FOA - Wounded Warrior Service Dog Program.pdf

Wounded Warrior Service Dog Program (WWSDP) Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA)

A. Program Description The Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) is authorized by 10 USC 2113(g)(1)(A) to make grants to any nonprofit entity for the purpose of carrying out cooperative enterprises in medical research, medical consultation, and medical education. In FY15, USU received congressionally directed funding to establish the Wounded Warrior Service Dog Program, a competitive grants program that supports nonprofit organizations committed to connecting assistance dogs with service members and veterans. Ten (10) grants were issued to assistance dog nonprofit organizations in FY15. Twenty (20) grants were issued in FY16. USU intends to continue this program in FY17 (subject to availability of funding) by issuing multiple grant awards to assistance dog nonprofit organizations.

B. Federal Award Information Note: The award of any grant under this program is subject to the availability of funding. USU has not yet received funding for this program.

USU expects to award a total of $5 million in support of this program and intends to issue no more than twenty (20) grant awards for successful applications. Previous grant award amounts ranged from $45,000 to $545,000 over a 12-month performance period. The anticipated performance period for these awards will be September 2017 through September 2018. Applications for renewal or supplementation of existing projects are eligible to compete.

Awards will be offered to multiple applicants if they meet eligibility requirements. It is recognized that there is a wide range of estimated costs ($15,000-$60,000) associated with placing an assistance dog by assistance dog organizations. There is also a significant difference in the cost of raising and training a purpose-bred assistance dog versus placing a trained shelter dog. This difference is recognized in the award cost per dog. Grant awards per assistance dog are not intended to cover the full costs of placing an assistance dog with a disabled service member or veteran, rather grants are intended to support operations related to such placements.

C. Eligibility Information

1. Eligible Applicants – Only nonprofit organizations subject to 26 USC 501(c)(3) of the tax code that are in the business of training assistance dogs are eligible to receive a grant from this opportunity.

2. Cost Sharing or Matching – There is no cost sharing, matching, or cost participation for this opportunity.

3. Other – In order to be considered for a grant award, service dog organizations submitting applications under this program must meet the following criteria:

a. Provide assistance dogs to service members and veterans who have disabilities as a result of blindness or visual impairment, loss of limb, paralysis or other significant mobility issues, loss of hearing, traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder or other traumatic injury.

b. Have an active registration with the System for Award Management (SAM).

c. Provide assistance dogs, related client training, and follow up at no cost to service members and veterans.

d. Be committed to comparable standards of the International Guide Dog Federation (IGDF), see http://www.igdf.org.uk/ and/or Assistance Dogs International (ADI) see http://www.assistancedogsinternational.org/standards/assistance-dogs/.

e. Have experience working with Department of Defense (DoD) military medical treatment facilities and/or medical facilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs, or have experience working with military or veteran organizations supporting service members or veterans.

f. Have demonstrated success in placing assistance dogs with service members or veterans who have documented disability ratings from the DoD and/or Veterans Affairs (VA) Physical Evaluation Board.

D. Application and Submission Information

1. Address to Request Application Package – The application package may be retrieved from the Grants.gov website. If there are difficulties downloading the attachment, please contact Melissa Beale via email at melissa.beale@usuhs.edu.

2. Content and Form of Application Submission – The following documents are included in the application package:

• Application for Federal Assistance SF 424

• Certification Regarding Lobbying

• Assurances – Non-Construction Programs SF 424B

• Budget Information – Non-Construction Programs SF 424A

Applicants must ensure the proposal addresses the each of the items listed in the Application Review Section. The page limitation for all supporting documentation (not including the forms listed above) is 25 pages, including references. All pages must be numbered. All documents must be in English; all budgets must be in whole US Dollars; all MS Word documents must be single-spaced, 12-point Calibri (or similar) font, with a minimum of 1-inch margins. All materials must be submitted in the following formats: .doc, .docx, .pdf, .xls, or .xlsx. No other file types will be accepted.

