Foa_Content_of_HHS-2024-ACF-ECD-TH-0135.pdf

Administration for Children and Families

Office of Early Childhood Development

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

HHS-2024-ACF-ECD-TH-0135

Application Due Date: Application Due Date will be submitted as: date based on specified number of days after the actual Synopsis Post Date

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

Appendix

Funding Opportunity Title:

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

Initial Funding Opportunity Number:

HHS-2024-ACF-ECD-TH-0135

Assistance Listing Number:

93.872 Due Date for Applications:

Application Due Date will be submitted as: date based on specified number of days after the actual Synopsis Post Date 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 an award, please visit "Applying for an ACF Award" at https://www.acf.hhs.gov/grants/how-apply-grant.

The Office of Early Childhood Development (ECD) within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) will be soliciting applications for the Fiscal Year 2024 Tribal Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Program. Funds will support 5-year awards (cooperative agreements) between ACF and federally recognized Indian tribes (or a consortium of Indian tribes), tribal organizations, or urban Indian organizations to develop, implement, sustain, or expand an evidence-based home visiting program serving expectant families and families with young children aged birth to kindergarten entry. Awards will support:

• Implementation of high-quality, culturally grounded, evidence-based home visiting services to American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) families and children;

• Implementation of performance measurement and continuous quality improvement (CQI) systems;

• Development of early childhood systems; and

• Participation in research and evaluation activities to build evidence around home visiting, particularly in tribal communities.

Funds for Year 1 will be awarded to recipients to conduct a comprehensive community needs and readiness assessment (CNRA), develop an implementation plan, and build capacity to support implementation. If applicable, funds for Year 1 will be awarded to continue delivering existing home visiting services. In Years 2-5, recipients will implement the various components of their approved plan to respond to identified needs (submitted during Year 1) by implementing high-quality, evidence-based home visiting programs in their community.

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

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

Description Background

The MIECHV Program and Tribal MIECHV

The MIECHV program, administered by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), in collaboration with ACF, responds to the diverse needs of children and families in at-risk communities and provides an opportunity for significant collaboration and partnership at the federal, state, tribal, and community levels to improve health and development outcomes for at-risk children through evidence-based home visiting programs. Evidence-based home visiting programs are intended to promote outcomes such as improved maternal and prenatal health, infant health, and child health and development; reduced child maltreatment; improved parenting practices related to child development outcomes; improved school readiness; improved family socio-economic status; improved coordination of referrals to community resources and supports;

and reduced incidence of injuries, crime, and domestic violence.

The goals of the MIECHV program are as follows: (1) strengthen and improve the programs and activities carried out under Title V of the Social Security Act, Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grant; (2) improve coordination of services for at-risk communities; and (3) identify and provide comprehensive services to improve outcomes for eligible families who reside in at-risk communities. Information about the HRSA MIECHV funding to states and territories can be found at http://mchb.hrsa.gov/programs/homevisiting/.

Legislation sets aside 6 percent of the appropriation for awards to tribal recipients.

Tribal MIECHV programs should be consistent with the requirements of the MIECHV awards to states and territories, to the greatest extent practicable, and programs must conduct needs assessments and establish benchmarks.

Along with the goals of the overall MIECHV program, the goals of the Tribal MIECHV program are to:

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

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

• Expand the evidence base around home visiting interventions with Native populations;

and

• Support and strengthen cooperation and coordination and promote linkages among various programs that serve expectant families, young children, and families, resulting in coordinated, comprehensive early childhood systems in recipient communities.

For generations, many AI/AN peoples have used informal home visits as a way of taking care of and attending to the needs of young families in their communities as a traditional cultural practice. More recently, tribal communities have recognized the potential of more structured http://mchb.hrsa.gov/programs/homevisiting/ home visiting programs to support improved child and family outcomes in tribal communities and are implementing a variety of home visiting programs using diverse tribal, public, and private funding streams, including Tribal MIECHV. More information about the Tribal MIECHV Program, current recipients, and the communities they serve can be found at ECD Tribal Home Visiting website.

Required Activities

Please note that a Definitions section is located in the Appendix; items that are italicized are defined in this section.

During the 5-year project period of the cooperative agreements, funds will support the following:

• Conducting a community needs and readiness assessment (CNRA) of at-risk tribal communities that engages all relevant community members and interested parties (Year 1 only);

• Planning collaboratively to address identified needs and develop capacity and infrastructure to fully plan and implement high-quality home visiting programs;

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

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

• Supporting the mental and behavioral health of children, families, and program staff, including through infant and early childhood mental health consultation;

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

• Engaging in CQI activities; and

• Participating in MIECHV-funded evaluation opportunities to promote learning and contribute to the MIECHV Learning Agenda.

