HHS-2021-ACF-ACYF-CO-1911.pdf

Administration for Children and Families

Administration on Children, Youth and Families - Children's Bureau

Quality Improvement Center: Engaging Youth in Finding Permanency

HHS-2021-ACF-ACYF-CO-1911

Application Due Date: 07/06/2021

Quality Improvement Center: Engaging Youth in Finding Permanency

HHS-2021-ACF-ACYF-CO-1911

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Overview Executive Summary

I. Program Description II. Federal Award Information

III. Eligibility Information

1. Eligible Applicants

2. Cost Sharing or Matching

3. Other

IV. Application and Submission Information

1. Address to Request Application Package

2. Content and Form of Application Submission

3. Unique Entity Identifier and System for Award Management

(SAM)

4. Submission Dates and Times

5. Intergovernmental Review

6. Funding Restrictions

7. Other Submission Requirements

V. Application Review Information

1. Criteria

2. Review and Selection Process

3. Anticipated Announcement and Federal Award Dates

VI. Federal Award Administration Information

1. Federal Award Notices

2. Administrative and National Policy Requirements

3. Reporting

VII. HHS Awarding Agency Contact(s) VIII. Other Information

Department of Health & Human Services Administration for Children and Families

Funding Opportunity Title: Quality Improvement Center: Engaging

Youth in Finding Permanency Announcement Type: Initial Funding Opportunity Number: HHS-2021-ACF-ACYF-CO-1911 Primary CFDA Number: 93.652 Due Date for Letter of Intent: 06/06/2021 Due Date for Applications: 07/06/2021

Executive Summary

Notice:

Applicants are strongly encouraged to read the entire funding opportunity announcement (FOA) carefully and observe the application formatting requirements listed in Section IV.2. Content and Form of Application Submission.

For more information on applying for grants, please visit "How to Apply for a Grant" on the ACF Grants & Funding Page at https://www.acf.hhs.gov/grants/howto.

The purpose of this funding opportunity is to establish, by awarding a cooperative agreement, one national Quality Improvement Center on Engaging Youth (QIC/EY) that will conduct six to eight projects in partnership with public child welfare systems of the states, tribes, counties, or territories to produce a multi-faceted system of successful models of youth engagement. The youth engagement models will include engaging youth in finding their own permanency as well as engaging them in identifying the barriers and building strategies to successful engagement of youth throughout the system of care. The QIC/EY will also develop capacity building training, tools, and strategies that will serve as a change agent for the child welfare workforce and system to embrace the voice of youth in all aspects of the system of care. It is expected that this systemic change will be reflected through intentional policy, practice, and culture shifts within the selected pilot sites.

I. Program Description

Statutory Authority Title II, section 203(b)(4) of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment and Adoption Reform Act of 1978 (42 U.S.C. 5113(b)(4))

Description

BACKGROUND

http://www.acf.hhs.gov/grants/howto

Engaging children/youth in successfully achieving permanency after they have experienced an entry into the child welfare system is a critical need as highlighted through the highly successful Adoption Call To Action efforts of the Children’s Bureau (CB) in 2019-20. Assuring no child or youth leaves care without a safe and stable permanency is essential and at the heart of all work within the child welfare system.

The child welfare workforce is frequently compromised by lack of proper knowledge, support, and workload to authentically engage the children/youth on their caseload. Equipping them with the proper knowledge, tools, and supports will build the capacity of the workforce and serve as a support to them and thus prevent burnout. This, in turn, will serve to stabilize a workforce often disrupted by constant employee turnover.

It is critical to engage children/youth in the child welfare system as this work is about their story and their life. Authentically engaging youth provides them with some sense of control and builds their self-advocacy skills. Successful relational casework in which the worker is a trusted partner with the youth supports and empowers the youth. Authentic relationships between caseworker and youth enables them to be co-creators of the youth’s permanency plan.

Understanding and helping a youth tell their story benefits all because it provides a more effective means to gathering information about the youth’s relationships, many of whom may be potential permanent families for the youth.

Research has shown that children/youth fare best in stable, loving families that have the capacity to provide permanency for them throughout their lifetime. The Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) data indicates that annually, approximately 20,000 youth age out of the child welfare system without the benefit of a family to support and care for them. Without a secure and stable family on which they can rely, these older teens are at a far greater risk in making a successful transition to adulthood. There is evidence that 40 percent of these youth that age out without a family experience homelessness and by the age of 24, only half have found employment. One quarter of these youth experience incarceration, 42 percent drop out of high school, and only 4 percent earn a college degree. In addition, 1 in 4 of these youth experience post-traumatic stress disorder, and 71 percent of the women are pregnant by the age of 21.

