HHS-2017-ACL-CIP-LRLI-0230_Call Transcript 6_6_17.doc

NWX-HHS-AOA-1 (US)

Moderator: Victoria Wright

6-6-17/2:00 pm CT

Confirmation #4092254

NWX-HHS-AOA-1 (US)

Moderator: Victoria Wright June 6, 2017 2:00 pm CT Operator:

Welcome and thank you all for standing by. At this time all participants will be in a listen-only mode until the question and answer session at the end of today’s conference. 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 call over to Miss Victoria Wright. You may begin.

Victoria Wright:

Hi. Welcome everybody and thank you for your time.

I just wanted to -- I’m sorry -- I just wanted to welcome you all to this teleconference, to this (unintelligible) the funding opportunity announcement for a FY-2017 Lifespan Respite Care advancing state Lifespan Respite System.

The purpose of this call is to provide interested applicant with some background information on the program, walk through the announcement itself and highlight particular things you should pay attention to while preparing your application as well as answer an outstanding question that you may have.

As the operator mentioned this teleconference call is being recorded. And a printed copy of today’s transcript along with a audio recording -- as well as the Q & A at the end of the call -- will be available at the grants.gov site. Within probably - we’ll have it available within a week or so.

Feel free to mentioned that to any colleagues who may not have been able to attend to this call.

As many of you know me already. My name is Victoria Wright and I lead Lifespan Respite Program here at ACL, which it seem to be one of ACLs (unintelligible) programs designed to address the challenges caregiver and care-recipients face throughout the course of their life.

I have with me today my Director, Lori Gerhard, who oversees the Office of the Consumer Access and Self-determination which the following program falls under the Lifespan Respite Care, the ADRC, the (VD-HCBS), Assistive Technology and Transportation Program.

Lori, would you like to say something?

Lori Gerhard:

Thank you very much, Victoria. And good afternoon to all of you on the phone.

The Lifespan Respite Care Program is an essential program for the states that are currently offering the program. And our hopes are that additional states will continue to join the 34 states and The District of Columbia that are currently offering the program.

And family caregiving is not just an aging issue, but family caregiving for persons with disabilities occurs across the age spectrum from birth to death. And family caregivers are often called upon to provide care to individuals of varying ages with disabilities and do so willingly often for a long period of time and for many years.

In 2015 AARP and The National Alliance for Caregiving estimated that 43.5 million people served as unpaid family caregivers to an adult or child with special needs.

For many of these caregivers providing care can take a toll. Nineteen percent reported high levels of physical strain, 18% experienced high levels of financial strain, and 38% of all family caregivers indicated they experienced high levels of emotional stress. Many caregivers report difficulty managing both physical and emotional stress and balancing work and family responsibilities.

Numerous studies have shown respite to be among the most frequently requested supportive services for family caregivers. Respite is second only to direct financial assistance and the key policy priority of surveyed family caregivers.

Even though respite services are often the preferred mode of family caregiver support they are often underused, difficult to find and access, unemployable or in short supply. As a result nearly 90% of family caregivers receive no respite at all.

The barriers to accessing and using respite services are often significant for specific populations such as family caregivers of individuals with Multiple Sclerosis, persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and for caregivers of veterans and individuals with Alzheimer’s disease, spinal cord injuries, Autism, and serious emotional disorders.

The Lifespan Respite Care Program focuses on easing the burdens of caregiving by providing grants to eligible state organizations to improve the quality of and access to respite care or family caregivers of children or adults of any age with special needs.

We’re delighted today to share with you about this funding opportunity that we’ll be offering this year and we’re also wanted to just recognize the great work that you all have been doing in serving the country. And particularly in your state and pleased to hear of the interest for this opportunity and look forward to hopefully receiving some excellent applications to continue the work to really develop Lifespan Respite systems within states.

I’ll turn things back to Victoria.

Victoria Wright:

Thanks, Lori. The other person that I wanted to introduce -- unfortunately she’s not here today -- is Sherlonda Blue. She is the grant specialist that’s assigned to Lifespan Respite Program and -- excuse me -- and you’ll be expected to interact with Sherlonda on questions about budget reporting, drawing down funds, payment management system, and the financial reporting.

Sherlonda is one of the - one of ACL’s top grant specialist we are fortunate - we were fortunate to have her experience and leadership working on this program.

