sga-dfa-py-10-11.pdf

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration

Notice of Availability of Funds and Solicitation for Grant Applications under the Enhanced Transitional Jobs Demonstration (ETJD)

Announcement Type: Solicitation for Grant Applications (SGA) Funding Opportunity Number: SGA/DFA PY-10-11 Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 17.261 and 17.270.

Key Dates: The closing date for receipt of applications under this announcement is April 15, 2011. Applications must be received no later than 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

Addresses: Mailed applications must be addressed to the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, Division of Federal Assistance, Attention:

Eric D. Luetkenhaus, Grant Officer, Reference SGA/DFA PY 10-11, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW, Room N4716, Washington, DC 20210. For complete application and submission information, including online application instructions, please refer to Section

IV.

Summary: The Employment and Training Administration (ETA), U.S. Department of Labor (DOL, or the Department), announces the availability of approximately $40 million in grant funds authorized by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 20100F

1 to support applicants in providing enhanced transitional jobs (ETJ) programs, as well as other activities and services, to increase the workforce participation of low-income, hard-to-employ populations, specifically non-custodial parents1F

2, and/or ex-offenders (who may or may not be non-custodial parents) reentering their communities.

ETA’s Enhanced Transitional Jobs Demonstration (ETJD) intends to fund grantees proposing to implement ETJ program models that go beyond Transitional Jobs (TJ) programs currently operating or tested previously. ETA seeks applications from either Local Workforce Investment Boards or non-profit community or faith-based organizations with 503(c)(3) IRS status that are experienced with providing TJ programs or that represent a partnership that includes an organization with experience providing TJ programs. Applicants must demonstrate that a relationship exists with the required partners or that such a relationship could be established quickly because of existing connections and agreements to work together. Applicants may also include other partners that can provide needed services for program participants and/or refer participants to the applicant as described in Section I.D. Program Design – Required Partners.

1 Pub. L. 111-117, Div. D, Title I, 123 Stat. 3227 (Dec. 16, 2009).

2 As part of President Obama’s Responsible Fatherhood Initiative designed to raise awareness and encourage the vital role that fathers play in American communities and families, the Transitional Jobs Demonstration will play a role in supporting employment attainment and retention for vulnerable fathers such as those who are leaving prison and/or are unprepared to meet child support obligations.

Upon selection, all grantees will be required to participate in a random assignment evaluation of the ETJD in which they must recruit at least 1,000 participants over two years so that 50 percent of participants receive the ETJ services provided by the applicant or the applicant’s partnership under this grant and so that the remaining 50 percent do not receive ETJ or like services under this grant.

Selected applicants and/or their partnerships must provide services that primarily and ultimately result in employment-related outcomes including completion of the paid work experience through a TJ experience, entrance to unsubsidized employment in a high-demand occupation or industry, earning high wages, retention of employment, and career advancement. Addressing other non-employment outcomes that lead to long-term success in the workplace, such as reductions in recidivism and improvements in family (parent/child and co-parenting) relationships and engagements, will also be expected and tracked. These outcomes may include increases in occupational skills and the attainment of essential life skills such as the ability to resolve conflicts, manage anger and stress, and the ability to negotiate. Other anticipated goals relate more specifically to the target populations to be served and include having a child support order, keeping current with child support payments, reductions in child support arrears, among others.

Section I. Funding Opportunity Description

A “transitional job” is generally defined as temporary, paid work experience intended to improve participants’ employability, earnings, and opportunities for advancement, and to promote self-sufficiency and long-term success in the unsubsidized labor market.

ETA’s ETJD intends to fund grantees’ proposing to implement ETJ program models that provide an enhanced program component as described in Section 1.C. Program Design

– Enhancements to Core Program Components and Section I.D. Program Design – Enhancements to Post-Program Services. ETA expects that the proposed program enhancement(s) will consist of enhancements to post-program services and either: 1) bringing to scale existing partial or temporary program component(s) that have potential, or 2) testing innovative untried strategies and/or program components for the selected targeted population(s).

Evaluations of TJ programs serving hard-to-employ individuals, including ex–offenders, have revealed mixed finding. These programs have shown some positive impacts on income during the supported work experience and, in some cases, on recidivism as well, but only limited or no detectable impacts on post-program employment or earnings.

In designing the ETJD, ETA considered past studies of TJ program models and consulted with the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Justice (DOJ) and other stakeholders. The ETJD will focus on ETJ program models intentionally designed around the specific barriers to post-program employment of the target populations identified herein.

