HHS-2021-ACF-ACYF-EV-1945.pdf

Administration for Children and Families

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

Family Violence Prevention and Services Discretionary Grants: Capacity Building Center on Safe and Supportive Housing for Domestic Violence Survivors in Tribal Communities (Tribal

Safe Housing Center)

HHS-2021-ACF-ACYF-EV-1945

Application Due Date: 07/26/2021

Family Violence Prevention and Services Discretionary Grants: Capacity Building Center on Safe and Supportive Housing for Domestic Violence Survivors in Tribal Communities (Tribal

Safe Housing Center)

HHS-2021-ACF-ACYF-EV-1945

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: Capacity Building Center on Safe and Supportive Housing for Domestic Violence Survivors in Tribal Communities (Tribal Safe Housing Center)

Announcement Type: Initial Funding Opportunity Number: HHS-2021-ACF-ACYF-EV-1945 Primary CFDA Number: 93.592 Due Date for Letter of Intent: 06/28/2021 Due Date for Applications: 07/26/2021

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), Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB), Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (FVPSA) program seeks to award one cooperative agreement to support one Capacity Building Center for Safe and Supportive Housing for Domestic Violence Survivors in Tribal Communities (Tribal Safe Housing Center) focused on developing and delivering comprehensive training and technical assistance to enhance safe and supportive housing for survivors of domestic violence living in tribal communities.

The primary purpose of the Tribal Safe Housing Center is to provide training and technical assistance, in a culturally sensitive and relevant manner, on meeting the housing needs of Indian (including Alaska Native) and Native Hawaiian survivors living in tribal communities. The Tribal Safe Housing Center will conduct research and needs assessments on the safe housing needs for survivors of domestic violence in tribal communities, including homeless youth survivors, and support the development of collaboration between service organizations;

technical assistance providers; and tribal, federal, state, and local governmental organizations to address these identified needs.

The Tribal Safe Housing Center will be part of a network of national, special issue, culturally specific, and capacity building resource centers providing national leadership on issues http://www.acf.hhs.gov/grants/howto impacting survivors of domestic violence and their families.

I. Program Description

Statutory Authority The statutory authority is Section 310 of the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act, as amended. See 42 U.S.C. 10410 (a)(2)(B)(ii).

Description History and Purpose of FVPSA 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 (Pub. L. 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 Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act 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 and Indian tribes in efforts to increase public awareness about and primary and secondary prevention of family violence, domestic violence, and dating violence;

2. Assist states and Indian 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 FYSB, a division of the Administration on Children, Youth and Families. 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 252 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.

The 252 federally recognized tribes that receive FVPSA funding serve 40,000 individuals annually. 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 The Capacity Building Center on Safe and Supportive Housing for Domestic Violence Survivors in Tribal Communities (Tribal Safe Housing Center) will be a part of 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 Capacity Building Centers focused on the intervention and prevention of family violence, domestic violence, and dating violence. 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 part of the DVRN, resource centers will work collaboratively to share their national expertise and deliver domestic violence and dating violence related training and technical assistance. While FYSB capacity building center grantees are members of the DVRN, they will maintain independent governance of their own organizations, but will be required to share their expertise with other DVRN members, actively participate in the coordination of technical assistance, attend semi-annual DVRN meetings, and work collaboratively to develop resources as needed. 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).

Tribal Safe Housing Center Domestic violence is a major cause of homelessness, particularly for women with children.

Among families currently experiencing homelessness, more than 80 percent had previously experienced domestic violence. In all areas of the country, communities struggle to have sufficient safe housing resources and domestic violence responsive supportive services to meet this need. However, in Indian (including Alaska Native) and Native Hawaiian communities, and in tribal areas, these needs are particularly acute, and the availability of resources to meet the needs is particularly low. A 2017 report from the Department of Housing and Urban Development estimated that “the number of people in households with no place else to stay (that is, the doubled-up homeless) totaled between 42,000 and 85,000—between 3.6 and 7.2 percent of the total 2013–2015 [American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN)] population in tribal areas.” A companion report focused on the housing status of AI/AN people living in urban areas noted the persistence of homelessness as an issue for this population and identified domestic violence as a “key driver of homelessness among AI/AN populations” in urban areas.

Solutions for the housing needs of Indian (including Alaska Native) and Native Hawaiian domestic violence survivors should be responsive to the specific housing challenges that are widespread in tribal areas, including the low supply of available housing and the condition issues that are prevalent in existing housing (overcrowding, system issues (plumbing, electrical, heating, kitchen), and issues such as structural deficiencies and damage). Effective solutions will also take into account the need for culturally grounded programs and responses that support survivors’ healing and connection to their communities and culture and be created and implemented in consultation with Indian (including Alaska Native) and Native Hawaiian tribes, recognizing their tribal sovereignty. The Tribal Safe Housing Center will work with the FVPSA office to build relationships between the appropriate partners to enhance the housing supports and resources available to Indian survivors and their children in these ways.

