Foa_Content_of_HHS-2023-ACF-ACYF-CA-0020 FOR PUBLICATION.pdf

Administration for Children and Families

Administration on Children, Youth, and Families - Children's Bureau

Field-Initiated Approach to Addressing Racial Bias and Inequity in Child Welfare

HHS-2023-ACF-ACYF-CA-0020

Application Due Date: 07/31/2023

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 (UEI) 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:

Field-Initiated Approach to Addressing Racial Bias and Inequity in Child Welfare Announcement Type:

Initial Funding Opportunity Number:

HHS-2023-ACF-ACYF-CA-0020

Primary CFDA Number:

93.670 Due Date for Applications:

07/31/2023 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.

Child and family well-being for all families, including families most impacted by racial disparities, is the responsibility of equitable, diverse, and culturally competent systems and the community. The purpose of this NOFO is to fund grants that support the development, implementation, and evaluation of field-initiated approaches to addressing racial bias and inequity in child welfare; and improving the safety, stability, and well-being of families in traditionally underserved communities.

As a field-based initiative, this funding opportunity will enable communities to design and lead targeted solutions to local issues of systemic disproportionality and inequitable access to services experienced by traditionally underserved communities at varying points across the child welfare continuum.

Grant recipients will utilize supporting data, and any pre-analysis if available, from their respective states or communities that describes the problem of inequity and racial bias as it exists in their community. The Children’s Bureau (CB) is open to the type of data submitted and encourages applicants to use the best information or evidence available. Recipients are encouraged to either establish partnerships to access needed data or to consider other publicly available data sources (i.e., Census, community organization data dashboards, etc.). Upon award, grant recipients will complete a thorough exploration or assessment that, at a minimum, involves a review of current practices, policies, and service delivery to the target population with input from community members and families with lived child welfare experience. Ultimately, applicants will demonstrate readiness and a commitment to inclusive, co-designed solutions to address issues of racial bias and inequity in child welfare and reflect what communities say they need to thrive.

https://www.acf.hhs.gov/grants/how-apply-grant

I. Program Description

Statutory Authority Title I, section 105(b)(5) of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (42 U.S.C.

5106(b)(5)).

Description

BACKGROUND

Recently, many child welfare advocates, researchers, and practitioners have launched an illuminating spotlight on the United States history of systemic racism and its nexus to poor outcomes for many children and families who come to the attention of our nation’s child welfare system. Specifically, Black, Native American, Hispanic, and other marginalized children and families involved with the system experience high rates of disproportionality, racial bias, disparity, and inequity across the child welfare continuum (Adoption Triad, 2022). This system, like many other “people serving” systems, is responsible for many structural barriers and racial biases that have contributed to family dysfunction, separation, and destruction under the guise of safety and well-being. A significant body of research has documented the overrepresentation of certain racial and ethnic groups in the child welfare system relative to their representation in the general population (e.g., Cénat et al., 2020; Ganasarajah et al., 2017; Wells, 2011). In 2019, American Indian and Alaska Native children made up 1 percent of the child population and accounted for 2 percent of the foster care population, while African-American children accounted for roughly 14 percent of the child population and 23 percent of the foster care population (Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2020a; Children's Bureau, 2020b). That same year, White children made up half of the child population and just 44 percent of the foster care population. Although Hispanic children have historically been underrepresented in foster care at the national level, they were overrepresented in 20 states in 2018, when the most recent available data were collected (Puzzanchera & Taylor, 2020). In 2020, 813,589 Black or African American children were screened-in (i.e. met criteria to be accepted for investigation or assessment). Black or African American children account for 21.7 percent of all of the screened-in cases and 778,829 Hispanic or Latino children were screened-in. Hispanic or Latino children account for 23 percent of all of the screened-in cases (NCANDS). When considering lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) youth of color, “gaps in child welfare data systems inhibit the development of knowledge about these youth at entrance, during, and after system involvement, and impede monitoring over time. LGBTQ youth of color appear to stay longer in child welfare and juvenile justice systems and to be at elevated risk of discrimination and violence once system-involved compared to other groups of youth” (Wilson & Conron, 2019). “Although few studies have examined outcomes for LGBTQ youth in child welfare, LGBTQ youth who are also from communities of color are at risk of poor outcomes due to a range of intersecting vulnerabilities” (Briggs & Hoyt, 2019). Once families most impacted by racial disparities come to the attention of the child welfare system, they are often embarking on a seemingly continuous journey of surveillance, interruption, removal, and for many, eventual break down, leading to lasting adverse outcomes impacting generations.

