HHS-2021-ACF-ACYF-EV-1930.pdf

Administration for Children and Families

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

Family Violence Prevention and Services Discretionary Grants: National Resource Center on

Domestic Violence (NRCDV)

HHS-2021-ACF-ACYF-EV-1930

Application Due Date: 07/05/2021

Family Violence Prevention and Services Discretionary Grants: National Resource Center on

Domestic Violence (NRCDV)

HHS-2021-ACF-ACYF-EV-1930

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: Family Violence Prevention and

Services Discretionary Grants: National Resource Center on Domestic Violence

(NRCDV)

Announcement Type: Initial Funding Opportunity Number: HHS-2021-ACF-ACYF-EV-1930 Primary CFDA Number: 93.592 Due Date for Letter of Intent: 06/03/2021 Due Date for Applications: 07/05/2021

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 on Children, Youth and Families (ACYF), Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB), Family Violence Prevention and Services Program (FVPSA Program) seeks to award one cooperative agreement authorized under the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act to support a National Resource Center on Domestic Violence (NRCDV). The NRCDV shall offer a comprehensive array of technical assistance and training resources to federal, state, and local governmental agencies; domestic violence service providers;

community-based organizations; and other professionals and interested parties related to domestic violence service programs and research, including programs and research related to victims and their children who are exposed to violence.

The NRCDV shall maintain a central online clearinghouse and resource library in order to collect, prepare, analyze, and disseminate information and statistics related to:

1. the incidence, intervention, and prevention of domestic violence and dating violence;

and

2. the provision of shelter, supportive services, and prevention services to adult and youth victims of domestic violence, including services to prevent repeated incidents of violence.

The NRCDV is part of a network of National, Special Issue, Culturally Specific, and Capacity Building Resource Centers providing leadership, training, technical assistance, resources, and http://www.acf.hhs.gov/grants/howto support to programs and systems serving victims of domestic violence and their children.

I. Program Description

Statutory Authority The statutory authority for this funding opportunity announcement is Section 310 of the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act, as amended. See 42 U.S.C. 10410(a)(2)(A)(i), (b)(1)(A), and (c)(1).

Description

Description

History and Purpose of FVPSA The Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (FVPSA) provides the primary federal funding stream dedicated to the support of emergency shelter and supportive services for victims of family violence, domestic violence and dating violence (also known as intimate partner violence or IPV), as well as their dependents. First authorized as part of the Child Abuse Amendments of 1984 (Public Law 98–457), FVPSA became the first federal commitment to creating a pathway to safety for survivors of domestic violence and their children. FVPSA has been amended eight times and was most recently reauthorized in December 2010 for 5 years by the CAPTA Reauthorization Act of 2010 (42 U.S.C. 10401 - 10414). Since 1984, Congress has continued to make its intent clear that FVPSA funds be used to raise awareness of domestic violence, prevent its occurrence, provide services to victims and- their children, and support domestic violence providers to enhance their responses through training and technical assistance.

Specifically, FVPSA's statutory purposes are to:

1. Assist states, territories, and tribes in efforts to increase public awareness about and primary and secondary prevention of family violence, domestic violence, and dating violence;

2. Assist states, territories, and tribes in efforts to provide immediate shelter and supportive services for victims of family violence, domestic violence, dating violence, and their dependents;

3. Provide for a national domestic violence hotline; and

4. Provide for technical assistance and training relating to family violence, domestic violence, and dating violence programs to states and Indian tribes, local public agencies (including law enforcement agencies; courts; and legal, social service, and health care professionals), nonprofit private organizations (including faith-based and charitable organizations, community-based organizations, and voluntary associations), tribal organizations, and other persons seeking such assistance and training.

FVPSA is administered by the FVPSA Program, located in the Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB), a division of the Administration on Children, Youth and Families (ACYF).

FYSB administers mandatory FVPSA formula grants to states and territories, tribes, and state domestic violence coalitions. FVPSA grants are awarded to every state and territory, and to over 200 tribes. Funds awarded to states, territories, and tribes reach more than 1,600 local public, private, nonprofit, and faith-based organizations and programs demonstrating outcomes in the field of domestic violence services and prevention. These domestic violence programs provide victims of family, domestic, and dating violence, and their children with shelter, safety planning, crisis counseling, information and referral, legal advocacy, and additional support services.

