FY 2023 LRLR Teleconference Transcript.docx

Moderator: EMILY ANOZIE March 22, 2023 1:00 pm CT

Coordinator: Welcome and thank you all for standing by. At this time all participants will be in a listen-only mode for the duration of today's conference.

At the end of today's conference there will be a question and answer portion. At that time if you would like to ask a question you may use Star 1.

Today's conference is being recorded. If you have any objections, you may disconnect at this time. And I would now like to turn the conference over to Emily. Thank you. You may begin.

Emily Anozie: Thank you, (Ivy). Good afternoon or good morning depending on where you're calling in from today. The teleconference today is to discuss the funding opportunity for the fiscal year 2023 Lifespan Respite Care Program for new states and states reestablishing their core respite infrastructure.

This call will only cover this Funding Opportunity Announcement, FOA, entitled Lifespan Respite Care Program, Grants to New States and States Reestablishing Their Core Respite Infrastructure. If you are from a state interested in applying for a Lifespan Respite Care Program, State Program Enhancement Grant, your call was yesterday, March 21 at 2:00 pm. And the recording of that call will be available on grants.gov with information regarding that particular FOA.

The purpose of this call is to provide interested applicants with some background information on the program and walk through the announcement itself highlighting particular things that you should pay attention to, as well as answer any outstanding questions that you may have. This conference call is being recorded and a printed copy of today's transcript, including the questions and answers at the end of the call, will be available on grants.gov along with other parts of the application package within about a week or so.

My name is Emily Anozie. And I am an Aging Services Program Specialist here in the Office of Supportive and Caregiver Services in the Administration on Aging at ACL. I am the Program Officer for the Lifespan Respite Care Program Grants to New States and States Reestablishing Their Core Respite Infrastructure, and the Lifespan Respite Care Program, State Programs Enhancement Grant.

My responsibility is to ensure that grantees work within the federal requirements of the act and the Funding Opportunity Announcement for the life of each project. I will be your go-to person for all programmatic issues related to each project.

Joining me on the call today from ACL is Greg Link, Director of the Office of Supportive and Caregiver Services, and Aiesha Gurley-Parry, Grants Management Specialist who will be handling the business functions between ACL/AOA, for the grantees that are selected and answer questions about budget, financial reporting, drawing down funds, et cetera.

This call is scheduled to go for about an hour, but hopefully, we won't need all that time, but I do want to take this opportunity to go over the program announcement and hopefully clear up any lingering questions. I will spend the next couple of minutes providing an overview of the Lifespan Respite Care Program followed by reviewing key dates that you need to be aware of in preparing your application. Finally, I'll go through the program announcement and highlight key points as necessary. And then following all of that we will open the line for the Q&A portion and have a wrap-up.

The Lifespan Respite Care Program was authorized by Congress in 2006 and reauthorized in 2020. Lifespan Respite Care Programs are coordinated systems of accessible community-based respite care services for family caregivers of children and adults of all ages with disabilities and/or chronic conditions with long-term care support needs.

Respite can strengthen a family's system while also protecting the health and well-being of both the caregiver and the caregiver recipient, and is a key component of the community-based long-term services and support. The term respite care means planned or emergency care provided to a child or adult who needs help in order to provide that temporary relief to the family caregiver of that child or adult.

Since 2009, Congress has gradually increased appropriation for the implementation of the program. And as of 2022 ACL has funded 39 states and DC with at least one grant to implement the requirements of the program.

In the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 Congress appropriated $10 million for the Lifespan Respite Program and an increase of $2 million above the fiscal year of 2022 enacted level. This year, ACL has released two new program funding opportunities for grants to states.

With this program announcement ACL anticipates funding approximately one cooperative agreement at a federal funding level of up to approximately $235,000 per year for three years for a potential maximum funding of $705,000 over the course of the three-year project period. So the actual number we fund from this announcement will depend on the number of states that we fund under the new Program Enhancement Grant Funding Opportunity announcement, and that FOA: HHS-2023-ACL-AOA-LRLI-0014.

