyresearch.utexas.edu/portrait-father-involvement-and-support-first-three-years-after-nonmarital-birth [ii]“We Would Have Had to Stay”: Survivors’ Economic Security and Access to Public Benefits Programs (2018) Joint Report from the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence, the National Domestic Violence Hotline, and the National Latin@ Network for Healthy Families and Communities at Casa de Esperanza. https://vawnet.org/sites/default/files/assets/files/2018- 11/NRCDV_PublicBenefits-WeWouldHaveHadToStay-Nov2018.pdf

Purpose and Goals

The overall goal of the SAVES Demonstration is to increase safe access to child support and parenting time services for victims/survivors of domestic violence. These grants will support development and implementation of domestic violence expert-informed, comprehensive policies and procedures for the following:

Establishing paternity https://www.acf.hhs.gov/css/outreach-material/safely-pursuing-child-support-desk-card https://www.acf.hhs.gov/css/outreach-material/safely-pursuing-child-support-desk-card https://www.acf.hhs.gov/css/outreach-material/child-support-when-youre-afraid-other-parent https://www.acf.hhs.gov/css/outreach-material/child-support-when-youre-afraid-other-parent https://childandfamilyresearch.utexas.edu/portrait-father-involvement-and-support-first-three-years-after-nonmarital-birth https://childandfamilyresearch.utexas.edu/portrait-father-involvement-and-support-first-three-years-after-nonmarital-birth https://vawnet.org/sites/default/files/assets/files/2018-11/NRCDV_PublicBenefits-WeWouldHaveHadToStay-Nov2018.pdf https://vawnet.org/sites/default/files/assets/files/2018-11/NRCDV_PublicBenefits-WeWouldHaveHadToStay-Nov2018.pdf

Implementing child support and parenting time orders Modifying and enforcing existing orders Connecting victims/survivors to essential supportive services Identifying and mitigating disparities in access caused by the victimization Adopting case management strategies to manage interactions with parents who have used violence

State and tribal child support agencies applying for this funding will engage with public assistance agencies, courts, and state, tribal, and local domestic violence service providers and coalitions to develop and implement a cross-systems, coordinated response to victims’/survivors' need for economic supports, safe parenting time, and access to public safety net program resources.

Evaluation of the demonstrations projects will result in the identification and dissemination of best and promising practices for safely delivering child support and parenting time services for parents receiving or parents who are eligible to receive child support services. In addition, demonstration sites will participate in baseline research efforts to identify prevalence of domestic violence for parents needing or wanting child support and parenting time services and barriers and needs for safe access to services. The SAVES Demonstration seeks to increase victims’/survivors' trust and confidence in the child support process, increase financial security for victims/survivors and their families through consistent and safe collection of support, identify and reduce opportunities for batterers to use public systems and the courts to continue exerting power and control over their victims/survivors, and address systemic bias toward victims/survivors.

Program Design

The SAVES Demonstration will incorporate comprehensive, evidence-informed domestic violence components into child support business practices as a means of increasing safe access to child support and parenting time services for victims/survivors of domestic violence. OCSE anticipates that recipients will implement the training, policy enhancements, cross-site collaborations, program services, and legal practice improvements described in this funding opportunity. OCSE will work, in collaboration with the SAVES Center training and technical assistance team (companion NOFO HHS-2022-ACF-OCSE-FD-0018), with recipients throughout the 5-year demonstration to further refine initial program plans and continuously adjust program models to incorporate newly identified promising practices.

SAVES recipients will be part of a national demonstration and peer learning framework that will include cross-site research and evaluation to assess the child support and parenting time needs of victims/survivors and the impact of safety-informed child support and parenting time services in order to inform their successful replication nationwide. A cooperative agreement for training, technical assistance, and research and evaluation of the demonstration sites will be awarded under companion NOFO HHS-2022-ACF-OCSE-FD-0018.