Economically disadvantaged families of color are, oftentimes, the targets of surveillance and prolonged oversight by the child welfare system, due to perceived safety and well-being concerns. “Given the vague definitions of child maltreatment and the discretion given to people https://www.childwelfare.gov/news-events/adoptiontriad/editions/apr2022/ https://datacenter.kidscount.org/data/tables/103-child-population-by-race-and-ethnicity#detailed/1/any/false/2048,574,1729,37,871,870,573,869,36,86 https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/cb/afcarsreport27.pdf https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/939ac11724d44b52801c6ff914982163 who report, investigate, and respond to abuse and neglect allegations, it comes as no surprise that studies have discovered bias against Black families at every stage of decision making” (Roberts, 2022). These biases often contribute to misplaced and ineffective interventions and facilitate the system's targeting of Black communities for intervention (Roberts, 2022). The history of the child welfare system and the institutional racism and trauma that continue to shape the experiences of Black and Brown children and families today is so tragic that there is a movement to completely abolish the system altogether (Dettlaff et al., 2020). Acknowledging there are different schools of thought as to whether systemic racism is a primary or exacerbating factor, there is a consensus that the child welfare field needs new strategies to make significant changes to improve services and support for Black and Brown children and families. To that end, federal, state, and local child welfare professionals are assessing agency policies and practices for the ways they uphold or combat systemic racism (Adoption Triad, 2022).

On January 20, 2021, President Joseph Biden issued the Executive Order on Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities, prioritizing equity, civil rights, and racial justice as critical goals for all federal agencies. Ensuring consistent, systematic, fair, just, and impartial treatment of all individuals, including individuals belonging to underserved communities that have been denied such treatment, will serve as the roadmap going forward and the foundation for this funding opportunity. Consistent with this Executive Order, the term “underserved community” refers to a population sharing a particular characteristic, as well as a geographic community that has been systematically denied a full opportunity to participate in aspects of economic, social, and civic life or whose members have been historically underserved, marginalized, and adversely affected by inequality. Such communities include, among others, Black people, Hispanics and Latino/a/e people, Native American and other Indigenous people of North America (including Alaska Natives, Eskimos, and Aleuts), Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is committed to advancing equity by reducing structural barriers including racism and other forms of discrimination that prevent the social and emotional well-being of children and families (ACF Strategic Plan, 2022). Through the critical work of ongoing self-evaluation with an equity lens, CB will be instrumental in leading, facilitating, and collaborating to develop innovative programming to dismantle the harmful impacts of the current child welfare system. As we move strategically towards eliminating the existing structures that harm, we will work to further support families and care for children by strengthening and expanding community-based efforts that already exist and launching new initiatives.

National child welfare data has consistently provided evidence that systemic racism and disproportionality has been an intractable reality that has negatively impacted families of color at every stage of the child welfare continuum for decades (Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System). With this foundational knowledge, CB acknowledges that disparity and inequity presents differently in different communities and that solutions must be community-driven and tailored to each unique context. This NOFO will offer an opportunity for the broader child welfare field and impacted communities to describe what disproportionality and disparity looks like in their individual communities and to propose their own innovative solutions.