Domestic Violence Resource Network (DVRN)

The NRCDV will coordinate FYSB's Domestic Violence Resource Network (DVRN), a nationwide network composed of National Resource Centers, Special Issues Resource Centers, Culturally Specific Special Issue Resource Centers, and Emerging Issue Capacity Building Centers focused on the intervention and prevention of family violence, domestic violence, and dating violence. As coordinator of the DVRN, the NRCDV is expected to assist FYSB with leadership and logistics management, including planning and conducting semi-annual meetings, training/webinars, technical assistance coordination, research, reporting, and resource development as needed.

The DVRN will provide information, resources, training, and technical assistance to improve the capacity of individuals, organizations, governmental agencies, local communities, tribes, and tribal organizations, to prevent family violence, domestic violence, and dating violence, and to provide evidence-based and evidence-informed intervention services. As coordinator of the DVRN, the NRCDV will work collaboratively with DVRN members to share their national expertise and deliver domestic violence and dating violence related training and technical assistance.

All DVRN resource centers are expected to conduct their activities in an accessible, linguistically appropriate, culturally responsive, and trauma informed manner and to proactively focus their activities to address racial inequities that exist for survivors of domestic violence, both within victim services and other systems related to the issue areas of the specific resource center. DVRN resource centers actively work to ensure access to services for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning (LGBTQ) and Two-Spirit survivors and their children, and to ensure that no person shall on the basis of actual or perceived gender identity or sexual orientation be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subject to discrimination under, any program or activity funded in whole or in part through FVPSA, in accordance with FVPSA regulations at 45 CFR part 1370 (a) and (c).

National Resource Center Program Requirements

Through this FOA, FYSB will support one grant recipient focused on the prevention and intervention of domestic violence, family violence, and dating violence to serve as the NRCDV.

The NRCDV grant recipient is required to maintain an online clearinghouse library in order to collect, prepare, analyze, and disseminate information and statistics related to the prevalence, intervention, and prevention of family violence, domestic violence, and dating violence, and the provision of shelter, supportive services, and prevention services to adult and youth victims.

Specifically, the NRCDV grant recipient will provide information, resources, research summaries/findings/prevalence statistics, training, and technical assistance to improve organizational and community-based efforts to prevent domestic violence and dating violence, and to provide evidence-informed intervention services for adults, children, and youth experiencing domestic violence. For the purposes of this announcement, evidence-informed practices bring together the best available research, professional expertise, and input from special issue and intimate partner violence prevention communities to identify and deliver services that have promise to achieve positive outcomes for victims of family violence, domestic violence, and dating violence and their children.

This NRCDV grantee is required to do, and must demonstrate the ability to accomplish the following:

1. Deliver a comprehensive array of national training and technical assistance to expand the capacity of domestic violence programs, state domestic violence coalitions, tribes, tribal organizations, community-based organizations, and health and social services agencies to provide intervention and prevention services that are accessible to all victims of domestic violence and their children.

2. Enhance public awareness through the development of resources and distribution of information related to trauma-informed domestic violence/dating violence intervention/prevention strategies, prevalence statistics, emerging issues, and culturally specific populations.

3. Support service innovation by identifying promising practices for prevention and intervention of domestic violence and dating violence while assisting with the dissemination, promotion, adoption, implementation, and adaptation of such practices in the domestic violence field.

Prevention Definitions:

I. Primary Prevention: Strategies, policies, and programs to stop both first-time perpetration and first-time victimization. Primary prevention is stopping domestic and dating violence before they occur. Primary prevention includes, but is not limited to, school-based violence prevention curricula, programs aimed at mitigating the effects on children of witnessing domestic or dating violence, community campaigns designed to alter norms and values conducive to domestic or dating violence, worksite prevention programs, and training and education in parenting skills and self-esteem enhancement.