ACL is seeking applications from eligible state agencies, as defined in the statute, who fall within one of the following two categories. The first one is new states, so new states are defined as states who have not previously received a grant under this program.

The second category are returning states. Returning states are defined as states that have had at least one Lifespan Respite Program grant, but whose program had either gone dormant or lapsed since federal funding ended, and thus desire to reestablish their core state respite infrastructures rather than apply for the Program Enhancement Grant.

These grants will still focus on state systems and capacities to deliver respite care and related services to family caregivers of children and adults across all age groups, disabilities, and chronic conditions as I mentioned earlier. Applicants must propose to use grant funds to plan, establish, expand, or reestablish lifespan respite care systems and programs, including new and emergency respite services. And also undertake activities to recruit and train direct respite care workers and other respite care workers, volunteers, and also those that assist caregivers with gaining access to the needed respite services and support services, and provide these services as authorized in the act.

So now I will provide a program overview. The purpose of the Lifespan Respite Care Act is to expand and enhance respite services, improve coordination, and improve respite access and quality.

Lifespan respite care programs look at the service of respite for caregivers and work to make it more accessible, available, and of higher quality regardless of the age of the caregiver or care recipient. The act is unique in that it addresses caregiver respite needs across all age and disability categories without preference to a particular group.

In fact, congressional intent requires that states ensure that respite is made more available and accessible regardless of age or disability of the care recipient. So this is just a very brief overview of the act.

Applicants should be aware that this is a highly competitive grant opportunity. Limited funds are available to support applicants' proposed projects therefore only those applications deemed to show the greatest likelihood of reestablishing or reinvigorating their lifespan respite programs and efforts to deliver respite care and related services to family caregivers of children and adults across the lifespan, and respond to the most comprehensive needs of their states will be selected for funding.

Before beginning work on your application for either option I encourage you and/or those who will be completing your application on your behalf to read the full language of the act. Likewise, if you convene your stakeholder group to discuss the application, and the program development, it would be a great idea to ensure each of them reads the act as well that way everyone is on the same page.

The act is relatively short and very straightforward, but by reading the act you will also see that much of the language repeated is in the program announcement itself. So for more information, and to read the full text of the act, we put the link to these and other resources on the Lifespan Respite Care Program in the FOA, so please visit ACL's website listed on Page 13 in the FOA.

So first I want to touch on a few key dates associated with this FOA. So March 22, which is today's teleconference, we are having today will also be available via a printed transcript posted on grants.gov next to the funding opportunity itself in about a week or so as I mentioned earlier. And the transcript will include the Q&As that take place at the end of the call.

Letters of Intent are due March 27 of 2023. I want to encourage you to consider completing one even if you don't ultimately submit an application.

Submitting a Letter of Intent does not commit you to actually completing an application. Letters of Intent are a great planning tool for me to use in structuring the grant review process.

Knowing ahead of time approximately how many applications are coming in will help me determine the number of grant reviewers I need, as well as how to structure the review process. Letters of Intent should be emailed to me, and my email address is emily.anozie@acl.hhs.gov. And that is in the FOA as well.

So the application deadline is 11:59 pm on Monday, May 15 of 2023. Applications must be submitted electronically via www.grants.gov. The due date is non-negotiable. Applications received after the due date will not be considered for funding. And I'll talk more later about specific application submission instructions.

The projected start date for your project is August 1 of 2023. Now this is an approximate date only when projects will begin. Your actual project start date may be a little later than that depending on how quickly we are able to process your application, and also we are aiming for that August 1 time frame, but it could be a start date of later.

Those are the key dates to keep in mind as you begin your work. And I'll talk later about the actual grant submission process. And you'll want to begin preparing for that as well in advance when you actually, you know, go ahead and push that button to submit your application.