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

While this NOFO is open to eligible entities, ECD intends to prioritize awards to programs and communities meeting an unmet need, including those without prior experience implementing evidence-based early childhood home visiting programs in the proposed community(ies). Entities without prior experience implementing evidence-based early childhood home visiting programs are eligible to receive additional bonus points, which can be found in Section V.1. Criteria of this

NOFO.

Year 1: CNRA, Implementation Plan, and Capacity Building https://www.acf.hhs.gov/ecd/tribal/tribal-home-visiting

The first 15 months of the cooperative agreement are considered “Year 1”. Year 1 activities are designed to support recipients in understanding the needs and capacities of their communities and developing, adjusting, modifying, sustaining, and/or expanding their programs to meet these needs and fulfill requirements. In Year 1 of the cooperative agreement, recipients must

A. Conduct a CNRA, B. Develop an implementation plan that describes how the recipient will carry out Year 2-5 activities, C. Improve and enhance organizational and community infrastructure and capacity to carry out activities during Years 2-5, and D. If applicable, maintain existing home visiting services to expectant families and families with young children.

A. Comprehensive CNRA

The goals of the CNRA are to: 1) identify program and community strengths and needs and, based on this, 2) prioritize goals and strategies to meet needs through home visiting programs.

The CNRA will give recipients the opportunity to assess the quality and capacity of existing community services to meet the needs of young children and families in the community and develop and sustain partnerships with a comprehensive array of services at the community, tribal, and state level. The CNRA will also set the stage for strengthened cooperation and coordination and promote linkages among various programs that serve expectant families, young children, and families in tribal communities. Coordination across programs helps ensure that high-quality, evidence-based home visiting programs are part of a comprehensive, aligned strategy for improving child and family well-being in tribal communities.

The CNRA that will be conducted in Year 1 must reflect the full engagement of the recipient's communities, using partnerships, collaborations, culturally grounded strategies, and innovative methodologies, including Indigenous methodologies. The needs and readiness assessment that will be conducted in Year 1 must use both quantitative and qualitative methods to complete the following:

• Identify the at-risk tribal community (or communities) in the recipient’s target area by collecting data on the health and well-being of individuals and families in these communities. Data may include strengths, protective factors, and risk factors. The risk factors must include (but are not limited to) premature births; low birth weight; infant mortality due to abuse, neglect, or other causes; poverty; crime; domestic violence; high-school dropout; substance abuse; unemployment; and child maltreatment.

• Assess the organization's capacity and readiness to implement evidence-based home visiting services.

• Assess the quality and capacity of any existing maternal, infant, and early childhood home visiting programs in the at-risk community. (Note: this includes existing, ongoing home visiting services provided to families by the recipient using Tribal MIECHV or other funds, if applicable, as well as any other programs operating in the community.)

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

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

B. Development of an Implementation Plan

Upon award, ACF will provide recipients with detailed guidance for submitting the CNRA and an Implementation Plan that describes how the recipient will carry out required activities in Years 2-5. This detailed guidance, which has been approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), (OMB# 0970-0611, expiration: June 30, 2026) clearly lays out the deliverables that recipients will be required to submit, and the requirements for Years 2-5, and is available at: https://www.acf.hhs.gov/ecd/tribal/tribal-home-visiting/tribal-home-visiting-grant-guidance. Recipients will follow an iterative process and timeline to submit sections of the Implementation Plan in accordance with submission milestones provided by ACF upon award. Recipients will not fully implement home visiting services as laid out in their plan until this plan is approved by ACF.

C. Capacity Building to Support Implementation

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

• Based on the results of the needs assessment, recipients, in collaboration with tribal, organizational, and community partners, their local advisory committee, model developers, and ACF, will develop capacity to implement evidence-based home visiting programs. This includes identifying the evidence-based home visiting models that meet the needs of the community and families, as well as any necessary cultural or contextual adaptations, enhancements, and supplements. Recipients under the Tribal MIECHV program may choose to implement both models that meet the HHS criteria for evidence of effectiveness in AI/AN communities and promising approaches that do not meet these criteria but otherwise meet the requirements for home visiting models. The home visiting models that Tribal MIECHV recipients select must be research-based and grounded in relevant empirically based knowledge, target outcomes specified in the authorizing legislation, be associated with (or developed by or in partnership with) a national organization or institution of higher education, and have comprehensive home visiting program standards that ensure high-quality service delivery and continuous program quality improvement. Recipients may incorporate cultural and contextual adaptations, enhancements, or supplements to their selected models, and must ensure fidelity of implementation of selected home visiting models, adaptations, enhancements, and supplements. In Year 1, recipients must:

o Determine the target population for services;

o Set program goals and objectives;

o Determine which home visiting model(s), adaptations, enhancements, and supplements would meet the identified needs of the community and target population;