Older teens in foster care (15-17 years of age) have the lowest permanency rates and, annually, average only five percent of all children adopted, although they represent 11 percent of children/youth waiting for adoption. After the termination of parental rights, the youth in this age range wait twice as long to achieve permanency as children/youth 14 years of age and younger. These dire statistics are too frequently the result of the failure to fully, authentically, and consistently engage youth in achieving their own permanency. Youth adopted as older teens or those that have left care without permanency have consistently cited incidents of their workers giving up on their chances of achieving permanency and/or workers changing frequently and not bothering to research their file or engage to understand their desires and wishes. The child welfare workforce may be resistant to seeking permanent families for older youth as they may believe the youth do not need a family as they near adulthood, or they may believe it will take away their focus on achieving permanency for younger children.

PROJECT REQUIREMENTS

The purpose of this cooperative agreement is to establish one QIC/EY that will be responsible for assuring the development of the following expected outcomes:

Enhanced, evidence-based models of youth engagement that can be replicated in other states, counties, tribes, and territories and promote the assurance that every youth leaves the care of the child welfare system to a safe and stable permanency, whether through reunification, guardianship, or adoption. These models of youth engagement will also incorporate the principles of relational permanency assuring that youth are able to maintain the critical relationships with siblings and kin that may, or may not, be part of the youth’s legal permanency;

A model training/coaching and capacity building instrument with proven success in the pilot sites of transforming the culture of the child welfare system and workforce in the authentic engagement of children/youth that can be replicated in other states, counties, tribes, and territories; and

Systemic change through intentional policy, practice, and culture shifts within the selected pilot site child welfare systems, related service providers, and the courts that promote the authentic engagement of youth throughout the continuation of care of the child welfare system.

QIC Responsibilities The funded QIC/EY will be responsible for developing and/or furthering the evidence-base of existing models of engaging youth in achieving their own permanency that can be replicated in other child welfare systems to achieve long-term, stable permanency. The QIC/EY will also produce one overall training for the workforce that will be utilized consistently across pilot sites so as to alter the mindset, practice, and overall culture of the child welfare workforce to assure effective and authentic youth engagement throughout the child welfare system. The training/coaching model will provide for key concepts of youth engagement to be incorporated into the overall pre-service training for the workforce and also provide for a stand-alone training for casework staff. The QIC/EY will support innovative, collaborative, and effective practices in the development of these elements and the strategies for each of the pilot sites. This training model will be refined through the course of the funding period with the goal of being a replicable tool for other jurisdictions. The QIC/EY approach will be to generate and disseminate knowledge on effective practice models of youth engagement and on the effective elements required to impact the workforce on embracing the engagement principles. The QIC/EY will be responsible for ensuring that each pilot site has the capacity to commit to and implement the requirements of this grant and will also provide an intensive level of technical assistance to each site and assure cross-site learning occurs.

In order to accomplish this goal, the QIC will be responsible for the following:

Selecting and developing six to eight pilot projects representing different jurisdictions and led by the child welfare system of a state, county, tribe, or territory;

Creating and implementing a capacity building training tool for the child welfare workforce regarding authentic engagement of children/youth throughout the system of care. This training and coaching tool will be implemented consistently throughout each site;

Supporting systemic change in each pilot site that embraces and integrates the youth voice in addressing barriers and building strategies to ensure safe and stable permanency for all children and youth, and ensure the continuity of kin and other key relationships in their lives; and

Involving youth who are currently in the care of the child welfare system and/or recently egressed from care (either to reunification, adoption, guardianship, or independence) throughout the project for both the operation of the QIC/EY and in each of the pilot sites. Modeling authentic youth engagement and integrating the youth voice into all aspects of the work of this project is paramount and considered to be the key to its success.

The development and enrichment of relationships is a core concept of this QIC/EY, and children and youth will be considered the primary resource for workers. Children and youth voice is the most critical and effective means by which workers will be able to understand their perspective about their own permanency and also serve as a guide to potential placements and permanency. Beyond their potential as a legal permanency relationship, siblings and other kin relationships must be considered for the important relational permanency they represent for the children/youth.

Pilot Sites The QIC must partner with the state, tribal, or territory public child welfare system in their selection of pilot sites. Selected pilot sites must represent different jurisdictions at the state, county, tribal, or territory level. They must represent varying size child welfare systems and reflect a mix of urban and rural settings. At least one site will serve more than 20,000 children/youth each year, and at least one must serve less than 5,000 children/youth each year.

The remaining sites must serve between 5,000-20,000 children/youth each year.

Each pilot site may have a mix of unique and/or shared components; however, it is expected that each will be tailored to meet the unique needs of that state, county, tribe, or territory.