So now I want to take the next few minutes to walk through the program announcements page by page as you see in the PDF document of the Funding Opportunity Announcement. What I'll do is I'll try to call your attention to those issues that I believe to be of greatest importance. If I don't answer your questions during this time you may ask me during the Q&A period.

Okay, so first and foremost please be aware that this particular announcement is only applicable to states which are new states, which are defined as states who have not previously received a grant under this program. Or for returning states, which are defined as states that have had at least one Lifespan Respite Program grant, but for whom the program has gone either dormant or lapsed since the federal funding ended and thus desire to reestablish their core state respite infrastructures rather than apply for the Program Enhancement Grant. Therefore, applications will only be accepted from states that meet this eligibility.

So Pages 1 through 4 really talk about table of contents. They also mention the due dates that I discussed as well as the due dates for the Letters of Intent and the application itself.

You'll also see an executive summary that provides a brief overview of the opportunity and who is eligible to apply as well as the funding opportunity description. On Page 4, I try to provide enough background and history so that the applicants understand the intent and purpose for the funding opportunity as well, and also the context in which they will be working if funded.

Pages 5 and 6 have background information on the problem and discuss the family caregiver landscape. It also has information about the actual Lifespan Respite Care Act in 2006 and the reauthorization that took place in 2020.

If you have not read a statute previously I would encourage you to do so. Again, it's very short, straightforward, and very informative as well. And you'll see that by reading this much of what is in the law is included in some way or shape or form laid out in the requirements in this announcement.

Page 7 and 8 discuss the evolving respite environment, and highlight significant developments that have impacted the respite and caregiving infrastructure. So as the nation started emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic respite programs continue to evolve to meet the changing needs and circumstances of caregivers and care recipients of all communities across all age groups. So we also include information about the impact of the pandemic and the impact on the direct care workforce.

Also in this section we discuss the formation and launch of the National Strategy to Support Family Caregivers, which was released in 2022 along with other ACL initiatives. The ACL's Lifespan Respite Technical Assistance and Resource Center also offers access to a wide array of best practices, training, and technical assistance to help stakeholders and grantees strengthen the direct care workforce.

Page 8 outlines the program priority areas. We are looking for lessons learned during the coronavirus pandemic so applicants are encouraged to consider other forms or means of service delivery. And we include a framework for completing the application narrative and the elements to consider including in your proposal.

Here we also describe the required use of funds and begin laying out the required application elements. So please read this section carefully. They are intended to build upon the requirements of the Lifespan Respite Care Act.

So to that end you are required to use funds to provide the required services as specified in the act. You also have the option to provide the optional services as well. So you would see words like shall, must, at minimum, you know, intentionally used.

Please be sure that you design your program so that all required activities and services are delivered. The act is not specific with respect to how much of each service is provided, so it will be up to each state to determine the appropriate service mix.

So Pages 8, 9, 10, and 11 begin to lay out and actually discuss the required elements that must be in your application. So again, these are mainly drawn from the statute, but also reflect the priority of the administrator of ACL as well.

Please note that your application should describe how you will implement the required services while focusing on the following key areas. The key areas include respite service delivery, an understanding of the population to be served, person and family-centered approaches, cross-age and disability focus, collaboration, partnership, and consumer inclusion.

So what's important to also note here is that your application package must include a copy of the Memorandum of Agreement, also known as MOA, regarding the joint responsibilities for the development of a state’s Lifespan Respite Program between the eligible state agency and the public or private, nonprofit, statewide respite coalition or organization. So this must be in place at the time of your application and submitted with the application.

Applicants are encouraged to embed flexibility within the MOA so that all the parties to the agreement can modify the scope, the tasks, or partnerships as the need arises. If your state does not have a formal respite coalition an organization in the state that provides or coordinates respite can also be used. If you do not include the MOA with your application the application will be rejected and not reviewed.

