PEMS 7 Questions to and Answers from the TIP Office.docx

Questions to and Answers from the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (TIP Office) about its Program to End Modern Slavery (PEMS) Funding Opportunity

ELIGIBILITY

Q. Who is eligible to apply for funding?

A. U.S.-based and foreign non-governmental organizations (including faith-based organizations), non-profits, public international organizations (PIOs), for-profit organizations, and institutions of higher education.

For-profit organizations are not permitted to generate profits from grant-funded activities The Department of State’s Office of the Procurement Executive must provide additional approval for grants awarded to for-profit entities.

Foreign governments are not eligible to apply, although governments may be beneficiaries of funded programs, provided that funding does not pay salaries of government agency personnel and that such assistance is not restricted by U.S. law or policy.

Q. How many applications can an organization submit to this funding opportunity?

A. Organizations can submit up to three (3) proposals as the prime organization under Programming Priority One and/or one (1) proposal under Programming Priority Two. If an organization submits the maximum amount of proposals under both programming priorities, the organization can only submit a total of four (4) proposals under this funding opportunity. Applicants with multiple country locations, offices, or entities must coordinate to limit the total number of proposals in which the organization is listed as the prime applicant to comply with the limits above.

Q. Can an organization apply to more than one programing priority?

A. Yes, an organization can apply to both Programming Priority One and Programming Priority Two. The TIP Office reserves the right to ask an applicant to merge submitted applications into a single proposal. Organizations that submit an application as the prime organization under both priorities may or may not receive funding for both awards. The TIP Office reserves the right to request changes in sub-grantees and personnel to avoid conflict of interest between awards under Programming Priorities One and Two.

Q. Can an organization apply as a partner organization and a prime?

A. Yes, an organization can apply as the prime organization and be a partner organization so long as the prime organization is clearly identified. For example, organizations may also be listed as a sub-grantee on Priority One and apply as a prime for Priority Two.

Q. Are there a limited number of applications where an organization can be a partner organization?

A. No, however, the TIP Office reserves the right to request changes to sub-grantees to avoid conflict of interest between awards under programming priorities one and two.

Q. If an organization submits more than the allotted applications, will it receive a technical fail?

A. If an organization submits more than the allotted number of applications per Programming priority, then the last submitted application/s, which will be determined by date and time of submission, will not be eligible and receive a technical fail.

LOGISTICS

Q. How much funding does the TIP Office have for PEMS?

A. The U.S. Congress has appropriated $25 million annually since Fiscal Year 2016 for PEMS. The TIP Office plans to allocate up to $18 million in FY 23 funding to issue multiple awards between $2 million and $4 million for Programming Priority One and up to $1 million for Programming Priority Two.

Q. How much money will be allocated to each Programming Priority?

A. The TIP Office plans to allocate up to $18 million to this funding opportunity. For Programming Priority One, the TIP Office plans to issue multiple awards of between $2 and $4 million. For Programming Priority Two the TIP Office plans to issue one award of up to $1 million.

Q. What is the maximum number of awards?

A. For Programming Priority One: the number of awards depends on the availability of funds. For Programming Priority Two: the TIP Office plans to fund one award, however funding is dependent upon the availability of funds.

Q. What are the expected funding dates?

A. Subject to available funds, the TIP Office expects to award the funds to successful applicant(s) no later than the end of September 2023.

Q. Can you clarify about the page limit and character limit for the Proposal Narrative?

A. Please refer to the NOFO regarding the character limit for the Narrative. Applicants are required to use the Narrative Template provided within SAMS-D, which also limits the number of characters. NOTE: Applicants MUST use the provided section headers in the submitted narrative. This requirement applies to both Programming Priority One and Programming Priority Two and there are separate templates for each.

Q. Do charts count toward the character count?

A. Yes, anything in the project narrative counts towards the character count.

Q. Do the provided headers in the narrative count toward the total character count?

A. Yes the provided headers count towards the total narrative count. For Programming Priority One, the headers character count is: 751. For Programming Priority Two, the header character count is: 388.

Q. May an applicant include footnotes in the project narrative?

A. Yes, an applicant may include footnotes within the project narrative. However, the footnotes will be included within the character count limit. Please use Annex O: Reference List for citations from the Project Narrative.

Q. Where can I find specifics regarding projects previously funded by the TIP Office?

A. Applicants are encouraged to look to our website, https://www.state.gov/tip-office-project-descriptions/, for information on TIP Office-funded projects from prior years.

Q. What has changed in this notice of funding opportunity (NOFO)?

A. Please note there have been significant changes to this funding opportunity, including but not limited to updated guidelines, updated criteria for selection, and revised annex documents. Applicants should carefully read the funding opportunity and NOFO Guidelines.