II. Secondary Prevention: Identifying risk factors or problems that may lead to future family, domestic, or dating violence, and taking the necessary actions to eliminate the risk factors and the potential problem. Actions may include, but are not limited to, healing services for children and youth who have been exposed to domestic or dating violence, home visiting programs for high-risk families, and screening programs in health care settings.

4. Improve the capacity of domestic violence programs, state domestic violence coalitions, tribes, tribal organizations, community-based organizations, and statewide entities to offer culturally relevant, linguistically appropriate, and accessible services to victims of domestic violence from diverse and historically marginalized communities.

5. Address current and emerging issues related to family violence, domestic violence, and dating violence through the provision of training and technical assistance that is comprehensive and national in scope. This includes service needs of girls/women of color; shelter and supportive services for male victims; engaging faith communities; needs of elder victims; needs of LGBTQ victims; the co-occurrence of HIV and domestic violence; human trafficking;

family/youth homelessness; family self-sufficiency; social capital; child support; needs of children of all ages who witness violence; maternal health and maternal mortality; trauma-informed support for formerly incarcerated survivors; meeting the needs of survivors with substance use histories; the intersection of intimate partner violence, gun violence, and community violence prevention; and other topics identified as priorities by the program office.

6. Develop and enhance domestic violence and dating violence intervention and prevention strategies by fostering promising practice development, adaptation, and implementation throughout the domestic violence field, which includes training, technical assistance, and creating/gathering guidelines, materials, and policies.

7. Engage public and private systems/institutions through policy development, thus creating national, statewide, tribal, or local improvements in systemic responses to domestic violence and dating violence, such as integrating domestic violence protocols into child welfare or home visitation programs; enhancing school-based dating violence prevention initiatives; enhancing work-force development options for victims; enhancing trauma-informed programming for homeless families experiencing domestic violence; and enhancing health and social service policies to increase accessibility for victims and their families.

8. Improve the capacity of domestic violence programs, state domestic violence coalitions,and tribes and tribal organizations to offer trauma-informed services that address lifetime exposure to violence, and include trauma-focused intervention strategies and trauma informed programming.

9. Provide virtual training to a range of audiences and audience sizes, including, but not limited to, securing the necessary technical tools/platforms and ensuring staff or consultant subject matter expertise on adult learning, instructional design, and learning management systems best practice.

10. Conduct, contribute to, or summarize research related to domestic violence and dating violence prevention or intervention for victims of domestic violence and children/youth exposed to domestic violence.

In order to identify and respond to emerging issues, unmet technical assistance requests, including the identification of unaddressed or under-addressed topic areas and audiences, the grantee is required to conduct periodic needs assessments of the domestic violence field. This shall include, but not be limited to, the completion of a national needs assessment in the first 6 months of project year 1 and year 4.

The grantee must also maintain its organizational capacity to implement the project, including relevant subject matter expertise (domestic violence, and as needed, for proposed projects);

research and evaluation capacity; administrative capacity; project management capacity;

national resource center leadership; and sufficient staffing to meet project goals and deliverables. The grantees shall maintain clear plans for maintaining organizational capacity and continuity of services during emergency, disaster, and/or pandemic situations and transition of key project staff.

The grantee must ensure that the grant approach, workplans, and deliverables are consistent with a comprehensive approach to advancing equity for all, including people of color and others who have been historically underserved, marginalized, and adversely affected by persistent poverty and inequality. Grantee will provide a comprehensive community equity plan (or other similar documentation within the application) that demonstrates the processes and policies the grantee has in place to ensure the proactive identification of systemic barriers to opportunities and benefits for people of color and other underserved populations and strategic incorporation of activities to redress such barriers in ongoing workplans. This plan (or other similar documentation within the application) will also address policies and practices that are in place to ensure that the grant staffing plan supports the capacity to address those disparities in an ongoing, strategic, and culturally responsive manner, especially for particular underserved populations with documented history of long-standing significant disparities related to the topic of the grant.

o “Underserved” definition: For purposes of this FOA, “underserved population”, “underserved communities” or “people who have been historically underserved” should be read to be consistent with FVPSA statutory and regulatory definitions (at 42 U.S.