Recipients must participate in training, technical assistance, research, and evaluation activities provided by the SAVES Center, under guidance from OCSE, throughout the 5-year demonstration. Evaluations of the SAVES Demonstration will include implementation and impact study components designed to develop clear program models for increasing safety and financial security for victims/survivors and support adoption of evidence-informed practices and policies within the national child support program.

Recipients must collect and report any data (participant or program) required to support the evaluations. Recipients do not need to conduct their own program evaluation and may not use grant funds to pay for a separate evaluation. However, grant funds may be used to support staff time involved in participating in the training, technical assistance, research, and evaluation activities overseen by the SAVES Center, as well as collection, compilation, and analyses of program performance data for purposes of effective management and oversight of program operation.

A foundational component for the SAVES Demonstration is close collaboration and partnership with community, state, tribal, and national domestic violence experts and engagement of individuals with lived experience of domestic violence, to ensure that child support and parenting services are aligned and coordinated with the broader coordinated response to domestic violence.

The recipient must ensure that the grant approach, workplans, and deliverables follow a comprehensive approach to advancing equity for all, including people of color and others who have been historically underserved, marginalized, and adversely affected by persistent poverty and inequality. Recipients will provide a comprehensive community equity plan that demonstrates the processes and policies the recipient has in place to ensure the proactive identification of systemic barriers to opportunities and benefits for people of color and other underserved populations and strategic incorporation of activities to redress such barriers in ongoing workplans. This plan will also address policies and practices in place to ensure that the grant staffing plan supports the capacity to address those disparities in an ongoing, strategic, and culturally responsive manner, especially for particular underserved populations with documented history of long-standing significant disparities related to the topic of the grant.

Target population: The SAVES Demonstration includes multiple target populations for training, policy development, and program services. The priority population is victims/survivors needing and wanting child support and parenting time services. In order to meet the needs of the priority population, OCSE anticipates recipients will also target child support professionals, judicial and court staff, public assistance agency staff, and domestic violence service providers and coalitions in their jurisdiction.

Program activities: Recipients in the SAVES Demonstration will develop and implement domestic violence expert-informed child support and parenting time processes in their state or tribal jurisdiction. Recipients will conduct these activities with the support of technical assistance, guidance, and research and evaluation efforts of the SAVES Center recipient and will be overseen by OCSE. All grant-funded activities will be victim-/survivor-focused and trauma-informed, ensuring the greatest likelihood that victims/survivors can safely receive the child support and parenting time services needed for financial independence and family safety.

SAVES Demonstration components include the following:

Develop (in consultation with individuals with lived experience) and disseminating public and survivor education and outreach materials designed to increase knowledge about safety measures available within the child support program, reduce barriers to access for victims/survivors, and promote a consistent public message condemning the use of violence.

Implement comprehensive domestic violence training programs for agency staff. Training will include both survivor-focused knowledge and skills and strategies for managing interactions with batterers. Training will also be provided to judicial and court partners to develop coordinated safety procedures and practices. An additional training component will include development and delivery of child support and parenting time navigator training for domestic violence service providers.

Develop and establish survivor-informed responsive good cause protections for victims/survivors accessing public benefits with child support cooperation requirements.

Recipients will work closely with other public agencies involved in determining eligibility for benefits to create a consistent, coordinated approach to maximize victim/survivor access to public benefits. Good cause processes will maintain a child support agency's determined cooperation fail-safe to protect victims/survivors when eligibility agencies miss violence risks.

Formalize partnerships for ongoing technical assistance and training with state, tribal, and local domestic violence professionals.

Implement comprehensive domestic violence expert-informed case processing policies and protocols for victims/survivors and perpetrators, including development of agency policies to ensure consistent adoption and implementation of modified protocols and practices.

Map each step of the child support and parenting time process to identify risks and barriers for survivors, develop protocols to reduce risks, and conduct assessment of modified practices with survivor and domestic violence professionals. Recipients will develop agency policies as needed to ensure consistent adoption and implementation of modified protocols and practices.