Centering the voices and experiences of those with lived experience, CB expects to support https://imprintnews.org/race/what-means-abolish-child-welfare/48257 https://www.childwelfare.gov/news-events/adoptiontriad/editions/apr2022/ https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/01/20/executive-order-advancing-racial-equity-and-support-for-underserved-c https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/01/20/executive-order-advancing-racial-equity-and-support-for-underserved-c https://www.acf.hhs.gov/about/acf-strategic-plan-2022 https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/data-research/adoption-fostercare https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/data-research/adoption-fostercare programs targeting any point on the child welfare continuum (prevention, intake, monitoring, surveillance, out of home care, residential care, etc.) and encourages cross-sector collaborative efforts to build more just and equitable systems that benefit all children, families, and communities.

To learn more about ACF’s Equity in Action efforts, read the ACF Strategic Plan. Other helpful sources include Child Welfare Information Gateway’s resources on equity.

PROJECT GOALS

The purpose of this NOFO is to fund eight projects for a 5-year period that bring forward innovative, community-supported approaches to addressing racial bias and inequity in child welfare systems. Projects will use supporting data to identify and define the problem that needs to be addressed in their community. Projects will work in sync with families with lived experience to co-design and develop solutions to racial bias, disproportionality, and disparities experienced by historically underserved families in their community at a selected point(s) on the child welfare continuum. Projects will focus efforts on historically underserved and overrepresented communities and actively work to reduce structural barriers to accessing services wherever possible.

Field-Initiated Projects will focus on meeting the following project goals:

1. Integrate the expertise of community members and establish meaningful roles for families and youth with lived expertise to develop or build upon innovative and effective strategies, activities, and solutions to address disproportionality, racial bias, and inequity in the child welfare system.

2. Explore and confirm the root cause and local drivers of racial bias and inequity in child welfare and its impact on families in specific communities.

3. Identify a point (or points) along the child welfare system continuum to focus innovative strategies or approaches to addressing disproportionality, racial bias, and inequity.

4. Develop opportunities to build equity and enhance the capacity of the child welfare system to reduce rates of racial disparities, including in investigation and surveillance.

5. Reduce racial disparities in family exposure to the existing child welfare system by identifying alternative resources, closing gaps in services and access, and developing community-based approaches to support safety and well-being.

6. Evaluate strategies and activities implemented using relevant research approaches, including methods to ensure the people who are the focus of the research are engaged in the process.

7. Enhance collaboration with those partners that are most appropriate for the project to address barriers for families most impacted by racial disparities in the child welfare system.

8. Improve relationships between communities and the child welfare system by changing child welfare norms and values, building trust and confidence, addressing bias in decision making, and improving actual and perceptions of fairness across the system.

Funded projects are encouraged to be innovative in their approaches and to think broadly about potential project-specific solutions. Projects may also seek to enhance existing child welfare http://www.acf.hhs.gov/about/acf-strategic-plan-2022 https://www.childwelfare.gov/search/?822E98A70CACF462191B3E33F9A34910=89614550050AA1C2D317A64B9738860BFD09F3F4&addsearch=equity program services and activities by placing an emphasis on addressing bias and inequity, developing a shared understanding of the root causes of inequalities in child welfare systems, restructuring policies and practices to incorporate equity and to address bias and systemic racism, or institutionalizing program strategies and evaluation activities that support systemic equity and approaches to address community-identified needs and solutions.

PROJECT REQUIREMENTS

This section highlights project requirements in the following areas:

Focus Area Equity Impact Assessment Collaboration Project Activities and Strategies Technical Assistance (TA) Planning Period Evaluation Project Sustainability Dissemination

Focus Area

The focus area for project implementation is a geographic area, demographic community, region or system identified by the community that would benefit from an in-depth analysis and subsequent development or expansion of innovative strategies and activities focused on reducing racial bias, disproportionality, and inequity in traditionally underserved and overrepresented communities.

Equity Impact Statement

With support from CB's TA providers, funded projects will be required to develop an equity impact statement using local data and input to identify those populations at highest risk for racial bias, inequity, or other disparities within the child welfare system. This data will build upon the preliminary data submitted in the application describing the local impact on underserved communities.