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

https://www.acf.hhs.gov/ecd/tribal/tribal-home-visiting/tribal-home-visiting-grant-guidance o Participate in training needed to implement selected models, adaptations, enhancements, and supplements;

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

• Select, develop, and supervise a qualified home visiting program workforce, including managers:

o During Year 1, recipients will build administrative and management capacity to support effective implementation of home visiting services. Building on the needs assessment, recipients will hire, train, and develop staff and establish infrastructure to effectively implement the home visiting program as designed, including data collection, performance measurement, and CQI activities o Recipients will also build infrastructure to ensure the provision of reflective supervision, administrative supervision, clinical supervision, and infant and early childhood mental health consultation to home visitors. This includes developing and implementing policies and procedures to effectively provide reflective supervision program-wide with fidelity to the home visiting model or models implemented.

• Develop or improve an integrated data management information system:

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

• Enhance plans and infrastructure to support performance measurement and data-driven CQI activities:

o In coordination with efforts to develop or improve management information systems, recipients will develop individualized performance measurement plans that will reflect the Tribal MIECHV performance measurement system. Building on these performance measurement plans and management information systems, recipients will build systems, policies, and processes for conducting data-driven CQI activities. To maximize the utility of data for decision-making and learning, recipients under this NOFO will build capacity for rapid-cycle CQI and testing of improvement strategies through use of run charts and other tools.

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

D. Continued Delivery of Existing Home Visiting Services (if applicable)

If the recipient has already been implementing home visiting services prior to receiving an award under this NOFO, an important activity during Year 1 of the award is the continued delivery of home visiting services to eligible families. If the recipient’s existing home visiting program has been funded with Tribal MIECHV funds prior to award under this NOFO, the recipient may use funds provided under this NOFO to support ongoing delivery of services during Year 1.

Recipients may also use Tribal MIECHV funds to replace another funding source to provide ongoing services in Year 1. Recipients who use Tribal MIECHV funds under this NOFO to provide services in Year 1 will be expected to conduct data collection and submit relevant data reports during Year 1.

Recipients who are only proposing to expand services under this NOFO (and will not use funds awarded under this NOFO to provide existing home visiting services) will not be expected to report data to ACF in Year 1. These recipients will only provide these data in Years 2-5 as outlined below.

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

Activities include the following:

A. Implementation of Home Visiting Services

Per the approved Implementation Plan, recipients will implement high-quality, culturally grounded evidence-based home visiting programs that meet the needs of at-risk tribal communities and provide home visiting services, including virtual home visits as specified by statute, to eligible families, in alignment with the definition of a MIECHV caseload slot.

The Tribal MIECHV Program is a service delivery program. Funds made available to recipients under this NOFO must be used to support the delivery of home visiting services under the Tribal MIECHV Program. Funds may not be used except as provided for in the authorizing legislation (section 511 of the Social Security Act); applicable implementing program policy issuances, including this NOFO and the notice(s) of award; and other federal laws, regulations, and policies applicable to the use of federal awards.

In accordance with the stated objectives of the Tribal MIECHV program, recipients must implement home visiting services that result in improvements in the coordination and referrals for other community resources and supports to support the needs of families in the program.

Recipients may coordinate with, and refer to, direct medical, dental, mental health, or legal services and providers covered by other sources of funding, for which non-MIECHV sources of funding may provide reimbursement. Recipients may also fund infant and early childhood mental health consultation to support children, families, and staff. The MIECHV program generally does not fund the delivery or costs of direct medical, dental, mental health, or legal services; however, some limited direct services may be provided (typically by the home visitor) to the extent required to implement the selected home visiting model.

