FY 24 Runway and Homeless Youth Prevention Demonstration Program NOFO.pdf

Notice of Funding Opportunity

Application due June 7,2024

Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB) Runaway and Homeless Youth Program (RHY)

Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 Runaway and Homeless (RHY) Youth-Prevention Demonstration Program

(RHY-PDP)

Opportunity number: HHS-2024-ACF-ACYF-CY-0058

Contents Before you begin 3

Step 1: Review the Funding Opportunity 4

Basic information 5

Eligibility 7

Program description 9

Step 2: Get Ready to Apply 16

Get registered 17

Find the application package 17

Learn more 17

Join the webinar 18

Step 3: Prepare Your Application 19

Application contents and format 20

Step 4: Learn About Review and Award 30

Application review 31

Award notices 35

Step 5: Submit Your Application 36

Application submission and deadlines 37

Application checklist 40

Step 6: Learn What Happens After Award 41

Post-award requirements and administration 42

Contacts and Support 44

Contents 2

Before you begin If you believe you are a good candidate for this funding opportunity, secure your SAM.gov and Grants.gov registrations now. If you are already registered, make sure your registration is active and up-to-date.

SAM.gov registration (this can take several weeks) You must have an active account with SAM.gov. This includes having a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI).

See Step 2: Get Ready to Apply

Grants.gov registration (this can take several days) You must have an active Grants.gov registration. Doing so requires a Login.gov registration as well.

See Step 2: Get Ready to Apply

Apply by June 7,2024 Applications are due by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on June 7,2024.

To help you find what you need, this NOFO uses internal links. In Adobe Reader, you can go back to where you were by pressing Alt + Left Arrow (Windows) or Command + Left Arrow (Mac) on your keyboard.

Before you begin 3 https://sam.gov/ https://grants.gov/

Jump to a step

1. Review 2. Get ready 3. Prepare 4. Learn 5. Submit 6. Award Contacts

Step 1:

Review the Funding Opportunity

In this step

Basic information 5

Eligibility 7

Program description 9

Basic information Administration for Children and Families (ACF)

Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB)

Runaway and Homeless Youth Program (RHY)

RHY-PDP supports the design and delivery of community-based demonstration initiatives to prevent youth and young adults from experiencing homelessness.

Have questions?

See Contacts and Support.

Key facts

Opportunity Name:

Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 Runaway and Homeless (RHY) Youth-Prevention Demonstration Program

(RHY-PDP)

Opportunity Number:

HHS-2024-ACF-ACYF-

CY-0058

Federal Assistance Listing:

93.623

Key dates

Application deadline:

June 7, 2024

Expected award date:

August 30, 2024

Expected start date:

September 30, 2024

Informational webinar:

April 29, 2024

See deadlines.

Summary This program supports the design and delivery of community-based demonstration initiatives to prevent youth and young adults from experiencing homelessness.

Through the development and coordination of partnerships with youth and young adult service providers, community organizations, private and public agencies, and youth and young adults, projects funded through this program will do the following:

• Identify young people at risk of being homeless

• Design and develop comprehensive community-based prevention plans to prevent youth homelessness

• Implement robust, holistic prevention services tailored for youth and young adults to respond to the diverse needs of youth and young adults who are at risk of homelessness and their families

The goal of the program is to expand existing partnerships with organizations focusing on education, health, mental health, child welfare, family support, substance abuse prevention/intervention, domestic violence/crisis intervention, law enforcement, courts, legal services, and public benefits agencies, as well as with non-traditional partners.

Step 1: Review the Funding Opportunity 5

Funding details Type: Cooperative agreement

Estimated total program funding: $1,750,000

Total expected awards: Up to 10

Minimum award amount for the first budget period (award floor): $250,000

Maximum award amount for the first budget period (award ceiling): $350,000

Funding periods: 36-month period of performance with three 12-month budget periods

Awards are subject to federal funds availability.

Non-competing continuation awards will be offered for the second and third budget periods of the project based on the availability of funds, satisfactory progress of the recipient, and review and approval of the continuation application. We will use your semi-annual performance progress and financial reports, site visits, audit reports, and other supporting documentation to determine if satisfactory progress is being made.

Awards are subject to federal funds availability.

Step 1: Review the Funding Opportunity 6

Eligibility Who can apply

Eligible applicants Public and nonprofit organizations are eligible to apply unless you are part of the juvenile justice system. For-profit organizations are not eligible. Private institutions of higher education must be nonprofit entities.

Individuals, including sole proprietorships, and foreign entities may not apply.

Other eligibility criteria Faith-based and community organizations that meet the eligibility requirements are eligible to receive awards under this funding opportunity.

See initial review for disqualification factors.

Cost sharing This program requires you to contribute 10% of the project’s total cost per budget period. You can calculate this cost-sharing requirement in one of two ways:

Method 1: Start with the federal share Calculation: Divide the amount of federal funds by 9 to get the minimum match required.

For example: Divide $250,000 by 9. This equals a match of $27,778.