In the review and consideration of the strategy for each pilot site, the common and variable aspects noted below will be considered.

Common aspects of the pilot sites will include the following:

Training/coaching and capacity building of the workforce to equip them with an understanding and ability to engage in effective and authentic relationships with the youth they serve;

Method and process for identifying the children/youth targeted for each pilot site;

Development of youth engagement models tailored to meet the needs of the targeted youth; and Strategies for the integration of the youth voice in identifying and addressing systemic barriers to attaining successful permanency for all youth.

Variable aspects of the pilot sites will include the following:

The type of effective youth engagement models utilized in each site and the point of the continuum of the system in which the model will be implemented;

The geographic settings for service models (urban and rural);

The structures of the state, county, or tribal child welfare systems chosen as pilot sites;

and

The administrative organization and staffing structure of each of the pilot sites.

In all sites, the QIC/EY will work intensively with each pilot site to identify barriers and make recommendations for needed changes in the state, county, tribal, or territory child welfare system’s laws, policies, procedures, and practices to assure that the identified evidence-based youth engagement strategies will work most effectively.

All selected pilot sites will be engaged in training/coaching designed by the QIC/EY to build the overall capacity of the workforce, which will provide, at a minimum, the following basic elements of youth engagement:

Understanding that success for children/youth in care is derived only through recognizing the dignity and respect that they deserve;

Understanding that strengthening and dignifying the youth voice requires transformation in the structure of the system and in the practice of the workforce;

Elements of authentic engagement and relationship building between the workforce and children/youth with the understanding that relationship building is a continual and healing process to promote the healing of trauma;

Coaching and practice for the workforce to assure that this approach to engagement is integrated into all aspects of their work throughout the entire continuum of the child welfare system; and

Examination of how to implement effective youth engagement on both an individual basis as well as within the system as a whole to examine barriers to successful permanency for every child/youth and develop strategies for successful change.

In determining youth engagement models for each pilot site, the following project components will be considered as examples for inclusion in each model:

Early engagement efforts with children/youth at point of entry into the system that continue through the point of their achieving permanency (through reunification, adoption, or guardianship);

Incorporation of tools that aid the development of relationship building and understanding the history, interests, and perspective of the child/youth (i.e., life books);

Limiting change of worker assignment for children/youth to assure continuity of worker/youth relationship;

Assurance that all needs of children/youth have been assessed and are being met;

Intensive efforts to support finding permanency for children/youth;

Mining of the child/youth’s case file and other means of determining that all important connections for and to the youth are examined and utilized in engaging youth;

Workforce training regarding authentic engagement of youth that makes the relationship with children/youth tantamount to achieving permanency and becomes a “way of life” and ingrained in the system of care;

Provision of regular means of determining a youth’s thoughts, concerns, and wishes and giving this a leading, respected, and successful means of prioritizing a worker’s interaction and expected responsibility;

Recognizing that youth voice is paramount to success;

Provision of advocacy and support services for the youth in all aspects of care, i.e., educationally, socially, medically, etc.; and Targeted recruitment strategies that incorporate the voice of youth.

Project Phases The project will be completed in the following two phases: Phase I, Planning and Site selection;

and Phase II, Implementation and Evaluation.

Phase I: Planning and Site Selection (Year 1) During an initial 12-month planning process, the QIC/EY will perform the following functions:

Research and develop basic competencies and a training/coaching/capacity building tool that will be utilized consistently in all pilot sites and will be integrated into pre-service training as well as applied throughout the system for casework staff.

Select six to eight pilot sites representing different jurisdictions and led by a public child welfare system at the state, county, tribal, or territory level.

Research, develop, and select state-of-the-art youth engagement models that provide authentic means of engaging youth in determining their own permanency and in assuring the maintenance of kin and other key relationships in their lives.

Determine with each pilot site the youth engagement model that will be utilized within their given system.

Determine with each pilot site a plan for the infusion of the training/coaching/capacity building work to inculcate the child welfare system and produce transformation in the workforce.

Determine with each pilot site the plans for systemic change to assure the youth voice is embraced to identify barriers and build strategies for improved permanency outcomes for children/youth.

Determine, review, and collaborate with CB regarding the selected six to eight pilot sites based on their meeting the target population requirements and the ability of the state, county, territory, or tribal child welfare system to engage with the QIC and meet the programmatic requirements. All sites must receive final approval from the CB Federal Project Officer.

Develop a Phase II Implementation and Evaluation Plan for review and approval from the CB Federal Project Officer.