A. UProgram Design – Target PopulationsU

While further information is available in Section III.D. – Eligible Participants, a definition of each target population for the purposes of the ETJD is:

• UNon-custodial ParentsU. Low-income2F

3 non-custodial parents are divorced, separated, or never-married adult parents, ages 18 and over, who are not the primary physical custodian of their child(ren) and who either have a child support order in place or agree to start the process of establishing an order within 30 days after enrollment in the ETJ program.

• UEx-OffendersU. Ex-offenders are adult offenders, ages 18 and older who have been convicted as an adult under Federal or State law, and who have never been convicted of a sex-related offense, and who have been released from a Federal or State prison within the past 120 days.

It is important to note that the target populations are not mutually exclusive and applicants need to be prepared to serve both. In fact, there is often substantial overlap between the two populations. For example, involvement with the criminal justice system is high among low-income non-custodial parents. The majority of prisoners are parents (55 percent). Over one-half of parents in prison (40 percent of mothers and 58 percent of fathers) indicated that they were not living with any of their children prior to incarceration. Over one million non-custodial parents in the child support system are incarcerated and 75 percent of them have child support orders. Non-custodial parents may leave prison having accrued considerable child support debt that they are unlikely to be able to pay because, in many states, child support orders are not typically modified when a parent is imprisoned. This often becomes a barrier to maintaining stable employment, accessing resources, and providing for themselves and their children upon release.

While the populations overlap substantially, applicants will have to declare whether they want to apply as an ex-offender program (and thus enroll individuals that meet the ex-offender definition) or as a non-custodial parent program (and enroll individuals that meet the non-custodial parent definition). Given the overlap in the target populations, self-declared ex-offender programs would serve both ex-offenders who are non-custodial parents and those who are not; while the non-custodial parent programs would serve both non-custodial parents who are ex-offenders and those who are not.

B. UProgram Design – Core Program Components

Each applicant will be required to provide core components of a strong, basic TJ program, as well as specific enhancements that go beyond these core components and are tailored to address the unsubsidized employment barrier issues of the specified population. For the purposes of this demonstration, the core program components must include the following:

3 As defined in WIA Title I, subtitle A, section 101 (24) and (25).

• Case management, including the identification, assessment, and enrollment of individuals into the project and the development of a personalized service strategy that may include personal, educational (such as occupational or vocational skills training that leads to an industry-recognized credential), or employment-related supports (such as job search assistance and job placement assistance) and the identification of appropriate supportive services, as defined by Section 101(6) and 134(e)(2) and (3) of the Workforce Investment Act. Case managers should have a central role in ensuring that project participants receive all of the necessary and appropriate services to overcome any barriers to full project participation. Case management for the purpose of the solicitation includes: follow-up and retention services intended to sustain and advance the gains made in education and employment outcomes; individualized, consistent follow-up after training and during the retention period for at least one year; intensive follow-up and retention services such as home visits or employer visits over the same period; and reporting on participants’ attainment of individual employment plan goals and objectives using an agreed-upon communication structure with referring agency partners;

• The administration of assessments, such as assessments of career interests, and aptitudes; job readiness or employability skills; academic or education skills; basic literacy and numeracy levels; and English language proficiency;

as well as others as appropriate;

• A temporary paid work experience for a minimum of four (4) months;

• Partnerships with employers, One-Stop Career Centers, criminal justice agencies and child support enforcement agencies;

• Services that address specific barriers to employment for non-custodial parents, such as parenting skills training, child support orders disproportionate to income, child support arrears, wage garnishment, and relationship counseling;

• Services that address the attributes of offenders that are directly linked to criminal behavior or recidivism such as behavioral/cognitive therapy and anger management counseling, for programs serving ex-offenders;

• An identified menu of wrap-around support services tailored to the target population’s needs (discussed further in the next paragraph); and

• Follow-up support services to assist participants with obtaining and holding unsubsidized jobs or employment retention (discussed further in the next paragraph).

The mix of wrap-around and follow-up services offered by the applicant and its partners may include, but are not limited to the following: assistance with high school or General Educational Development (GED) completion, attainment of literacy and numeracy skills, soft skills or job readiness or employability skills training, job development, mentoring, life skills training, fatherhood programs/curricula, financial literacy training, legal assistance, housing assistance, substance abuse, mental and/or physical health care, domestic violence prevention and treatment, child care, and transportation assistance.

