PKG00252662-instructions.pdf

U.S. Department of Education Office of Elementary and Secondary Education

Office of Safe and Supportive Schools Washington, D.C. 20202-6450

Fiscal Year 2019

Application for New Grants Trauma Recovery Demonstration Grant Program

CFDA 84.424C

Dated Material - Open Immediately

Closing Date: August 14, 2019

Approved OMB Number: 1894-0006

Expiration Date: 1/31/2021 ii

Paperwork Burden Statement

According to the Paperwork reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number for this information collection is: 1894-0006. Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 28 hours per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data resources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. The obligation to respond to this collection is required to obtain or retain benefit (EDGAR (34 CFR 75.104(a)).

If you have comments or concerns regarding the status of your individual submission of this form, write directly to: Shauna Knox, Trauma Recovery Demonstration Grant Program, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW, Room 3E250 Washington D.C. 20202-6450. [Note: Please do not return the completed application to this address.] iii

Table of Contents

Dear Colleague Letter

Program Background and Overview

Frequently Asked Questions

Preparing and Submitting an Application

Electronic Application Submission Checklist

Standard Form Instructions and Information ....................................................................................... 32-56

Notice Inviting Applications ................................................................................................................... 57-93

Program Statute

Dear Colleague:

Thank you for your interest in the Trauma Recovery Demonstration Grant (TRDG) Program.

Research has demonstrated a connection between adverse experiences in childhood and negative mental health outcomes in adulthood. Complementing studies have also mapped a correlation between adverse childhood experiences and decreasing school attendance, behavioral challenges, lower grades, and issues with depression and anxiety. The Office of Safe and Supportive Schools (OSSS) acknowledges that, consistent with the findings of the Federal Commission on School Safety report, it is necessary for select students to receive trauma-specific mental health services outside of the school setting.

Administering the TRDG program is just one example of how we support that effort. This program provides competitive grants to State educational agencies (SEAs) to provide trauma-specific mental health services to best meet the needs of low-income students, and in some cases low-income parents, being negatively impacted in their educational experience.

In addition to administering this grant program, the U.S. Department of Education (the Department) supports the National Center of Safe and Supportive Learning Environments (www.safesupportivelearning.ed.gov), which offers information and resources related to trauma-informed care. We encourage applicants to visit the website of this technical assistance provider to learn more about trauma-specific mental health resources.

Please take the time to carefully and thoroughly review the application package, including the applicable priorities, selection criteria, and all the application instructions. An application will not be evaluated for funding if the applicant does not comply with all the procedural rules that govern the submission of the application or the application does not contain the information required under the program (EDGAR §75.216 (b) and (c)).

For this competition, please note that it is mandatory for applicants to use the government-wide website, Grants.gov (www.grants.gov ), to apply. Please note that the Grants.gov site works differently than the Department’s e-Application System. We strongly encourage you to familiarize yourself with Grants.gov and strongly recommend that you register and submit early.

Please visit our program website at: https://safesupportivelearning.ed.gov/trauma-recovery for further information. If you have any questions about this program after reviewing this application package, please contact Shauna Knox at (202) 453-5953, or via e-mail at traumarecovery@ed.gov.

Paul Kesner Director

United States Department of Education

OFFICE OF ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION

OFFICE OF SAFE AND SUPPORTIVE SCHOOLS

http://www.safesupportivelearning.ed.gov/ http://www.grants.gov/ https://safesupportivelearning.ed.gov/trauma-recovery

Program Background and Overview

A landmark study of adverse childhood experiences by the Centers for Disease Control and Kaiser Permanente found that over half of respondents reported experiencing adverse childhood experiences.

The study linked adverse experiences--particularly exposure to multiple categories of adverse experiences--with negative adult health outcomes.1 Since that study, additional research on adverse childhood experiences confirms the prevalence of experiencing such potentially traumatic events is near 50 percent of children from birth through age 17, though rates vary by locale.2 Relatedly, exposure to violence has been linked with negative school outcomes, such as decreased school attendance, more behavioral challenges or symptoms of anxiety and depression, and lower grades.3 4

In December 2018, the Federal Commission on School Safety (FCSS) released its final report, including recommendations for State, local, and Federal leaders to improve school safety.5 In the report, the FCSS recommended States and school districts expand students’ access to mental health services. By expanding student access to trauma-specific mental health services and encouraging cross-agency collaboration to promote access to mental health services, the Trauma Recovery Demonstration Grant Program will support States’ and school districts’ efforts to implement this recommendation as well as recommendations related to addressing cyberbullying and school safety and creating a culture of connectedness.