The equity impact statement must:

identify a practice or outcome in the program or in the broader population that the recipient wants to address in its grant, identify demographic, cultural, linguistic, social, policy, historical, and/or other context that helps unpack root causes or drivers of disparities for population(s) considered at highest risk for disparities, be data-driven (including qualitative input from experts, such as those with lived experience, or other anecdotal community data), address how the project will reach targeted underserved communities, and outline a plan, consistent with applicable laws, including how the program will measure the effect of funded services on specific subpopulations and other areas for program improvement or evaluation, and incorporate the National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services in Health and Health Care. The plan should also outline monitoring and assessment of the impact of the project on the program’s equity goals to promote equity.

Collaboration Child and family well-being for all families, including families most impacted by racial disparities, is the responsibility of equitable, diverse, and culturally competent systems and the community. A key component of this effort is cross-agency collaboration and a system that is co-designed and co-led by youth and families with lived expertise. Projects will establish and cultivate a shared vision, strategic coordination, and a willingness to share power as part of an improved child welfare system that reduces bias and inequitable practices and policies.

Grant recipients will establish a role for relevant community partners and families with lived experience to implement comprehensive strategies to address racial bias and inequities in the child welfare system. Collaboration activities may include, but are not limited to, defining the strengths and needs of the target area, ongoing coordination and consultation, developing and implementing a plan to share power and information, meaningful coordination of programming and reporting requirements with a focus on enhancing equitable conditions and access to services, and/or commitments to share data.

Project Strategies and Activities

Project activities and strategies will be based on and informed by community-identified needs of the focus area for project implementation and address racial bias and inequity at a selected point(s) along the child welfare continuum. Strategies and activities will be culturally responsive, community-driven, and support families of color that live in traditionally underserved communities. Strategies will aim to reduce disproportionality, disparities, racial bias, and inequity among families of color and demonstrate shared power in decision-making and offering solutions. Strategies and activities should be designed to address the goals of the NOFO as described in Section I. Program Description, Project Goals.

Technical Assistance (TA)

Projects will receive TA from CB and CB’s designated TA providers. Projects may use internal TA providers as long as the internal TA does not conflict with CB designated TA and they can effectively work with CB providers. The purpose of CB’s provision of TA is to support projects in developing and designing required activities during the 6-month planning period (described in Planning Period) as well as throughout the life of the project including implementation and evaluation activities.

https://thinkculturalhealth.hhs.gov/clas/standards https://thinkculturalhealth.hhs.gov/clas/standards

Planning Period

The project period will include an initial 6-month planning period to further develop and refine the proposed project and focus area(s) for project implementation. CB and CB’s designated TA provider(s) will offer projects support and guidance as they review their data and map out steps for implementation. During the planning period, projects must continue meaningful engagement with youth and families with lived child welfare experience and integrate their expertise throughout the planning period and beyond. Additionally, projects will use this time to enhance or develop a project structure that may include identifying lead personnel, developing project timelines, creating a data plan, establishing new partnerships, refining proposed strategies, establishing representative steering committees, etc. Projects will need to allocate sufficient resources during the planning period to continue community-level needs assessments, identification of system gaps and inefficiencies, and further refine strategies to address racial bias and inequity. Once recipients have been able to establish a feasible plan and operational structure necessary to implement, the project will move forward with implementation and evaluation. For those recipients who may have existing infrastructures in place, the timeframe for the planning period may be flexible.

Project activities completed during the planning period with the support of CB and CB’s TA provider(s) may include, but are not limited to, the following:

Developing an equity impact statement that builds upon the preliminary data presented in the application.

Finalizing the focus area(s), demographic communities, region, and system for project implementation.

Continuing identification and collection of reliable primary or secondary data for baseline and follow-up comparison data.

Reassessing the strengths, needs, barriers, and gaps specific to the focus area and population.

Continuing to co-design solutions to identified strengths and needs with community members and youth and families with lived child welfare expertise.

Engaging additional partners as needed and finalizing all partnership agreements (including data-sharing agreements) necessary to support successful implementation.