C. UProgram Design – Enhancements to Core Program Components

Applicants must propose enhancements to one or more of these core components (or specific elements of a component or a subset of that component in the case of case management, wrap-around and follow-up services). Activities under this SGA are authorized under Section 171(b) of WIA, which allows for demonstration and pilot projects for the purpose of developing and implementing techniques and approaches, and demonstrating the effectiveness of specialized methods, in addressing employment and training needs. The applicant must justify why the particular enhancement(s) proposed are likely to yield stronger long-term employment and non-employment outcomes. For example, enhancements might include:

• Provision of case management services for a longer duration. Applicants proposing this enhancement will need to consider the four-year period of performance of the grant so that the required one-year follow-up falls within the grant period;

• Extension of the length of the paid work experience beyond the four months minimum requirement;

• Provision of a staggered, step-down wage subsidy whereby the grantee covers 100 percent of the paid work experience for a period (e.g. three months) of employment and then reduces the amount to 75 percent for the following period and so on, as an incentive to employers to retain participants placed in the transitional job;

• Provision of contextualized occupational skills training concurrent to the paid work experience;

• Provision of financial and/or in-kind incentives (such as free public transit passes or other in-kind incentives) to participants during the program for meeting specific milestones tied to employment outcomes such as obtaining unsubsidized employment;

• Placement of participants in paid work experience with UprivateU sector employers, with the grantee paying participant wages and providing additional wrap around support services;

• Implementation of a staged model, where the participant begins with a paid work experience at the grantee’s enterprise3F

4 and then moves to a private sector transitional job;

• Implementation of an integrated model that delivers substance abuse or mental health interventions within the context of the transitional job;

• Graduated stress approaches where participants are exposed to progressively more responsibility and higher expectations as they continue in their transitional jobs that may lead to higher wages;

• Provision of legal assistance to navigate the courts in order to set proper child support orders – often times these orders do not get adjusted when a non-custodial parent loses a job or is incarcerated;

• Provision of innovative loan products that help non-custodial parents bring their arrears down to a manageable level so they remove this barrier to work and wage garnishments which may include positive incentives if the non-custodial parent pays off a certain portion of the loan; and/or

• Non-linear model where the participant progresses from paid work experience for several weeks or months to training, counseling or other non-work activities for several weeks or months and then back to paid work experience for several more weeks or months.

Applicants should, if possible, use research evidence to support the program design choices they make. If rigorous evidence does not exist or the applicant is proposing an innovative untried strategy, the proposal should make a strong case using related research, theories or a strong logic model that suggests the proposed model will produce better positive results than seen in unenhanced transitional jobs interventions.

D. UProgram Design – Enhancements to Post-Program Services

As mentioned above, the evidence on transitional jobs programs for hard-to-employ individuals, including ex–offenders, shows some positive impacts on income during the supported work experience but only limited or no detectable impacts on post-program employment or earnings. Therefore, the Department will pay special attention to the post-program services proposed by the applicant. Specifically, applicants are required to propose enhancements that will strengthen the transition from subsidized to unsubsidized employment and facilitate retention in unsubsidized employment.

Examples of such enhancements include:

• Individual follow-up with working participants to identify and address barriers to employment retention and/or discuss strategies to advance to a better paying job;

4 Also known as a social enterprise in which an organization that operates an enterprise or business, such as a thrift store or warehouse, employs participants at its own facilities.

• Follow-up with employers to identify workplace issues and procedures for addressing these issues with the participant;

• Rapid re-employment services for people who lose jobs (potentially including temporary re-placement in a TJ);

• Provision of financial incentives to participants post-program for meeting specific milestones tied to employment outcomes such as for retaining the unsubsidized employment for a specified period (e.g., six months);

• Access to skills training while in unsubsidized employment to help workers qualify for better jobs;

• Working with the employer and the employee to make sure that the client is able to stay at the subsidized employer and roll over onto the company payroll, where appropriate; and

• Intensive job development and job search/job placement assistance to help the participant find a regular job. This should be more than just helping the client develop a resume and interviewing skills; it should include direct contact with employers to identify job openings, and some attempt to match participants with jobs that fit their skills and interests.

As with all design choices, applicants should, if possible, use research evidence to support their choice of post-program enhancements. If rigorous evidence does not exist or the applicant is proposing an innovative untried strategy, the proposal should make a strong case using related research, theories or a strong logic model that suggests the proposed model will produce better positive results than seen in unenhanced transitional jobs interventions.

E. UProgram Design – Required Partners

To ensure participants achieve successful employment outcomes, applicants must partner with child support enforcement agencies, criminal justice agencies, One-Stop Career Centers and employers. The relationship between formal employment and child support obligations can present unique challenges for TJ participation. Equally, navigating the parole and probation system can present another barrier for TJ participation. Applicants must show evidence of partnerships with child support enforcement agencies and criminal justice agencies (primarily parole and probation).

Such partnerships must include mechanisms for referring participants, providing services, facilitating child support order modifications and arrears remedies, expediting case processing and negotiating court requirements that otherwise might preclude participation in the TJ program.