Method 2: Start with the total project cost Calculation: Divide the total project cost by 10 to get the minimum match required.

For example: Divide $150,000 by 10. This equals a match of $15,000, assuming $135,000 in federal funds.

Types of cost sharing You can meet your match requirement through any combination of:

• Cash contributed by your organization

• Cash contributed by partners or other third parties

• In-kind (non-cash) contributions from third parties

Step 1: Review the Funding Opportunity 7

Cost-sharing commitments You must follow through on your promise of cost-sharing funds even if you promise more than required. We put these commitments in the Notice of Award (NoA). You’ll have to include your funds when you fill out your Federal Financial Reports.

If you don’t provide your promised amount, we may have to decrease your award amount or use other enforcement actions.

Step 1: Review the Funding Opportunity 8

Program description Project overview Ending youth homelessness requires both addressing the immediate needs of youth who are experiencing homelessness and, just as importantly, preventing youth from becoming homeless in the first place.

The purpose of this program is to address the second requirement, prevention. Projects we fund increase protective factors and give youth, young adults, and their families the resources they need to avoid homelessness.

Through this funding opportunity, we will award up to 10 cooperative agreements to plan and implement prevention services designed specifically for youth and young adults who are at risk of experiencing homelessness or housing instability and their families.

Projects funded through this program prevent youth and young adults under the age of 22 from experiencing homelessness. They develop partnerships to accomplish the following goals:

• Identify young people at risk of experiencing homelessness

• Design and develop a comprehensive community-based plan to prevent youth homelessness

• Promote equity in the delivery of services

• Implement prevention services for youth and young adults who are at risk of homelessness and their families

• Evaluate the implementation of prevention services and interventions

For your program to be funded, you must partner with providers to create a safety net to improve accessibility, delivery, and quality of services for young people and their families. Partner agencies may represent, but are not limited to, the following categories:

• Education

• Health

• Child welfare

• Family support

• Substance abuse prevention and intervention

• Domestic violence

• Crisis intervention

Step 1: Review the Funding Opportunity 9

• Law enforcement

• Courts

• Juvenile justice

• Legal services

• Public benefits agencies

• Non-traditional partners

Funding may not be used for activities that focus only on education or outreach activities.

You can learn more about the four tiers of prevention, as defined by HHS, in this brief.

While it is important to address all levels of prevention, for the purposes of this opportunity, you must focus on secondary prevention, which is an effort to alleviate an existing problem or change or prevent it from getting worse.

If your project is funded, you will participate in a two-phase process. The first phase is six months of planning and the second is the 30-month implementation phase, which includes evaluations.

Phase 1: Planning You are required to develop a prevention plan to prevent youth and young adult homelessness. You will have six months from the start date of the award to create it.

The goal of the planning phase is to guide the prevention interventions and services you will deliver. Once the prevention plan is complete, you will submit it to us for review and approval.

The prevention plan you develop must do the following:

• Identify community partners you will work with during the project. Your partners will help identify youth and young adults at risk of experiencing homelessness or housing instability.

• Work with your partners, youth and young adults, Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB), and others to develop a shared definition of prevention of youth homelessness.

• Identify and assess the needs of youth and young adults who are at risk of experiencing homelessness or housing instability. Your plan must explain which youth are eligible to receive prevention services.

• Explain how you will make referrals for emergency shelter and/or other housing options in cases where your prevention efforts are not successful.

• Ensure you deliver prevention services equitably and reduce disparate outcomes for the following populations:

1. Review 2. Get ready 3. Prepare 4. Learn 5. Submit 6. Award Contacts

Step 1: Review the Funding Opportunity 10 https://aspe.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/8228e700f6e369df9382ac8e0d3976c1/primary-prevention-convening-brief.pdf

◦ Youth of color

◦ Youth who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and/or questioning, intersex, asexual, Two-Spirit (LGBTQIA2S+)

◦ Tribal youth

◦ Other underserved youth who are at risk of homelessness or housing instability

You and your partners must develop the prevention plan in partnership with youth and young adults who have lived experience of homelessness or who are at risk of homelessness or housing instability. You may consider a partnership with a local youth action board or youth and young adults who are employed or otherwise compensated by your agency to meet this requirement.

Phase 2: Implementation During Phase 2 of the program, you will implement your prevention plan. This means you will identify youth at risk of experiencing homelessness and provide them with prevention services responsive to their needs.

The prevention interventions you deliver must be evaluated and specific to each youth’s needs. The prevention interventions must include:

• Flexible cash assistance: This is a promising practice that can help stabilize families, improve outcomes for youth, and increase the well-being of youth and their families. You can learn more about the evidence for flexible cash assistance in this article.

• Individualized supportive services and case management: Services must be responsive to the diverse needs of youth and families in your community.