Reassessing the planned strategies, practices, or activities, and proposed timeline to ensure the appropriateness and fit for the focus area and population.

Conducting rapid cycle responses to identified challenges.

Developing an appropriate plan for securing informed consent and implementing an

Institutional Review Board review and tribal review, if applicable.

Refining project-specific implementation and evaluation plans.

Evaluation

Projects will conduct an objective, comprehensive evaluation to include both process and outcome elements and measure both participant-level and systems-level outcomes. The evaluation will examine how the project has integrated equity approaches to improve outcomes for children and families in underserved communities. It will also describe the process for implementation, the types and quantities of strategies and activities delivered, the characteristics of the population served, and the numbers of families served. Projects will apply community-based participatory methods involving evaluators and community members collaborating in the process. Outcome elements will examine the extent to which child welfare norms and values are enhanced to promote racial equity and inclusion and address bias in decision making. Projects will be supported by and actively engage with CB and CB’s designated evaluation TA provider in the design of the evaluation plan, measurement selection, data analysis, and reporting.

Through these project evaluations, CB expects to better understand the core components and factors associated with developing innovative, field-initiated approaches to addressing racial bias and inequity in the child welfare system. Grant recipients must implement an evaluation plan that includes methods and criteria to evaluate the results and benefits of the project in terms of its stated objectives.

Evaluation activities will include, but may not be limited to, the following:

Working with CB's designated evaluation TA provider to develop and finalize the evaluation plan;

Coordinating with the grant recipient's identified program start up team, including establishing data-sharing agreements and collaboration with relevant partner organizations.

Collecting evaluation data, including staff training, and ensuring sufficient time to collect data;

Storing data, including costs for staff to conduct regular activities such as data entry, quality checks, reliability training for coding, etc.;

Monitoring and reporting data, including costs for staff to analyze data, create and review reports, and plan and monitor adjustments.

Projects should either have sufficient in-house capacity to conduct an objective and robust evaluation or provide a sound plan for working with a third-party evaluator who has relevant experience and capacity. It is important that the evaluator has the necessary independence from the project to ensure objectivity. A skilled evaluator can help develop a logic model and assist in designing an evaluation strategy that is appropriate given the goals and objectives of the proposed project. Grant recipients may continue to finalize the evaluation plan during the planning period following grant award.

Dissemination

It is the intent of CB that the knowledge gained, lessons learned, and evidence generated from discretionary grants will help support the learning, innovation, and development of effective interventions, practices, and programs across the child welfare field. Projects will work with CB, designated TA provider(s), other CB-funded entities, and other projects in this grant cohort to:

Develop a project-specific dissemination plan, including goals and objectives.

Identify and engage with relevant target audiences to share project information and learning through selected channels.

Develop quality materials for dissemination, such as training materials, briefs, and/or other products that will facilitate and enable learning in other states/jurisdictions.

Coordinate, develop, and help disseminate summarized/synthesized cross-cutting information about the project.

Produce a high-quality, comprehensive final report.

Collaborate with Child Welfare Information Gateway to share, archive, and disseminate relevant project materials and reports.

Ensure publications and websites are widely accessible. Section 508 compliance is strongly encouraged for all products, tools, publications, and other print and web-based content developed. (See Terms and Conditions for more detailed information on 508 compliance.)

Project Sustainability

CB is interested in the specific strategies, practices, and activities that will reduce disproportionality, racial bias, and inequity in child welfare and improve access to services and supports in underserved communities. Grant recipients will develop a plan for project sustainability after the period of federal funding ends to sustain elements of their grant projects (e.g., strategies or services, funding flexibilities, practice changes) that have been effective in reducing disproportionality, racial bias, and inequity. Projects will describe the approach to project sustainment that will be most effective and feasible, and the key individuals and/or organizations whose support will be required, and how that collaboration will be maintained after federal funding ends.