Q. Can one application include multiple locations?

A. Applications should focus on one type of trafficking in one population. For human trafficking that involves movement, projects can focus on the source, transit, and/or destination locations.

BUDGET AND TIMELINE

Q. Are organizations eligible to charge indirect costs?

A. Regarding indirect costs, organizations without a Negotiated Indirect Cost Recovery Agreement (NICRA) can elect to use the de minimis rate of 10% of the modified total direct costs (MTDC) when submitting a budget; in accordance with 2 CFR 200.414(f). If the recipient does not have a NICRA and elects not to use the de minimis rate, identified “overhead costs” may be broken out by individual line item (e.g., electricity, accountant fees, etc.) and charged as direct costs. However, these must be on a cost allocated basis. For example, if the award project accounts for 20% of the organization’s work, only 20% of the electricity, accountant fees, etc. should be charged as a direct cost to the grant. Organizations with NICRA agreements should account for indirect cost in accordance with their negotiated agreements.

Q. Is there any restriction with regards to the cost share (e.g., max. amount)?

A. No, there is no cap on cost share, but applicants must be able to clearly justify the quantity of funding they plan to allocate to a sub-grantee and explain why that funding is being allocated. Items that are proposed for cost share must be allowable, reasonable, and allocable.

Q. Is there any other limitation on the duration of the grant period?

A. For both programming priorities, project duration should be between three (3) to four (4) years. The NOFO does not specify a preferred duration.

APPLICATION SUBMISSION

Q. How do I unlock my SAMS Domestic account or change my SAMS Domestic password? What should I do if I encounter difficulty using the SAMS Domestic website?

A. Unfortunately, the TIP Office is unable to unlock SAMS Domestic accounts or reset passwords. For assistance with SAMS Domestic (https://mygrants.service-now.com/grants) please contact the ILMS Support Desk at 1-888-313-4567 (toll free for international callers) or submit a ticket using the ILMS Self Service Portal (https://afsitsm.servicenowservices.com/ilms). Please let us know if you have any questions by emailing JTIPGrants@state.gov.

Q. What does an application include?

A. Detailed information on formatting requirements and more can be found in the NOFO and Guidelines Document.

Q. We are experiencing difficulty requesting a UEI number.

A. For information and assistance with UEI numbers, please contact the Help Desk at FSD.gov.

Q. If an organization proposes a partnership with another organization, do all parties need to obtain a UEI number, or only the applicant?

A. For the purpose of filling out the SF 424s and submitting an application, the only UEI number required is that of the applicant – the principal organization which is requesting funding. (Note: A valid UEI is not required for submission of an application on SAMS-Domestic; however, a valid UEI number is required for organizations selected for an award. Organizations should verify their UEI number or take the steps needed to obtain one as soon as possible.)

Organizations proposing partnership or sub-award agreements in their proposals are advised that their partners are required to have a UEI number. A recipient may not make a subaward to a subrecipient unless that subrecipient has obtained and provided to the recipient a UEI.

Q. May two organizations or more organizations jointly submit an application?

A. No, there must be a single applicant. While applicants may designate one or more partner organizations as sub-recipients, there may only be one primary award recipient.

Q. Who should be listed as the authorized certifying official on the SF-424-B?

A. The “certifying official” is the person within your organization who can / will sign the grant award if an award is made. This could be the organization’s director, a project manager, or grants coordinator, for example. This is also the only point of contact who will receive information regarding the status of the application.

PROPOSAL CONTENT: PROGRAMMING PRIOIRTY ONE: INTERVENTION DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH

Q. Does the TIP Office expect / require applicants to be registered in the country(ies) in which they intend to implement via sub-awards?

A. Primary organizations are not required to be registered in the countries they plan to implement sub-awards. However, such registration and/or partnership with local organizations is strongly encouraged.

Q. Is it enough that our organization has a local office and we may engage NGOs and other stakeholders in specific activities as needed?

A. If an organization is not based in the proposed country where implementation will occur, then a local partner must be identified. If an organization is based in the country, partnerships and coordination with other stakeholders are still strongly encouraged in accordance with the principle of co-creation.

Q. Can one application include multiple locations?

A. Applications should focus on one type of trafficking in one population. For human trafficking that involves movement, projects can focus on the source, transit, and/or destination locations.

Q. Can you provide more guidance on partnerships?

A. Applicants may partner with other organizations to implement and carry out award activities. Instances where the lead applicant is not based in the intervention area, applications must include at least one identified local partner engaged in the project from its inception. Applicants are not required to list an identified partner to support the implementation of interventions that will be designed in Stage 2.