This section also includes a requirement for sustainability. So under this requirement applicants are encouraged to consider a range of materials and resources for developing sustainable programs that may be found as well on the Lifespan Respite Technical Assistance Center Sustainability Tools Web page if you would like more information about it. So we do provide a link to this as well in the Funding Opportunity Announcement. So again, please be sure you read and address all of these specifics associated with each of these key areas that I've gone over.

So on Page 11, we actually go into more detail about the data collection and performance tool in the section on Programmatic Performance and Outcomes Measurement. So awardees under this funding opportunity will work with ACL to implement the data collection and reporting requirements under Section 2904 of the Lifespan Respite Reauthorization Act of 2020, which is currently pending OMB approval of a new semi-annual program data collection instrument. So we are in the final stages of this process seeking OMB approval.

Specifically, this tool will collect information related to respite care services delivered, the caregiver demographics, the care recipient demographics as well, the respite training, and Lifespan Respite Program systems and providers. So obviously this recording will assist ACL's Office of Supportive and Caregiver Services to assess the performance of the Lifespan Respite Program grantees in improving the delivery and quality of respite services for family caregivers. Grantees under this program should expect reporting requirements to change over the course of the project and will be expected to comply with those changes once they are implemented.

So on Page 12 we discuss expectations for products that will advance and amplify the program being developed by grantees and the participation in technical assistance activities. So this section pertains to products, information sharing, and collaboration, participation, and technical assistance efforts that are expanded and are ongoing so that we continuously expect our successful grantees and applicants to comply with it.

Most importantly we have added some additional information in the recording and performance measurements. So this is, again, in response to ACL's need to develop a system for also gathering those specific performance metrics related to the Lifespan Respite Program. Again, it's likely that sometime during the course of your three-year project the reporting format structure will change, so we will work with you on that requirement should it take place.

The TA Resource Center activities are ongoing via a separate grant and are pivotal to your developmental efforts. Should your application be successful you will be expected to work with the TA provider and participate in conference calls and other activities designed to assist you with program development.

So Page 13 covers grants and subcontracts. Now this one section has some more optional elements in it. So some of you may decide that you need to work with a subgrantee or subcontract to carry out the required or optional activities, and this is permissible.

A number of states have done this on their projects, and here we do discuss grants and subgrants and subcontracts in further detail. So in addition to describing the reasons why subawards might be needed, applicants should also outline their processes for subcontracting these activities and also clearly describe the role of the project director along with the stakeholder group that will guide the design and implementation of the Lifespan Respite Care Program in the state.

However, the state agency, or the applicant, must demonstrate an active role in the program development, implementation, and management process. So please do not propose a project that simply passes funds to another entity. We will not fund pass-through projects. So if you do decide to subcontract specific activities, again, please be clear to describe those processes in your application and what the grantee's new role will be.

Okay, let's see here. So on Pages 13 and 14 it does have award information. So ACL recognizes the considerable need for respite services across the country.

These grants will be funded annually for three years for a 36-month project period with three 12-month budget periods. By providing funding each year for three years states will have the flexibility to develop a range of services and begin fully implementing authorized direct services by the second year of the project. In an effort to ensure robust Lifespan Respite Care Programs ACL expects applicants to request at a minimum of $200,000 in federal funding to ensure projects are of sufficient scope and viability.

So Pages 16 and 17 also have eligibility information for applicants, so please be sure you read and understand these requirements. Applicant agencies must be the State Units on Aging (SUAs), the State Medicaid Agency, or another state agency identified by the governor to administer the lifespan program.

No other entities are eligible to apply. So if you are listening on the call now, and are not from a state that previously or currently has a grant, you might want to contact or work with that eligible entity in your state to encourage them to submit an application under this announcement.

Additionally, the eligible agency must be or work in collaboration with an Aging and Disability Resource Center (ADRC)/No Wrong Door Program. And it must work in collaboration with a public or private nonprofit statewide respite care coalition or organization. In this case, if there isn't a formal respite care coalition in place a respite organization working in the state on behalf of the entire state would suffice.