In keeping with the FCSS report, the U.S. Department of Education (the Department) acknowledges that it may be necessary for students to receive trauma-specific mental health services outside of a school setting. Through this grant program, a student from a low-income family (as defined ) who has experienced trauma that negatively affects the student’s educational experience or the parent (as defined) of such a student acting on the student’s behalf will have greater access to the trauma-specific mental-health services from the provider that best meets the student’s needs. This program is being established with funds from the two percent reservation under section 4103(a)(3) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), which provides for technical assistance and capacity building to support title IV, part A of the ESEA. Specifically, projects funded under the program are intended to help build the capacity of State educational agencies (SEAs) and local educational agencies (LEAs) by demonstrating alternative models for delivering trauma-specific mental health services that States and LEAs may support with formula grant funds received under the Student Support and Academic Enrichment program authorized by Title IV, Part A of the ESEA.

An eligible student is a preschool, elementary, or secondary school student from a low-income family (as defined) who has experienced trauma (as defined) and subsequently demonstrates academic, behavioral, attendance, or other issues at school, as identified by the SEA in its application. Incidents of

1 Felitti, Vincent J., et al. (1998). Relationship of Childhood Abuse and Household Dysfunction to Many of the

Leading Causes of Death in Adults. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 14(4), 245-258.

2 Sacks, V., Murphy, D., & Moore, K. (2014). Adverse Childhood Experiences: National and State-level Prevalence.

Child Trends. Publication #2014-28. https://www.childtrends.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Brief-adverse-childhood-experiences_FINAL.pdf. Accessed May 14, 2019.

3 Aviles, A., Anderson, T. R., & Davila, E. R. (2006). Child and Adolescent Social-Emotional Development within the Context of School. Child and Adolescent Mental Health. 11(1): 32–39.

4 Hurt, H., et. al. (2001). Exposure to Violence: Psychological and Academic Correlates in Child Witnesses. Journal of the American Medical Association Pediatrics. 155(12): 1351-1356.

5 DeVos, B., et. al. Final Report of the Federal Commission on School Safety. (2018).

https://www2.ed.gov/documents/school-safety/school-safety-report.pdf.

https://www.childtrends.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Brief-adverse-childhood-experiences_FINAL.pdf https://www.childtrends.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Brief-adverse-childhood-experiences_FINAL.pdf https://www2.ed.gov/documents/school-safety/school-safety-report.pdf trauma may include bullying (including cyberbullying);6 harassment; experiencing violence, such as school shootings or suicide clusters; or other physically or emotionally harmful or life-threatening events that have lasting adverse effects on an individual’s functioning and mental, physical, social, or emotional health. Traumatic incidents may be those that occur either within or outside a school environment.

Trauma-specific mental health services as defined may include those the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) identified in a Treatment Improvement Protocol (TIP) for “Trauma-Informed Care in Behavioral Health Services.” 7 In that TIP, and in “SAMHSA’s Concept of Trauma and Guidance for a Trauma-Informed Approach,”8 SAMHSA identified trauma-specific interventions such as trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy, trauma-related cognitive processing therapy, relaxation training, biofeedback, breathing training, exposure therapy, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing, narrative therapy, skills training in affective and interpersonal regulation, stress inoculation training, or trauma incident reduction, among others. In the TIP, SAMHSA describes the selected practices as a non-exhaustive list of potential ways to promote recovery from trauma. In addition, SAMHSA acknowledges that only some of the treatments listed in the TIP are “evidence based” because additional research is needed and some practices are emerging. Grantees may also support other interventions focused on supporting trauma recovery so long as the provider is State-licensed for the relevant trauma-specific mental health service she or he offers. Grantees are encouraged but not required to focus their support on interventions that are evidence based. Medical services are not allowable uses of funds under this grant. In general, mental health counseling is not prohibited by this limitation. However, any mental health services provided by a psychiatrist would need to be carefully evaluated by the grantee before services are rendered. Because psychiatrists are trained medical doctors, they can prescribe medications, and may spend time with patients on medication management as part of treatment. Funding from this program must not be used to provide these medical services or any medical procedure.

SEAs are eligible to apply for grants under this competition. An SEA, at its discretion, may partner with one or more nonprofit organizations, institutions of higher education (IHEs), or State or local mental health agencies to carry out its project. If an SEA establishes a partnership for this purpose, the SEA may apply under the competitive preference priority on the basis of such a partnership.