The following items are required to be addressed in no more than 25 pages (this is in addition to the forms identified above) in font no smaller or larger than 12pt. Calibri (or similar font):

a. Evidence of 501(c)(3) status (IRS approval letter).

b. A detailed description and timeline of the training that will be provided by the organization to service members and veterans who are receiving an assistance dog.

c. A detailed description of the training the potential assistance dogs receive. A well-trained assistance dog should be trained at a minimum of 1 to 2 hours per day or 180 to 360 hours over a 6-month period.

http://www.igdf.org.uk/ http://www.assistancedogsinternational.org/standards/assistance-dogs/ mailto:melissa.beale@usuhs.edu

d. A detailed description of the aftercare services the organization will provide for the assistance dogs, service members and veterans.

e. The plan for publicizing the availability of the organization’s assistance dogs through a targeted marketing campaign to service members and veterans with disabilities.

f. The demonstrated expertise and success of the organization in breeding and training assistance dogs (must show evidence of past success with rates of placement and completion of training; rate of retention of the dogs as companions (do any ever get returned?)).

g. A description of the organization’s commitment to comparable standards as that of International Guide Dog Federation (IGDF) or Assistance Dogs International (ADI).

h. A description of the organization’s commitment to humane standards for animals.

i. A detailed description of the organization’s experience working with military medical treatment facilities, VA medical facilities, or other military or veteran organizations. Must show capability of access to base facilities, service member and veteran populations (e.g., letters of support from commanders).

j. The number of assistance dogs placed within the calendar year 2016 with service members and veterans.

k. Applicants shall provide a proposed number of assistance dogs expected to be placed with service members and veterans in FY18 (1 October 2017 through 30 September 2018) in connection with this grant program. The Government does not have a suggested minimum/maximum number of placements.

l. Provide a proposed budget (Form SF-424A) that includes direct and indirect costs associated with the estimated cost per assistance dog anticipated to be delivered in FY18 (1 October 2017 – 30 September 2018). An itemized budget (not modular) should include but not be limited to the following: a detailed budget justification; percentage (%) effort;

number of dogs placed; supplies; travel; trainer training; and housing and training of dogs.

The Government will review all applications to determine reasonable and equitable grant amounts considering the number of purpose-bred dogs and sheltered dogs with a ceiling for the amount of grant funds any organization may receive. Grant awards are intended to partially support operational costs related to such placement.

3. Unique entity identifier and System for Award Management (SAM) – Each applicant (unless the applicant is an individual or Federal awarding agency that is excepted from those requirements under 2 CFR 25.110(b) or (c), or has an exception approved by the Federal awarding agency under 2 CFR 25.110(d)) is required to: (i) be registered in SAM before submitting an application; (ii) provide a valid unique entity identifier in its application; and (iii) continue to maintain an active SAM registration with current information at all times during which it has an active Federal award or application or plan under consideration by a Federal awarding agency. The Federal awarding agency may not make a Federal award to an applicant until the applicant has complied with all applicable unique entity identifier and SAM requirements and, if an applicant has not fully complied with the requirements by the time the Federal awarding agency is ready to make a Federal award, the Federal awarding agency may determine that the applicant is not qualified to receive a Federal award and use that determination as a basis for making a federal award to another applicant.

4. Submission Dates and Times – Applications are due electronically by 12:00pm Noon Eastern Daylight Savings Time on 22 May 2017. This is the date/time applications must be uploaded to Grants.gov in order to be considered for award. Late applications will not be considered.

Determination of on-time receipt will be made by reviewing the Date/Time Received stamp generated by Grants.gov. Confirmation of receipt for timely applications will be sent via email no later than 24-48 hours after receipt on Grants.gov.

5. Intergovernmental Review – Not applicable.

6. Funding Restrictions – Pre-award costs will not be reimbursed.

7. Other Submission Requirements – Only electronic submissions will be accepted. Hand-carried, US

Mail, or other hard-copy submissions will not be accepted.

E. Application Review Information

1. Criteria – Applications will be evaluated on the following criteria:

a. Does the application illustrate that the program will reach disabled service members and disabled veterans?

b. How strong is the applicant’s history and success training assistance dogs (% of dogs still placed)?

c. Does the applicant demonstrate that their staff, resources and infrastructure are capable of providing a quality program for disabled service members and disabled veterans?

d. Is the budget reasonable compared to program deliverables?

e. Preference will be given to organizations demonstrating past performance working with military medical treatment facilities and/or medical facilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

2. Review and Selection Process – In order to ensure a fair and open process for awarding grants, USU will use qualified subject matter experts as reviewers for applications received under this announcement. These subject matter experts will make award recommendations to the deciding official who will make the final determination on the number of grant awards issued and the amounts to be awarded under each grant. A portion of the available funds issued via grant awards must be used by each recipient to conduct an evaluation of the effectiveness of the activities performed in support of the grant.