SUBAWARDS

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 Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) number assigned by the System for Award Management (SAM), if they do not already have one. Prime recipients are required to check 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.

https://www.acf.hhs.gov/administrative-and-national-policy-requirements#book_content_10 https://www.acf.hhs.gov/administrative-and-national-policy-requirements#book_content_10

BONUS POINTS

Under this Field-Initiated Approach Project, there is an option to receive up to 10 bonus points listed under Section V.I. Criteria. Bonus points and priority consideration will be awarded to applicants that:

1. Demonstrate their capabilities and competencies for implementing their proposed project(s) are enhanced because the applicant (or at least one proposed subrecipient) identifies as a culturally specific organization.

2. Describe how being a culturally specific organization (or funding a culturally specific subrecipient organization(s)) will enhance their ability to implement the proposed project(s). Applicants also specify which culturally specific populations are expected to be served under the proposed project(s).

For the purposes of this funding opportunity, culturally specific organizations are defined as private non-profit or tribal organizations whose primary purpose as-a-whole is to provide culturally specific services to communities historically underserved, marginalized, and adversely affected by inequality in the child welfare system, including, among others, Black people, Hispanics and Latino/a/e people, Native American and other Indigenous people of North America (including Alaska Natives, Eskimos, and Aleuts), Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and/or Pacific Islanders.

Note: Addressing a priority area is one of many factors that CB considers in making funding decisions. Receiving priority consideration for one or more priority areas is not a guarantee of an award. See Section V.2., Review and Selection Process.

II. Federal Award Information

Funding Instrument Type:

CA (Cooperative Agreement) Estimated Total Funding:

$4,000,000 Expected Number of Awards:

Award Ceiling:

$500,000 Per Budget Period

Award Floor:

$400,000 Per Budget Period

Average Projected Award Amount:

$500,000 Per Budget Period

Anticipated Project Start Date:

09/29/2023

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 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 initial award will be for a 12-month budget period. The award continuation beyond each 12-month budget period will be the subject to the availability of funds, satisfactory progress on the part of the grantee (i.e., demonstrating a commitment to achieving expected outcomes and collaborating with CB to overcome any barriers), and a determination that continued funding would be in the best interest of the federal government.

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. A cooperative agreement clearly defines the respective responsibilities of CB and the awardee prior to the award. CB anticipates that agency involvement will produce programmatic benefits to the recipient otherwise unavailable to them for carrying out the project. A signed cooperative agreement between the Administration on Children, Youth and Families (ACYF)/CB and the Authorized Organizational Representative (AOR) will be submitted prior to the beginning of Year 1. CB involvement and collaboration with the grantee includes:

CB collaborations with the grant recipient in the planning process, as described in Section

1. Program Description, Project Requirements. This includes review of the application to potentially seek clarification of the approach, interventions, and evaluation plan presented in the grant recipient’s application.

CB review and support of the grant recipient's implementation and evaluation activities.

CB and the grant recipient jointly collaborate (including active collaboration with the designated evaluation TA provider) in the performance of key programmatic activities (i.e., strategic planning, implementation, TA, publications or products, and evaluation).

CB closely monitoring the grant recipient during performance, which may exceed those federal stewardship responsibilities customary for grant activities to ensure compliance with the intent of this funding.

CB review and approval of equity impact statements.

III. Eligibility Information

III.1. Eligible Applicants

Per the statute, “The Secretary may make grants to, and enter into contracts with, entities that are states, Indian tribes, or tribal organizations, or public agencies or private agencies or organizations (or combination of such entities) …” (42 U.S.C. 5106 (a)).

Collaborative efforts are encouraged, but applicants must identify a primary applicant responsible for administering the cooperative agreement.

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

Faith-based and community organizations that meet the eligibility requirements are eligible to receive awards under this funding opportunity. Faith-based organizations may apply for this award on the same basis as any other organization, as set forth at and, subject to the protections and requirements of 45 CFR Part 87 and 42 U.S.C. 2000bb et seq., ACF will not, in the selection of recipients, discriminate against an organization on the basis of the organization's religious character, affiliation, or exercise.