SEAs will use grant funds to pay providers for the trauma-specific mental health services a student receives. To support the student or parent, an SEA may, but is not required to, identify common forms of trauma-specific mental health services; identify State-licensed service providers who offer trauma-specific mental health services; and provide eligible students or the parents of eligible students with the option to seek services from SEA-identified providers while not prohibiting students or parents from identifying providers not already identified by the State. That is, an SEA has flexibility to design its

6 Note that whether bullying or cyberbullying results in trauma will depend on the individual circumstances and whether the event is physically or emotionally harmful or life-threatening and has lasting adverse effects on an individual’s functioning and mental, physical, social, or emotional health.

7 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2014). Trauma-Informed Care in Behavioral Health

Services. Treatment Improvement Protocol (TIP) Series 57. HHS Publication No. (SMA) 13-4801, 137. Rockville, MD: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

8 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2014). SAMHSA’s Concept of Trauma and

Guidance for a Trauma-Informed Approach. HHS Publication No. (SMA) 14-4884, 7. Rockville, MD: Substance

Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

program by (1) establishing eligible providers proactively and reviewing additional requested providers, or (2) solely reviewing requested providers. Whether or not an SEA proactively identifies providers that meet the criteria depends on how the SEA proposes to operationalize its program. The SEA will pay providers of trauma-specific mental health services for services a student receives. Regardless of the method an SEA uses, it must ensure that any provider is implementing trauma-specific mental health services to support an eligible student; is State-licensed for the services supported by the grant funds;

and is providing secular, neutral, and non-ideological services. Additionally, a student or parent may request a service provider that delivers services virtually or through other video, audio, or mobile platforms so long as such service meets the definition of “trauma-specific mental health services.” After approving a student for support and explaining to the student and parent the process by which the SEA will provide support, the SEA pays providers for the trauma-specific mental health services a student receives.

SEAs must ensure that, to the extent possible, Department grant funds support only services that an individual affirms are unaffordable, not covered, or insufficiently covered by public or commercial health insurance programs. An individual may determine that services are unaffordable because, for example, the co-payment or deductible is too high. Likewise, an individual may determine that a service is insufficiently covered because the cost of the service would exceed an annual insurance cap. In either of these examples, Department grant funds may support services. In addition, SEAs are required to implement policies and procedures that ensure other sources of funding are utilized first when practicable and available for that individual. An SEA may propose to leverage a partnership, including a partnership proposed under the competitive preference priority, as a mechanism to assist in ensuring that insurance or other revenue are used before grant funds wherever practicable. SEAs should also refer appropriate individuals to other systems from which a student may be eligible to receive services (for example, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP)), if appropriate for and desired by that individual student or parent to meet the needs of the student.

Consistent with ESEA section 4001(a), an SEA must obtain prior written, informed consent from the parent of each child who is under 18 years of age to participate in any mental health assessment or service that is funded under this program. In obtaining such prior written, informed consent, an SEA could, for example, include a question about whether an individual student has access to public or commercial health insurance that would support access to the provider from whom an individual is requesting services. The inclusion of such a question on a form confirming written, informed consent for mental health assessment or services under this program would meet the SEA’s obligation described above related to insurance.

SEAs may also use the administrative portion of grant awards under this program to provide training to LEA- or school-based staff or community members or other appropriate individuals on trauma-specific mental health services and trauma screenings or trauma assessments, consistent with Application Requirements 1 and 7. This training may strengthen local capacity to support students in school by expanding awareness of trauma symptoms and providing staff and other appropriate individuals with strategies to identify students who need trauma-specific mental health services.9

In administering the program, the SEA accepts requests for services that originate either from a student or the student’s parent or from an LEA or school referral to the program. The SEA must establish a method to ensure that each student that receives support is a student from a low-income family who

9 The Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families compiled a set of trauma resources for schools, available at https://www.acf.hhs.gov/trauma-toolkit/schools.

https://www.acf.hhs.gov/trauma-toolkit/schools has experienced trauma that is impacting the student’s academic experience (e.g., attendance, behavior, academic performance, or another measure proposed by the SEA in its application), and that the service is not otherwise covered or is unaffordable.

This program is aligned with Supplemental Priority 10(b) from the Department’s notice of Final Supplemental Priorities and Definitions for Discretionary Grant Programs (Supplemental Priorities), published in the Federal Register on March 2, 2018 (83 FR 9096), which encourages projects designed to create positive and safe learning environments that support the needs of all students, including by providing school personnel with effective strategies. If students who have experienced trauma exhibit symptoms that negatively impact the learning environment, recovery from such trauma, supported by trauma-specific mental health services through this program, may improve the overall classroom environment.