Phase II: Implementation and Evaluation (Years 2-5) Phase II will include implementation, evaluation, and assurance of sustainability in each of the six to eight pilot sites. In Phase I: Planning, the QIC/EY must develop and submit a Phase II Implementation and Evaluation Plan for implementing a project in each of the six to eight selected and approved sites. This plan must build on knowledge gained from promising practices in the field and the review of state, county, territory, or tribal child welfare systems described above. The Phase II: Implementation and Evaluation Plan with any revisions and site selection is due 9 months after the award of the cooperative agreement and must include, at a minimum, the following components:

The results of the review of state, county, tribal, and territory child welfare systems.

The results of the review of effective strategies to provide enhanced evidence-based and evidence-informed models of youth engagement.

An administrative structure for implementing each pilot and the plan for utilizing evidence-based components and strategies.

A plan for technical assistance to selected pilot sites for support and evaluation by the

QIC/EY; the QIC/EY will be required to not only monitor the operations of the projects, but also provide ongoing support, guidance, and technical assistance to assist them in project implementation, data collection, and evaluation.

The design of an administrative and management structure for ensuring that pilot sites implement their projects within 90 days of their selection by the QIC and for monitoring the projects, including ensuring accountability from the pilot sites.

A description of mechanisms for forming and maintaining a method of information sharing and collaboration between pilot sites.

A methodology for providing a local evaluation for the demonstration projects ensuring that projects and participating organizations collect appropriate qualitative and quantitative process and outcome data.

The identification of linkages with appropriate organizations and resources.

A strategy for information dissemination.

Target Population The project will target two populations to include children and youth, and the child welfare workforce.

Target 1: Children and youth in the care of the selected pilot site child welfare systems awaiting some form of permanency (reunification, adoption, guardianship, or other planned living arrangement) with particular emphasis on older teens in care (14 years and older).

Target 2: Child welfare system workforce that serves children/youth in care of the child welfare system pilot sites with particular focus on those that are primarily responsible for ensuring that children/youth attain permanency in a timely manner.

Collaboration The successful applicant will collaborate with CB and other partners to achieve the purposes of this FOA. The QIC/EY will collaborate with agencies and organizations with which partnerships are critical to successfully implement the proposed project. Required collaboration will include the state, county, or tribal child welfare systems chosen as pilot sites, because of their role in implementing the youth engagement models and workforce development.

In many cases, strong partnerships with private service providers under contract with the child welfare agency, courts, schools, law enforcement, and/or community-based organizations may be equally important to the success of the project. The partners involved may vary significantly, depending on the selected pilot site structure and plan for implementation.

Evaluation The QIC/EY funded under this grant will contribute to the development of a knowledge base of successful strategies for transforming the way the child welfare workforce engages with the youth in their care so as to ensure timely, secure, and stable permanency for all youth with the goal of no youth leaving care without a permanent home. The following criteria are expected to be evaluated: the development of the capacity of the workforce and their employment of specific youth engagement models to ensure youth are engaged in their own permanency, and the effective and authentic integration of the youth voice throughout the system of care.

The QIC/EY will provide for both an evaluation of the QIC/EY as a structure and the design and implementation of the evaluations for each pilot site. These evaluations will be guided by their logic model and will focus on both implementation process and outcomes.

The QIC/EY will use participatory and utilization-focused evaluation approaches that will help guide project assessment, planning, and implementation throughout the grant. The QIC/EY evaluation is expected to complete the following: provide regular, timely, and useful feedback to support successful implementation and treatment fidelity; contribute to the developing knowledge base about successful strategies for equipping the workforce in terms of youth engagement; and adopt, install, implement, and sustain evidence-based/evidence-informed youth engagement models.

CB is particularly interested in factors and strategies associated with successful implementation (facilitators), including the following:

Contributions of the organizational and system conditions;

Implementation barriers;

Appropriateness of fit between the selected practices and the systems and settings into which they are introduced;

Degree that implementations spread nationally and are maintained over time;

Sustainability of the new practices and services; and Cost of implementation and on-going service delivery changes.

Both during and at the conclusion of the 5-year projects, the QIC/EY will be expected to answer evaluation questions for each of the six to eight pilot sites, including, but not limited to, the following six topical areas:

1. Implementation

2. System Integration

3. Service Delivery

4. Sustainability

5. Cost

6. Outcomes

The QIC/EY, in collaboration with their pilot sites, CB, and any applicable national evaluation contractor(s), must produce a comprehensive evaluation report at the conclusion of the project period and present findings to CB and other stakeholders.

The QIC/EY will have a plan for addressing protection of human subjects. General information about the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Protection of Human Subjects regulations can be obtained using the link in the table under Section IV.2. Forms, Assurances and Certifications and in the Section VIII. Checklist.

Dissemination The information and knowledge generated by the QIC/EY and its sub-projects will be shared with the field and efforts will be made to integrate project knowledge into policy and practice.