Q. Please clarify the type of stakeholders we should include in the co-creation process.

A. Incorporating a range of perspectives is essential to the intervention development process. Applicants must include stakeholders that reflect diverse backgrounds, including members of the target population and human trafficking survivors. Particular attention should be paid to inclusiveness and power dynamics and budgets should include costs to ensure meaningful participation of all stakeholders throughout the project period.

Q. Is the applicant allowed to have in-house research capacities to conduct the proposed research or must the research component be awarded in subsequent open-competitive solicitations to be administered by this successful applicant?

A. The applicant is permitted to have in-house research capacities and expertise to conduct the research activities if those staff have the necessary qualifications; it is not required that they are sub-contracted and/or sub-awarded to an outside entity.

Q. What does it mean to meaningfully include survivors or persons with lived experience?

A. Engaging survivors in meaningful ways is critical to establishing effective victim-centered, trauma-informed, and culturally competent anti-trafficking policies and strategies that address prevention, protection, and prosecution, as well as partnerships. Meaningful inclusion means integrating input from survivors or persons with lived experience in the co-creation, implementation and/or evaluation of the project. Highly competitive projects will demonstrate an understanding of this approach. Applicants must describe how survivors or persons with lived experience of human trafficking are meaningfully included in the design, implementation and/or evaluation of the project. Applicants are highly encouraged to compensate survivors or persons with lived experience for any and all contributions made to the project. This compensation should be clearly articulated in the budget and budget narrative.

Q: Where can I find additional information regarding intervention development research?

A. Below you will find links to several key resources that were used to inform the development of this funding opportunity. This is a non-exhaustive list and applicants are encouraged to review the literature to identify additional sources.

· O'Cathain, A., Croot, L., Duncan, E., Rousseau, N., Sworn, K., Turner, K. M., ... & Hoddinott, P. (2019). Guidance on how to develop complex interventions to improve health and healthcare. BMJ open, 9(8), e029954.

· O’Cathain, A., Croot, L., Sworn, K., Duncan, E., Rousseau, N., Turner, K., ... & Hoddinott, P. (2019). Taxonomy of approaches to developing interventions to improve health: a systematic methods overview. Pilot and feasibility studies, 5(1), 1-27.

· Skivington, K., Matthews, L., Simpson, S. A., Craig, P., Baird, J., Blazeby, J. M., ... & Moore, L. (2021). A new framework for developing and evaluating complex interventions: update of Medical Research Council guidance. bmj, 374.

· Wight, D., Wimbush, E., Jepson, R., & Doi, L. (2016). Six steps in quality intervention development (6SQuID). J Epidemiol Community Health, 70(5), 520-525

PROPOSAL CONTENT: PROGRAMMING PRIOIRTY TWO: DEVELOPMENTAL EVALUATION

Q. Where can I find more information about Developmental Evaluation?

A. An example of a developmental evaluation was provided in the NOFO, on USAID’s “Coordinating Implementation Research to Communicate Learning and Evidence (CIRCLE)” project in Tanzania (find more information here https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PA00Z7MP.pdf) Additional examples of DEs undertaken by USAID and other funders can be found here: https://socialimpact.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/DEPA_MERL-web-Lookbook.pdf.

Q. How many IDR projects will the DE grantee be expected to evaluate and coach?

A. The DE grantee will be expected to provide evaluation and coaching for each Programming Priority One funded award throughout the period of performance. The exact number of awards will be defined upon final negotiation of the Programming Priority Two award and the budget will be adjusted accordingly.

COMPTETITIVE REVIEW

Q. How does the TIP Office decide which proposal(s) to fund?

A. Following the submission deadline, the TIP Office will screen all proposals to determine whether they meet the technical requirements stated in the announcement. As a reminder, the TIP Office will only consider proposals that meet the very specific requirements outlined in the funding opportunity. Following the technical review, a formal content review of each proposal that passes the technical review will commence. An intra- and interagency panel will review proposals for funding consideration and will consider each proposal’s merit, as well as applicable limitations on U.S. foreign assistance. Panel recommendations will be presented to the Ambassador for the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons for consideration and a funding decision.

Q. Are applicants required to submit a hard copy original signature with their proposal via mail?

A. No, only an electronic signature submitted via SAMS-Domestic is required. No applications or supplemental documents are permitted to be submitted via mail- only the items listed in the instructions on the solicitation which must be submitted via SAMS-Domestic.

Q. Where may I find additional advice about preparing the proposal application?

A. The TIP Office must ensure a fair, transparent, competitive grants process.

No one from the Office or other Department of State personnel, including Embassy personnel, may advise you on the content of your application.

Persons with additional questions about the requirements of the funding opportunity may contact JTIPGrants@state.gov.