Pilot specialized domestic violence triage teams. Domestic violence triage teams will provide survivors with specialized child support case management, domestic violence advocacy, legal, and other community services to ensure survivors’ needs, outside of the child support and parenting time scope, are adequately met. The triage model may include a risk stratification matrix to identify survivors with greatest need for enhanced safety modifications and service access.

Assess in-hospital paternity establishment processes to identify and develop safeguards for reducing the potential for coerced completion of voluntary paternity acknowledgments or affidavits by victims/survivors.

Participate as peer coaches and mentors sharing lessons learned, resources developed, and professional expertise with state and tribal child support agencies who have not received demonstration grant funding but apply to participate as peer learning sites.

Timeline: Over the 5-year demonstration, OCSE anticipates the following timeline:

The first year will be focused on baseline research and data-gathering in cooperation with the SAVES Center recipient, program model development, initial staff training, policy review and consultation, formalization of collaboration partnerships, pilot testing of model practices, and establishment of the demonstration site learning community.

Years 2, 3, and 4 will be dedicated to implementing and refining interventions with evaluation feedback from the SAVES Center. Recipients may conduct small-scale pilot tests of some program interventions with evaluation support from the SAVES Center while also integrating broader evidence-informed domestic violence measures into practice in their entire jurisdiction.

In years 4 and 5, recipients will apply learnings from pilot tests and the SAVES Demonstration peer learning community to make program-wide, large-scale improvements for safe access to child support and parenting time services for victims/survivors. States with county operated agencies will be expected to ensure consistent implementation across all jurisdictions within the state.

In year 5, recipients must also establish plans to sustain ongoing implementation of staff and partner training, collaboration with domestic violence service providers, model good cause and FVIs or similar domestic violence case identification practices, and modified case management and legal practices to mitigate the power imbalance between victims/survivors and perpetrators when receiving child support and parenting time services.

Partnerships: Program designs must include strategies to engage a wide range of external partners with core competencies in delivering domestic violence services, parenting time services, and legal assistance for victims/survivors of domestic violence. Recipients are also expected to obtain the support of courts and judicial officers involved in child support and parenting time matters, the child support attorney’s office (if independent from the child support agency), and public agencies involved in administering public benefits programs, as evidenced, at a minimum, by a letter of support included in the grant application. Examples of other partnerships that recipients may establish to support program implementation include, but are not limited to, the following:

Child welfare programs Fatherhood and parenting programs Cooperative parenting service providers and access and visitation recipients Supervised visitation providers Legal services Pro se Legal Assistance Centers Court Facilitators Mental health and substance abuse treatment providers Faith and community-based groups Domestic violence service providers and coalitions Access to justice experts Law Schools Hospitals and prenatal providers Battering Intervention Programs

Even though recipients will have multiple partners, they are encouraged to develop a program that fully integrates child support services with other program elements into a cohesive package of services for parents affected by domestic violence. OCSE encourages applicants to propose co-locating services to reduce the burden on participants to navigate multiple agencies and locations and to facilitate communication among partners.

SAVES Demonstration Advisory Council: Recipients must establish an advisory council for the SAVES Demonstration that includes, but is not limited to, representatives from the following agencies: state or tribal domestic violence coalition and local domestic violence service providers, legal aid or legal services providers, state or tribal access to justice organizations, public benefits agencies, and child support and parenting time courts. Individuals with lived experience must be included in the advisory council.

Evaluation: This demonstration is intended to generate the best evidence-informed knowledge and information possible so that state, tribal, and federal policymakers and program administrators can adopt comprehensive domestic violence safety measures into the national child support program. The SAVES Center recipient (companion NOFO HHS-2022-ACF- OCSE-FD-0018) will be responsible for designing and implementing a range of cross-site evaluation strategies to establish the strongest evidence possible for what policies, procedures, training, and partnerships effectively increase safe access to child support and parenting time services for victims/survivors.