The QIC/EY will disseminate strategically and incorporate dissemination activities into their work. Their dissemination activities will focus on key target audiences for specific purposes, understanding what they need to know, and effectively getting this information to them. The QIC/EY will ensure that projects disseminate their individual project products and findings and work with the other projects in this QIC/EY to disseminate cross project products and findings.

Projects will disseminate at appropriate times. They will evaluate the extent to which their target audiences have received project knowledge, used it as intended, and assessed the impact of dissemination. They will allocate sufficient staff time for dissemination.

The QIC/EY will be expected to work throughout the course of their projects with their federal project officer to complete the following:

Finalize the QIC/EY, and the individual pilot and cross-project dissemination goals and objectives;

Identify and engage with target audiences for dissemination;

Produce detailed procedures, materials, and other products based on the program evaluation; and Develop and disseminate summarized/synthesized information about the project.

SUBAWARDS

Recipients under this grant program may opt to transfer a portion of substantive programmatic work to other organizations through subaward(s). The primary recipient must maintain a substantive role in the project. ACF defines a substantive role as conducting activities and/or providing services funded under the award that are necessary and integral to the completion of the project. Subrecipient monitoring activities alone as specified in 45 CFR § 75.352 do not constitute a substantive role. Furthermore, ACF does not fund awards where the role of the applicant is primarily to serve as a conduit for passing funds to other organizations unless that arrangement is authorized by statute.

Subrecipient(s) must meet the eligibility requirements identified in the FOA, Section III.1.

Eligible Applicants. Additionally, all subrecipient(s) must obtain a Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number, or after government-wide implementation, a Unique Entity Identifier assigned by the System for Award Management (SAM), if they do not already have one. Prime recipients are required to check the SAM to verify that the subrecipient(s) is/are not debarred, suspended, or ineligible.

Please reference the Award Term and Condition on Subawards on the ACF Administrative and National Policy Requirements website for further requirements involving subawards.

II. Federal Award Information Funding Instrument Type: Cooperative Agreement Estimated Total Funding: $4,000,000 Expected Number of Awards: 1 https://www.acf.hhs.gov/administrative-and-national-policy-requirements#chapter-15 https://www.acf.hhs.gov/administrative-and-national-policy-requirements https://www.acf.hhs.gov/administrative-and-national-policy-requirements

Award Ceiling: $4,000,000 Per Budget Period Award Floor: $3,700,000 Per Budget Period Average Projected Award Amount: $4,000,000 Per Budget Period Anticipated Project Start Date: 09/30/2021

Length of Project Periods:

Length of Project Period: 60-month project period with five 12-month budget periods

Additional Information on Awards:

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

Applications requesting an award amount that exceeds the Award Ceiling per budget period, or per project period, as stated in this section, will be disqualified from competitive review and from funding under this announcement. This disqualification applies only to the Award Ceiling listed for the first 12-month budget period for projects with multiple budget periods. If the project and budget period are the same, the disqualification applies to the Award Ceiling listed for the project period. Please see Section III.3. Other, Application Disqualification Factors.

Note: For those programs that require matching or cost sharing, recipients will be held accountable for projected commitments of non-federal resources in their application budgets and budget justifications by budget period or by project period for fully funded awards, even if the projected commitment exceeds the required amount of match or cost share. A recipient's failure to provide the required matching amount may result in the disallowance of federal funds. See Section III.2. of this announcement for information on cost-sharing or matching requirements.

The initial award will be for a 12-month budget period. The award of continuation beyond each 12-month budget period will be subject to the availability of funds, satisfactory progress of the grantee (i.e. demonstrating a commitment to achieving expected outcomes and collaborating with CB to overcome any barriers), and a determination that continued funding would be in the best interest of the federal government.

In the first budget period, the maximum federal share of each project is not to exceed $4 million. The project awarded will be for a project period of 60 months.

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

A cooperative agreement is a specific method of awarding federal assistance in which substantial federal involvement is anticipated. A cooperative agreement clearly defines the respective responsibilities of CB and the awardee prior to the award. CB anticipates that agency involvement will produce programmatic benefits to the recipient otherwise unavailable to them for carrying out the project. The involvement and collaboration includes the following:

CB review and approval of planning stages of the activities before implementation phases may begin;

CB and recipient joint collaboration in the performance of key programmatic activities

(i.e., strategic planning, implementation, information technology enhancements, training and technical assistance (T/TA), publications or products, and evaluation);

CB close monitoring of the requirements stated in this announcement that limit the awardee’s discretion with respect to scope of services offered; and

CB close monitoring of the awardee during performance, which may, in order to ensure compliance with the intent of this funding, exceed those federal stewardship responsibilities customary for grant activities.