Pages 16 and 17 cover information on cost sharing or matching which is another important issue for applicants. And this is also stated in the statute. So by the statute matching funds includes the cost sharing and the matching, which is at least and no less than 25% of the project's total cost.

Congress has not permitted waivers to the match requirements, so as with most other federal grants the match must be from non-federal sources. The cash match comes from non-federal funds such as cash contributions from individuals or organizations, in-kind contributions which are the non-federal third parties, non-cash contributions made directly to the grant project. And those can include things like donated time, real and non-federal property, goods and services.

So please be sure your match is based on, again, the project's total cost not the amount you request from the federal government. This is actually requiring you to develop your project work plan and the budget first before determining how much to request from the federal government. Detailed instructions for calculating this match are listed in the Funding Opportunity Announcement.

And on Page 17, you will see that there is a formula. So in other words, for every $3 received in federal funding the applicant must contribute at least $1 in non-federal resources for the project's total cost. So this is a 3 to 1 ratio and is reflected in the formula that you see on that page that you can use to calculate the minimum required match.

So a common error that applicants make is to match 25% of the federal share. But rather what you need to do is do 25% of the project - at least 25%, of the project's total cost. And there's more information listed on how to do that, including the formula that I'll try to go over on Page 17 of the Funding Opportunity Announcement.

So towards the end of Page 17 we talk about the responsiveness and screening criteria. So please be sure your applications address the responsiveness and the screening criteria. This is the first thing that will be looked at whether or not the applicant meets the eligibility requirements as specified in the statute.

All applications will go through an application responsiveness screening to verify that the applicant is the applicant, an eligible state agency as outlined in the program announcement, so that's SUA, a Medicaid agency, or other state agency as I explained earlier.

Two, does the applicant request the minimum award amount for the award floor or more to fund their project? And what's very important as well, has the applicant included in the application package a Memorandum of Agreement, the MOA, between the eligible state agency and the statewide respite coalition organization?

You can also include a Memorandum of Understanding, MOU. Applications that fail to meet any of the above criteria will not be reviewed further and will receive no further consideration. So we will be screening each application internally to ensure that both screening and responsiveness criteria are addressed before giving the applications to the reviewers.

Failure of an application to comply with either the responsiveness or screening technical criteria will result in the application's elimination from further review of consideration for funding. If all of the above conditions are not met your application will not be reviewed, so please be sure to incorporate these elements in your application.

So Page 18 has information on the application screening criteria which you'll see is more technical in nature. But it will cover things such as, did the application arrive on time? Applications must be submitted electronically, as I mentioned earlier, via www.grants.gov, again by 11:59 pm Eastern Time on the due date as listed in the submission date and time section, which is May 15, and that is on Page 28.

We're also going to be looking, as far as technical issues, are the margins correct? Is the narrative within the page limit of 20 pages? Did the applicant use the correct font size of no smaller than 11 point font?

Again, the MOA that you're going to see included, or MOU, is not included in the page limit, okay? Alright, again, if your application misses any of these technical criteria your application will not be reviewed.

So further along, Pages 18 through 20, cover guidance on the application and the submission information which also includes where to submit the application, and it also includes my contact information. So again, please remember that your application must be submitted electronically through grants.gov.

This page also includes some helpful information should you require assistance using grants.gov including a toll-free number to call and email if you have any issues or problems. So here it also gives specific instructions and all the steps that need to be followed to ensure that you are properly registered and have access to grants.gov, which includes your SAMS number, making sure you're registered on sams.gov, assistance for award management, and other information.

So from time to time there have been issues with grants.gov with respect to it locking up or freezing during submission. So should this occur please use the toll-free number to call them for assistance, because we will not be able to assist you with grants.gov issues as it's not, you know, our website that we manage, okay?

