HHS-2021-ACF-ACYF-CX-1905.pdf

Administration for Children and Families

Administration on Children, Youth and Families - Family and Youth Services Bureau

Transitional Living Program

HHS-2021-ACF-ACYF-CX-1905

Application Due Date: 06/28/2021

Transitional Living Program

HHS-2021-ACF-ACYF-CX-1905

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: Transitional Living Program Announcement Type: Initial Funding Opportunity Number: HHS-2021-ACF-ACYF-CX-1905 Primary CFDA Number: 93.550 Due Date for Applications: 06/28/2021

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 Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Administration on Children, Youth and Families (ACYF), Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB) support organizations and communities that work every day to reduce the risk of youth homelessness, adolescent pregnancy, and domestic violence. FYSB works toward a future in which all of the nation's youth, individuals, and families - no matter what challenges they may face - can live healthy, productive, violence-free lives. FYSB’s Runaway and Homeless Youth (RHY) Program is accepting applications for the Transitional Living Program (TLP). The purpose of FYSB’s TLP grant program is to implement, enhance, and/or support effective strategies for a successful transition to sustainable living for runaway and homeless youth, ages 16 to under 22 years of age that are experiencing homelessness. Transitional Living projects provide a safe, stable, and nurturing environment for up to 18 months or, under extenuating circumstances, up to 21 months (635 days). Young people who have not yet reached their 18th birthday at the end of the 21-month period may continue to receive services until they turn 18.

I. Program Description

Statutory Authority This program is authorized under title III, part B, section 321 of the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act (34 U.S.C. 11221).

Description

ADMINISTRATION ON CHILDREN, YOUTH AND FAMILIES' TRANSITIONAL

LIVING PROGRAM

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

ACYF, through FYSB, is committed to safety, permanency, well-being, and self-sufficiency for runaway and homeless youth and young adults who cannot live safely with a parent, legal guardian, or relative, and who have no other safe, alternative living arrangement.

FYSB’s RHY Program promotes a strengths-based approach that emphasizes youths' self-determination and strengths. It provides a meaningful framework to consistently support youth in identifying their strengths and using their skills towards personal growth, development, and success. This Positive Youth Development (PYD) framework is essential to ensure a young person has a sense of safety, structure, belonging, membership, self-worth, social contribution, independence, and control over one’s life as well as skills to develop plans for the future, set goals, and foster interpersonal relationships. The RHY Program also promotes increasing youth leadership capacity through intentional projects and activities designed to enhance this skill set.

Finally, FYSB continues to support projects to increase human trafficking prevention and intervention within RHY programs. These ongoing efforts seek to minimize sexual exploitation and labor trafficking incidents among runaway and homeless youth, equip programs with the necessary tools to prevent these incidents, and identify youth who are victims of trafficking or those at risk of becoming victims.

PROJECT OVERVIEW

In response to growing concern for youth in need of long-term, supportive assistance that emergency shelter programs were not designed to provide, Congress created TLP for older homeless youth as part of the 1988 Amendments to the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974. In 2018, the TLP assisted nearly 1,900 homeless youth transition from shelter care safely and appropriately. Services offered through the TLP are designed to help young people who are homeless make a successful transition to self-sufficient living.

Pursuant to section 34 USC 1222(a) of the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act (RHYA), projects must “...develop an adequate plan to ensure proper referral of homeless youth to social service, law enforcement, educational (including post-secondary education), vocational, training (including services and programs for youth available under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act), welfare (including programs under the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996), legal service, and health care programs and to help integrate and coordinate such services for youths;”

PROJECT GOAL AND VISION

Goal: The primary goal of the TLP is to help runaway and homeless youth between the ages of 16 to under 22 years of age establish sustainable living and well-being for themselves and, if applicable, their dependent child(ren).

Vision: Successfully transition youth experiencing homelessness into adulthood through the promotion of self-sufficient living and the prevention of long-term dependency on social services.

Applicants seeking to provide services only to pregnant/parenting RHY should apply under the Maternity Group Home (MGH) separate funding opportunity, HHS-2021-ACF-ACYF-YZ- 1904.

PROJECT REQUIREMENTS

All TLP Projects MUST provide shelter AND supportive services. Choosing one or the other is not an option.

Consistent with the statutory mandates set forth in the RHY Act, as well as the regulatory requirements set forth in the RHY Rule, TLP Projects will include the following components:

Safe, Stable, and Appropriate Shelter TLP Projects must provide safe and stable housing (i.e., host family home, supervised or scattered apartments, congregate care or group homes, and/or shelter) throughout a continuous period not to exceed 540 days, or in exceptional circumstances 635 days, except that a young person who has not reached 18 years of age on the last day of the 635-day period may, in exceptional circumstances (as defined in the Appendix) and if otherwise qualified for the program, remain in the program until the youth’s 18th birthday.