III. Eligibility Information

III.1. Eligible Applicants

Eligibility is unrestricted and open to public or private organizations.

CB will accept applications that represent partnerships among organizations with relevant experience. Applicants may establish subgrant and contracts with organizations specializing in their assigned tasks. Applications from collaborations must identify a primary applicant responsible for administering the cooperative agreement.

Faith-based organizations may apply for this award on the same basis as any other organization, as set forth at and, subject to the protections and requirements of this part and 42 U.S.C. 2000bb et seq., the Department will not, in the selection of recipients, discriminate against an organization on the basis of the organization’s religious character, affiliation, or exercise.

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

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

Please see Section IV.6. Funding Restrictions for any limitations on the use of federal funds that could affect the eligibility of an applicant or project.

III.2. Cost Sharing or Matching

Cost Sharing / Matching Requirement: No

For all federal awards, any shared costs or matching funds and all contributions, including cash and third-party in-kind contributions, must be accepted as part of the recipient’s cost sharing or matching when such contributions meet all of the criteria listed in 45 CFR § 75.306.

For awards that require matching by statute, recipients will be held accountable for projected commitments of non-federal resources in their application budgets and budget justifications by budget period, or by project period for fully funded awards, even if the projected commitment exceeds the amount required by the statutory match. A recipient’s failure to provide the statutorily required matching amount may result in the disallowance of federal funds. Recipients will be required to report these funds in the Federal Financial Reports.

For awards that do not require matching or cost sharing by statute, where “cost sharing” refers to any situation in which the recipient voluntarily shares in the costs of a project other than as statutorily required matching, recipients will be held accountable for projected commitments of non-federal resources in their application budgets and budget justifications by budget period, or by project period for fully funded awards. These include situations in which contributions are voluntarily proposed by a recipient or subrecipient and are accepted by ACF.

Non-federal cost sharing will be included in the approved project budget so that the recipient will be held accountable for proposed non-federal cost-sharing funds as shown in the Notice of Award (NOA). A recipient’s failure to provide voluntary cost sharing of non-federal resources that have been accepted by ACF as part of the approved project costs and that have been shown as part of the approved project budget in the NOA, may result in the disallowance of federal funds. Recipients will be required to report these funds in the Federal Financial Reports.

III.3. Other

Application Disqualification Factors Applications from individuals (including sole proprietorships) and foreign entities are not eligible and will be disqualified from competitive review and from funding under this announcement.

Award Ceiling Disqualification Applications that request an award amount that exceeds the Award Ceiling per budget period or per project period ("per project period" refers only to fully funded awards), as stated in Section II. Federal Award Information, will be disqualified from competitive review and from funding under this announcement. This disqualification applies only to the Award Ceiling listed for first 12-month budget period for projects with multiple budget periods. If the project and budget period are the same, the disqualification applies to the Award Ceiling listed for the project period.

Required Electronic Application Submission ACF requires electronic submission of applications at www.Grants.gov. Paper applications received from applicants that have not been approved for an exemption from required electronic submission will be disqualified from competitive review and from funding under this announcement.

Applicants that do not have an Internet connection or sufficient computing capacity to upload https://www.grants.gov large documents to the Internet may contact ACF for an exemption that will allow the applicant to submit applications in paper format. Information and the requirements for requesting an exemption from required electronic application submission are found in "ACF Policy for Requesting an Exemption from Electronic Application Submission" at www.acf.hhs.gov/grants/howto#chapter-6.

Missing the Application Deadline (Late Applications) The deadline for electronic application submission is 11:59 p.m., ET, on the due date listed in the Overview and in Section IV.4. Submission Dates and Times. Electronic applications submitted to www.Grants.gov after 11:59 p.m., ET, on the due date, as indicated by a dated and time-stamped email from www.Grants.gov, will be disqualified from competitive review and from funding under this announcement. That is, applications submitted to www.Grants.gov, on or after 12:00 a.m., ET, on the day after the due date will be disqualified from competitive review and from funding under this announcement.

Applications submitted to www.Grants.gov at any time during the open application period, and prior to the due date and time, which fail the www.Grants.gov validation check, will not be received at, or acknowledged by, ACF.

Each time an application is submitted via www.Grants.gov, the submission will generate a new date and time-stamp email notification. Only those applications with on-time date and time stamps that result in a validated application, which is transmitted to ACF, will be acknowledged.

The deadline for receipt of paper applications is 4:30 p.m., ET, on the due date listed in the Overview and in Section IV.4. Submission Dates and Times. Paper applications received after 4:30 p.m., ET, on the due date will be disqualified from competitive review and from funding under this announcement. Paper applications received from applicants that have not received approval of an exemption from required electronic submission will be disqualified from competitive review and from funding under this announcement.