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

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 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 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 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 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 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 Grants.gov after 11:59 pm ET on the due date, as indicated by a dated and time-stamped email from Grants.gov, will be disqualified from competitive review and funding under this funding opportunity. That is, applications submitted to Grants.gov, on or after 12:00 am ET 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 on the day after the due date will be disqualified from competitive review and funding under this funding opportunity.

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

Each time an application is submitted via 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 after 4:30 pm ET on the due date will be disqualified from competitive review and 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 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

CB Operations Center c/o LCG, Inc.

ATTN: HHS-2023-ACF-ACYF-CA-0020

6000 Executive Boulevard Suite 410 Rockville

MD

20852 888-203-6161 CB@grantreview.org Application Packages

Electronic Application Submission:

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

Applications in Paper Format:

For applicants that have received an exemption to submit applications in paper format, Standard Forms (SFs), assurances, and certifications are available in the "Select Grant Opportunity Package" available in the NOFO's Grants.gov Synopsis under the Package tab at 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 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 Grants.gov is required to upload only two electronic files, excluding SFs and Office of Management and Budget (OMB)-approved forms. No more than two files will be accepted for the review, and additional files will be removed. SFs and OMB-approved forms will not be considered additional files.

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 http://www.gsa.gov/fedrelay 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 Applications that fail to adhere to ACF’s NOFO formatting, font, and page limitation requirements will be adjusted by the removal of page(s) from the application. Pages will be removed before the objective review and will not be made available to reviewers.

Applications that have more than one scanned page of a document on a single page will have the page(s) removed from the review.

For applicants that submit paper applications, double-sided pages will be counted as two pages.

When the maximum allowed number of pages is reached, excess pages will be removed and will not be made available to reviewers.

NOTE: Applicants failing to adhere to ACF’s NOFO formatting, font, and page limitation requirements will receive a letter from ACF notifying them that their application was amended.

The letter will be sent after awards have been issued and will specify the reason(s) for removal of page(s).

Corrections/Updates to Submitted Applications When applicants make revisions to a previously submitted application, ACF will accept only the last on-time application for pre-review under the Application Disqualification Factors. The Application Disqualification Factors determine the application's acceptance for competitive review. See Section III.3. Other, Application Disqualification Factors and Section IV.2.

Application Submission Options.

Copies Required Applicants must submit one complete copy of the application package electronically. Applicants submitting electronic applications need not provide additional copies of their application package.

Applicants submitting applications in paper format must submit one original and two copies of the complete application, including all SFs and OMB-approved forms. The original copy must have original signatures.

Signatures Applicants submitting electronic applications must follow the registration and application submission instructions provided at Grants.gov.

The original of a paper format application must include original signatures of the authorized representatives.

Accepted Application Format With the exception of the required SFs and OMB-approved forms, all application materials must be formatted so that they are 8 ½" x 11" white paper with 1-inch margins all around.

If possible, applicants are encouraged to include page numbers for each page within the application.

ACF generally does not encourage submission of scanned documents as they tend to have reduced clarity and readability. If documents must be scanned, the font size on any scanned documents must be large enough so that it is readable. Documents must be scanned page-for-page, meaning that applicants may not scan more than one page of a document onto a single page. Pages with blurred text will be removed from the application.

PAGE LIMITATIONS AND CONTENT FOR ALL SUBMISSION FORMATS:

With the exception of SFs and OMB-approved forms, the application submission is limited to 75 pages in its entirety. The two files applicants must submit are the Project Description file and the Appendices file.

The Project Description file must include the following items in this order:

1. Table of Contents

2. Project Summary

3. Objectives and Need for Assistance

4. Approach

5. Evaluation

6. Organizational Capacity

7. Logic Model

8. Line-Item Budget and Budget Justification

The Appendices file must include the following items in this order:

1. Documentation (e.g., data reports, etc.) related to evidence of disparity, inequity and racial bias within the focus area(s) (see Section IV.2., Project Description, Approach, Focus Area)

2. Letters of Support (see Section IV.2., Project Description, Letters of Support)

3. Other third-party agreements

4. Staff and position information…