TLP Projects will have an agreement and/or linkage with an age-appropriate emergency shelter in circumstances when there are no current TLP openings.

TLP Projects that are housing facilities, not a family host home, will provide direct on-site supervision.

TLP facilities will have a staff-to-youth ratio that is sufficient to ensure all homeless youth receive adequate supervision and services.

TLP facilities will have the capacity to accommodate a minimum of 4 and not more than 20 individuals (excluding staff).

TLP staff will be trained to interact with youth victims of trafficking or other similar traumatic experiences.

TLP Projects will ensure youth are engaged in educational advancement, job attainment skills, or work activities while in the program.

Comprehensive Youth-Centered Services Model Social and Emotional Well-being and Strength-based Approach: The TLP Projects also utilize a trauma-informed approach, which involves understanding and responding to the symptoms of chronic, interpersonal trauma and traumatic stress, as well as the behavioral and mental health consequences of trauma and prevention of re-traumatization. For more information about the effects of trauma and utilizing a trauma-informed approach, visit https ://www.rhyclearinghouse.acf.hhs.gov/features/screening-and-assessment-tools-runaway-and-homeless-youth-programs.

TLP Projects also utilize a PYD framework that includes healthy messages, safe and structured places, adult role models, skill development, and opportunities to serve others. PYD is an intentional, pro-social approach that engages youth within their communities, schools, organizations, peer groups, and families in a manner that is productive and constructive.

Employing PYD also means promoting increased youth leadership capacity through intentional projects and activities designed to enhance this skill set. For more information on PYD, visit https://rhyclearinghouse.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/PosYthDevel.pdf Outreach Implementation Strategy:

Successful TLP Projects utilize outreach strategies that effectively identify runaway, homeless, and street youth, or youth at risk of becoming runaway or homeless, who might not use services https://www.rhyclearinghouse.acf.hhs.gov/features/screening-and-assessment-tools-runaway-and-homeless-youth-programs https://www.rhyclearinghouse.acf.hhs.gov/features/screening-and-assessment-tools-runaway-and-homeless-youth-programs https://www.rhyclearinghouse.acf.hhs.gov/features/screening-and-assessment-tools-runaway-and-homeless-youth-programs https://rhyclearinghouse.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/PosYthDevel.pdf due to lack of awareness or active avoidance. TLP projects will develop outreach and public education plans to provide information to youth and the public informing and encouraging them on use of appropriate services.

Outreach Plan: TLP Projects will develop a plan and actively find runaway, homeless, and street youth, or youth at risk of becoming runaway or homeless, who might not use RHY program services due to lack of awareness or active avoidance, providing information to them about services and benefits, and encouraging the use of appropriate services.

Public Outreach and Awareness: TLP projects will develop a plan and inform the community about the TLP through social media, public service announcements, and collaboration with other youth and family-serving organizations such as, the National Runaway Safeline; culturally specific community-based organizations; sexual violence organizations; anti-trafficking agencies; law enforcement; health care providers; legal services; and other stakeholders. Public education includes the development and distribution of materials providing information about services and benefits and encouraging the use of appropriate services.

Gateway Services: When necessary and appropriate to facilitate the delivery of required TLP shelter and services, projects must provide food, drink, clothing, personal safety information (e.g., national youth hotlines, local hotlines), transportation, and hygiene products to prevent malnutrition and ill-health while building trust with workers in order for the youth to be successful in the program.

Screening and Assessment: TLP Projects will implement standardized methods to assess eligibility and the services required to meet the immediate needs of the client. Immediate needs may include the client's physical health, potential for victimization (e.g., sex trafficking, labor trafficking, commercial sexual exploitation, sexual assault), behavioral health, connection to family, safety, access to resources, issues of neglect or abuse, and other risk and protective factors that impact their well-being and potential for sustainable living. The screening tools should be able to identify the unique needs of runaway and homeless youth and guide identification, assistance, and referral(s) for delivery of appropriate services For more information on screening and assessment tools that can be used for types of interventions and services available, visit https://rhyclearinghouse.acf.hhs.gov/features/scree ning-and-assessment-tools-runaway-and-homeless-youth-programs Case Management: Projects will identify and assess the needs of the client and, as appropriate, arrange, coordinate, monitor, evaluate, and advocate for a package of services to meet the specific needs of the client. (45 CFR § 1351.1) The following list includes specific programmatic requirements for case management planning for youth in TLP Projects:

Individualized Service or Treatment Plan: TLP Projects will develop a written service or treatment plan based on the person’s goals that include evidence-informed strategies to assist with the trajectory of achieving sustainable living for every youth receiving services.