Notification of Application Disqualification Applicants will be notified of a disqualification determination by email or by USPS postal mail within 30 federal business days from the closing date of this FOA.

IV. Application and Submission Information

IV.1. Address to Request Application Package

CB Operations Center c/o LCG, Inc.

ATTN: HHS-2021-ACF-ACYF-CO-1911

6000 Executive Boulevard https://www.acf.hhs.gov/grants/howto#chapter-6 https://www.Grants.gov https://www.Grants.gov https://www.Grants.gov https://www.Grants.gov https://www.Grants.gov

Suite 410 Rockville, MD 20852 Phone: (888) 203-6161 Email: CB@grantreview.org

Electronic Application Submission:

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

Applications in Paper Format:

For applicants that have received an exemption to submit applications in paper format, Standard Forms, assurances, and certifications are available in the "Select Grant Opportunity Package" available in the FOA's Grants.gov Synopsis under the Package tab at www.Grants.gov. See Section IV.2. Request an Exemption from Required Electronic Application Submission if applicants do not have an Internet connection or sufficient computing capacity to upload large documents (files) to www.Grants.gov.

Federal Relay Service:

Hearing-impaired and speech-impaired callers may contact the Federal Relay Service (FedRelay) for assistance at www.gsa.gov/fedrelay.

IV.2. Content and Form of Application Submission

FORMATTING APPLICATION SUBMISSIONS

Each applicant applying electronically via www.Grants.gov is required to upload only two electronic files, excluding Standard Forms and OMB-approved forms. No more than two files will be accepted for the review, and additional files will be removed. Standard Forms and OMB-approved forms will not be considered additional files.

FOR ALL APPLICATIONS:

Authorized Organizational Representative (AOR) AOR is the designated representative of the applicant/recipient organization with authority to act on the organization’s behalf in matters related to the award and administration of grants. In signing a grant application, this individual agrees that the organization will assume the obligations imposed by applicable Federal statutes and regulations and other terms and conditions of the award, including any assurances, if a grant is awarded.

Point of Contact In addition to the AOR, a point of contact on matters involving the application must also be identified. The point of contact, known as the Project Director or Principal Investigator, should not be identical to the person identified as the AOR. The point of contact must be available to answer any questions pertaining to the application.

Application Checklist mailto:CB@grantreview.org https://www.Grants.gov https://www.Grants.gov https://www.grants.gov http://www.gsa.gov/fedrelay https://www.grants.gov/

Applicants may refer to Section VIII. Other Information for a checklist of application requirements that may be used in developing and organizing application materials.

Accepted Font Style Applications must be in Times New Roman (TNR), 12-point font, except for footnotes, which may be TNR 10-point font. Pages that contain blurred text, or text that is too small to read comfortably, will be removed.

English Language Applications must be submitted in the English language and must be in the terms of United States (U.S.) dollars. If applications are submitted using another currency, ACF will convert the foreign currency to U.S. currency using the date of receipt of the application to determine the rate of exchange.

Page Limitations Applicants must observe the page limitation(s) listed under "PAGE LIMITATIONS AND CONTENT FOR ALL SUBMISSION FORMATS:". Page limitation(s) do not include SFs and OMB-approved forms.

All applications must be double-spaced. An application that exceeds the cited page limitation for double-spaced pages in the Project Description file or the Appendices file will have extra pages removed and those pages will not be reviewed.

Application Elements Exempted from Double-Spacing Requirements The following elements of the application submission are exempt from the double-spacing requirements and may be single-spaced: the table of contents, the one-page Project Summary, required Assurances and Certifications, required SFs, required OMB-approved forms, resumes, logic models, proof of legal status/non-profit status, third-party agreements, letters of support, footnotes, tables, the line-item budget and/or the budget justification.

Adherence to FOA Formatting, Font, and Page Limitation Requirements Applications that fail to adhere to ACF’s FOA formatting, font, and page limitation requirements will be adjusted by the removal of page(s) from the application. Pages will be removed before the objective review. The removed page(s) will not be made available to reviewers.

Applications that have more than one scanned page of a document on a single page will have the page(s) removed from the review.

For applicants that submit paper applications, double-sided pages will be counted as two pages.

When the maximum allowed number of pages is reached, excess pages will be removed and will not be made available to reviewers.

NOTE: Applicants failing to adhere to ACF’s FOA formatting, font, and page limitation requirements will receive a letter from ACF notifying them that their application was amended.

The letter will be sent after awards have been issued and will specify the reason(s) for removal of page(s).