In addition to flexible cash assistance and individualized supportive services and case management, you may implement and evaluate additional prevention services including, but not limited to, the following:

• Coordinated housing navigation

• Family stabilization and strengthening

• Home visitation

• Kinship and parent engagement

• Family and chosen family support

• Permanent connections

• Licensed counseling and mediation

• Legal services

• Food and nutrition support

1. Review 2. Get ready 3. Prepare 4. Learn 5. Submit 6. Award Contacts

Step 1: Review the Funding Opportunity 11 https://dashdc.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Sullivan-Bomsta-Hacskaylo-2016-Flex-funding-promising-strategy-JIV.pdf

• Transportation

• Employment and career readiness

• School connection

You may implement prevention services not detailed here, but they must be measurable, responsive to the needs of the community, and designed to prevent youth and young adults from experiencing homelessness or housing instability.

You must connect youth and young adults with access to emergency shelter, short-term housing, longer-term housing, and counseling services if your prevention efforts are not successful. You should prioritize youth-specific emergency shelter, short-term shelter, and counseling services like the RHY program’s Basic Center Program, Transitional Living Program, or Maternity Group Homes. If youth-specific services are not available in your community, you must refer youth to other emergency shelter or short-term shelter and counseling services.

You must measure and evaluate the outcomes of the prevention interventions and services you deploy to include outcomes for LGBTQIA2S+ and other underserved youth and young adults. We will provide specific performance measures and training on the collection and analysis of data to demonstrate outcomes in carrying out your program’s objectives.

Ensuring equity You must ensure equitable treatment of all youth receiving services funded by our programs. According to research conducted by Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago, youth of color, notably Black and Latino youth, are at greater risk of experiencing housing instability and homelessness. Roughly 11% of American Indian and Alaska Native youth and young adults are over-represented in the homeless youth population, relative to 4% of White, non-Hispanic youth. Additional data from our Runaway and Homeless Youth Homeless Management Information System (RHYHMIS) on gender identity and sexual orientation of youth served in our programs reveals about 26% of youth and young adults receiving services from the RHY Program in FY 2021 identified as LGBTQIA2S+ or being uncertain of their sexual orientation.

We are committed to addressing disparities related to disability status, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and gender identity among youth and young adults experiencing homelessness. Therefore, you must have a plan to provide safe, inclusive, and culturally responsive spaces and services for all youth, including youth facing disabilities, youth of color, youth who identify as LGBTQIA2S+, and youth from other underserved populations. Also, you must be inclusive of the language access needs of youth and their families.

1. Review 2. Get ready 3. Prepare 4. Learn 5. Submit 6. Award Contacts

Step 1: Review the Funding Opportunity 12 https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/fysb/BCP_Fact_Sheet_2023.pdf https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/fysb/TLP_Fact_Sheet_2023.pdf https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/fysb/MGH_Fact_Sheet_2023.pdf https://www.chapinhall.org/voices-of-youth-count-graphics/

Federal evaluation We will sponsor a federally led evaluation for each funded project. The evaluation will be conducted by an independent contractor(s) with experience leading small- and large-scale demonstrations and/or descriptive and impact evaluations.

If you accept an award, you are required to participate in the evaluation and follow all the rules and directions of the evaluator. You will be required to collect performance measures.

Technical assistance If you accept an award, you must agree to work cooperatively with the technical assistance provider. Training and technical assistance is free from the Runaway and Homeless Youth Training, Technical Assistance, and Capacity Building Center (RHYTTAC). Services include but are not limited to the following:

• Regionally based technical assistance clinics

• Training sessions

• E-learning

• Webinars

• National grantee training

You must send at least one person to the annual, in-person RHY national grantee training and to the in-person regional training. You will also participate in learning collaboratives and cohort-based peer engagement activities. More information is available from the Runaway and Homeless Youth Training, Technical Assistance, and Capacity Building Center.

Cooperative agreement — description of ACF’s involvement A cooperative agreement is a specific method of awarding federal assistance in which substantial federal involvement is anticipated. Details of the relationships and governance of the cooperative agreement will be specified in the terms and conditions of the award.

The respective responsibilities of FYSB and the grantee will be identified during pre-award negotiations and incorporated into the terms and conditions of the award. It is anticipated that the cooperative agreement will not change the project requirements for the grantee under this announcement. At a minimum, we will:

• Provide consultation, review, and approval of the prevention plan

• Review any revision made to the prevention plan during the project period

1. Review 2. Get ready 3. Prepare 4. Learn 5. Submit 6. Award Contacts

Step 1: Review the Funding Opportunity 13 http://www.rhyttac.net./ http://www.rhyttac.net./

• Provide oversight in the development of the project design, including information on the resources and planned activities

• Facilitate communication and provide consultation in the development of the project design, including information on the resources and planned activities for ACF and ACF regional offices

• Facilitate communication with representatives of other federal agencies to promote intra-agency and inter-agency coordination and collaboration

• Review and approve drafts of all updated or new materials that are developed or printed with resources made available under this cooperative agreement

We will organize regular meetings to review your plans and share information.