Supplemental Priority 2(g) emphasizes the importance of partnerships with other State or local entities, not-for-profit organizations, or IHEs. Both the FCSS report and the literature on trauma-informed care emphasize the importance of collaboration across agencies and sectors to promote comprehensive support for students who have experienced trauma. The competitive preference priority in this notice is adapted from Supplemental Priority 2(g) and is intended to encourage applicants to partner with appropriate entities to best serve students and build State and local capacity. An SEA may partner with one or more State or local mental health agency or agencies and receive points under this priority, since such agencies are local or State entities.

This competition includes one absolute priority and one competitive preference priority. We are establishing the absolute priority and competitive preference priority for the FY 2019 grant competition and any subsequent year in which we make awards from the list of unfunded applications from this competition, in accordance with section 437(d)(1) of the General Education Provisions Act (GEPA), 20 U.S.C. 1232(d)(1).

Purpose: The Trauma Recovery Demonstration Grant Program provides competitive grants to SEAs to support model programs that enable a student from a low-income family (as defined) who has experienced trauma that negatively affects the student’s educational experience to access the trauma-specific mental-health services from the provider that best meet the student’s needs. The parent (as defined) of such a student from a low-income family may request services on behalf of the student.

Eligibility: State Educational Agencies as defined by section 8101(30) of the ESEA. An SEA, at its discretion, may partner with one or more nonprofit organizations, LEAs, institutions of higher education (IHEs), or State or local mental health agencies to carry out this project. If an SEA establishes a partnership for this purpose, the SEA may apply under the competitive preference priority on the basis of such a partnership.

Authority: Section 4103(a)(3) of Title IV, Part A of the ESEA (20 U.S.C. 7113).

Official Document Notice: The official document governing this competition is the Notice Inviting

Applications published in the Federal Register.

Project Period: The project period for these grants is up to 60 months (5 budget periods of 12 months).

We estimate awards will be announced by September 30, 2019. Grants will be funded for the first year with an option for four additional years contingent upon demonstration of substantial progress by the grantee and the availability of future funds. Note: Applicants must submit ED Form 524 and a detailed budget narrative for each budget period that funding is requested.

Estimated Award Information: We estimate we will make approximately 4-10 new awards. Projects will be funded for $1,000,000 per year on average, for up to 5 years, depending on the scope of work.

These figures are only estimates and do not bind the Department to a specific number of grants or amount of any grant. Contingent upon the availability of funds and the quality of applications, we may make additional awards (or fund down the approved slate) in future fiscal years based on the list of unfunded applications from this competition.

Maximum Award: We will not make an award that exceeds $1,500,000 for a single budget period of 12 months.

Matching Funds: This program does not require a matching contribution from the grantee; however, if you propose matching funds, we will monitor the grant to ensure the match is met, and you will be expected to report annually on the matching funds as well as Federal funds.

Travel Budget: Applicants should budget funds for the project director and one additional staff member to attend the Office of Safe and Supportive Schools Trauma Recovery Project Director’s Meeting each year of the grant. For planning purposes, applicants should include funds for transportation, lodging for two nights and three days, and per diem costs. There are no meeting or registration costs for our grantees. These meetings will usually be held in Washington, DC.

Email Address: As part of our review of your application, we may need to contact you with questions for clarification. Please be sure your application contains valid e-mail addresses for the project director and an authorized representative or another party designated to answer questions in the event the project director and authorized representative are unavailable.

Application Due Date: All applications must be submitted electronically through the Grants.gov portal and must be submitted before 11:59:59 p.m., Eastern Time, on August 14, 2019. Please note that applications may not be emailed or faxed.

Note: Under very extraordinary circumstances, the Department may change the closing date for a competition. When this occurs, we announce such a change in a notice published in the Federal Register. Waivers for individual applications failing to meet the deadline will not be granted, except in the circumstances described in the section under electronic submission of applications.

Review of Applications and Notification of Award: The review of applications and notification of awards for this grant competition requires approximately 8 to 10 weeks depending on the number of applications we receive. We expect to notify successful applicants by September 30, 2019.

Unsuccessful applicants will be notified within 60 days after awards are announced.

Human Subjects Research Activities: Please see Item 3 of the instructions for Supplemental

Information for Standard Form 424 in this application package. Projects funded under this grant program may be subject to protection of human subjects research requirements. If you have any questions about your responsibilities under these requirements, please contact Department’s

Protection of Human Subjects Coordinator at (202) 245-8090.