This call is scheduled to go for about an hour and a half and I’m hoping that - we’ll probably not use the whole time, but if you have any question or anything just feel free to let us know after the - I mean during the Q & A.

Okay. It may be helpful for you to have a copy of the funding opportunity in front of you as we discuss it’s necessary. Lori and I hope to address any of your lingering question in my overview of the - of this opportunity, but we will open up the lines at the end of the call and provide you an opportunity to ask anything I haven’t covered.

Quickly, our agenda today is as follows. We have the overview of the opportunity, the funding opportunity, the key dates (unintelligible) and how to apply. And finally we’ll go over the criteria. Your proposal will be screened and scored against - before opening things up for question and - for questions.

Okay. Let’s -- sorry -- based on a 2017 appropriation of -- I’m sorry -- based on a 2017 appropriation of 3.36 million ACL anticipators providing funding for 10 to 15 grants with federal funding level up to $265,000 per award for three - 12 months budget period. And this is pending on availability of funds.

ACL is providing this competitive opportunity to assist current grantees to more fully bring to scale a provision of respite service to eligible populations to the establishment or strengthening of the state Lifespan Respite Care System and the corresponding policy framework necessary to support and sustain the system.

Eligible agency receiving funding under this announcement will be required to build advancement made under provision Lifespan Respite Care Program grants and focus on developing and strengthening the component of Lifespan Respite Care System deemed necessary for improving access, consistency, quality, sustainability, and reducing duplication in respite service delivery.

We are prepared to award up to 15 advancing state Lifespan Respite System grants. So we’ve set aside approximately about 2.6 million for this opportunity. Limited funds are available to support proposed project and not all states that apply will be funded. Only those applications deemed to show the greatest likelihood of building on advancement made during the previous year of the Lifespan Respite Development will be selected for funding.

I hope this makes sense to you, but we can revisit at the end of - at the end if you have any clarifying questions.

We can talk about the purpose of this specific opportunity that you are all here to learn about today.

The primary focus of this three-year competitive advancing Lifespan Respite System grant will be - enable successful applicants to more fully bring to scale the provision of respite services to eligible population through the establishment or strengthening of the state-wide Lifespan Respite Care System and corresponding policy framework necessary to support and sustain the system.

Respective applicants are expected to propose system level, programmatic level, and consumer level outcome and describe how this outcome will measure and tract.

You see that I’m pulling most - I’m pulling almost directly from the FOA with what I’m sharing - with what I’m sharing. You also know this if you - you’ve had opportunity to read the funding opportunity announcement that there are some key themes that run throughout the document. This is intentional.

Your proposal needs to demonstrate each of the following priority areas which can be found on page three.

The first thing is the system advancement. This details your objective for systemically advancing system Lifespan Respite Care Service state-wide.

Second, partnership development/stakeholder engagement by demonstrating enhancement and expanded involvement of key state and local level organization and stakeholder across the age of disability spectrum of full partners in the design implementation and evaluation of the Lifespan Respite Program.

You should carefully describe your approaches for further developing and expanding the partnership and stakeholder involvement in the design implementation of your project.

Finally the third component is the service provision. Application narrative should clearly and completely describe the state agency plan for further developing and delivering each of the required and where appropriate optional service in a way that considered available evidence emerging strategy and the promising practices in the field of respite to expand capacity and deliver direct services.

Additional application element on page four. In addition to the priority areas you should clearly demonstrate -- address -- the following in your application. First, knowledge of existing (unintelligible) and service gap and unmet consumer need. Second, system and programmatic performance and outcome measurement. The third one is program sustainability. Fourth one is grant and sub-grant -- I’m sorry -- grant and sub-contractors. And the fifth one, participation in technical assistance efforts.

So let’s take a break from the content portion of the call and make sure you are all aware of the key date and times and when you - when sure you’re actually eligible for this opportunity.

First we’re going to discuss the eligibility. Who can apply?

Only those grantees who have completely the full three years initial Lifespan Respite Grant or who have completed a minimum of two years of the three initial Lifespan Respite Grant at the time this grant will be awarded. Therefore eligibility limit - is limited to the following states -- Alabama, Therefore eligibility limit - is limited to the following states. Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.