Record Keeping and Case Management for Infant/Toddler: TLP Projects supporting MGHs will create a separate file for the young person and each infant or child. At a https://rhyclearinghouse.acf.hhs.gov/features/screening-and-assessment-tools-runaway-and-homeless-youth-programs https://rhyclearinghouse.acf.hhs.gov/features/screening-and-assessment-tools-runaway-and-homeless-youth-programs minimum, information contained in the file should include a record of well-care visits, sensory and developmental screenings, and assessments.

Service Coordination Plan: TLP Projects will coordinate with the local Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) funded Continuums of Care (CoC) to ensure youth have access to all available resources, including adult mainstream services and youth services. (Please see the definitions of Continuum of Care in the Appendix) In addition, projects must have a suitable referral plan based on an assessment of youth needs to ensure an appropriate system of care services are accessible. A list of the system of care services must include; social services, law enforcement, educational services, vocational training, welfare, legal services, anti-trafficking agencies; health care programs, including health insurance options; affordable childcare; and/or child education programs. In addition, projects must take steps to ensure that youth who are under the legal jurisdiction of the juvenile justice or child welfare systems receive services from those systems until such time as they are released from the jurisdiction of those systems.

Transition Planning: TLP Projects will provide every youth a written transitional living plan that meets their level of need for a safe and stable living environment after program exit. This plan must ensure the youth has access to important documents and paperwork (e.g., birth certificate, social security card, driver's license or state identification card, medical records, credit reports).

Aftercare Plan: Each TLP Project must ensure youth have safe and appropriate exits when leaving the program. An aftercare plan must be provided to the youth at or prior to exit counseling. This plan must outline what services were provided, including appropriate referrals for needed health care services, referrals and counseling on insurance coverage through family health care insurance plans or to agencies that assist in enrolling persons in Medicaid, or other publicly available insurance plans. The aftercare plan should track the youth’s housing status, educational services, and the rate of participation and completion of the services in the plan beyond 3 months, if services are still provided. The aftercare plan should include evidence of, but not limited to, the following:

o Contact with youth who leave the program in order to ensure their ongoing safety and access to services;

o Assistance with youth in overcoming barriers that may interfere with the achievement of their goals;

o Develop and implement a plan to assist youth to connect with their schools or to obtain appropriate educational services, training, or employment services. This includes coordination with McKinney-Vento school district liaisons, designated under the McKinney-Vento;

o Provide proactive and reactive strategies and solutions to encourage retention in education, employment, housing, personal issues and other key areas;

o Provide supportive services to assist in advancement to better jobs or post-secondary education and training; and o Provide proactive and reactive strategies to support social and emotional well-being and permanent connections.

PERFORMANCE STANDARDS

The RHY Rule, 45 CFR Part 1351 establishes RHY program performance standards as measures of successful outcomes for youth. The performance standards are used to monitor project performance in achieving the purposes of the RHY Act.

The RHY Rule requires TLP grantees to collect data that demonstrate their ability to meet the performance standards described in section 1351.31 of the RHY Act. Specifically, TLP Projects are responsible for consistently enhancing four core outcome areas for youth, to include the following: 1) social and emotional well-being; 2) permanent connections; 3) education or employment; and 4) safe and stable housing.

Through the provision of shelter and services, indicators of improvements include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. Social and Emotional Well-Being: Youth will be connected to a trauma-informed, system of care providers to assist and promote positive physical health, substance abuse treatment, mental health, personal safety (e.g., identify potential trafficking situations), and reduce sexual risk behaviors they may face.

2. Permanent Connections: Youth will experience positive ongoing attachments to families, communities, schools, and other social networks.

3. Education or Employment: Youth will connect to school or vocational training programs, improve interviewing and job attainment skills, and obtain and maintain employment.

4. Safe and Stable housing: Youth will transition to safe and stable housing that appropriately matches their level of need after leaving a TLP to include the following:

moving in with family, when appropriate; or other permanent supportive housing, residential treatment center, or substance abuse treatment facility.

FYSB is seeking approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for information collection under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) on the Transitional Living Program measures for post-award reporting. Potential TLP measures include but are not limited to social and emotional well-being, permanent connections, education or employment, and safe and stable housing.

NOTE: Consistent with the PRA of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3501-3521, under this FOA, FYSB/RHY will not conduct or sponsor – and a person is not required to respond to – a collection of information covered by such Act, unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.