Code § 10402 (14) and 45 CFR part 1370.2). For reference, the definition at 45 CFR part 1370.2 is given here: “Underserved populations means populations who face barriers in accessing and using victim services, and includes populations underserved because of geographic location, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, underserved racial and ethnic populations, and populations underserved because of special needs including language barriers, disabilities, immigration status, and age. Individuals with criminal histories due to victimization and individuals with substance use disorders and mental health issues are also included in this definition. The reference to racial and ethnic populations is primarily directed toward racial and ethnic minority groups (as defined in section 1707(g) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300(u–6)(g)), which means American Indians (including Alaska Natives, Eskimos, and Aleuts); Asian American; Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders; Blacks and Hispanics. The term ‘‘Hispanic’’ or ‘‘Latino’’ means individuals whose origin is Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American, or any other Spanish speaking country. This underserved populations’ definition also includes other population categories determined by the Secretary [of Health and Human Services] or the Secretary’s designee to be underserved.

The grantee must ensure that grant approach, workplans, and deliverables are consistent with prohibitions on discrimination on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation and proactively support access and redress barriers for LGBTQ and Two-Spirit survivors and their children and that technical assistance and training in conducted in alignment with FVPSA regulations at 45 CFR part 1370 (a) and (c) requiring ensuring that no person shall on the basis of actual or perceived gender identity or sexual orientation be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subject to discrimination under, any program or activity funded in whole or in part through FVPSA.

As this is a cooperative agreement that will include substantial involvement from the FVPSA Program in FYSB, the applicants must actively partner with the FVPSA program officers in implementing the resource centers' deliverables. The applicant/grantee shall plan conferences, meetings, or major project meetings in conjunction with FYSB to allow participation of FYSB staff. Grantees shall plan to develop, review, and discuss a detailed plan for project implementation, a work-plan, a trainings/events schedule, an evaluation schedule, and a plan for reporting on the outcomes of the project. Applicants will need to plan to partner with FVPSA program officers in the planning, coordination, and implementation of meetings for FVPSA grantees. More information on how FYSB will be involved is included in Section II. Federal Award Information, Description of ACF's Anticipated Substantial Involvement Under the Cooperative Agreement. Applicants must plan travel to participate in at least one FVPSA Program/FYSB meeting per budget period.

In addition to the aforementioned requirements, the grantee has programmatic components and expectations that are required by the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act, 42 U.S.C.

10410. Those statutory requirements are detailed throughout this announcement and must be addressed by applicants.

II. Federal Award Information Funding Instrument Type: Cooperative Agreement Estimated Total Funding: $1,800,000 Expected Number of Awards: 1 Award Ceiling: $1,800,000 Per Budget Period Award Floor: $1,000,000 Per Budget Period Average Projected Award Amount: $1,500,000 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.

Applications for continuation grants funded under these awards beyond the 1-year period will be considered in subsequent years on a non-competitive basis, subject to the availability of funds, satisfactory progress of the grantee, review and approval of the project plan submitted, and a determination that continued funding would be in the best interest of the federal government.

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

All awards will be cooperative agreements. A cooperative agreement is an award instrument used when substantial involvement is anticipated between the awarding office and the recipient during performance of the contemplated project. FYSB will collaborate substantially with the NRCDV grantee throughout the project period.

FYSB will provide consultation and will review and approve the work plan for the project, as well as the structure and integrity of the resource center. FYSB will also approve any revisions to the work plan or structure of the resource center during each budget/project period.

Additionally, FYSB will propose and approve changes to project scope and activities. FYSB will review and approve final drafts of all updated or new materials, articles, major publications, and research reports that are developed or distributed with resources made available under this cooperative agreement.

FYSB will be involved in the development of long-term strategies for the implementation of the project and will participate in major project activities, such as conferences, topical meetings, or major project meetings.

The NRCDV grantee will plan conferences, topical meetings, or major project meetings in conjunction with FYSB staff and coordinate scheduling to ensure participation of FYSB staff.

The NRCDV grantee will provide a detailed plan for project implementation, a work plan, trainings/events schedule, evaluation schedule, and a plan for reporting on the outcomes of the project. As FYSB determines appropriate, FYSB will make changes to the project plan in consultation with the grantee.