So while I'm on with subject of grants.gov I'll just add a few more things. If you're not already registered with grants.gov, please start now. It may take a few weeks to get everything up and running and get you completely registered, but please start now if you haven't already done so.

If you are already registered with grants.gov, and you have your SAMS number and everything, please make sure your password has not expired. They do need to be renewed annually.

Remember that only certain authorized users can submit applications on grants.gov. So make sure that you know who your authorized user is at your agency that can actually submit your application.

Again, Pages 19 and 20 cover all of this information. They go into far more detail, and so I just want to let you know what to look out for as you get registered. And please make sure also that you review your compatibility for your hardware and your software ahead of time to make sure that you don't have any technical glitches.

Okay, so after you electronically submit your application what's going to happen is you'll receive an automatic acknowledgment from grants.gov that contains your grants.gov tracking number. The Administration for Community Living will retrieve your application form from grants.gov.

So Pages 20 and 21 cover the following sections. They cover the content and form of the application submission. So you'll see detailed instructions there. And I've provided a summary of that already a bit.

You'll also see that the Letter of Intent has the due date indicated, which is March 27 of 2023. And again, where to send it, which is to me via email. Again, these are not required but they're helpful to determine how many applications we will be receiving, and therefore how many reviewers we'll have.

So the Project Narrative Section provides you with the critical information on how to structure your narrative, your project narrative. Remember that the narrative is the heart of your application. Also, that this is where you will have the opportunity to tell your story and lay out your project.

This is your opportunity to tell the reviewers as well what you will do, and is the primary means on which the application scores are based. And remember you only have 20 pages in which to do this, so planning and careful writing is key.

We will also be using outside independent review panels to review and score each application. The narrative is your only opportunity to fully describe your project and respond to all elements of the program announcement.

Page 21 also has the summary abstract. So this section should include a brief, no more than 265 words maximum, description of the proposed projects, and include the goals, the objectives, the outcomes, and the projects, using the products to be developed. Detailed instructions for how to complete the summary and abstract are included in the instructions for completing the project summary and abstract in the Funding Opportunity Announcement.

The problem statement has bullets that describe elements that must be included in the narrative. This is on page 21. They are taken directly from the Lifespan Act itself. The law requires applicants to address each of these elements in their application.

So in this funding opportunity applicants are required to include the following descriptive information detailed in this section as it pertains to the caregiving needs and the current respite care infrastructure in their state. Under goals and objectives this section should consist of your project's goals and the major objectives. Unless the project involves multiple complex interventions we do recommend that you only have one overall overreaching goal.

The proposed intervention section should provide a clear and concise description of the intervention that you are proposing to use to address the problems described in the problem statement. So you should also describe the rationale for using the particular intervention including the factors such as evidence-based intervention, lessons learned for other similar projects previously tested in your community or in other areas of the country.

All right, and then in the section on Special Target Populations and Organizations, this section should describe how you plan to involve caregivers of older adults and/or children or adults with disabilities who use or are in need of respite care as well as stakeholder organizations in a meaningful way in the planning and the implementation of a statewide lifespan respite care system that will increase efforts to target underserved populations across the lifespan.

Page 23 discusses the outcome. So this section of the project narrative must clearly identify the measurable outcome that will result from the project. ACL will not fund any project that does not include measurable outcomes.

On page 24, the Project Management Section, should include a clear delineation of the roles and responsibilities of the applicant's project staff, in particular, the State Project Director. Due to the nature of this program the state project director must maintain an active role in the management of this project by managing and leading all the aspects of the project. For the purposes of this program, ACL defines active role of the state project director as no less than 0.20 full-time employees, or FTEs.

Page 25 has the Evaluation Section. In the Section it should describe the methods, techniques, and tools that will be used to determine whether the proposed intervention achieved its anticipated outcome and then document the lessons learned, both positive and negative, from the project that will be useful to people interested in replicating the intervention if it proves successful.