B. Performance Measurement and CQI

Recipients under this NOFO will collect, analyze, use, and report data on program implementation and improvements for the eligible families participating in the program in the legislatively mandated benchmark areas. The legislatively mandated benchmark areas include: 1) improved maternal, newborn, and child health; 2) prevention of child injuries, child abuse, neglect, or maltreatment, and reduction of emergency room visits; 3) improvements in school readiness and child academic achievement; 4) reductions in crime or domestic violence; 5) improvements in family economic self-sufficiency; and 6) improvements in the coordination and referrals for other community resources and supports. More information about the Tribal MIECHV performance measurement system is available at https://www.acf.hhs.gov/ecd/tribal/tribal-home-visiting/tribal-home-visiting-grant-guidance.

Recipients will also engage in CQI activities, including participating in a CQI Learning Collaborative with other Tribal MIECHV recipients. The Collaborative will focus on a specific topic relevant to home visiting practice (e.g., family engagement), and as part of participation in the Collaborative, recipients will identify strategies for improvement and rapidly test, assess results, and scale change within their own programs. The Collaborative will be structured and facilitated – recipients will connect regularly with their Tribal MIECHV peers to discuss their tests of change and share lessons learned and will receive TA and coaching prior to and throughout the Collaborative, as well as have access to topic-specific materials and tools to support them in planning and running rapid cycle tests, collecting relevant data to study the results, and making decisions to improve program practice.

C. Early Childhood Systems Building

Recipients will collaborate with tribal, local, and state early childhood partners to support the comprehensive needs of expectant families, parents and caregivers, and children from birth to kindergarten entry living in at-risk tribal communities through development of an early childhood system. Recipients will also support maternal, early childhood, and infant mental and behavioral health including, but not limited to, through infant and early childhood mental health consultation.

D. MIECHV Learning Agenda Activities

Recipients will participate in MIECHV-funded evaluation opportunities to promote learning and contribute to the MIECHV Learning Agenda. HHS carries out a continuous program of research and evaluation activities in order to increase knowledge about the implementation and effectiveness of home visiting programs. Primary goals for ACF's Tribal MIECHV Program have been to expand the evidence base on home visiting in Native populations and to increase the representation of tribal home visiting programs in broader MIECHV learning. An overview of MIECHV- funded research and evaluation questions and examples of recent and ongoing ACF research and evaluation projects is available:

https://www.acf.hhs.gov/opre/report/agenda/home-visiting-research-and-evaluation.

ACF requires recipients under this NOFO to participate, whenever feasible and where there is interest, in MIECHV-funded evaluation activities, including, but not limited to:

• Serving as collaborators/subject matter experts for MIECHV evaluation projects;

• Participating in data collection activities; and

• Participating in evaluation dissemination activities.

https://www.acf.hhs.gov/opre/report/agenda/home-visiting-research-and-evaluation

Examples of upcoming or ongoing MIECHV-funded evaluation activities that recipients may engage with include the Center for Indigenous Research Collaborations and Learning for Home Visiting (https://www.acf.hhs.gov/opre/project/center-research-practice-collaborations-indigenous-home-visiting-crpc-ihv), the Tribal Early Childhood Research Center (https://coloradosph.cuanschutz.edu/research-and-practice/centers-programs/caianh/projects/trc), and the Home Visiting Applied Research Collaborative (https://hvresearch.org/). Other MIECHV-funded evaluation activities will be shared over a recipient listserv.

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

Pre-Application TA ACF will conduct a pre-application webinar on March 7, 2024, from 3:00 p.m.- 4:30 p.m. eastern time (ET). The link to join is https://acf-hhs-gov.zoomgov.com/j/1617207853, call-in number is

(669) 254-5252; the passcode is 1617207853. The goal of the webinar is to review the NOFO in detail. Pre-application webinar materials may be accessed on the ACF website at:

https://www.acf.hhs.gov/ecd/tribal/tribal-home-visiting. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) will also be made available publicly. The link to the FAQ website is https://www.acf.hhs.gov/ecd/tribal/tribal-home-visiting. In the event of a discrepancy between the FAQ and the NOFO, the NOFO takes precedence.

Joining and participating in the webinar is voluntary. Participants will remain anonymous.

Opting not to participate in the webinar will not affect eligibility, application scoring, or the selection process. Applicants unable to attend can access the recording and transcript on the Tribal Home Visiting website, https://www.acf.hhs.gov/ecd/tribal/tribal-home-visiting, after the webinar has concluded.

Travel for ACF-Initiated Meetings

The recipient’s Project Director and at least one other key staff must attend the following meetings to be held in Washington, DC, or another location. Overall, recipients must attend up to 10 meetings over the life of the cooperative agreement.

• Kick-off meeting, within 90 days of the start of the award. This will last 2 to 3 days.

(Year 1 only)

• Annual all-Tribal MIECHV recipient meeting in each year. Each meeting will last 2 to 3 days.