The U.S. Department of Education’s Expectations: By submitting an application for this program, applicants agree to fully cooperate with any evaluation efforts conducted by the Department and its contractors. At a minimum, grantees are expected to maintain records on how their program is operating; maintain records on the extent to which their program objectives are being met; include specific performance measures in their evaluation plan; and make ongoing project information, findings and products available to ensure the dissemination of knowledge gained from this effort during the grant period.

Project Director Time Commitment: Applicants are requested to provide the percent of the Project

Director’s time that will be dedicated to the grant project if funded. For example, if the Project Director works 40 hours per week and spends 20 hours of that week working on grant activities, then the time commitment for the Project Director would be 50 percent. We suggest that applicants include this information in the budget narrative or that they add this information to the Project Director line on the

Supplemental Information for Standard Form 424.

Reports: Each grantee is required to submit annual and a final report to demonstrate progress toward

GPRA measures and project objectives. For multiple-year projects, these reports are also evaluated to determine whether substantial progress has been made to justify a continuation award. For projects funded for one year, only a final report is required.

Absolute Priority: This competition includes one absolute priority. For fiscal year 2019 and any subsequent year in which we make awards from the list of unfunded applications from this competition, this is the absolute priority. Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(3) we consider only applications that meet this priority:

Empowering Individual Students (or their Parents on Behalf of the Students, as appropriate) from Low-

Income Families Who Have Experienced Trauma to Obtain Trauma-Specific Mental Health Services from the Providers that Best Meet Their Needs.

Under this priority, the Department supports projects in which an SEA compensates providers for trauma-specific mental health services for students who are from low-income families and who have experienced trauma that is impacting their educational experiences (e.g., by negatively affecting attendance, behavior, academic performance, or another measure identified by the SEA in its application). Such services should not already be covered by insurance or are unaffordable. Students may seek, on their own or through their parents, school, or school district, as appropriate, a provider of trauma-specific mental health services that--

(a) Is State-licensed for the services provided;

(b) Provides services that are secular, neutral, and non-ideological.

Competitive Preference Priority: This competition includes one competitive priority. For fiscal year

2019 and any subsequent year in which we make awards from the list of unfunded applications from this competition, this is the competitive priority. Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(2)(i), we award up to an additional five points to an application, depending on how well the application meets this priority:

Building and Maintaining Partnership(s) to Support Students Recovering from Trauma. (0 to 5 points)

Under this priority, projects that propose to work with one or more local or State entities, such as nonprofit organizations, IHEs, or State or local mental health agencies, to implement the project. Such an application includes a memorandum of agreement (MOA) or memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed by the authorized representatives of the SEA and partner entity specifying how each will provide resources and/or administer services that are likely to substantially contribute to positive outcomes for the proposed project.

Note: An applicant that addresses the competitive preference priority should indicate so in the abstract section of its application. Points will be awarded based on the strength of the partnership agreement and the quality of the management plan as reflected in the MOA or MOU, which articulates the roles and responsibilities of each partner, and not based on the number of partners.

Requirements: We are establishing these program requirements for the fiscal year 2019 grant competition and any subsequent year in which we make awards from the list of unfunded applications from this competition, in accordance with section 437(d)(1) of GEPA, 20 U.S.C. 1232(d)(1).

Application Requirements: An SEA must include the following in its application—

1. A description of the SEA’s approach to increasing access to trauma-specific mental health services using this grant and other resources.

An SEA must describe its approach to increasing access to trauma-specific mental health services

(such as those referenced in the Background Section regarding SAMHSA TIP 57) through this program. An SEA may use, in total, no more than 15 percent of grant funds for grant administration, which may include collaboration with other agencies or training for LEA- or school-based staff, community members, or other appropriate individuals provided through this program

(see Application Requirement 7 regarding the Budget). An SEA must describe how this work will complement, rather than duplicate, existing efforts to provide school-based mental health services and how the project funds will supplement, and not supplant, non-Federal funds that would otherwise be available for activities funded under this program.