In the dissemination section, it should describe the methods that will be used to disseminate the project results and the findings in a timely manner and in an easily understandable format so that it's acceptable to parties who might be interested in using the results of the project to inform practice, service delivery, program development, and/or policy-making as well including and especially for those parties who would be interested in replicating the project.

Under the Organizational Capability Section, in this application section should include an organizational capability statement and the correct data for each key project personnel. The Organizational Capability Statement should describe how the applicant agency, or the division of a larger agency with which you will have responsibility for the project, is organized.

Also, it describes the nature and the scope of the work and the capabilities it possesses. So this section should also include the organization's capability to sustain some or all project activities after federal financial assistance has ended.

Okay, so I'll spend a little bit more time on these next two sections. So the Budget Narrative Justification Section, on Page 25, can be provided using the format that we have included in the appendices document for the sample template to use for the budget narrative justification.

Applicants are encouraged to pay particular attention to this document. Again, we've included a sample in the FOA, which provides an example of the level of detail that we're seeking. A combined multi-year budget narrative justification, as well as a detailed budget narrative justification, for each year of potential grant funding is required.

Please be sure you include a budget narrative with your application. Failure to do so will result in a zero score for the Budget Section of the application review.

Page 26 talks about the project work plan. So the project work plan should reflect, and be consistent with, the project narrative and the budget. It should include a statement of the project's overall goal, anticipated outcome, key objectives, and the major tasks, action steps that will be pursued to achieve the goal and outcome.

For each major task, or action step, the work plan should identify timeframes involved including the start and end date of the project, and also the lead person that is responsible for completing the task. Please use the project work plan sample template format as a reference and resource if desired.

List the measurable outcomes in the optional work plan grid, which is the project work plan sample template that we have included in the FOA, under the measurable outcomes. So you can please see the appendices for the sample templates that I mentioned for the work plan and the budget narrative justification.

And please be sure again, as well as the budget narrative justification, that your work plan is for each year of the project. A failure to do so in the work plan will result in a zero score for this section of the application review as well.

So Page 26 covers the Letters of Commitment from key participating organizations and agencies. Any organization that is specifically named to have a significant role in carrying out a project should be considered an essential collaborator. But for applications submitted electronically via grants.gov signed Letters of Commitment should be scanned and included as an attachment.

And Page 26 has more information on SAM, which is the Unique Entity Identifier system for award management that I mentioned earlier. So the grants.gov registration process, again, can take several days or more so if your organization is not currently registered, please begin this process immediately.

For assistance with grants.gov please contact them at support@grants.gov or by their telephone number between the hours of 7:00 am and 9:00 pm. And that information is in the Funding Opportunity Announcement.

And Page 28, again, mentions the submission dates and times that I've gone over already. So as a reminder the due date for the Letter of Intent is March 27, 2023, and the due date for application is May 15 of 2023.

And Pages 30 through 34 cover the application review information criteria. So this section does a nice job of laying out exactly the criteria against which your application will be scored. So in other words the scoring form used by the reviewers will ask them to look for each of the listed elements in your application in this section.

So my suggestion would be to read and make sure that your application answers each of the questions included under each of the five sections and subsections in the application review section, so between Pages 30 and 34, Section 5, application review information criteria. Again, keep in mind that these are the only criteria against which the reviewers will be scoring your application.

And it gives you an overview, too, of the review process that will be taking place. So after you submit your application each application passes through the initial screen mentioned earlier, which will be reviewed by a panel of three experts in their field. Their recommendations will be included in the final award decision. And they will use scoring forms that contain each of the questions in each of the five sections.

So after May 15, after that May 15 application deadline, our grant office will compile each application, and within three days they are available for the reviewers. The reviewers will have about ten days or so to review. And in general we do anticipate conducting the review panel by mid-June or so and then getting the notifications out to successful applicants sometime around July 25 or that potential start date around August 1.