3. Anticipated Announcement and Federal Award Dates – The Government anticipates making awards by 30 September 2017.

F. Federal Award Administration Information

1. Federal Award Notices – Successful applicants will receive via email a copy of the grant award to be signed by an institutional/company authorizing official who has the ability to “bind” the company. Once returned to USU, the award will be executed by the grants officer which constitutes the authorizing document. No work may begin until a fully executed grant agreement is received by the successful applicant(s).

2. Administrative and National Policy Requirements – All grant awards issued as a result of this opportunity will be subject to the Uniformed Services University General Terms and Conditions for Assistance Awards. Additionally, successful applicants must comply with the following statutes and regulations:

a. Civil Rights Act, 42 USC §2000, as implemented at 28 CFR 42

b. Age Discrimination Act, 42 USC §6101, as implemented at 45 CFR 90

c. Age Discrimination in Employment Act, 29 USC §621, as implemented at 29 CFR 1625

d. Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, 20 USC §1681, as implemented at 45 CFR

e. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, 29 USC §791, as implemented at 28 CFR 41

f. Equal Employment Opportunity Act, 42 USC §2000a and Executive Order 11246

g. Americans with Disabilities Act, 41 USC §12101, et seq.

h. Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 USC §207, as implemented at 29 CFR 500899

i. Davis-Bacon Act, 40 USC §§3141-3148, as implemented at 29 CFR 1, 3, 5 and 7

j. Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act, 40 USC §327, as implemented at 29 CFR

5, 1926

k. Executive Order 12549, as implemented in 2 CFR 180

l. Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988, 41 USC §701, et seq., as implemented at 2 CFR 182

3. Reporting – Organizations selected for funding shall be required to submit two (2) comprehensive progress and financial reports (6-months interim and 12-months final report). Both reports shall be reviewed to ensure grant funds are used for the purposes stated in the grant applications and shall include:

a. Number of dogs under training and number of dogs placed; name of service member/veteran recipient and their current contact information, to include certification of the service member/veteran’s medical disability status.

b. Description of the training provided to service members and veterans.

c. Description of the training of the assistance dogs that were placed.

d. Description of the aftercare services that the organization provided for assistance dogs, service members and veterans.

e. Plan utilized to publicize the availability of the organization’s assistance dogs and marketing campaign to service members and veterans with disabilities.

f. Organization’s ongoing expertise in breeding and training assistance dogs.

g. A statement of the organization’s continuing commitment to IGDF and ADI standards (or a statement indicating that the organization’s standards exceed those of IGDF and ADI would be acceptable).

h. A statement of the organization’s continuing commitment to humane standards for animals.

G. Federal Awarding Agency Contact(s) – For questions related to this opportunity, please contact

Melissa Beale, Chief of Research, USU Acquisitions Directorate, via email at melissa.beale@usuhs.edu.

mailto:melissa.beale@usuhs.edu

H. Other Information – Applicants shall not seek grant funding reimbursement for dogs placed with disabled service members and veterans prior to Oct 1, 2017. Assistance dog organizations that have affiliated or related organizations serving service members and veterans may submit only one application under this grant program. Applicants must agree to report on the use of grant funds in accordance with reporting requirements above. Applicants must state in their application that they agree to a progress and financial reporting as a condition for receiving a grant. Recipients who do not achieve proposed outcomes (number of dog placements) within Fiscal Year 2018 may not be eligible for any future funding made available under this grant program.

Funds will be distributed to Recipients no later than 30 September 2017 covering FY18 proposed expenses. The Government will expect each organization to spend grant funds exactly as proposed, i.e. to place service dogs with disabled service members and disabled veterans. All participating organizations must agree to Government auditing and mid-year and full-year expense reports are required by each Recipient detailing expenses.