2. A description of the approach to identifying, referring, and serving students in need of trauma-specific mental health services through this grant. An SEA must—

(a) Describe how a student, or a parent on behalf of a student, accesses the program. Specifically, the SEA must describe how it will support schools and LEAs in identifying, referring, and serving students from low-income families whose experience with trauma is affecting school performance, including academic progress, behavior, attendance at school, or another measure proposed by the SEA in its application. Such a description may include the trauma screening tool(s) or trauma assessment(s) used in schools in the State (or a description of how the applicant will develop or recommend such tools) and a description of how an applicant will train school staff and, as appropriate, community members to identify symptoms of trauma. The description must include the methods the State will use to communicate the availability of funding under this program to LEAs, schools, and parents and to process requests for trauma-specific mental health services from students or their parents, whether those requests come directly from students or their parents or from an LEA or school on behalf of the student, consistent with applicable privacy requirements;

(b) Describe the process it will use to establish that a student requesting services is eligible, including how it will confirm that a student has experienced trauma that has had a negative impact on school performance (e.g., attendance, referrals for behavior, academic achievement or grades, or another measure proposed by the SEA in its application) and that the student is a student from a low-income family, as defined. In describing how it will confirm that a student is a student from a low-income family, the SEA must specify the poverty measure(s) and threshold(s) it will use from among those identified in 20 U.S.C. 6313 (title I, part A of the ESEA), consistent with the definition of “student from a low-income family”, and must also describe the method it will use to verify that a student is from a low-income family and how such method is minimally burdensome on the requesting student or parent;

(c) Describe how it will include private school students from low-income families on an equitable basis, in accordance with section 8501 of the ESEA (20 U.S.C. 7881), in identifying and serving students in need of trauma-specific mental health services;

(d) Describe how it will obtain prior written, informed consent from the parent of each child who is under 18 years of age to participate in any mental health assessment or service that is funded under this program; and

(e) Describe how it will ensure that, to the extent possible, Department grant funds support only services that the student, or parent, as applicable, affirms are unaffordable, not covered, or insufficiently covered, by public or commercial health insurance programs.

3. A description of the approach to paying eligible providers of trauma-specific mental health services.

An SEA must—

(a) Describe the methods it will use to pay appropriate providers of trauma-specific mental health services; and

(b) Describe any criteria it will use to determine that a provider offers trauma-specific mental health services, how it will ensure that providers are State-licensed, and the method it will use to offer relevant information about eligible providers to students and parents seeking support through this program, while also allowing students and parents to identify the State-licensed provider that best meets their needs and offers secular, neutral, and non-ideological services, while not prohibiting students or parents from identifying providers not already identified by the State on a list, if applicable.

4. A project plan that includes a specific timeline for planning, outreach, and service delivery. An SEA must provide a detailed project plan specifying its methods for communicating the availability of funds, providing services and payments to providers with minimal burden on students and parents, and continuously improving grant activities. As necessary and appropriate, an SEA may describe in its plan a period of up to 12 months during the first year of the project period for program planning.

SEAs that propose to use this option must provide sufficient justification for why this program planning time is necessary, provide the intended outcomes of program planning in Year 1, and include a description of the proposed strategies and activities to be supported, such as recruiting and vetting eligible providers, performing outreach to communities in need of support, and training schools, LEAs, and community members, including any trauma screener(s) or trauma assessment(s) the SEA, at its discretion, recommends.

5. A list of key project personnel and a description of each of their qualifications to serve in the identified role. An SEA must provide a list of key project personnel, including, at a minimum, the project director, key project personnel, and, as applicable, project consultants or subcontractors, and describe their roles and relevant training and experience. To the greatest extent practicable, the SEA should include a resume for all key project personnel and any additional description of training and qualifications.

6. A description of how an SEA will document the results of the funded project and continuously improve services provided with grant funds to support student academic success. An SEA must—

(a) Describe how it will document the specific types of trauma-specific mental health services supported by the project and how it will share results of the project, consistent with the Family

Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Health Insurance Portability and

Accountability Act (HIPAA) requirements, to promote improved capacity in other communities and schools. Such efforts must include, at a minimum, how the SEA will identify the individual trauma-specific mental health services provided and how the SEA will document any changes in individual student academic success, including changes in attendance, behavior, and academic progress, of individual students who participate in the program. This description must include an explanation of the SEA’s approach to contributing to the evidence basis for trauma-specific mental health services while protecting student privacy;

(b) Describe how it will define changes in attendance, behavior, and academic progress;

(c) Describe its approach to measuring student and/or parent satisfaction with grant-funded services; and

(d) Explain how it will use this information during the grant period for continuous improvement.

7. A detailed project budget. An SEA must provide a specific project budget. In the budget, the SEA must specify the portion of funds that will be used for outreach, administration, and continuous improvement as compared with funds that directly support trauma-specific mental health services for the students. In total, administrative costs, including (1) training for LEA or school staff or community members on such topics as how to identify trauma symptoms and administer trauma assessments, (2) outreach to LEAs, schools, and the public to increase awareness about the available funds, and (3) other administrative expenses, may not exceed 15 percent of the annual grant award amount or $30,000, whichever is greater.