Applicants are also required to show evidence of partnerships with the local One-Stop Career Centers including mechanisms for referring participants, and providing access to employment, assessment, and other center resources such as job development services.

Applicants must also show evidence of partnerships with local or regional employers in high-growth or in-demand career fields. Such partnerships ensures the provision of training (as applicable) and employment opportunities, including the development of and placement of participants in paid work experience or unsubsidized jobs, or paid work experience that leads to unsubsidized jobs with the same employer. In addition, applicants must describe plans to use the Federal Bonding Program (as applicable), the Work Opportunity Tax Credit, and other methods to encourage employers to hire participants.

Other partners, that are beneficial for comprehensive service provision, but are UnotU required include: education and training providers, such as community colleges, career technical programs, and adult education programs; health and human services agencies, including child welfare agencies, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families agencies, and substance abuse and mental health agencies; and other partners such as community and faith-based organizations that have experience providing supportive services such as fatherhood-focused services, peer mentoring, financial literacy training, housing assistance, transportation assistance, parenting skills training, childcare assistance, and assistance with obtaining food and clothing and operating programs for the two target populations.

F. UMandatory Participation in the Random Assignment EvaluationU

Applicants selected to receive a grant award under the ETJD and their partner agencies if operating as a consortium must participate in a rigorous random assignment evaluation in which applicants to the program will be selected by lottery into a group that is enrolled in the ETJD or a group that is not enrolled into the program. (Other referrals could be given to the group that would not be enrolled). The evaluation will assess the effectiveness and impact of the applicant’s EJT program model on numerous outcomes, including participants’ post-program labor market outcomes, child support outcomes (as applicable to the applicant’s target population), criminal recidivism, public assistance receipt, community reintegration, and family engagement, by comparing outcomes of participants to the outcomes of randomly-assigned individuals who are eligible for but do not receive the ETJ services provided under the grant. The impacts after the participants have transitioned from a paid work experience employment to unsubsidized employment will be of primary concern for the evaluation.

In addition to the impact analysis, the evaluation will also include an implementation analysis and a cost-benefit analysis. The implementation analysis will provide:

• Information to better understand the estimated impacts;

• Information about variation in the service delivery and impacts between ex-offenders and non-custodial parents; and

• Information about variation in impacts and service delivery between sites and any other sizeable subgroups served under the demonstration project.

The evaluation is intended to generate evidence-based knowledge and information for policymakers and decision-makers to determine whether carefully designed ETJ programs are effective, which program models or components of program models should be further pursued, and whether other policies and practices could be used to assist these specific hard-to-employ populations to achieve self-sufficiency. Given the importance of assessing the potential usefulness of ETJ programs, ETA’s priority in designing the evaluation will be to ensure that it yields rigorous evidence about well-defined, tightly-controlled ETJ program models for the target populations (low-income non-custodial parents and ex-offenders). Selected applicants’ responsibilities to support the evaluation include the following:

• Adhering to the random assignment methodology and participating in all activities related to conducting random assignment within their respective site(s),

• Recruiting over two years at least 1,000 qualified program applicants

(approximately half of whom would receive services). To qualify as an eligible program applicant, a program applicant must be either a low-income, non-job-ready, non-custodial parent and/or ex-offender with barriers to employment, depending on the program type that is selected;

• Conducting an assessment of job readiness or employability skills with each potential participant at intake or onset of program entry in order to determine if the individual is job ready.

o Individuals who are job ready are not the candidates most able to benefit from TJ services. Therefore, individuals who are job ready will not be entered into the lottery, but may be referred by the applicant to alternative service providers operating in the local community.

o Individuals who are not job ready will be entered into a lottery that will produce two groups: a treatment group, consisting of 500 non-custodial parents who UwillU receive the ETJ services and a control group, also consisting of 500 non-custodial parents who will UnotU receive ETJ services under this grant (or other services offered by the grantee); OR a treatment group consisting of 500 ex-offenders and a control group consisting of 500 ex-offenders. All control group members may be referred to other program providers in the community who offer other services.

• Implementing the demonstration project while meeting the requirements of the evaluation by:

o Having the operational and organizational capacity to recruit at least 1,000 non-custodial parents or 1,000 ex-offenders over a two-year period and assigning, by lottery, eligible low-income non-custodial parents or ex-offenders who can benefit from the ETJ program services to the treatment or control group. The treatment group members will have access to the funded program (the ETJD services) while the control group will not be served by the grantee but may be referred to other non-TJ-related services and supports available in the community.

o Selected applicants will need to demonstrate sufficient capacity in their respective sites to meet the recruitment target and to provide the ETJ services at the required scale.