Funding policies and limitations We do not allow the following costs under this funding opportunity:

• Construction

• Purchase of real property

• Major renovation (that exceeds 15% of the grant amount awarded)

• Fundraising (including campaigns, endowments, gifts, and similar expenses)

• Pre-award or proposal costs

• Distribution of sterile needles or syringes

• Abortions (See Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, Public Law No. 117-328, Div. H, tit. V, §§ 506-507 for exceptions)

See 45 CFR 75.420 – 75.475 for information on costs that are always unallowable or have restrictions.

Indirect costs Indirect costs are those for a common or joint purpose across more than one project and that cannot be easily separated by project. Learn more at 45 CFR 75.414, Indirect Costs.

To charge indirect costs you can select one of two methods:

Method 1 – Approved rate. You currently have an indirect cost rate approved by your cognizant federal agency.

Method 2 – De minimis rate. Per 45 CFR 75.414(f), if you have never received a negotiated indirect cost rate, you may elect to charge a de minimis rate. If you are awaiting approval of an indirect cost proposal, you may also use the de minimis rate. If you choose this method, costs included in the indirect cost pool must not be charged as direct costs.

1. Review 2. Get ready 3. Prepare 4. Learn 5. Submit 6. Award Contacts

Step 1: Review the Funding Opportunity 14 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-45/subtitle-A/subchapter-A/part-75/subpart-E/subject-group-ECFR5d90ba314caea08 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-45/section-75.414 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-45/part-75#p-75.414(f)

This rate is 10% of modified total direct costs (MTDC). See 45 CFR 75.2 for the definition of MTDC. You can use this rate indefinitely.

Subawards The prime recipient must maintain a substantive role in the project. We define a substantive role as conducting funded activities and providing services that are necessary and integral to completing the project. Monitoring your subrecipient’s activities is not a substantive role. See 45 CFR 75.352 for information on subrecipient monitoring.

We do not fund awards where the role of the applicant is primarily to serve as a conduit for passing funds to other organizations unless that arrangement is authorized by statute.

Subrecipients must meet the eligibility requirements of this funding opportunity.

Statutory authority This program is authorized under the RHY Act at 34 U.S.C. 11243.

1. Review 2. Get ready 3. Prepare 4. Learn 5. Submit 6. Award Contacts

Step 1: Review the Funding Opportunity 15 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-45/part-75#p-75.2(Modified%20Total%20Direct%20Cost) https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-45/section-75.352

Step 2:

Get Ready to Apply

In this step

Get registered 17

Find the application package 17

Learn more 17

Join the webinar 18

Get registered SAM.gov Your entity must have an active registration with SAM.gov. This includes having a Unique Entity Identifier. SAM.gov registration can take several weeks. Begin that process today.

To register, go to SAM.gov Entity Registration and click Get Started. From the same page, you can also click on the Entity Registration Checklist for the information you will need to register.

Grants.gov You must also have an active account with Grants.gov. You can see step-by step instructions at the Grants.gov Quick Start Guide for Applicants.

Need Help? See Contacts and Support.

Find the application package The application package has all the forms you need to apply. You can find it online. Go to Search Grants at Grants.gov and search for opportunity number HHS-2024-ACF- ACYF-CY-0058. Then, click the “Package” tab.

If you can’t use Grants.gov to download application materials, you may request them from the Grants Management Contact.

If you are also unable to apply through Grants.gov, see exemptions for paper submissions.

Learn more Visit Applying for an ACF Grant Award on the ACF grants page.

1. Review 2. Get ready 3. Prepare 4. Learn 5. Submit 6. Award Contacts

Step 2: Get Ready to Apply 17 https://sam.gov/content/entity-registration http://grants.gov/applicants/applicant-registration http://www.grants.gov/quick-start-guide/applicants https://grants.gov/search-grants https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/search-grants.html https://www.acf.hhs.gov/grants/how-apply-grant

Join the webinar The Family and Youth Services Bureau’s Runaway and Homeless Youth Program will conduct a pre-application webinar for the Prevention Demonstration Program. Details are as follows:

Date: April 29, 2024 Time: 2 to 3 p.m. ET

Join the webinar on YouTube.

The goals of the session are to:

• Orient potential applicants to the new FY 24 notice of funding opportunity announcement.

• Provide an overview of the Runaway and Homeless Youth Prevention Demonstration Program.

• Address eligibility requirements, application processes, and timelines.

• Respond to questions submitted in advance of the webinar.

Joining and participating is voluntary. Participants may remain anonymous. Opting not to participate in the session will not affect eligibility, application scoring, or the award selection process.

If you aren’t able to attend, you can access the recording and transcript on the Runaway and Homeless Youth Program’s training, technical assistance, and capacity building website after the session has concluded.

In the event of a discrepancy between the presentation and/or materials and the NOFO, the NOFO takes precedence.

Please submit your questions on this NOFO in advance. You may submit questions anonymously.

Due date for submitting questions: April 12, 2024

Only questions submitted in advance and by the due date will be considered for answering during the session.