For information on eligibility, please see Section III.1. Eligible Applicants.

Tribal Safe Housing Center Program Goals

1. Leadership, Organizational Capacity, and Expertise

a. The grantee must demonstrate specialized expertise, organizational capacity, and sustained outcomes working directly on the intersection of domestic violence and housing/homelessness issues in tribal areas and for Indian (including Alaska Native) and Native Hawaiian survivors in housing/homelessness systems throughout the country.

b. The grantee shall lead or contribute to domestic violence prevention or intervention efforts related to housing for Indian (including Alaska Native) and Native Hawaiian victims of domestic violence and their dependents. The grantee shall identify, develop, and enhance domestic violence intervention and prevention strategies by fostering promising, evidence-informed, and evidence-based practice development, adaptation, and implementation throughout the domestic violence field. Furthermore, the grantee is expected to develop resources and disseminate information related to promising, evidence-based, and evidence-informed intervention/prevention strategies, practice guides, model policies and practices, prevalence statistics, emerging issues, culturally specific populations, lessons learned, and/or special topics related to the housing needs of Indian (including Alaska Native) and Native Hawaiian survivors.

i. Prevention Definitions:

A. 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, the following: 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.

B. 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, and 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.

c. Join and actively participate in the DVRN. The DVRN will work collaboratively to share their national expertise and deliver domestic violence related training and technical assistance. Grantee must designate at least one person to participate in the DVRN's technical assistance meetings. Grantee must plan travel expenses for at least one representative to participate in the two DVRN technical assistance meetings each budget period.

d. Provide leadership in collaborative work with the FVPSA-funded National Capacity Building Center on Safe and Supportive Housing for Domestic Violence Survivors and the Domestic Violence and Housing Technical Assistance Consortium to enhance the capacity of mainstream domestic violence and housing/homelessness systems to respond to the housing needs of urban Indian survivors and their children.

e. Maintain the organizational capacity to implement the Tribal Safe Housing Center project, including relevant subject matter expertise (domestic violence, tribal housing, 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.

f. Create and implement a plan to maintain up-to-date expertise on the domestic violence and housing issues, including periodic needs assessments of the tribal domestic violence field and related system in order to identify unmet training and technical assistance needs, including the identification of unaddressed or under addressed topic areas and audiences. Grantee shall propose a plan for completion of a national needs assessment in the first 6 months of project Year 1 and Year 4.

g. Ensure that 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."

h. 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.

i. As this is a cooperative agreement that will include substantial involvement from the FVPSA program in FYSB, the grantee must actively partner with the program officers in implementing the resource centers' deliverables. Grantee shall plan conferences, meetings, or major project meetings in conjunction with FYSB to allow participation of FYSB staff. Grantee shall plan to develop, review, and discuss a detailed plan for project implementation, a workplan, a trainings/events schedule, an evaluation schedule, and a plan for reporting on the outcomes of the project. 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. Grantee must plan travel to participate in at least one FVPSA program/FYSB meeting per budget period.

2. Training and Technical Assistance

a. Create and implement training and technical assistance that supports the domestic violence and housing/homelessness services fields in Indian (including Alaska Native) and Native Hawaiian communities (including urban communities) in building capacity, supporting cross-sector collaboration, and securing better housing outcomes for survivors and their children using evidence-based and evidence-informed approaches.

This should include, but is not limited to, 1) training and technical assistance on domestic violence responsive best practices for housing/homelessness providers; and 2) training and technical assistance for the gender-based violence field in Indian (including Alaska Native) and Native Hawaiian communities (including urban communities) to better understand how to leverage housing funds that are available and to better understand development of housing projects or other models, such as permanent supportive housing.

b. Identify, analyze, and recommend culturally specific, trauma-informed approaches to improve the capacity of tribal domestic violence programs and tribal homelessness and housing service providers to offer survivor-centered, culturally relevant, linguistically appropriate, and trauma-informed services. These services must address lifetime exposure to violence and include trauma-focused intervention strategies that take into consideration the unique and multiple victimizations and oppressions of domestic violence survivors representing traditionally underserved and historically marginalized communities.

c. Identify and document programmatic approaches throughout the tribal domestic violence, homelessness, and housing fields that show significant promise for replication and adaptation and can lead to improved training and technical assistance to domestic violence and housing and homelessness service providers as well as a broad range of other key stakeholders.