• Working with the evaluation team to develop a process for study enrollment and random assignment that meets the needs of the evaluation and minimizes the disruption of program operations. (Applicants do not need to describe the process in their application. It will be jointly developed by site staff and members of the evaluation team). This process will include: explaining the study to potential participants, obtaining their written consent to participate in the study, collecting baseline demographic information and contact information, conducting random assignment using a simple Web-based application developed by the evaluation team, informing study participants of their lottery outcome, and ensuring that participants are treated in accordance with their assigned group. It will also include verifying that all applicants for program services during the grant period have not been previously assigned to the control group. Grantee staff will carry out the process, with training and support from the evaluation team.

• Identifying an Evaluation Coordinator, who will serve as primary liaison to the evaluation team. This individual will coordinate site visits with the evaluation team and be responsible for overseeing the study enrollment and random assignment process.

• Providing the evaluation team with individual-level quantitative and qualitative data on sample members’ participation in program activities. This may involve entering data into an ETA Management Information System (MIS) or extracting data from an MIS (and from payroll records). Typically, the data required for an evaluation are similar to the data required for strong program management.

• Sharing Qualitative and Quantitative Data. This evaluation will be implemented at about the same time as an equally important evaluation being sponsored by HHS. HHS’ Administration for Children and Families has launched an evaluation of the Subsidized and Transitional Employment Demonstration (STED) which will test up to seven promising programs serving parents who are directly or indirectly connected to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program.

Both this and the HHS evaluation will randomly assign program applicants to program services or to a control group and both evaluations will obtain data for study participants that are similar in nature. While HHS expects to evaluate a range of subsidized employment programs, with transitional jobs being only one possible approach, both DOL and HHS anticipate possible overlap in programs that are selected to participate in both evaluations. DOL and HHS recognize the value of collaborating on these evaluations to enhance the final analysis of what each study has learned about services to similar populations. Accordingly, all organizations who accept grant funds, and their partners (as appropriate), will be required, and must agree to, allow qualitative and quantitative data collected on their site operations and their program participants to be shared between DOL and HHS for purposes of these evaluations.

G. UParticipation in Implementation PhaseU.

Because grantees selected for this demonstration will need to add or expand program components in order to comply with the ETJ services required in this SGA, each grantee will be offered the opportunity to take up to three months to implement the program. Grantees under this SGA will be required to work with a technical assistance (TA) provider selected by ETA. The TA provider will work intensively with the grantees and partners during this initial implementation phase to assist with instituting the new components or strengthening organizational linkages. The evaluation team may also assist in this process.

H. UMandatory Data Collection and Performance ManagementU.

All grantees will be required to collect program data necessary to analyze the required outcomes and performance activity of interest to ETA, its Federal partners, and the evaluation contractor. Grantees will be required to submit quarterly financial, performance, and narrative reports to ETA. The performance reports will be based on a common template that reports on enrollment, services received, placements, outcomes, and follow-up status, among others. ETA already has developed a Web-based MIS that captures a significant amount of participant-level demographic, service and outcome data. Grantees will be provided access to this MIS to capture similar information. As mentioned under Section I.E. – Mandatory Participation in the Random Assignment Evaluation, qualitative and quantitative data collected on the selected applicant and their partners’ site operations and program participants also will be shared between DOL and HHS for the purposes of the evaluation. Applicants will not be responsible for collecting data on the control group after they have gone through the lottery. Data collected during the application period, however, will be provided to the evaluator.

I. UMandatory Grantee Orientation and Training ConferenceU.

Within 90 days after grant award, all grantees must participate in an intensive orientation and training conference organized by the TA contractor in consultation with ETA and the evaluation contractor. Grantees’ should include travel costs for this purpose on their Budget Information Forms (see Section IV.B. Part I – The Cost Proposal).

0BSection II. Award Information

A. UAward Amount

Under this SGA, ETA intends to award approximately $40 million in grant funds, of which approximately $15 million is designated to fund projects for ex-offenders. ETA plans to fund approximately six to twelve grants and individual grant amounts will range between $3 million and $6 million. Any grant application that requests more than $6 million will be deemed non-responsive and will not be considered. In the event additional funds become available, ETA reserves the right to use such funds to select additional grantees from applications submitted in response to this solicitation.

B. UPeriod of Performance

The period of performance will be for four (4) years from the date of execution of the grant documents. Grants awarded under this demonstration will have a four-year funding period that will allow for up to three months for the initial implementation, up to two years of “live” enrollment of at least 1,000 non-custodial parents or 1,000 ex-offenders, and 12-21 months of services for all program participants randomly assigned to receive the ETJ services. ETA may approve a request for a no-cost extension to grantees for an additional period of time based on grantees’ success with the goals of the demonstration and other relevant factors.