1. Review 2. Get ready 3. Prepare 4. Learn 5. Submit 6. Award Contacts

Step 2: Get Ready to Apply 18 https://youtube.com/live/OuGJC-LTMPY?feature=share https://www.rhyttac.net/ https://forms.gle/84Whp2FAih8st78H9

Step 3:

Prepare Your Application

In this step

Application contents and format 20

Application contents and format Application components You will submit two files plus the other required forms in the application package.

File One: Project Narrative Attachment Form Includes:

• Table of contents

• Project summary, one page

• Project narrative

• Line-item budget and budget narrative

File Two: Other Attachments Form Includes all attachments.

Forms Includes other required forms.

Required format Page limit for File One and File Two combined: 85 pages

File Format: Portable Document File (PDF) is recommended, but not required. ACF supports the following file formats when you attach files to the Project Narrative Attachment Form and the Other Attachments Form:

• Adobe PDF – Portable Document Format (.pdf)

• Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx)

• Microsoft Excel (.xls or .xlsx)

• Microsoft PowerPoint (.ppt)

• Image Formats (.JPG, .GIF, .TIFF, or .BMP only)

Paper Size: 8 ½ inches x 11 inches

Margins: 1 inch all around

Language: English

If possible, include page numbers

Step 3: Prepare Your Application 20

Do not include external links to information you want reviewers to assess.

Fonts Font: Times New Roman

Size: 12-point font

Footnotes and text in tables and graphics may be 10-point.

Spacing Table of contents: Must be single-spaced

Project summary: Must be single-spaced

Project narrative: Must be double-spaced

Logic Model: Must be single-spaced

Line-Item budget and Budget narrative: Can be single-spaced

Attachments: As needed

Tables and footnotes throughout: Can be single-spaced

Table of contents At the beginning of File One, insert a table of contents that guides a reader through the contents of both files in your application. If possible, include links to the relevant content in File One.

Project summary Provide a one-page summary of the project description. Do not cross-reference to other parts of the application. The summary must include:

• At the top, the project title, applicant name, address, phone numbers, email addresses, and any website URL

• A brief description of the project, including the needs and population you will address and your proposed services

Project narrative The project narrative is where you address all your proposed activities. It is a critical section of your application, which we evaluate and rank against other applications using the merit review criteria. Remember that substance and measurable outcomes are more important than length. We are particularly interested in project narratives that convey strategies for achieving intended performance.

Step 3: Prepare Your Application 21

In it, you must:

• Explain how the project will meet the purpose of the funding opportunity, as described in the program description section.

• Make sure your narrative is clear, concise, and complete.

• Use cross-referencing rather than repetition.

• Be sure to include any required supporting documents noted. You generally provide these in your attachments.

• Use the headings and order of the sections that follow.

Geographic location Provide the precise physical location of your project and boundaries of the area you will serve. If you will include any subrecipients in your project that will serve the geographic areas include their locations as well.

Need for assistance Identify the problems you plan to solve. These problems could be physical, economic, social, financial, institutional, etc. To do so:

• Demonstrate the need, including the nature and scope of the problem.

• You may provide supporting documentation, such as letters of support and testimonials, in an application appendix.

• Include any relevant data based on planning studies or needs assessments. You may refer to them in the endnotes or footnotes.

• Use demographic data and participant or beneficiary information where you can.

Approach Outline your action plan. Describe the scope and detail of how you will accomplish your proposed project. Account for all functions or activities you identify in your application.

Explain potential obstacles and challenges to accomplishing your project goals. Explain the strategies you will use to address them.

This section must describe your previous efforts to prevent youth homelessness and the outcomes of those efforts. Your description should include information about the successes or challenges you experienced. You should also discuss any lessons you learned and how you will improve your prevention efforts from your past experiences.

Step 3: Prepare Your Application 22

Phase 1: Planning You must describe how you will develop your prevention plan during Phase 1. You can find more information about Phase 1 in the program description.

This section should discuss all of the following components:

• How you’ll develop your prevention plan and define prevention

• How you’ll include your partners in developing your prevention plan

• How you’ll engage youth and young adults with lived experience during planning and implementation

• How you’ll identify and assess the needs of the youth and young adults your program will serve

• How you’ll promote equity for youth and young adults from underserved groups

• How you’ll make referrals for emergency shelter and/or other housing options in cases where your prevention efforts are not successful

Phase 2: Implementation You must describe how you will transition from planning to implementation. You can find more information about Phase 2 in the program description.

This section must discuss how you will use the following:

• Flexible cash assistance

• Individualized supportive services and case management

• Any other prevention services you will use to prevent youth homelessness

You must describe how you will provide access to safe, stable, and appropriate shelter and services and how your partners will support the program.

Organizational capacity Provide the following information for your full project team including the applicant organization and any cooperating partners, contractors, and subrecipients:

• Provide evidence that your team has the relevant experience and expertise needed to carry out your project.

• Describe your team’s experience with administering, developing, implementing, managing, and evaluating similar projects.

• Provide evidence that your team has the organizational capability to fulfill their roles and functions effectively.