FYSB will organize periodic consultations, meetings, briefings, teleconferences, webinars, and other forums necessary to review current and planned activities, to share information, and to promote national coordination. The NRCDV grantee must plan travel expenses for at least one representative from its organization to participate in at least two FYSB sponsored meeting each budget period.

The NRCDV grantee must plan resources to serve as the coordinator of the DVRN and plan the DVRN semi-annual meetings, including travel logistics and covering travel expenses for representatives from FVPSA-funded resource centers to participate. The NRCDV grantee must plan to facilitate at least three FYSB-sponsored webinars each budget period. FYSB will keep the NRCDV grantee informed about expectations for performance, current FYSB policy, FYSB priorities, and FYSB's vision for addressing domestic violence and dating violence. The respective responsibilities of FYSB and the successful applicants will be identified and incorporated into the terms and conditions of the award and the cooperative agreement during the pre-award negotiations. It is anticipated that the cooperative agreement will not change the project requirements for the NRCDV grantee under this announcement.

FYSB does not anticipate substantial involvement in the grantee’s creation of data collection activities, such as those related to needs assessments, evaluations, and requests for feedback, and grantees are not expected to submit such data collection instruments for program office review and approval. FYSB will not conduct or sponsor--and a person is not required to--respond to a collection of information covered by the PRA, unless it displays a currently valid Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number. In cases where FYSB is directly involved in the creation of data collection activities under this FOA, data collection will be conducted consistent with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, (44 U.S.C. 3501-3521) and display a valid Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number.

III. Eligibility Information

III.1. Eligible Applicants

National Resource Center on Domestic Violence Eligibility To be eligible to receive a grant under 42 USC §10410(b)(1)(A) of FVPSA, an applicant shall be a nonprofit private organization that focuses primarily on issues of domestic violence and that submits documentation demonstrating that it has the following:

1. Experience working on issues of domestic violence, and/or experience providing national technical assistance and resource coordination directly related to the prevention and intervention of family violence, domestic violence, and dating violence.

2. An advisory board with representatives who are from domestic violence service programs and are geographically and culturally diverse.

3. Strong national support of domestic violence service programs for the entity's designation as a national resource center. Applicants should include letters of support from domestic violence programs with their applications.

4. The capacity to serve and work in partnership with a diverse network of community-based domestic violence programs, state domestic violence coalitions, government agencies, tribes, tribal programs, policymakers, culturally specific organizations, LGBTQ organizations, and other entities involved in assisting community programs and victims of domestic violence, and their children; and

5. A record of demonstrated achievements and outcomes in delivering national training and technical assistance, enhancing service delivery, and maintaining an online clearinghouse library accessed by service providers.

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: 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 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 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 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

Family and Youth Services Bureau Operations Center c/o F2-Solutions Attn: Family Violence Prevention and Services Program Program Funding - NRCDV 1401 Mercantile Lane Suite 410 Largo, MD 20774 Phone: (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.

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/

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 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:

The Project Description file (File One) must be no more than 50 pages and include the following:

1. Table of Contents

2. Project Summary/Abstract (one page)

3. Objectives and Need for Assistance

4. Expected Outcomes

5. Approach

6. Logic Model

7. Program Performance and Evaluation Plan

8. Organizational Profile

9. Dissemination Plan

10. Protection of Sensitive and/or Confidential Information

11. Budget and Budget Justification

The Appendices file (File Two) must be no more than 50 pages and include the following:

1. Staff Position Information (e.g., resumes of key staff, job descriptions, organizational chart)

2. List of Board of Directors or other governing body members (as applicable)

3. Third-Party Agreements (as applicable)

4. Letters of Support

5. Certifications and Assurances

6. LGBTQ Accessibility Policy

7. Proof of Legal Status

8. Indirect Cost Rate Letter (as 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 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.

https://www.grants.gov/ https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/submitting-utf-8-special-characters.html https://www.acf.hhs.gov/grants/howto#chapter-6 https://www.acf.hhs.gov/grants/howto#chapter-6

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.

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