C. UTransparency

The Department is committed to conducting a transparent grant award process and publicizing information about program outcomes. Applicants are advised their application and information related to its review and evaluation (whether or not the application is successful) may be made publicly available, either fully or partially. In addition, information about grant progress and results may also be made publicly available.

Section III. Eligibility Information

A. UEligible ApplicantsU

In order to be eligible for consideration under this solicitation, an applicant must be a Local Workforce Investment Board or non-profit community or faith-based organization with 501(c)(3) IRS status. Applicants forming a consortium (or banding together to apply as a consortium) and National or regional organizations will also be considered, however the lead applicant submitting the application must be one of the eligible applicants listed above. The geographic area to be served by an individual project must be contiguous. Only one application will be funded for an applicant.

Applicants must have experience with providing or collaborating with TJ programs and other services to increase the skills levels and employability of the non-custodial parents and/or ex-offenders that they intend to serve, or must represent partnerships with such experience. Applicants’ experience must be documented via Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) as described under Section V.A.4 – Strength of Partnership with the Required Partners. Applicants that have experience with providing TJ programs will also have experience in identifying participants’ multiple barriers to work and providing wrap-around and follow-up support services, directly and through required partners and other partners to ensure that participants obtain and stay in unsubsidized employment.

Exclusions: To eliminate perceived and/or actual conflict of interest between applicants and any of the entities and staff affiliated with the evaluation, program and technical assistance aspects of the ETJD, applicants for this SGA cannot employ any person directly or indirectly or consult with staff to work on the grant or prepare applications for the grant if the person is directly affiliated with any of the evaluation contractors: MDRC, Abt Associates, and MEF Associates. In addition, entities applying for any Technical Assistance contract related to this SGA are not permitted to apply for grant funds or be included in applicants’ grant submissions as consultants or partner under this SGA.

B. UCost Sharing or Matching

Under this solicitation, matching or leveraged resources is not required. The applicant may provide leveraged resources from key entities to strengthen the service program offered to project participants. For applicants who choose to leverage resources, please include the following information in the budget narrative: (1) The total amount leveraged from federal sources; (2) the total amount leveraged from non-federal sources; (3) the partners contributing the resources; and (4) the projected activities, broken out by the source of the leveraged resource (federal or non-federal), to be implemented utilizing these resources. Applicants should address leveraged resources (as applicable) in the budget narrative but should not reflect the leveraged resources on the SF-424A Budget Information Form.

C. UOther Eligibility Criteria

Applicants must submit MOUs that show evidence of partnerships with the required partners as described in Section V.A.4. – Strength of Partnership with Required Partners.

Applicants must be willing to participate in the random assignment study described in Section I.E. – Mandatory Participation in the Random Assignment Evaluation.

Grantees selected under this SGA must comply with the guidance provided by ETA, the TA provider and the evaluation contractor.

D. UEligible ParticipantsU

1. Target Populations

The target populations for the ETJD are low-income, non-custodial parents and ex-offenders reentering their communities, who may or may not be non-custodial parents.

Applicants must propose projects that primarily focus on one of the two target populations as defined below:

UNon-custodial ParentsU. Low-income non-custodial parents are divorced, separated, or never-married adult parents, ages 18 and over, who are not the primary physical custodian of their child(ren) and who either have a child support order in place or agree to start the process of establishing an order within 30 days after enrollment in the ETJ program.

UEx-OffendersU. Ex-offenders are adult offenders, ages 18 and older who have been convicted as an adult under Federal or State law, and who have never been convicted of a sex-related offense, and who have been released from a Federal or State prison within the past 120 days.. Those convicted of sexual crimes, either as the presenting offense or a previous offense, are not eligible to participate in the ETJ Demonstration.

As mentioned in Section I.A. – Program Design – Target Population, the target populations are not mutually exclusive. Given that there may be substantial overlap between the two, applicants need to be prepared to serve both.

2. Veterans Priority for Participants

The Jobs for Veterans Act (Public Law 107-288) requires grantees to provide priority of service for veterans and spouses of certain veterans for the receipt of employment, training, and placement services in any job training program directly funded, in whole or in part, by DOL. The regulations implementing this priority of service can be found at 20 CFR Part 1010. In circumstances where a grant recipient must choose between two qualified candidates for a service, one of whom is a veteran or eligible spouse, the veterans’ priority of service provisions require that the grant recipient give the veteran or eligible spouse priority of service by first providing him or her that service. To obtain priority of service, a veteran or spouse must meet the program’s eligibility requirements. Grantees must comply with DOL guidance on veteran’s priority. ETA’s Training and Employment Guidance Letter (TEGL) No. 10-09 (issued November 10, 2009) provides guidance on implementing priority of service for veterans and eligible spouses in all qualified job training programs funded in whole or in part by DOL. TEGL No. 10-09 is available at Uhttp://wdr.doleta.gov/directives/corr_doc.cfm?DOCN=2816.