You will provide some supporting information in the attachments section.

Step 3: Prepare Your Application 23

Project performance evaluation plan Describe a plan for how you will evaluate your project’s performance and how it will contribute to continuous quality improvement. This plan must describe:

• How you will monitor ongoing activities and the progress towards the project’s goals and objectives

• The inputs, key activities, and expected outcomes of the funded activities. Inputs might include your collaborative partners, key staff, budget, service processes, or other resources

• How you will measure the inputs, activities, and outcomes

• How you will use the resulting information to inform improvement of funded activities

• Any processes that support the overall data quality

• The organizational systems and processes that will track performance outcomes

• How your organization will collect and manage data in a way that allows for accurate and timely reporting of performance outcomes. This might include assigned skilled staff, data management software, and data integrity

• Any potential obstacles to implementing the project performance evaluation and how you will address them

• A timeline for how you will review information from the performance evaluation and apply it to your ongoing project

Logic model You must submit a logic model for designing, managing, and evaluating the project. A logic model is a diagram that:

• Presents how inputs drive activities to produce outputs, outcomes, and the ultimate goals of the proposed project.

• Explains the links among project elements.

• Targets the identified objectives and goals of the project.

While there are many versions of logic models, for the purposes of this funding opportunity, the logic model may include the connections between:

• Inputs such as additional resources, organizational profile, collaborative partners, key staff, or budget

• Target population, such as the individuals to be served or identified needs

• Activities, mechanisms, and processes such as evidenced-based practices, best practices, approach, key intervention and evaluation components, and continuous quality improvement efforts

Step 3: Prepare Your Application 24

• Outputs, which include the immediate and direct results of program activities

• Outcomes, which include the expected short and long-term results the project you expect to achieve. These are typically described as changes in people or systems

• Project goals such as overarching objectives and reasons for proposing the project

• You must describe how the proposed activities, inputs, and outputs will link to outcomes associated with preventing youth from experiencing homelessness

Project sustainability plan You must propose a plan for project sustainability after the period of federal funding ends. We expect you to sustain key elements of your project. These elements can include strategies or services and interventions that have been effective in improving practices and outcomes.

Provide an approach to project sustainability that is effective and feasible.

Describe:

• The key people and organizations whose support you will require

• The types of alternative support you will require to maintain the project

• If the proposed project involves key project partners, how you will maintain their cooperation or collaboration after the federal funding ends

Protection of sensitive or confidential information Describe how you will collect and safeguard protected personally identifiable information and other information that is considered sensitive. Make sure your approach is consistent with applicable federal, state, local, and tribal laws regarding privacy and obligations of confidentiality.

Provide:

• The methods and systems you will use to ensure that you properly handle confidential and sensitive information, including any subrecipients and/or contractors

• A plan for the disposition of such information at the end of the period of performance

See 45 CFR 75.303(e) for more information.

1. Review 2. Get ready 3. Prepare 4. Learn 5. Submit 6. Award Contacts

Step 3: Prepare Your Application 25 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-45/part-75#p-75.303(e)

Line-item budget and budget narrative The line-item budget and budget justification support the information you provide in the Budget Information Standard Form SF-424-A. See other required forms.

It justifies the costs you ask for and includes added detail, including detailed calculations for the “object class categories” in the Budget Information Standard Form.

You will provide this information for the initial budget period only. See funding periods.

As you develop your budget, consider:

• If the costs are necessary, reasonable, allocable, and consistent with your project’s purpose and activities

• How you calculate your costs in ways that are clear and repeatable

• How funds are restricted. See funding policies and limitations

• You must include the cost for sending at least one person to attend the annual in-person RHY national grantee training, in-person regional training, and up to two collaboration events

For applicants proposing to use subaward(s), the amount cannot be more than 50% of total direct costs for the budget period.

• You must provide a justification for the subaward and explain how you will maintain control of the project.

• You also must explain why a subaward is needed and why you cannot complete the project without another organization’s assistance.

We encourage you also to review the Standard Form instructions.

To create your line-item budget and justification, see detailed instructions on our website.

In general, you must:

• Indicate the method you will use for your indirect cost rate. See indirect costs for further information.

• Include estimation methods, quantities, unit costs, and other similar quantitative detail sufficient for the calculation to be duplicated.

• For any cost sharing, include a detailed listing of any funding sources identified in Block 18 of the SF-424 Application for Federal Assistance.

1. Review 2. Get ready 3. Prepare 4. Learn 5. Submit 6. Award Contacts

Step 3: Prepare Your Application 26 https://www.acf.hhs.gov/grants/prepare-budget

Proprietary or personally identifiable information In your application, you may identify salary or other proprietary information or personally identifiable information. We will remove this information from applications before they go to reviewers.

If you have an exemption for paper submission, you can protect salary information and any proprietary information by placing that information only in the original application. You can remove the information from the copies, keeping summary information.

Attachments You will upload attachments in Grants.gov using the Other Attachments Form. These attachments are included in the overall application page limit unless it says otherwise in this section.