Although random assignment evaluation is considered the “gold standard” for demonstrating program impacts, OCSE does not anticipate use of this evaluation method due to the ethical considerations involving research with victims/survivors.

All recipients must support and fully participate in the national, cross-site evaluation that will be conducted by an independent third-party evaluator connected to the SAVES Center. SAVES Demonstration recipients do not need to conduct their own evaluations and are not permitted to expend grant funds on their own evaluation. SAVES Demonstration recipients may need to assist with the submission and completion of Institutional Review Board plans, depending on the state or tribal requirements.

OCSE and the SAVES Center recipient will provide extensive technical assistance to demonstration projects, including, but not limited to refining proposed interventions, identifying appropriate evaluation methodologies, and adopting safeguards for collecting and analyzing participant data. Both the SAVES Demonstrations and the SAVES Center grant awards are cooperative agreements, and OCSE may amend particulars of the evaluation design and implementation during the project period to best meet the goals of the demonstration.

For the purpose of this NOFO, evidence-informed practices bring together the best available research, professional expertise and input from service, advocacy, and prevention communities to identify and deliver services that have promise to achieve positive outcomes for parents in the child support program.

Program Management: Child support agencies must ensure appropriate project management for SAVES Demonstration projects. OCSE anticipates that each recipient will employ a project manager or managers to ensure that the project is planned and implemented successfully and the demonstration site participates fully in evaluation activities led by the SAVES Center. This position is expected to be full-time (40 hours/week). It will require oversight of domestic violence training activities, child support case process modifications and implementation, policy development and enhancements, good cause and family violence indicator process improvements, child support case workers involved in specialized triage teams, and coordination with external partners.

OCSE expects that the project manager will hold regular meetings with project staff (across all partners) to discuss any challenges or barriers that they may be facing and attempt to resolve those challenges and barriers as quickly and effectively as possible.

The project manager will also be responsible for ensuring that management records are created and updated as required by the evaluator. OCSE anticipates that the project manager will also function as the site evaluation coordinator, working collaboratively with OCSE, the SAVES Center recipient, and the third-party evaluator supporting data collection and sharing information with the evaluation team as the primary data source for the evaluation will come from administrative records. Recipients may also propose alternative approaches to project management, but they must be fully justified.

The project manager is responsible for the following key project tasks:

Project development and management

Engage and collaborate with OCSE and the SAVES Center team to refine the project interventions.

Oversee training with child support, court, and domestic violence partner staff.

Maintain oversight and knowledge of the implementation of all project components including the following:

o Development of public and victim/survivor education and outreach o Development and implementation of responsive good cause protections for victims/survivors subject to child support cooperation requirements o Implementation of modified application, intake, establishment, and case management processes for parents affected by domestic violence o Leadership of partnership collaborations and SAVES Demonstration Advisory

Council o Implementation of specialized domestic violence triage teams

Maintain communication with project decision makers, including the child support (IV- D) director, and ensure that all necessary stakeholders are included as appropriate.

Check in regularly with project staff to identify issues and concerns related to implementing the demonstration and completing evaluation activities and communicate those to OCSE and the SAVES Center training, technical assistance, and research team.

Participate in OCSE and SAVES Center training, technical assistance, and research team site visits.

Data collection and management

Ensure that all evaluation-related data collection and submission is appropriately staffed and managed with access to necessary technology, and that program staff who will be responsible for collecting evaluation-related data receive necessary training from the SAVES Center research/evaluation team.

Ensure that all staff participating in evaluation- and data collection-related activities complete any trainings as directed by the SAVES Center third-party evaluator, including those related to human subject protection, informed consent, and maintaining privacy.

As necessary, assist the research/evaluation team in collecting child support administrative data, including obtaining appropriate consents from program participants, data from other agencies and programs, and materials that facilitate use of such data (e.g., data dictionaries).

Assist OCSE and the research/evaluation team in identifying and addressing any concerns related to administrative data.

Assist the research/evaluation team in scheduling interviews, surveys, focus groups, and any other required means of information collection for the purposes of program evaluation.