At the top of page one you’ll find the next due key date that you need to be aware of. The first due date for the letter of intent is June 16th. Knowing ahead the time approximately how many application we expect to receive allowing me to determine the number of grant reviewers I’ll need as well as how to structure the review process in a way that assures we meet our start date of September 1st.

For those who submitted intent thank you so much. (Unintelligible) fax to me or email to me. The fax number is 202-205-0414. I repeat the fax number for the letter of intent can be sent to 202-205-0414. Or you can email it to me. My email address is victoria.wright. The last name is W-R-I-G-H-T @acl.hhs.gov. And of (unintelligible) email is preferred, but if you decided to fax please let me know ahead of time that you’re sending your letter of intent via fax, so I can make sure to go to the - to our multifunction device and pick up the letter from that machine.

It - the important dates to remember is when application are actually due. The application is due July 18th, at 11:59 p.m. on July 18th - on July 8th and must be submitted electronically via grants.gov. It’s ww.grants.gov. Due date is non-negotiable and application received after this date will not be considered for funding. Again, the due date is July 18th.

It may have been a few years since you have submitted an application for ACL Grants to let - so let me quickly review some key information regarding that.

On page nine of the FOA provides a (unintelligible) where to get application package and included on the bottom of page 10 is my contact information. Page 9 and 10 includes some helpful information should you require assistance using grants.gov or obtaining DUNS number.

I’ll show that from time to time we’ve heard that some have issues with grants.gov and there’s sometimes that the system will lock or freeze during submission. This is why we recommend you don’t wait until the actual 11th hour to submit your application. However if anything goes wrong please use the toll-free number to call for assistance.

Unfortunately neither myself nor Sherlonda or the grants office will be able to assist you since the system is not our website. It’s under the grants.gov ownership.

So while I’m on the subject of grants.gov let me add just a couple more things. So – again – if you are not already registered with grants.gov you should start now. I may take a few – it may take a few days or potentially a week to get completely registered and you don’t want to be trying to do it – to do that same day or same time as you are submitting your grant application.

If you already registered with grants.gov please make sure your password has not expired. They need to be renewed annually if my memory serves me again. We’re just trying to eliminate any potential challenges that would happen at the time of your submission.

(Unintelligible) remember that only certain authorized user can submit application from grants.gov (unintelligible) grants.gov account.

It’s important to make sure you know who in your agency can actually submit your application before you get to the deadline for submission.

For some of you this process may be different than in years past. Please make sure you read these pages carefully. With other funding opportunities in previous year and applicants submitting their proposal ran into trouble when they discovered that they were not the designated authorized organization representative or the AOR for their agency and had scrambled to get their application submitted. So please use grants.gov website to confirm who your agency assigned AOR is. There is also an abundance of additional information or resources here at the site, at the grants.gov website.

On page 10 you get some additional information obtaining the DUNS number, D-U-N-S, and register the central contractor registry. Please make sure to start this process – again – early, because it can take some time.

On page 11 you will find the due date of the letter of intent – as I mentioned before – that this is optional, that – very much appreciated and – again – it’s due June 16th.

Okay. Now that we’ve covered the purpose of the funding opportunity -- some key dates, who’s eligible to apply, and how to go about apply – let’s go over how proposal will be reviewed, screened, which will point to the direction of what’s important to focus on the designing your application.

Another required component – which all of you are familiar with – is the cost sharing match component. The description of match can be seen on page seven. So let’s – so I’ll let you go ahead and read that.

The application will go through an initial screening to verify that the applicant – first – is eligible, state agency is outlined in section 3-1 of program announcement.

Number two, has included in the application a package, an MOU between the eligible state agency and the state-wide respite coalition or organization.

Three, does not propose conduit or pass through funding or other agency to read the project.

And, lastly, has included the required match in the budget and description of the match in the budget narrative.

So please do not propose – project that simply passes funds onto another entity. We will not fund pass-through projects.

If you decided to subcontract specific (unintelligible) be sure to clearly describe the process for this and how you’ll – you as the grantee – will continue to be in the lead role.

Application that fails to meet all four of the criteria and mentioned will not be reviewed or will not be – will not receive no further consideration.

Application screening criteria is more technical in nature and includes such things as, “Did the application arrive on time? Are the margins correct? Is the narrative within the package (pagely) met on – limit to page – 10 pages? Did the applicant use the correct font size no smaller than 11?”