• Annual regional meeting in each year. Each meeting will last 2 to 3 days. (Years 2-5 only)

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 https://www.acf.hhs.gov/opre/project/center-research-practice-collaborations-indigenous-home-visiting-crpc-ihv https://www.acf.hhs.gov/opre/project/center-research-practice-collaborations-indigenous-home-visiting-crpc-ihv https://coloradosph.cuanschutz.edu/research-and-practice/centers-programs/caianh/projects/trc https://hvresearch.org/ https://www.acf.hhs.gov/ecd/tribal/tribal-home-visiting 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 UEI number assigned by 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.

ECD Response to Nationally Declared Emergency If, during the project period, ECD and/or recipients are required to adjust program and/or award requirements due to a nationally declared emergency, ECD will exercise maximum flexibilities as needed. Requirements may be conducted virtually, or timelines may be modified in consultation with ECD.

II. Federal Award Information Funding Instrument Type:

CA (Cooperative Agreement) Estimated Total Funding:

$3,000,000 Expected Number of Awards:

Award Ceiling:

$1,000,000 Per Budget Period

Award Floor:

$250,000 Per Budget Period

Average Projected Award Amount:

$500,000 Per Budget Period

Anticipated Project Start Date:

07/01/2024 Length of Project Periods:

Other

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

Additional Information on Awards:

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

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

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 the merit review and funding under this funding opportunity. Please see Section III.3. Other, Application Disqualification Factors.

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

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

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

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

• ACF involvement, when applicable, in the establishment of policies and procedures that maximize open competition for subawards; and rigorous and impartial development, review, and funding of subrecipient activities;

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

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

• ACF’s close monitoring during performance that may, in order to ensure compliance with the intent of this funding opportunity, exceed those federal stewardship responsibilities customary for discretionary activities.

Upon award, recipients will work closely with ACF and TA providers in the development of the implementation plan. The overall goals of TA are to build the capacity of recipients to carry out cooperative agreement activities. While ACF recognizes that many home visiting models that recipients are likely to implement provide model-specific TA, ACF anticipates providing TA in several areas, and ACF intends to tailor TA to meet needs identified by the recipients. There will be many TA opportunities to support recipients with the development of a quality implementation plan, including monthly calls, webinars, individual TA, the kickoff meeting, and the possibility of on-site TA, as well as additional tools and resources.

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

http://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/comp2/F094-437.html http://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/comp2/F094-437.html

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

"Tribal organization" means the elected governing body of any Indian tribe or any legally established organization of Indians that is controlled by one or more such bodies or by a board of directors elected or selected by one or more such bodies (or elected by the Indian population to be served by such organization) and that includes the maximum participation of Indians in all phases of its activities; and

"Urban Indian organization" means a non-profit corporate body situated in an urban center, governed by an urban Indian controlled board of directors, and providing for the maximum participation of all interested Indian groups and individuals, which body is capable of legally cooperating with other public and private entities for the purpose of performing the activities described in section 503(a).

Applicants serving an emerging, unserved, or underserved population or remote geographic area are encouraged to apply for funding under this NOFO. Collaborative efforts and interdisciplinary approaches are encouraged. Applications from collaborative groups (consortia) must identify a primary applicant responsible for administering the cooperative agreement.

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

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

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

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.

See Section IV.2. The Project Budget and Budget Justification, Commitment of Non-Federal Resources for more information.

III.3. Other Application Disqualification Factors Applications from individuals (including sole proprietorships) and foreign entities are not eligible and will be disqualified from the merit 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, as stated in Section II. Federal Award Information, will be disqualified from the merit 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 that have not been approved for an exemption from required electronic submission will be disqualified from the merit review and funding under this funding opportunity.

If you do not have an internet connection or sufficient capacity to upload large documents to the internet you may contact ACF for an exemption that will allow you to submit your application 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 https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/ACF_Policy_for_Requesting_an_Exemption_from_Required_Electronic_FINAL_0.pdf

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 the merit review and funding under this funding opportunity.

Applications submitted to Grants.gov which fail their validation check, will not be received at, or acknowledged by ACF. If you submit an application for the same NOFO more than once, only the last on-time submission will be acknowledged.