Corrections/Updates to Submitted Applications When applicants make revisions to a previously submitted application, ACF will accept only the last on-time application for pre-review under the Application Disqualification Factors. The Application Disqualification Factors determine the application's acceptance for competitive review. See Section III.3. Application Disqualification Factors and Section IV.2. Application Submission Options.

Copies Required Applicants must submit one complete copy of the application package electronically. Applicants submitting electronic applications need not provide additional copies of their application package.

Applicants submitting applications in paper format must submit one original and two copies of the complete application, including all Standard Forms and OMB-approved forms. The original copy must have original signatures.

Signatures Applicants submitting electronic applications must follow the registration and application submission instructions provided at www.Grants.gov.

The original of a paper format application must include original signatures of the authorized representatives.

Accepted Application Format With the exception of the required Standard Forms (SFs) and OMB-approved forms, all application materials must be formatted so that they are 8 ½" x 11" white paper with 1-inch margins all around.

If possible, applicants are encouraged to include page numbers for each page within the application.

ACF generally does not encourage submission of scanned documents as they tend to have reduced clarity and readability. If documents must be scanned, the font size on any scanned documents must be large enough so that it is readable. Documents must be scanned page-for-page, meaning that applicants may not scan more than one page of a document onto a single page. Pages with blurred text will be removed from the application.

PAGE LIMITATIONS AND CONTENT FOR ALL SUBMISSION FORMATS:

With the exception of SFs and OMB-approved forms, the application submission is limited to 100 pages in its entirety. The two files applicants must submit are as follows:

The Project Description file must include these items in this order:

1. Table of Contents

2. Project Summary

3. Objectives and Need for Assistance

4. Approach

5. Evaluation

6. Organizational Capacity

7. Logic Model

8. Line-Item Budget and Budget Justification

The Appendices file must include these items in the following order:

1. Certifications and Assurances

2. Proof of Legal Status (if applicable)

3. Third-party Agreements

4. Staff and Position Data (e.g., resumes, job descriptions, organizational charts)

5. Indirect Cost Rate Letter (if applicable)

ELECTRONIC APPLICATION SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

Applicants are required to submit their applications electronically unless they have requested and received an exemption that will allow submission in paper format. See Section IV.2.

Application Submission Options for information about requesting an exemption.

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

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

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

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

Adherence to the Two-File Requirement No more than two files will be accepted for the review. Applications with additional files will be amended and files will be removed from the review. SFs and OMB-approved forms will not be considered additional files.

Application Upload Requirements ACF strongly recommends that electronic applications be uploaded as Portable Document Files (PDFs). One file must contain the entire Project Description and Budget Justification; the other file must contain all documents required in the Appendices. Details on the content of each of the two files, as well as page limitations, are listed earlier in this section.

To adhere to the two-file requirement, applicants may need to convert and/or merge documents together using a PDF converter software. Many recent versions of Microsoft Office include the ability to save documents to the PDF format without need of additional software. Applicants using the Adobe Acrobat Reader software will be able to merge these documents together. ACF recommends merging documents electronically rather than scanning multiple documents into one document manually, as scanned documents may have reduced clarity and readability.

Applicants must ensure that the version of Adobe Acrobat Reader they are using is compatible with Grants.gov. To verify Adobe software compatibility please go to Grants.gov and click on “Applicants” at the top bar menu and select “Adobe Software Compatibility", which is listed under "Applicant Resources." The Adobe verification process allows applicants to test their version of the software by opening a test Workspace PDF form. Grants.gov also includes guidance on how to download a supported version of Adobe, as well as troubleshooting instructions for use, if an applicant is unable to open the test form.

The Adobe Software Compatibility page located on Grants.gov also provides guidance for applicants on filling out a Workspace PDF form. In addition, it addresses local network and/or computer security settings and the impact this has on use of Adobe software.

Required Standard Forms (SFs) and OMB-approved Forms Standard Forms (SFs) and OMB-approved forms, such as the SF-424 application and budget forms and the SF-P/PSL (Project/Performance Site Location), are uploaded separately at Grants.gov. These forms are submitted separately from the Project Description and Appendices files. See Section IV.2. Required Forms, Assurances, and Certifications for the listing of required Standard Forms, OMB-approved forms, and required assurances and certifications.

Naming Application Submission Files Carefully observe the file naming conventions required by www.Grants.gov. Limit file names to 50 characters (characters and spaces). Special characters that are allowed under Grants.gov’s naming conventions, and are accommodated by ACF’s systems, are listed in the instructions available in the "Select Grant Opportunity Package" at Grants.gov. Please also see https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/submitting-utf-8-special-characters.html.

Use only file formats supported by ACF It is critical that applicants submit applications using only the supported file formats…