Please note that if your application meets any of this technical criteria your application will not be reviewed.

On page 11 outlines the project narrative. You all should be familiar with this and understand that the project narrative is the most important part of the application since it will be used as the primary bases to determine whether or not your project meets the minimum requirement for the grant under the authorizing statutes and the goal of this funding opportunity.

The project narrative should provide clear – should provide a clear and concise description of your project. I recommend that that’s – that your project narrative includes the following components and limited to 10 pages.

Summary abstract, project statement, goals and objective, proposed intervention, special target population and organizations, outcomes, project management, evaluation, disseminations, organization capability.

Again, I’ll make a pause for you to pay particular attention to the outcome portion. Applicant’s goal should identify relevant outcomes. The state would like to measure and propose approaches.

You can all read through the additional component of the narrative, but keep in mind budget, work plan, letters of support -- et cetera – don’t count as part of your 10 page narrative total.

Again, on page 16 it just basically tells us the information when the application due date is due which is July 18th.

On page 18 states the criteria that reviewer will be using when scoring your application. After the application deadline your grant’s office will compile each application and within three days they are available to the reviewers.

An independent review panel of at least three individual will evaluate application that pass the screening and meet the – your responsive criteria – responsiveness criteria.

These reviewers are expert in their field and are drawn from academic institution, non-profit organization, state and local government and federal government agency.

Based on the application review criteria – as outlined under section 5-1 – the reviewers will comment on and score the application focusing their comments and (unintelligible) decision on the identified criteria, specifically on the note – for the applicants –- I’m sorry – specifically off note for applicants is that reviewers will use scoring form that contains each of the question in the five sections. I (unintelligible) assure your proposal addresses the question in this section.

Reviewer will have about a week to conduct reviews. In general we anticipate conducting the review’s panel just after we receive the application. We try to provide a week review period, because we want to make sure the result of the review are clear and that identified who the successful applicant had been and that notification are able to be sent out well ahead of the start date of September 1st.

Final award decision will be made by the ACL administrator. In making this decision administrator will take into consideration, one, recommendation of the review panel, two, the review (unintelligible) and grant management compliance, three, the reasonableness of the estimated cost of the government considering the available funding and anticipated results. And last (unintelligible) is the likelihood that the proposed project will result in the benefit expected.

Actual award amount will vary based on the availability of federal funds and successful applicant may be asked to revise their proposal based on smaller than requested awards.

So this basically brings me to the end of the portion of this call, but I would like to ask Lori if she have – Lori Gerhard – if she has something else in addition to what I’ve mentioned to this informational call. Lori?

Thanks, Victoria.

And I just wanted to call people’s attention to two items in the funding opportunity. On page four under the Service Provision state applicants should determine the proportion of the requested funds that will be used for developing a Lifespan Respite System. And the proportion of requested funds that will be used for direct service provision.

Applicants should propose to both further develop their Lifespan Respite Care System and fill gaps in respite service provision. And it’s really up to the state to determine how you wanted to use that money proportionally, but it’s important that you include that in your application.

And then the other area I wanted to mention is on page six of the funding opportunity under the section that has a title Participation and Technical Assistance Efforts. But grantees or applicants are strongly encouraged to budget resources for travel to and participation in the National Respite Conference contained annually by the (ARCH) which is the Technical Assistant Resource Center for the Lifespan Respite Program.

This conference provides participants with the opportunity to learn about the latest trends in respite program development and the opportunity to network and share best practices associated with Lifespan Respite Care Program implementation and Lifespan Respite Care System developments.

We really want to be sure that applicants include funds to attend that conference and participate in the technical assistance activities throughout the year.

We’ve found over the course of time that it’s the people that are providing the program and that are offering that really have the greatest experience in providing opportunities for all of you to be sharing the learnings with each other really helps advance the field. So we just wanted to mention on the importance of including that in your budget.

And I’ll turn things back to Victoria.

Thanks, Lori.

I’m going to go ahead and open the line for any question that you guys have. (Ivy)?

Thank you. We would now like to open the lines for any – if anyone does have a question please hit star one and record your name when prompted. Again it’s star one to ask a question. One moment to see if we have questions.