Paper applications with an approved exemption from the electronic submission requirement must be received by 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 the merit 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 Jesse LaSarte

HHS-2024-ACF-ECD-TH-0135

Administration for Children and Families 330 C Street SW Washington

DC

20201 202-205-9513 TribalHV@acf.hhs.gov Application Packages

Electronic Application Submission:

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

IV.2. Content and Form of Application Submission

FORMATTING APPLICATION SUBMISSIONS

Notice of Two-File Requirement Applicants applying via Grants.gov must upload only two electronic files, excluding Standard https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/ACF_Policy_for_Requesting_an_Exemption_from_Required_Electronic_FINAL_0.pdf

Forms (SFs) and Office of Management and Budget (OMB)-approved forms. Additional files will be removed prior to the merit review.

FOR ALL APPLICATIONS:

Signature of Authorized Organization Representative (AOR) Each applicant must designate an authorized organization representative (AOR) with authority to act on the organization’s behalf on matters related to the application submission and administration of awards. The AOR signature must appear on all forms in which a signature is required. By signing, the AOR agrees the organization will abide by all applicable Federal statutes, regulations and terms and conditions of the award.

Accepted Font Style and Size Applications must be in Times New Roman 12-point font, except for footnotes, which may be 10-point font. Pages that contain blurred or illegible text will be removed.

If documents must be scanned, the font size on any scanned documents must be large enough so that it is readable. You may not scan more than one page of a documents onto a single page.

Pages with blurred text will be removed from the application.

English Language Applications must be submitted in the English language and must be in the terms of United States (U.S.) dollars. See 45 CFR §75.111 for more information.

Page Limitations You must observe the page limitation(s) listed under "PAGE LIMITATIONS AND CONTENT FOR ALL SUBMISSION FORMATS" later in this section. 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 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:

• Table of Contents

• One-page Project Summary

• Required Assurances and Certifications

• SFs and OMB-approved forms

• Resumes, Logic Models, Proof of Legal Status/Non-Profit Status, Third-Party

Agreements, Letters of Support, footnotes and tables

• 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 merit review 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 revise a previously submitted application, ACF will accept only the last on-time application for pre-review under the Application Disqualification Factors. 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 must follow the registration and application submission instructions provided at Grants.gov.

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.

PAGE LIMITATIONS AND CONTENT FOR ALL SUBMISSION FORMATS:

The application should be submitted in 2 files, with the total submission limited to 125 pages.

File 1 (Project Description) must include the following. Applicants should title each section accordingly.

• Table of Contents

• Project Summary (one page)

• Objectives and Need for Assistance

• Approach

• Project Timeline and Milestones

• Organizational Capacity

• Plan for Oversight of Federal Award Funds and Activities

• Budget and Budget Justification

File 2 (Appendices) must include:

• Tribal Resolutions (if applicable)

• Organizational Capacity Supplemental Information

• Third-Party Agreements

• Proof of Non-profit Status (if applicable)

• Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (if applicable)

• Letters of Support (if applicable)

• Protection of Sensitive and Confidential Information

ELECTRONIC APPLICATION SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

You are required to submit applications electronically unless you have received an exemption that will allow submission in paper format. See Section IV.2. Application Submission Options for information about requesting an exemption.

Electronic applications will only be accepted via Grants.gov. ACF will not accept applications submitted via email or via facsimile.

Each applicant is required to upload ONLY two electronic files, excluding SFs and OMB-approved forms.

File One: Must contain the entire Project Description, and the Budget and Budget Justification (including a line-item budget and a budget narrative).

File Two: Must contain all documents required in the Appendices.

Formatting Submission Files ACF strongly recommends that File One and File Two be uploaded as Portable Document Files (PDFs).

To adhere to the two-file requirement, you may need to convert and/or merge documents together using a PDF converter software. Applicants using Adobe Acrobat Reader software will be able to merge these documents together. ACF recommends merging documents electronically rather than scanning multiple documents into one document manually.

Applicants must ensure that the version of Adobe Acrobat Reader they are using is compatible with Grants.gov. To verify Adobe software compatibility please go to Grants.gov and click on “Applicants” at the top bar menu and select “Adobe Software Compatibility."

Naming Application Submission Files Carefully observe the file naming conventions required by Grants.gov. Limit file names to 50 characters (characters and spaces).Please also see https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/submitting-utf-8-special-characters.html.

Use only file formats supported by ACF While ACF supports all of the following file formats, we strongly recommend that the two files (Project Description and Appendices) are uploaded as PDFs in order to comply with the two-file upload limitation.

https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/submitting-utf-8-special-characters.html

ACF supports the following file formats:

• Adobe PDF – Portable Document Format (.pdf)

• Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx)

• Microsoft Excel (.xls or .xlsx)

• Microsoft…