FYSB/RHY is seeking approval of its TLP data indicators through the OMB Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. FYSB/RHY will not request this information if these forms are not approved at the time that reports are due. Please see Section VI.3. Reporting for more information.

Training:

The program requires grantees to send at least one key staff person to attend the annual national RHY grantee training, the annual RHY regional training, and any other travel for technical assistance training, if applicable.

Sustainability Plan:

https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2016-12-20/pdf/2016-30241.pdf

Successful TLP projects plan for project sustainability from the beginning of the project design and revisit and revise the plan throughout the life of the project. These plans include the following:

Sustainability through diversification of funding to continue services in the event of a loss of FYSB funding, as well as plans to address staff retention and staff turnover;

Accountability in meeting FYSB’s TLP performance standards; and Collaboration through building meaningful partnerships with other service agencies, including experts on runaway and homeless youth in the community.

Subawards:

Recipients under this grant program may opt to transfer a portion of substantive programmatic work to other organizations through subaward(s). The prime 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: Grant Estimated Total Funding: $11,975,863 Expected Number of Awards: 48 Award Ceiling: $250,000 Per Budget Period Award Floor: $100,000 Per Budget Period Average Projected Award Amount: $175,000 Per Budget Period Anticipated Project Start Date: 09/30/2021

Length of Project Periods:

Length of Project Period: 36-month project period with three 12-month budget periods

Additional Information on Awards:

https://www.acf.hhs.gov/administrative-and-national-policy-requirements https://www.acf.hhs.gov/administrative-and-national-policy-requirements

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.

Continuation of Project An initial grant award will be for a 12-month budget period. The award of continuation grants beyond the initial 12-month budget period will be subject to the availability of funds, satisfactory progress on the part of the grantee, and a determination that the continued funding would be in the best interest of the federal government.

Please see Section IV.6. Application and Submission Information, Funding Restrictions for limitations on the use of federal funds awarded under this announcement.

III. Eligibility Information

III.1. Eligible Applicants

Public (state and local) and private nonprofit entities (including faith-based and community organizations) and coordinated networks of such entities, are eligible to apply unless they are part of the juvenile justice system. For-profit organizations are not eligible. Private institutions of higher education must be non-profit entities. In selecting applications to receive grants under the TLP, priority will be given to public and non-profit private agencies that have experience in providing services to runaway, homeless, and street youth.

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.

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

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

III.2. Cost Sharing or Matching

Cost Sharing / Matching Requirement: Yes Grantees are required to meet a non-federal share of the project cost, in accordance with 383 of the RHY ACT, 34 U.S.C. 11274.

Grantees must provide at least 10 percent of the total approved cost of the project. The total approved cost of the project is the sum of the ACF (federal) share and the non-federal share.

The non-federal share may be met by cash or in-kind contributions, although applicants are encouraged to meet their match requirements through cash contributions. For example, in order to meet the match requirements, a project requesting $250,000.00 in ACF (federal) funds must provide a non-federal share of the approved total project cost of at least $27,778.00 , which is 10 percent of total approved project cost of $277,778.00 .

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.

The federal share of the TLP project represents 90 percent of the total project cost supported by the federal government. The remaining 10 percent represents the required project match cost by the grantee. This may be a cash or in-kind contribution.

For examples of matching requirements based on specific award amounts, see Sample Chart of Matching Funding Amounts below.

Sample Chart of Matching Funding Amounts

Federal Amount Non-Federal Share Total Project Cost for 12-month period

$100,000 $11,111 $111,111

$125,000 $13,889 $138,889

$150,000 $16,667 $166,667

$175,000 $19,444 $194,444

$200,000 $22,222 $222,222

$250,000 $27,778 $277,778

Matching Waiver Pursuant to 48 U.S.C. § 1469a(d)

Matching requirements (including in-kind contributions) of less than $200,000 (up to $199,999) are waived under grants made to the governments of American Samoa, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (other than those consolidated under other provisions of 48 U.S.C. 1469) pursuant to 48 U.S.C. 1469a(d). This waiver applies whether the matching required under the grant equals or exceeds $200,000.