Well it looks like we have a question cueing up. One moment. Our question is from (Lynn Gallier). Line is open.

Yes. Hi, (Lynn).

(Lynn Gallier):

Yes. Hello. Thank you. I’m calling from the state of Wisconsin and under the service provision section on page four – when it talks about the five required and three optional services – I would just appreciate it if you could outline those so that it’s clear to everybody what those are.

Woman:

Hey, (Lynn)?

(Lynn Gallier):

Yes.

Woman:

I’m looking at the announcement right now, so if you can just give me a few minutes.

(Lynn Gallier):

Okay. Thank you.

Woman:

Thanks. Hello, (Lynn)?

Victoria Wright:

Hello, (Lynn)?

(Lynn Gallier):

Yes.

What we’re going to do is just – because we’re trying to look at – on our system – but our system is not fast enough to look for that answer. So what we’re going to do - on the question and answer or I can email you the response to that one.

But for everyone who have the same question regarding (Lynn)’s question we’ll provide that on the grants.gov website for that question and answer.

(Lynn Gallier):

Okay. (Unintelligible).

Victoria Wright:

I’m sorry about that.

(Lynn Gallier):

Yes. I would appreciate it if you could email me, I mean because I don’t really want to wait for a week (unintelligible) just have some sort of timeline issues here, so (unintelligible)…

Victoria Wright:

Sure. I understand. Can you give me your - do you mind emailing me, so I can respond to you?

(Lynn Gallier):

And that would be to…

Victoria Wright:

Victoria…

(Lynn Gallier):

…(unintelligible)…

Victoria Wright:

…dot Wright.

(Lynn Gallier):

Oh this is Victoria. Okay.

Victoria Wright:

Sure.

(Lynn Gallier):

Yes. I will do that.

Victoria Wright:

Thank you. Sorry about that.

(Lynn Gallier):

(Unintelligible) that’s all right.

Operator:

Thank you. Next we have (Chris Lindsey). Your line is open.

(Chris Lindsey):

Hi. My question is there is a new piece that has been added to the opportunity to share, to build a framework within your -- I don’t have the (RP) with (unintelligible) I’m out of town -- for working with your community and with your local officials and things like that. Could you explain what type of activities are eligible? Because before - oh - at - it was really specific as far as what advocacy efforts you could do in that kind of area.

Woman:

Hi. Who is on the line? I’m sorry, I didn’t get your name.

(Chris Lindsey):

It’s (Chris).

Woman:

(Chris). And from what state?

(Chris Lindsey):

Colorado.

Woman:

Colorado. So could you frame your question again, (Chris)?

(Chris Lindsey):

So the - in the very beginning -- and I apologize, I don’t have the (RP) in front of me -- there are two basic areas that are part of the (RPM-1), is more aimed at advocacy and building the framework within your legislature and things like that. And so I wanted clarity on what was eligible as far as activities that could be funded in that area.

Woman:

(Unintelligible).

Lori Gerhard:

Are you talking about the Partnership Development Stakeholder Engagement section?

(Chris Lindsey):

Hi (unintelligible) it’s a nicer way to - then saying lobbying is what I’m talking about. And I apologize I don’t have the (RP) in front of me.

Lori Gerhard:

Okay. Well we can’t use grant funds for lobbying purposes.

(Chris Lindsey):

Correct. But you guys talk about building that framework with your government officials and things like that and so I was trying to get an idea of what your understanding of that phrase is.

Lori Gerhard:

Right. So the states can strengthen their policy framework. Is that the part you’re talking about?

(Chris Lindsey):

Yes.

Okay. Yes. So there’s a sentence in the FOA that says, “Applicants are also encouraged to discuss any objectives related to the development or strengthening of a policy framework aimed at furthering the long term continuation and support of state-wide respite service provisions.”

And a policy framework is different than lobbying in the fact that developing the policy framework could do - could be around what the current status of the respite program is or the availability of respite services, how the state might go about making any continual development in this particular area.

And so an educational approach engaging in different activities related to assessments and things would certainly be acceptable. I don’t know there was - I’ve answered the question you’re asking.

(Chris Lindsey):

It helps. Thank you.

Lori Gerhard:

Okay. Do you have a follow-up question?

(Chris Lindsey):

No. I think that you covered it. Thank you.

Lori Gerhard:

Okay.