Indirect cost agreement If you include indirect costs in your budget using an approved rate, include a copy of your current agreement approved by your cognizant agency for indirect costs. If you use the de minimis rate, you do not need to submit this attachment.

See indirect costs for more information.

Legal proof of nonprofit status If your organization is a nonprofit, you need to attach proof. We will accept any of the following:

• A reference to your listing in the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) most recent list of tax-exempt organizations

• A copy of a current tax exemption certificate from the IRS

• A letter from your state’s tax department, attorney general, or another appropriate state official saying that your group is a nonprofit and that none of your net earnings go to private shareholders or others

• A certified copy of your certificate of incorporation or similar document. This document must show that your group is a nonprofit

• Any of the above for a parent organization. Also, include a statement signed by an official of the parent group that your organization is a nonprofit affiliate

1. Review 2. Get ready 3. Prepare 4. Learn 5. Submit 6. Award Contacts

Step 3: Prepare Your Application 27 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-45/part-75#p-75.2(Cognizant%20agency%20for%20indirect%20costs)

Organizational capacity supporting information You must attach the following information to support the information in your organizational capacity section:

• Organizational charts, including all partners

• Resumes or Curricula Vitae for all key personnel

• Job descriptions for each key position (vacant and filled)

• List of your Board of Directors

• Child care licenses and other documentation of professional accreditation

Third-party agreements You must submit agreements with all third parties involved in the project. Third parties include subrecipients, contractors, and other cooperating entities. Third-party agreements include letters of commitment, memoranda of understanding, and memoranda of agreement. We do not consider general letters of support to be third-party agreements.

Any such agreement must:

• Describe the roles and responsibilities for project activities.

• Describe the support and resources that the third party is committing to the proposed project.

• Be signed by the person in the third-party organization with the authority to make such commitments.

• Detail work schedules and estimated compensation with an understanding that the parties will negotiate a final agreement after award.

• Identify the primary applicant and all collaborators responsible for project activities, if for a collaboration or consortia application.

Letters of support Attach statements from community, public, or commercial leaders that support your project. At minimum, each letter of support must identify the person writing the letter, the organization they represent, the date, and their reasons for supporting the project.

Step 3: Prepare Your Application 28

Protection of human subjects certification Not included in the page limit.

You must attach a Protection of Human Subjects: Assurance Identification / Certification / Declaration of Exemption Form. You can find this form at the Office of Human Research Protections Forms website.

For more on this topic see the Office of Human Research Protections website. If you have questions, you can email them at OHRP@HHS.gov or call them at 240-453-6900.

Other required forms You will need to complete some required forms. Upload the forms listed here at Grants.gov. You can find them in the NOFO application package or review them and their instructions at Grants.gov Forms.

Forms Submission Requirement

Application for Federal Assistance

(SF-424)

With the application

Budget Information for Non- Construction Programs (SF-424A)

With the application

Disclosure of Lobbying Activities

(SF-LLL)

If applicable, with the application or before award

Key Contacts With the application

Grants.gov Lobbying Form With the application or before award

Project/Performance Site Location(s) (SF-P/PSL)

With the application. Cite your primary location and up to 29 additional performance sites

1. Review 2. Get ready 3. Prepare 4. Learn 5. Submit 6. Award Contacts

Step 3: Prepare Your Application 29 https://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/register-irbs-and-obtain-fwas/forms/index.html https://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/register-irbs-and-obtain-fwas/forms/index.html https://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/index.html mailto:OHRP@HHS.gov https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/forms/sf-424-family.html

Step 4:

Learn About Review and Award

In this step

Application review 31

Award notices 35

Application review Initial review We review each application to make sure it meets basic requirements. We won’t consider an application that:

• Requests funding above the award ceiling

• Is submitted after the deadline

• Is from an individual, including a sole proprietorship or a foreign entity

• Is received in paper format that didn’t have a previously approved exemption from

ACF

If you submit more than two files in addition to your forms, we will remove the extra files. We will let you know if this happens.

We will also remove blurred or illegible pages and any file formats that are not supported.

We will not review any pages that exceed the page limit.

If your application fails to adhere to ACF’s NOFO formatting, font, and page limitation requirements, we will adjust your application by removing page(s) from the application. We will remove the pages before the merit review and will not send them to reviewers.

If we do so, we will send you a letter after we make awards to notify you that we amended your application.

Merit review A panel reviews all applications that pass the initial review. The members use the criteria in this section.

Additionally, our reviewers typically are not federal employees. See proprietary and personally identifiable information.

Step 4: Learn About Review and Award 31

Criteria

Criterion Total number of points = 100

1. Need for assistance 10 points

2. Approach 40 points

3. Organizational capacity and third-party agreements 15 points

4. Performance evaluation plan and logic model 10 points

5. Sustainability plan 5 points

6. Budget and budget justification 15 points

7. Ensuring equity 5 points

Reviewers will review and score your application based on how thoroughly you answer the questions in the following subsections. These subsections correspond to the required components of your application as described in the project narrative.