Coordinate logistics of OCSE and research/evaluation team site visits, including preparing agendas, as requested, and arranging for participation by all key decision makers.

II. Federal Award Information Funding Instrument Type:

CA (Cooperative Agreement) Estimated Total Funding:

$6,720,000 Expected Number of Awards:

Award Ceiling:

$420,000 Per Budget Period

Award Floor:

$300,000 Per Budget Period

Average Projected Award Amount:

$420,000 Per Budget Period

Anticipated Project Start Date:

09/01/2022 Length of Project Periods:

60-month project period with five 12-month budget periods

Additional Information on Project Periods and Explanation of 'Other' 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.

The total amount available for award represents both section 1115 grant funds and corresponding child support federal financial participation funding. OCSE awards these together and applicants should request a budget representing both. Guidance on this can be found in IM-20-06.

Awardees may receive up to $1,260,000 over the 5-year project period. The funding ceiling for year 1 is $420,000. The funding ceiling for years 2-5 is $210,000. The SF-424A and budget documents submitted with your application should be for year 1 funds only. The anticipated budget for years 2-5 should be entered in Section E of the SF-424A. Round all budget figures up or down to the nearest dollar amount. Budget requests, including object class categories, should be submitted in whole numbers.

Subsequent year funding will be awarded through non-competing continuation applications. In order to receive continuation funding, grantees must have demonstrated satisfactory progress in the prior budget period. Satisfactory progress is defined as submission of all programmatic and financial documents and reports; attendance at meetings, trainings, and workshops with project officers, technical assistance providers, and peers as required by NOFO; and meeting all terms and conditions of the funding.

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

All awards will be cooperative agreements. A cooperative agreement is an award instrument used when substantial involvement is anticipated between the awarding office and the recipient during performance of the contemplated project. OCSE will collaborate substantially with the SAVES Demonstration site recipients throughout the project period.

OCSE will provide consultation and will review and approve the work plan for each demonstration site project. OCSE will also approve any revisions to the work plan or structure of the SAVES Demonstration during each budget/project period. Additionally, OCSE will propose and approve changes to project scope and activities. OCSE will review and approve final drafts of all updated or new materials, articles, major publications, and research reports that are developed or distributed with resources made available under this cooperative agreement.

https://www.acf.hhs.gov/css/policy-guidance/section-1115-grant-funding-streamlined-process

OCSE will be involved in the development of long-term strategies for the implementation of the project and will participate in major project activities, such as conferences, topical meetings, or major project meetings. OCSE will make changes to the project plan in consultation with recipients as the program determines appropriate.

OCSE will organize periodic consultations, meetings, briefings, teleconferences, webinars, and other forums necessary to review current and planned activities, share information, and promote national coordination. SAVES Demonstration recipients must commit to participate in OCSE and SAVES Center scheduled virtual meetings and plan travel expenses for at least one representative from its organization to participate in at least two OCSE-organized meetings each budget period.

OCSE will keep the SAVES Demonstration recipients informed about expectations for performance, current OCSE policy, priorities, and vision for addressing domestic violence and safe access to child support and parenting time services. The respective responsibilities of OCSE and the successful applicant will be identified and incorporated into the terms and conditions of the award and the cooperative agreement during the pre-award negotiations.

OCSE does not anticipate substantial involvement in the recipients’ data collection activities, such as those related to needs assessments, evaluations, and requests for feedback, and the recipients are not expected to submit such data collection instruments for program office approval. OCSE will not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond, to a collection of information covered by the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, (44 U.S.C.

3501-3521), unless it displays a currently valid Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number. In cases where OCSE is directly involved in the creation of data collection activities under this NOFO, data collection will be conducted consistent with the PRA and display a valid OMB control number.

III. Eligibility Information III.1. Eligible Applicants State Title IV-D agencies, or the umbrella agency, and Tribal Title IV- D agencies operating comprehensive programs.

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.

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."

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

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.