d. Coordinate national webinars on emerging issues, innovative resources, practical tools, and best practices models. Design and facilitate at least two FYSB-sponsored webinars each budget period.

e. Develop factsheets, white papers, toolkits, online resources, and/or conceptual frameworks on strategies to meet the housing needs of domestic violence survivors and their children. Toolkit topics should include, but are not limited to, the following: 1) toolkit for tribal housing and domestic service providers on funding opportunities and considerations for layering funding to meet the needs of survivors; and 2) toolkit for Tribal Public Housing Agencies regarding the operation and management of permanent supportive housing for tribal survivors of domestic violence.

f. Conduct periodic needs assessments of the tribal domestic violence and housing fields in order to identify unmet training and technical assistance needs, including the identification of unaddressed or under addressed topic areas and audiences.

3. Community/ FYSB Grantee Engagement

a. Conduct listening sessions with a wide range of Indian (including Alaska Native) and Native Hawaiian survivors, so that the working group can competently assist survivors in crafting policy that would ensure AI/AN peoples who are two-spirit, who have disabilities, who are non-English language speakers, and other additional marginalized identities can be represented more fully in working group reports. Grantee shall plan and budget for appropriate compensation to listening session participants.

b. Convene a Tribal Safe Housing Workgroup with experts across fields, communities, and areas of practice to inform resource development and policy recommendations on tribal safe housing. The Workgroup should include representation from the domestic violence and housing/homelessness fields, ensuring a diversity of experience and expertise, including: geographic representation (including Alaska and Hawaii); local, tribal, and national organizations; people with lived experience as survivors and as people experiencing homelessness; and intergenerational representation, including representation from Indian youth leadership.

c. In order to ensure that products and activities are appropriately survivor-centered, grantee shall create and implement strategies to regularly and successfully incorporate input and feedback from people with lived experience as survivors of domestic violence and their children into grant activities at multiple points in the development process.

d. Engage in ongoing consultations with other subject matter experts and allied professionals, including, but not limited to, tribal domestic violence programs, tribal housing programs, tribal domestic violence coalitions, culturally specific community based organizations, and researchers to identify national programming priorities;

evidence-informed practices; research priorities; needs for future knowledge development; effective, evidence-based, evidence-informed program policies; and outreach priorities that will ultimately increase the capacity of tribal domestic violence, housing, and homelessness service providers to address the complex housing needs of Native survivors of domestic violence and their children.

4. Policy/Systems Improvement

a. Identify policies and practices that promote positive outcomes, resilience, economic security, and housing stability for Native families affected by domestic violence.

b. Assist in building the capacity to engage Indian (including Alaska Native) and Native Hawaiian communities and programs (including those in geographically isolated villages). The grantee will attend and convene meetings and gatherings to work collaboratively with community members, tribal leaders, domestic violence advocates, housing/homelessness advocates and other relevant response systems, to develop policies and protocols related to safe housing for survivors and their children.

c. Advise FYSB and federal partners on identified barriers/regulatory burdens and opportunities for better collaboration and efficiency at the federal level within the context of tribal housing and domestic violence. Identify areas in overall domestic violence and housing federal definitions, regulations, and requirements that present unintended consequences or limitations when applied in a tribal context.

d. Provide technical assistance upon request to tribes and tribal organizations on implementing housing protections for survivors within tribal housing codes or other policies that impact the ability of survivors to obtain and maintain safe and stable housing.

5. Research and Evaluation

a. Document promising practices and gather lessons learned from the field regarding homelessness prevention, housing programs for domestic violence survivors, transitional housing, progressive engagement/supportive services, using multiple funding streams to support housing programs, federal tribal housing programs and permanent affordable housing options.

b. Synthesize research literature and conduct studies to inform expansion of best practices related to enhancing the capacity of domestic violence and housing/homelessness systems to effectively respond to and meet the housing needs of Indian (including Alaska Native) and Native Hawaiian survivors and their children.

c. Grantee must have an evaluation plan to document and assess outputs and outcomes of training and technical assistance for the target population. All grantees must demonstrate outcomes related to the project objectives, completing the activities proposed in their project plan and documenting overall impact. Measures of outcomes should include success in delivering national scope training and technical assistance that addresses the needs specific to tribal safe housing as well as documenting changes in knowledge and skills as a result of training and technical assistance efforts. Grantees must have a plan to incorporate the results of evaluation activity to improve future training and technical assistance on an ongoing basis.