This is a projection but this is as specific as I can be at this point with respect to timelines. But along with the other key dates that we talked about earlier, I think you should have a pretty good idea of what will be happening as this process unfolds this summer.

Pages 34 through the end of the Funding Opportunity Announcement contain routine administrative information, reporting requirements, expectations, performance report requirements, the appendices which has the instructions for completing the project summary, the abstract, the sample format for the budget narrative, the work plan, key terms, et cetera. So we really encourage you to read the entire Notice of Opportunity.

So this actually concludes my portion of the call. I know this is a lot of information, but hopefully it was helpful. So thank you for all of you for being here and for your time and attention.

And what I'll do now is we'll open the lines now for questions and answers. And I'll turn it over to our operator (Ivy) to open up the lines for questions please. Thank You.

Coordinator: Thank you. We would now like to open the phone lines for any questions. If anyone does have a question, please unmute your phone, hit Star 1 and record your name clearly when prompted. Again that's Star 1 to ask a question.

One moment to see if we have questions. And it looks like we have one queuing up one moment here.

Emily Anozie: Okay.

Coordinator: And our question comes from (Kaitlin). Your line is open.

(Kaitlin): Hi. Thanks. I work for an agency in Vermont. And I had missed the informational call yesterday, and so I'm going over both. And I just wanted to know if we can apply to both grant programs through the Lifespan Respite Care or if you just would like people to apply to one or the other?

Greg Link: Hi. This is Greg Link. I'm with the Office of Supportive Caregiver Services. So you're from the State of Vermont. Vermont has not had a Lifespan Respite Grant before so the Funding Opportunity Announcement would be applicable to Vermont would be the one that we're discussing today, which is the Grants to New States.

(Kaitlin): Okay, wonderful. Thank You.

Greg Link: And we just, you know, make sure that whoever - if Vermont does decide to apply for a grant that it's - the application is being completed and submitted by either the State Unit on Aging, the state's Medicaid agency, or another state government agency that the governor of the state identifies should apply for the grant.

(Kaitlin): Okay, thank you. I understand.

Greg Link: Sure. Thank you.

Coordinator: And again, that is Star 1 if you have a question on the phone. And it looks like we have another one queuing up, one moment. And Miss (Nelson), your line is open.

(Nelson): Okay, thank you. So I was just wondering in terms of costs related to transportation, is that something that we are allowed to put into the budget for either application?

Greg Link: When you say cost for transportation whose transportation are you referring to?

(Nelson): So in the State of Arizona we're, you know, of course, very rural in many different areas. So many times caregivers do have to travel and drop off their loved ones at sites, facilities, or the place of where the respite is going to take place. And this is also speaking to DCW shortages so caregivers oftentimes have to transport and we find that sometimes that is a barrier to receiving respite care services.

Greg Link: So, yes, if the transportation can be directly associated to the provision of the service of respite then yes, that would be an allowable cost. So what I would encourage you to do is look at reading the Lifespan Respite Act you can see that there are the five required services and five optional services.

I believe one of them is another service - other services related to the provision of respite. So transportation could be, you know, interpreted as being part of that. What you'll want to do in your budget is make sure that your the, you know, however you have your respite services costed out that you would include transportation in that, let's say, hourly rate for respite.

(Nelson): Okay, excellent. Thank you.

Coordinator: And finally, that is Star 1 if you have a question on the phone. And I am showing no further questions.

Greg Link: All right.

Emily Anozie: Okay, excellent. Thank you, Greg very much for your assistance. And thank you to those who asked questions, those were excellent questions. And thank you, (Ivy), for all the help and moderation today.

So in closing, I would like to thank you all for your interest, best of luck with the application and throughout the application process. I look forward to working with you further and I hope you have a great day. Thank you.

Coordinator: Thank you all for participating in today's conference. You may disconnect your line and enjoy the rest of your day.

END

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