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 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.

https://www.grants.gov 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

IV. Application and Submission Information

IV.1. Address to Request Application Package

FYSB Operations Center c/o F2 Solutions Attn: Transitional Living Program FOA 1401 Mercantile Lane Suite 401 Largo, MD 20744 Phone: 1-855-792-6551 Email: TechAssist@fysb.net

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 mailto:TechAssist@fysb.net https://www.Grants.gov https://www.Grants.gov https://www.grants.gov http://www.gsa.gov/fedrelay https://www.grants.gov/ 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 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 forms approved by the OMB, the application submission is limited to 85 pages in its entirety. The two files applicants must submit are:

The Project Description file must include the following items:

1. Table of Contents

2. Project Summary

3. Need for Assistance

4. Approach

5. Logic Model

6. Organizational Capacity

7. Program Performance Evaluation Plan

8. Line-Item Budget and Budget Justification

9. Geographic Location

10. Plan for Oversight of Federal Awards and Activities

11. Project Sustainability Plan

12. Letters of Support

The Appendices file must include these items:

1. Legal Status of Applicant Entity

2. Third-party agreements

3. Organizational Capacity: Organizational Chart and Resumes

4. 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 listed here.

While ACF supports all of the following file formats, we strongly recommend that the two application submission files (Project Description and Appendices) are uploaded as PDF https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/submitting-utf-8-special-characters.html documents in order to comply with the two file upload limitation. Documents in file formats that are not supported by ACF will be removed from the application and will not be used in the competitive review. This may make the application incomplete and ACF will not make any awards based on an incomplete application.

ACF supports the following file formats:

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)

Do Not Encrypt or Password-Protect the Electronic Application Files If ACF cannot access submitted electronic files because they are encrypted or password protected, the affected file will be removed from the application and will not be reviewed. This removal may make the application incomplete and ACF will not make awards based on an incomplete application.

FORMATTING FOR PAPER APPLICATION SUBMISSIONS:

The following requirements are only applicable to applications submitted in paper format.

Applicants must receive an exemption from ACF in order for a paper format application to be accepted for review. For more information on the exemption, see "ACF Policy on Requesting an Exemption from Required Electronic Application Submission'" at www.acf.hhs.gov/grants/ howto#chapter-6

Format Requirements for Paper Applications All copies of mailed or hand-delivered paper applications must be submitted in a single package. If an applicant is submitting multiple applications under a single FOA, or multiple applications under separate FOAs, each application submission must be packaged separately.

The package(s) must be clearly labeled for the specific FOA it addresses by FOA title and by Funding Opportunity Number (FON).

Applicants using paper format should download the application forms package associated with the FOA's Synopsis on www.Grants.gov under the Package tab.

Because each application will be duplicated, do not use or include separate covers, binders, clips, tabs, plastic inserts, maps, brochures, or any other items that cannot be processed easily on a photocopy machine with an automatic feed. Do not bind, clip, staple, or fasten in any way separate sections of the application. Applicants are advised that the copies of the application submitted, not the original, will be reproduced by the federal government for review. All application materials must be one-sided for duplication purposes. All pages in the application submission must be sequentially numbered.

Addresses for Submission of Paper Applications https://www.acf.hhs.gov/grants/howto#chapter-6 https://www.acf.hhs.gov/grants/howto#chapter-6

See Section IV.7. Other Submission Requirements for addresses for paper format application submissions.

Required Forms, Assurances, and Certifications

Applicants seeking grant or cooperative agreement awards under this announcement must submit the listed Standard Forms (SFs), assurances, and certifications with the application. All required Standard Forms, assurances, and certifications are available in the Application Package posted for this FOA at www.Grants.gov.

Forms / Assurances / Certifications

Submission Requirement Notes / Description

SF-424 -

Application for Federal Assistance

Submission is required for all applicants by the application due date.

Required for all applications.

SF-424A - Budget Information - Non- Construction Programs and SF- 424B - Assurances - Non- Construction Programs

Submission is required for all applicants when applying for a non-construction project.

Standard Forms must be used.

Forms must be submitted by the application due date.

By signing and submitting the SF-424B, applicants are making the appropriate certification of their compliance with all federal statutes relating to nondiscrimination.

Required for all applications when applying for a non-construction project.

Certification Regarding Lobbying (Grants.gov Lobbying Form)

Submission required of all applicants with the application package. If it is not submitted with the application package, it must be submitted prior to the award of a grant.

Submission of the certification is required for all applicants.

SF-424 Key Contact Form

Submission is required for all applicants by the application due date.

Required for all applications.

Unique Required of all applicants. To See Section IV.3. Unique Entity https://www.grants.gov

Entity Identifier

(DUNS)

and Systems for Award Management (SAM) registration.

obtain a DUNS number, go to http://fedgov.dnb.com/ webform.

Active registration at the SAM website must be maintained throughout the application and project award period.

SAM registration is available at http://www.sam.gov.

Identifier and System for Award Management (SAM) for more information.

SF-

Project/Performance Site Location(s)

(SF-P/PSL)

Submission is required for all applicants by the application due date.

Required for all applications. In the SF- P/PSL, applicants must cite their primary location and up to 29 additional…