2816.

1BSection IV. Application and Submission Information

5BA. UHow to Obtain an Application Package

This SGA contains all of the information and links to forms needed to apply for grant funding.

B. UContent and Form of Application SubmissionU

Proposals submitted in response to this SGA must consist of three separate and distinct parts: (I) a cost proposal; (II) a technical proposal; and (III) attachments to the technical proposal. Applications that do not contain all of the three parts or that fail to adhere to the instructions in this section will be deemed non-responsive and will not be considered. It is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure that the funding amount requested is consistent across all parts and sub-parts of the application.

Part I. The Cost Proposal. The Cost Proposal must include the following items:

SF-424, “Application for Federal Assistance” (available at Uhttp://www07.grants.gov/agencies/forms_repository_information.jsp)U. The SF-424 must clearly identify the applicant and must be signed by an individual with authority to enter into a grant agreement. Upon confirmation of an award, the individual signing the SF- 424 on behalf of the applicant shall be considered the authorized representative of the applicant. All applicants for Federal grant and funding opportunities are required to have a Data Universal Numbering System (D-U-N-S®) number, and must supply their D-U-N-S® Number on the SF-424. The D-U-N-S® Number is a nine-digit identification number that uniquely identifies business entities. If you do not have a D-U-N-S® Number, you can get one for free through the D&B website:

Uhttp://fedgov.dnb.com/webform/displayHomePage.doU.

The SF-424A Budget Information Form (available at Uhttp://www07.grants.gov/agencies/forms_repository_information.jsp)U. In preparing the Budget Information Form, the applicant must provide a concise narrative explanation to support the budget request, explained in detail below.

Budget Narrative: The budget narrative must provide a description of costs associated with each line item on the SF-424A. It should also include a description of leveraged resources provided (as applicable) to support grant activities.

Note that the entire Federal grant amount requested (not just one year) must be included on the SF-424 and SF-424A and budget narrative. No leveraged resources should be shown on the SF-424 and SF-424A. The amount listed on the SF-424, SF- 424A and budget narrative must be the same. Please note, the funding amount included on the SF-424 will be considered the official funding amount requested if any inconsistencies are found. Applications that fail to provide an SF-424 including D-U-N- S® Number, SF-424A, and a budget narrative will be considered non-responsive and not reviewed.

http://fedgov.dnb.com/webform/displayHomePage.do�

Regardless of the method of application submission, all applicants must register with the Federal Central Contractor Registry (CCR) before submitting an application. Step-by-step instructions for registering with CCR can be found at Uhttp://www.grants.gov/applicants/org_step2.jspU. Once awarded funding, a grantee must maintain an active CCR registration with current information at all times during which it has an active Federal award or an application under consideration. To remain registered in the CCR database after the initial registration, the applicant is required to review and update on an annual basis from the date of initial registration or subsequent updates its information in the CCR database to ensure it is current, accurate and complete. For purposes of this paragraph, the applicant is the entity that meets the eligibility criteria and has the legal authority to apply and to receive the award. Failure to register with the CCR before application submission will result in your application being found non-responsive and not being reviewed.

15BPart II. The Technical Proposal. The Technical Proposal must demonstrate the applicant’s capability to implement the grant project in accordance with the provisions of this SGA. The guidelines for the content of the Technical Proposal are provided in section V of this SGA. The Technical Proposal is limited to 25 double-spaced single-sided 8.5 x 11 inch pages with 12 point Times New Roman font and 1 inch margins.

UAny materials beyond the specified page limit will not be readU. Applicants should number the Technical Proposal beginning with page number 1. Applications that do not include Part II, the Technical Proposal, will be considered non-responsive and not reviewed.

Part III. Attachments to the Technical Proposal. Attachments to the technical proposal do not count against the limit of 25 pages for the Technical Proposal, but may not exceed 20 pages in total. In addition to the Technical Proposal, the applicant must submit the following attachments:

16BAn abstract, not to exceed two (2) double-spaced single-sided pages 8.5 x 11 inch pages with 12 point Times New Roman font and 1 inch margins, that must include the following sections: (1) summary of the proposed project, including applicant name; (2) target population to be served; (3) project title; (4) key partners; (5) projected outcomes;

and (6) funding level requested, specifically indicating dollar amounts for providing services for ex-offenders.