1. Need for assistance (10 points maximum)

• 1.1 Why do you need assistance? Describe the problem of youth homelessness in your community and explain what prevention resources you already have available. (0-5 points)

• 1.2 Who will you provide services to? Describe the youth and young adults who will receive prevention services and note how many you will serve. (0-5 points)

2. Approach (40 points maximum)

• 2.1 What youth homelessness prevention efforts have you tried previously and what were the outcomes of your efforts? What lessons did you learn from your efforts and how will you use those lessons to improve your services? (0-5 points)

• 2.2 How will you organize partners in your community and what will you do during Phase 1 to develop a prevention plan? (0-5 points)

• 2.3 How will you involve youth and young adults with lived experience in your strategic planning process, program design, program implementation, and program improvement? (0-10 points)

• 2.4 How will you transition from planning to implementation? During Phase 2, how will you use the flexible cash assistance and individualized supportive services and case management? Will you use any additional prevention services? If so, what are they and why will you use them? (0-10 points)

Step 4: Learn About Review and Award 32

• 2.5 How will you provide youth and young adults access to safe, stable, and appropriate shelter and services if your prevention efforts do not work? (0-10 points)

3. Organizational capacity and third-party agreements (15 points maximum)

• 3.1 What experience and expertise do you have running a project to prevent youth and young adults from becoming homeless? Describe your team’s experience with administering, developing, implementing, managing, and evaluating similar projects. (0-10 points)

• 3.2 Will you make a subaward or a subcontract with another organization to carry out your project? If so, how will you ensure they complete their work and contribute to the success of the project? If you will not make a subaward or have an agreement with a third-party, state specifically in your application that you will not. (0-5 points)

4. Performance evaluation plan and logic model (10 points maximum)

• 4.1 How will you evaluate your program’s success and what will you do to improve it? What challenges will you face implementing the program? (0-5 points)

• 4.2 How will your proposed activities, inputs, and outputs link to the outcomes you will achieve in preventing youth and young adults from experiencing homelessness? (0-5 points)

5. Sustainability plan (5 points maximum)

• 5.1 How will your project be sustainable? What other sources of funding will you look for if the federal funds are not available? How will you keep staff? How will you continue to support the program and deliver services, including keeping your partnerships? (0-5 points)

6. Budget and budget justification (15 points maximum)

• 6.1 Did you provide a clear line-item budget and narrative budget for the federal amount and non-federal amount in your application? Does your budget clearly explain how the funds you requested are necessary for the program? Did you include the costs of sending a staff person to attend the required training and meetings? (0-5 points)

• 6.2 How much will it cost your organization to run the project? How much additional money, in addition to the federal funds from this award, is required and what is the source of those funds? (0-10 points)

Step 4: Learn About Review and Award 33

7. Ensuring equity (5 points maximum)

• 7.1 How will you promote equity for youth and young adults from underserved groups? (0-5 points)

Risk review Before making an award, we review the risk that you will not prudently manage federal funds. If you had a past federal award, we need to make sure you’ve handled those awards well and demonstrated sound business practices. We use SAM.gov Responsibility / Qualification to check this history for all awards likely to be over $250,000.

If we find a significant risk, we may choose not to fund your application or to place specific conditions on the award.

For more details, see 45 CFR 75.205.

Selection process When making funding decisions, we consider:

• Merit review results, which are key in making decisions but are not the only factor

• Organizations serving emerging, unserved, or under-served populations

• The larger portfolio of agency-funded projects by considering geographic distribution

• The past performance of the applicant

We may:

• Fund applications in whole or in part

• Fund applications at a lower amount than requested.

• Decide not to allow a prime recipient to subaward if they may not be able to monitor and manage subrecipients properly

• Decide not to fund a project with high startup costs or unreasonably high operating costs

• Choose not to fund applicants with management or financial problems

• Designate your application as “approved but unfunded” if it was successful but there was not sufficient funding to make an award. You may receive funding if additional funds become available within the fiscal year

• Choose to fund no applications under this NOFO

1. Review 2. Get ready 3. Prepare 4. Learn 5. Submit 6. Award Contacts

Step 4: Learn About Review and Award 34 https://sam.gov/content/entity-information https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-45/section-75.205

We will not fund:

• An incomplete application

• A disqualified application

Award notices How we make awards If you are successful, we will email or transmit through our grant systems a NoA to your authorized official.

We will email you if your application is disqualified or unsuccessful.

The NoA is the only official award document. The NoA tells you about the amount of the award, important dates, and the terms and conditions you need to follow. Until you receive the NoA, you have not received an award. Project costs that you incur before you receive a NoA are at your risk.

If you want to know more about NoA contents, go to Notice of Award at ACF’s website.

1. Review 2. Get ready 3. Prepare 4. Learn 5. Submit 6. Award Contacts

Step 4: Learn About Review and Award 35 https://www.acf.hhs.gov/grants/manage-grant/grant-award#noa

Step 5:

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