6. Public Awareness and Communication

a. Disseminate broadly the project's products, including posting the results on the grantee's website, FYSB website, DV Housing and Technical Assistance Consortium website (safehousingpartnerships.org), National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center online library, National Resource Center on Domestic Violence online clearinghouse (VAWnet .org), social media, and other platforms to reach a broad audience of individuals and communities working to address the housing needs of survivors of domestic violence and their children.

b. Enhance public awareness of domestic violence and tribal safe housing needs through the development, coordination, and dissemination of campaigns, resources, and information related to intervention/prevention strategies, prevalence statistics, emerging issues, culturally specific populations, or special topics. Wherever appropriate, grantee shall include information on FYSB-funded domestic violence hotlines (National Domestic Violence Hotline, StrongHearts Native Hotline, Love is Respect) on materials.

II. Federal Award Information Funding Instrument Type: Cooperative Agreement Estimated Total Funding: $600,000 Expected Number of Awards: 1 Award Ceiling: $600,000 Per Budget Period Award Floor: $400,000 Per Budget Period Average Projected Award Amount: $600,000 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 https://safehousingpartnerships.org/ https://vawnet.org/ https://vawnet.org/ 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.

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

FYSB shall:

Review, provide feedback on, and approve the project scope, activities, and work plan for the project, as well as the structure and integrity of the resource center. This includes any changes to key personnel on the project.

Propose and approve significant changes to project scope, activities, and work plans, at its discretion.

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.

Be involved in the development of long-term strategies for the implementation of the project and participate in major project activities, such as advisory or other leadership committee meetings, conferences, topical meetings, or major project meetings.

Make changes to the project plan in consultation with the grantee, as FYSB determines appropriate.

Keep grantees informed about expectations for performance, current ACF/FYSB policy, and FYSB's vision for addressing family violence, domestic violence, and dating violence.

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.

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. 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.

The respective responsibilities of FYSB and the successful applicants will be identified and incorporated into the cooperative agreement during the pre-award negotiations.

III. Eligibility Information

III.1. Eligible Applicants

To be eligible to receive a grant to establish or maintain a Capacity Building Center for Safe and Supportive Housing for Domestic Violence Survivors in Tribal Communities (Tribal Safe Housing Center) under Section 310 of the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (FVPSA), as amended, an entity must demonstrate the ability to meet one of the following specific FVPSA eligibility requirements:

1. Subject matter expertise requirements:

a. Subject matter expertise on domestic violence AND housing/homelessness, both within Indian tribes, and extensive experience working with Indian tribes and tribal organizations to respond to the specific housing needs of domestic violence survivors; OR

b. Subject matter expertise on domestic violence within Indian tribes and extensive experience working with Indian tribes and tribal organizations to respond to the needs of domestic violence survivors, with a substantial existing partnership with an entity that focuses on housing and homelessness within Indian tribes and has extensive experience working with Indian tribes and tribal organizations to respond to tribal housing needs; OR

c. Subject matter expertise on housing and homelessness within Indian tribes and extensive experience working with Indian tribes and tribal organizations to respond to tribal housing needs, with a substantial existing partnership with an entity that focuses on domestic violence within Indian tribes and that has extensive experience working with Indian tribes and tribal organizations to respond to the needs of domestic violence survivors.

2. Substantial demonstrated capacity to implement national training, technical assistance, research, and resource development in a culturally responsive manner addressing the needs of tribal communities and native survivors.

Collaborative efforts to meet these requirements are strongly encouraged, but applicants must identify a primary applicant responsible for administering the grant.

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 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

Family and Youth Services Bureau Operations Center c/o F2-Solutions Attn: Family Violence Prevention and Services Program Funding FON HHS-2021-ACF-

ACYF-EV-1945

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.

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.

mailto:TechAssist@FYSB.net https://www.Grants.gov https://www.grants.gov http://www.gsa.gov/fedrelay https://www.grants.gov/

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 One) is limited to 50 pages, double-spaced. Pages in excess of the 50-page limitation will be removed and not reviewed. This file must 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. Timeline and Narrative

7. Logic Model

8. Program Performance and Evaluation Plan

9. Organizational Capacity

10. Dissemination Plan

11. Protection of Sensitive and/or Confidential Information

12. Project Sustainability Plan

13. Line Item Budget and Budget Justification (exempt from page limitations)

The Appendices (File Two) (exempt from the page limitations) must include:

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. Financial Statements (as applicable)

4. Third-Party Agreements/Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) (as applicable)

5. Letters of Support

6. Required Forms, Certifications and Assurances

7. Proof of Legal Status

8. Indirect Cost Rate Letter (as applicable)

9. Other Eligibility Documents (as applicable)

Please note again that SFs and OMB-approved forms are not to be count toward the page limit.

To the extent possible, please limit the appendix file to one 50-page PDF submission.

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