Thank you.

Again if there are any questions please hit star one and record your name when prompted. I am showing no questions at this time.

All right. So basically this concluded the informational call for Lifespan Respite Advancing State.

If you have any other questions please feel free to call me or email me at victoria.wright if there’s any other question that you have and then we’(Lynn Gallier): put it on the grants.gov question and answer.

And, Victoria, it looks like there’s some questions cueing up. Sorry.

Victoria Wright:

Oh sure. Go ahead.

Operator:

Yes. One second. And we have (Lynn Gallier). Your line is open.

Victoria Wright:

Go ahead.

Thank you. Sure. Thank you.

I have a question about the match. Just because we had a different grant which the match was approved and then sort of, like, later on toward the end of the grant there came back some questions about that money being directly used for this particular - whether it was (inkind) or not.

And I guess I’m - I just want to make sure I’m understanding what you expect for the match requirements other than the particular (unintelligible) what we…

Yes.

(Lynn Gallier):

…need to document how the match is spent I guess is what I’m - I guess it’s (inkind) how would you want that documented?

Victoria Wright:

Is this (Lynn) from Wisconsin?

(Lynn Gallier):

It is.

Oh okay. Hold on. Got it.

I’ll have Lori answer that one.

(Lynn Gallier):

Okay.

So, (Lynn), that’s a great question.

So the required match is 25% and it’s really important that applicants calculate the match correctly and there’s instructions in the funding opportunity go about that. Because it’s 25% of the total project. Not 25% of the requested fund. And so that’s the first thing.

Then secondly, it’s important that you include it both in your budget, so if you’re going to propose to use (inkind) match assigning some dollar value to that (inkind) match and having a method by which you calculated that and being able to describe that will be helpful.

And that you also mention in your budget’s narrative, either the cash that you’ll be using as match and the source of those funds. We can’t match federal money with federal money. Or a description of the (inkind) services and how they’re being valued.

Does that answer your question?

Yes. Also I - part of my question is then on the back end too. It’s just like - other grants I know that we’ve had we’ve used the, you know, state general purpose revenue (unintelligible) and then it just seems like -- I don’t know -- something has changed at ACL or we’ve been asked to be -- I guess -- more meticulous with how we report on how that money is spent, how the match is being spent. And I just - I’m just wondering what your expectations are.

Lori Gerhard:

So when you file your annual financial form you do need to show the match that was used in your report. Is that what you’re referring to?

Yes. And I’m thinking, well, especially if it’s money that’s -- say -- like a - from one of the - a subcontractor who’s included in the grant, you know, like we’re working with an organization and they’re spending money on something.

And that’s either coming, you know, I - never mind. Maybe I’ll just talk to you offline about this.

Yes. Well we certainly would be available to, because it sounds like it’s on the financial reporting form and there have been continual development work going on with our office at grant’s management and so I do know that the financial reporting forms are looking for a little more detail on how - where the match is coming from and then how it’s - what’s actually being used.

(Lynn Gallier):

Right. Yes. Maybe that’s where it’s coming from, but…

Lori Gerhard:

No.

(Lynn Gallier):

Okay.

Lori Gerhard:

Yes.

(Lynn Gallier):

That’s later on anyway.

And - yes. And -- before you go -- we have - our systems are working a - they’re working slow, but we - we’ve got to what we needed.

I wanted to answer the earlier question that you had asked about the five required services and the three optional services. Okay?

So the required services include each eligible state agency awarded a grant or cooperative agreement under the section of the act shall use all or part of the funds to develop or enhance Lifespan Respite Care at the state and local levels to provide respite care services for family caregivers caring for children or adults, to train and recruit respite care workers and volunteers, to provide information to caregivers about available respite and support services and (unintelligible) this one to assist caregivers in gaining access to such services.

The optionally use of funds include the following. Each eligible state - grant or cooperative agreement under this section may use part of the funds for, one, training programs for family caregivers to assist such family caregivers and making informed decisions about respite care services. Two, other services essential to the provision of respite as a secretary may specify. Or, three, training and education for new caregivers.

Thank you. That helps very much.

You’re welcome.

Did you have a follow-up question to that?

No I do not. Thank you.

Lori Gerhard:

Okay. And we’re happy to talk with you offline then about the match reporting.