Definitions: We establish the definitions of “student from a low-income family,” “trauma,” and

“trauma-specific mental health services” for the fiscal year 2019 grant competition and any subsequent year in which we make awards from the list of unfunded applications from this competition, in accordance with section 437(d)(1) of GEPA, 20 U.S.C. 1232(d)(1). The definitions of “local educational agency,” “parent,” and “State educational agency” are from 20 U.S.C. 7801.

Local educational agency (LEA) means:

(a) A public board of education or other public authority legally constituted within a State for either administrative control or direction of, or to perform a service function for, public elementary schools or secondary schools in a city, county, township, school district, or other political subdivision of a State, or of or for a combination of school districts or counties that is recognized in a State as an administrative agency for its public elementary schools or secondary schools.

(b) The term includes any other public institution or agency having administrative control and direction of a public elementary school or secondary school.

(c) The term includes an elementary school or secondary school funded by the Bureau of Indian

Education but only to the extent that including the school makes the school eligible for programs for which specific eligibility is not provided to the school in another provision of law and the school does not have a student population that is smaller than the student population of the LEA receiving assistance under this chapter with the smallest student population, except that the school shall not be subject to the jurisdiction of any SEA other than the Bureau of

Indian Education.

(d) The term includes educational service agencies and consortia of those agencies.

(e) The term includes the SEA in a State in which the SEA is the sole educational agency for all public schools.

Parent includes a legal guardian or other person standing in loco parentis (such as a grandparent or stepparent with whom the child lives, or a person who is legally responsible for the child’s welfare).

State educational agency (SEA) means the agency primarily responsible for the State supervision of public elementary or secondary schools.

Student from a low-income family means any student who is determined by an SEA, LEA, or school to be from a low-income family using a measure(s) of poverty identified in ESEA section 1113(a)(5)(A) by applying the measure(s) and threshold(s) specified by the SEA in its application.

Trauma means an event, series of events, or set of circumstances that is experienced by an individual as physically or emotionally harmful or life threatening and that has lasting adverse effects on the individual’s functioning and mental, physical, social, or emotional well-being.

Trauma-specific mental health services are mental health treatment approaches designed specifically to treat trauma-related symptoms, trauma-related disorders, and specific disorders of traumatic stress, such as trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy, trauma-related cognitive processing therapy, relaxation training, biofeedback, breathing training, exposure therapy, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing, narrative therapy, skills training in affective and interpersonal regulation, stress inoculation training, trauma incident reduction, or other interventions focused on supporting trauma recovery.

Note: Medical services are not allowable uses of funds under this grant. In general, mental health counseling is not prohibited by this limitation. However, any mental health services provided by a psychiatrist would need to be carefully evaluated by the grantee before services are rendered. Because psychiatrists are trained medical doctors, they can prescribe medications, and may spend time with patients on medication management as part of treatment. Funding from this program must not be used to provide these medical services or any medical procedure.

Technical Assistance Center:

The National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments (NCSSLE) provides training and support to State administrators, school and district administrators, institutions of higher education, teachers, support staff at schools, communities and families, and students. It also seeks to improve schools' conditions for learning through measurement and program implementation, so that all students have the opportunity to realize academic success in safe and supportive environments.

http://www.safesupportivelearning.ed.gov

Frequently Asked Questions

Administrative

1. What is the deadline date for this competition?

The deadline for this competition is August 14, 2019.

2. May I get an extension of the deadline date?

Waivers for individual applications failing to meet the deadline will not be granted, regardless of the circumstances. Under very extraordinary circumstances the Department may change the closing date for a grant competition. When this occurs, the Department announces such a change in a notice published in the Federal Register.

3. Do I have to submit my application electronically?

Yes. Unless you qualify for an exception in accordance with the instructions found in the Notice

Inviting Applications (NIA), you must submit your application electronically.

4. How do I submit my application electronically?

You must submit your application electronically via Grants.gov. For more information on using

Grants.gov, please refer to the “Common Instructions for Applicants to Department of Education

Discretionary Grant Programs” published in the Federal Register on July 5, 2019. The Grants.gov

“Submission Procedures and Tips” document found in this application package; and/or visit www.grants.gov.

5. How does the Freedom of Information Act affect my application?

http://www.safesupportivelearning.ed.gov/ http://www.grants.gov/

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) provides that any person has the right to request access to Federal agency records or information. All U.S. Government agencies are required to disclose records upon receiving a written request for them, except for those records that are protected from disclosure by the nine exemptions listed in the FOIA. All applications submitted for funding consideration under this grant competition are subject to the FOIA. To read the text of the

Freedom of Information Act, visit http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/leg/foia/foiatoc.html.