MOUs, not to exceed 18 pages total, from all required partners (employers, One-Stop Career Centers, the child support enforcement system and the criminal justice agencies) or UoneU MOU that is co-signed by all partners describing the respective roles and responsibilities of each partner.

17BElectronic signatures are permissible in the MOUs. Applicants must include this information in the grant package. It should not be sent separately because MOUs received separately will be tracked through a different system and will not be attached to the application for review. ETA does not permit general letters of support submitted http://www.grants.gov/applicants/org_step2.jsp� by organizations or individuals that are not partners in the proposed project and that do not directly identify the specific commitment or roles of the project partners. Support letters of this nature will not be included in the evaluation review process.

18BApplications that do not include the required attachments (abstract and MOUs) will be deemed non-responsive and will not be considered. Any additional materials beyond the 20-page limit for attachments will not be reviewed. The required attachments must be affixed and clearly identified as appendices to the application.

6BC. USubmission Date, Times, Process and Addresses

The closing date for receipt of applications under this announcement is April 15, 2011.

Applications may be submitted electronically on Uhttp://www.grants.govU or in hard copy by mail or hand delivery (including overnight delivery). Hard copy applications must be received at the address below no later than 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Applications submitted on grants.gov must also be successfully submitted (as described below) no later than 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Applications sent by e-mail, telegram, or facsimile (FAX) will not be accepted.

Applicants submitting proposals in hard copy must submit an original signed application (including the SF-424) and one (1) ‘‘copy-ready’’ version free of bindings, staples or protruding tabs to ease in the reproduction of the proposal by DOL. Applicants submitting proposals in hard copy are also required to provide an identical electronic copy of the proposal on compact disc (CD). If discrepancies between the hard copy submission and CD copy are identified, the application on the CD will be considered the official applicant submission for evaluation purposes. Failure to provide identical applications in hard copy and CD format may have an impact on the overall evaluation.

If an application is physically submitted by both hard copy and through Uhttp://www.grants.gov,U a letter must accompany the hard copy application stating which application to review. If no letter accompanies the hard copy, we will review the copy submitted through Uhttp://www.grants.govU. Applications that do not meet the conditions set forth in this notice will be considered non-responsive. No exceptions to the mailing and delivery requirements set forth in this notice will be granted. Further, documents submitted separately from the application, before or after the deadline, will not be accepted as part of the application.

Mailed applications must be addressed to the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, Division of Federal Assistance, Attention: Eric D.

Luetkenhaus, Grant Officer, Reference SGA/DFA PY 10-11, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW, Room N4716, Washington, DC 20210. Applicants are advised that mail delivery in the Washington area may be delayed due to mail decontamination procedures.

Hand-delivered proposals will be received at the above address. All overnight mail will be considered to be hand-delivered and must be received at the designated place by the specified closing date and time.

Applications that are submitted through Grants.gov must be successfully submitted at Uhttp://www.grants.govU no later than 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time on the closing date and then subsequently validated by Grants.gov. The submission and validation process is described in more detail below. The process can be complicated and time-consuming.

Applicants are strongly advised to initiate the process as soon as possible and to plan for time to resolve technical problems if necessary.

The Department strongly recommends that before the applicant begins to write the proposal, applicants should immediately initiate and complete the “Get Registered” registration steps atU http://www.grants.gov/applicants/get_registered.jspU. Applicants should read through the registration process carefully before registering. These steps may take as much as four weeks to complete, and this time should be factored into plans for electronic submission in order to avoid unexpected delays that could result in the rejection of an application. The site also contains registration checklists to help you walk through the process. The Department strongly recommends that applicants download the “Organization Registration Checklist” at Uhttp://www.grants.gov/assets/Organization_Steps_Complete_Registration.pdfU and prepare the information requested before beginning the registration process. Reviewing and assembling required information before beginning the registration process will alleviate last minute searches for required information and save time.

As described above, applicants must have a D–U–N–S® Number and must register with the Federal Central Contractor Registry (CCR).

The next step in the registration process is creating a username and password with Grants.gov to become an Authorized Organizational Representative (AOR). AORs will need to know the D-U-N-S® Number of the organization for which they will be submitting applications to complete this process. To read more detailed instructions for creating a profile on Grants.gov visit: Uhttp://www.grants.gov/applicants/org_step3.jspU.

After creating a profile on Grants.gov, the E-Biz point of Contact (E-Biz POC) - a representative from your organization who is the contact listed for CCR – will receive an email to grant the AOR permission to submit applications on behalf of their…