(Lynn Gallier):

Okay. Thanks.

Woman:

Thank you.

Operator:

Thank you. And next we have (Julie Waters). Your line is open.

Victoria Wright:

Hi, (Julie).

(Julie Waters):

Hi. I just wanted to see if anyone had questioned the 10 page limit? It seems like this is a lot of information to include to try to do it in 10 pages. Do you have any suggestions?

So, (Julie), thanks for that question. We currently have the 10 page limit. We’re encouraging applicants to do their best in describing what their proposing to do with the funding that would be available, to further advance either their work in developing a Lifespan Respite System or in moving towards a Lifespan Respite System.

And so describing the current state and the changes you plan to make the - that’s exact - I mean that’s the best we can do at this point. But we are (unintelligible) to the 10 page limit at this point.

(Julie Waters):

Okay.

Lori Gerhard:

Remember that your resumes and your work plan, your budget, those things do not count towards that 10 page limit.

(Julie Waters):

So under your organizational capacity and areas like that would you suggest that we refer to the attachments?

Lori Gerhard:

Yes.

(Julie Waters):

And give a very brief description?

Lori Gerhard:

Yes. That’s the strategy that could be used. And, like, when you talk about project management I wouldn’t include extensive descriptions about the individuals, but rather refer to their resume.

(Julie Waters):

Okay.

Lori Gerhard:

But, you know, name who’s going to have what roles and, you know, what their titles might be or responsibility. But then refer to their resumes for the credentials.

(Julie Waters):

Okay. Thank you.

Lori Gerhard:

Thank you.

Thank you. Again if there are any questions you may hit star one.

And we have a question from (Pam Olsen). Your line is open.

(Pam Olsen):

Thank you. You answered one question.

And the other is the 175,000 to 265,000 and that will cover the entire 36 month project? (Unintelligible)?

So that’s a great question. So what I’m hearing you ask is whether the range of 175,000 to 265,000 is for all three years of the project period?

(Pam Olsen):

Correct.

Lori Gerhard:

Okay. And so the answer is no. That’s for one 12-month budget period in that three year project period.

So the assumption would be that there would be funds in outgoing years and if there is no funds that’s why we say dependent on availability of funding. So that 175,000 to 265,000 would be for your first year, your first 12-month budget.

(Pam Olsen):

Thank you.

Operator:

And we do have another question. One moment. And, (Lynn), your line is open again.

(Lynn Gallier):

Thank you. I just wanted to clarify -- or verify I guess -- that planning is okay to have as part of the beginning of a grant? The planning time is (unintelligible) allowed or…

Lori Gerhard:

So, (Lynn), when you’re asking that you’re asking if your proposal could address a planning period?

Right. Because - well I’m thinking we - I’ve got it pretty much developed forming some of those partnerships. I know that that’s - that is kind of planning, but it is also a goal.

As far as planning the exact interventions with your partners would you reconsider that part of the plan - a planning? So say if you’re going to have six months to work with your partners to come up with a concrete deliverables or something.

I think each - if, like, you can develop your application to be responsive to the criteria. So as long as this response is in the criteria what you’re proposing could be possible.

I don’t know if I’ve answered your question, but each state might be at a different stage. And so the reviewers will use the information in your application to score - to answer the questions that are in the scoring criteria.

Okay. Thank you.

Lori Gerhard:

Oh so did that give you an - does that answer your question?

(Lynn Gallier):

Yes. I think so. I think as long as the planning involves the criteria it will - it sounds like it would be okay.

Lori Gerhard:

Yes.

Woman:

(Unintelligible) everything (unintelligible) yes.

(Lynn Gallier):

Okay. Thank you.

Lori Gerhard:

That was a good question.

Operator:

Thank you. Again if there are any questions please hit star one.

Woman:

(Unintelligible).

Operator:

I am currently showing no questions.

All right. That basically wraps up this informational call.

Again if you have any more questions feel free to email me at victoria.wright@acl.hhs.gov.

And again the recording and all the question and answer that we got were really -- especially the questions -- they’re really good questions and we’ll be posting this one at grants.gov.

Okay. And again thank you everyone for attending this informational call and good luck to you guys. And we look forward to review (unintelligible) have a good day.

Thank you all for participating in today’s conference. You may disconnect your line and have a great day or a great evening.

END