6. For my GEPA 427 statement is it adequate to state that our organization does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, sex, etc.?

No. An organization’s non-discrimination statement is not sufficient to meet the GEPA requirements. A GEPA statement should outline an entity’s potential barriers and solutions to equal access, specific to the proposed project.

7. What is required from an applicant whose State Single Point of Contact indicates that they are not reviewing applications for this grant competition?

Applicants should include a copy of such a response from the State Single Point of Contact in their application package submitted to the Department and check the appropriate line on the SF

424 form.

8. What steps should the applicant’s Authorized Representative take before signing a grant application?

The standard form that serves as a cover sheet for grant applications includes a certification statement that accompanies the authorized representative’s signature. That certification indicates that the information provided in the grant application is true and complete to the best of the authorized representative’s knowledge, and that any false, fictitious, or fraudulent statements or claims may subject the authorized representative to administrative, civil, or criminal penalties. As a result, an authorized representative should carefully review a grant application before signing in order to be sure that all information contained in the application package is correct. Additionally, an authorized representative should be sure that the application describes a project that has the organization’s support and reflects an approach that the organization is committed to implementing.

9. What should I include in the “Table of Contents”?

The Table of Contents shows where and how the important sections of your proposal are organized and should not exceed one double spaced page. The application package shows the

“Table of Contents” falling within the “Project Narrative,” but the “Table of Contents” should be comprehensive, covering all application content.

Eligibility

10. Who is eligible to apply?

http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/leg/foia/foiatoc.html

Eligible applicants are SEAs. An SEA, at its discretion, may partner with one or more nonprofit organizations, LEAs, institutions of higher education (IHEs), or State or local mental health agencies to carry out its project. If an SEA establishes a partnership for this purpose, the SEA may apply under the competitive preference priority on the basis of such a partnership.

11. Are colleges or universities eligible to apply for this grant?

No. Colleges and universities are not considered SEAs and thus are not eligible for this grant.

Only entities that meet the definition of an SEA may receive funding under this program.

Priorities

12. Must all applicants address the Absolute Priority to be eligible for funding?

Yes, all applications must address the Absolute Priority -- Empowering individual students (or their parents on behalf of the students, as appropriate) from low-income families who have experienced trauma to obtain trauma-specific mental health services from the providers that best meet their needs.

Under this priority, the Department supports projects in which an SEA compensates providers for trauma-specific mental health services for students who are from low-income families and who have experienced trauma that is impacting their educational experiences (e.g., by negatively affecting attendance, behavior, academic performance, or another measure identified by the SEA in its application). Such services should not already be covered by insurance or are unaffordable.

Students may seek, on their own or through their parents, school, or school district, as appropriate, a provider of trauma-specific mental health services that--

(a) Is State-licensed for the services provided;

(b) Provides services that are secular, neutral, and non-ideological.

13. Are applicants required to meet the competitive priority?

No. The competitive preference priority is intended to encourage applicants to partner with appropriate entities to best serve students and build State and local capacity. Applicants are not required to address the competitive preference priority.

14. If we decide to apply for the competitive preference priority, are we required to state our intention to do so in the abstract section of the application?

Yes. In order to be eligible for earning competitive preference priority points, an applicant must

State in the abstract section of its application that it is seeking points under the competitive preference priority, and we encourage you to specifically identify your response to the competitive preference priority to assist reviewers. Applications that fail to clearly state in the abstract section that they are seeking to earn points under the competitive preference will not be reviewed against the competitive preference priority and will not be awarded competitive preference priority points.

15. Where should we provide supporting information to address the competitive preference priority for purposes of earning competitive preference priority points?

Applicants should discuss in more detail how you will be addressing the competitive preference priority as part of the overall proposed project goals and objectives in the application narrative.

Requirements

16. What Assurances and Certifications are required?

Be certain to complete all required assurances and certifications in Grants.gov and include all required information in the appropriate place on each form. The assurances and certifications required for this application are the Assurances for Non-Construction Programs (SF 424B Form), the Disclosure of Lobbying Activities (SF LLL Form), the Certification Regarding Lobbying (ED 80- 0013 Form), and the General Education Provisions Act (GEPA) Requirements – Section 427

17. What are the Project Performance Measures for this program?

The Department has established the following performance measures for assessing the effectiveness of the Trauma Recovery Demonstration Grant Program:

a) Cumulative, unduplicated number of students receiving trauma-specific mental health services from a…