training-and-service-learning-sga.pdf

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration Notice of Availability of Funds and Solicitation for Grant Applications for Serving Young Adult Ex-Offenders through Training and Service-Learning

Announcement Type: Solicitation for Grant Applications (SGA) Funding Opportunity Number: SGA/DFA-PY-11-03 Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 17.270

Key Dates: The closing date for receipt of applications under this announcement is April 17, 2012. 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, Office of Grants Management, Attention: Latifa Jeter, Grant Officer, Reference SGA/DFA PY 11-03, 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 $30 million in grant funds authorized by the Workforce Investment Act for Reintegration of Ex-Offenders (RExO) Training and Service-Learning grants to serve young adult offenders ages 18 through 21 who have been involved in the juvenile justice system from the age of 14 or above and have never been convicted as an adult under Federal or State law. Training provided through these grants is expected to lead to credentials recognized by in demand industries in the grantee’s geographic area to be served. Service-learning projects conducted through these grants must integrate meaningful community service with instruction and reflection that enrich the learning experience, teach civic responsibility, and encourage lifelong civic engagement. Such projects can help rebuild severed relationships between the returning offender and members of the community while developing the participant’s workplace skills, such as leadership and time management. Through service-learning, returning offenders are offered the opportunity to reestablish community-based trust while enhancing their work-based skills and status in their communities.

These grants will be awarded through a competitive process. The Department expects to award a minimum of 20 grants of various amounts. Applicants may each submit only one proposal requesting up to $1.5 million to cover a 30-month period of performance that includes up to four months of planning and a minimum of 26 months of operation. The 26 months of operation includes time for follow-up services for a period of three to four months. Some participants may be receiving follow-up services while others are still receiving direct services. The Department anticipates the approximate cost per participant to be in the range of $12,000 to $16,000 (including administration and planning costs) for average length-of-stays of six to eight months.

The Department expects that participants will be enrolled in these programs full-time, as defined by a minimum of 32-hours per week, including time spent in both the service-learning and educational components. Programs may enroll participants for up to one-year terms, inclusive of the follow-up period, with the understanding that participants may leave the program before completion to take other jobs or for personal or conduct-related reasons.

This solicitation provides background information and describes the application submission requirements, outlines the process that eligible entities must use to apply for funds covered by this solicitation, and outlines the evaluation criteria used as a basis for selecting the grantees.

I. Funding Opportunity Description A. Background of Funding Opportunity Each year, juvenile courts in the United States handle roughly 1.6 million delinquency cases, and an estimated 144,000 youth are placed in juvenile correctional facilities. Youth in the juvenile justice system have a high probability of returning to crime after their release. As an example, the State of Virginia reports that 75 percent of youth released from state correctional facilities and 61 percent of youth placed on probation in the state are arrested for a new crime within three years.1 A contributing factor to this high recidivism rate is the disproportionately high unemployment rate among ex-prisoners, estimated to range from 25 to 40 percent.

This Solicitation seeks to improve the employability of participants by providing skills training.

The training and service-learning grants to be awarded through this announcement hold promise for reducing the recidivism rate of young adult offenders. Job training that leads to employer-recognized credentials helps to ensure the value of the training in the labor market, which benefits the individuals served through the grants. Grantees should develop training programs in areas where there are no prohibitions for employment of persons with criminal records. The attainment of industry-recognized credentials is a strategy for both improving employment and earnings prospects for participants and addressing employers’ needs for more skilled workers.

The service-learning component of these projects provides participants the opportunity to give something back to their communities through community service to make up for past transgressions. At the same time as learning occupational skills, service-learning helps to develop work-place skills, such as leadership and time management. Such projects hold promise for reducing the recidivism rate of juvenile offenders by improving their vocational and educational skills and long-term prospects in the labor market and by increasing their attachment to their community and their sense of community responsibility.

The rehabilitation benefit of providing ex-offenders the opportunity to participate in service-learning projects is based on the premise that, by their criminal acts, offenders have hurt their communities and have depleted any trust that the community has in them. Participating in service-learning projects that integrate occupational skills training offers ex-offenders a chance to demonstrate accountability for their actions and make reparations to the community while

1 See the State of Virginia’s Department of Juvenile Justice’s Data Resource Guide for FY 2009 (http://www.djj.virginia.gov/Resources/DJJ_Publications/DRGFY.aspx ). For links to juvenile justice systems in other states see the State Juvenile Justice Profiles web site at http://www.ncjj.org/Publication/Juvenile-Court- Statistics-1998.aspx , but data on recidivism is not typically available through these links.

http://www.djj.virginia.gov/Resources/DJJ_Publications/DRGFY.aspx http://www.ncjj.org/Publication/Juvenile-Court-Statistics-1998.aspx http://www.ncjj.org/Publication/Juvenile-Court-Statistics-1998.aspx developing their work-place skills, such as leadership and time management. This effort at fostering a renewed sense of belonging and investment in their communities is accomplished through 1) service-learning projects that aid in the rebuilding of severed relationships between young offenders and community members while reestablishing trust and a positive status for the offender within the community; and 2) work experience, other vocational training, and academic interventions that enable participants to improve their skills and enhance their future educational and career opportunities.2

Programs funded under this SGA must include each of the following components: 1) meaningful service-learning opportunities; 2) educational interventions that leads to placement opportunities in post-secondary education and vocational training that lead to industry-recognized credentials in demand industries in the geographic area to be served; 3) community awareness of the participants’ service projects that rebuilds the community’s trust in them and enables the community to view them as assets rather than liabilities; 4) high staff-to- participant ratios, including close adult supervision on service-learning projects; 5) a career development; and 6) post-program support and follow-up. These six program components are discussed in more detail in the Required Program Components section, Section I.B, below.

The Department will set performance goals for these grants relating to the rate at which participants enter employment, post-secondary education or training; are retained in employment and education placements; avoid re-arrest and re-incarceration; and receive high school diplomas (or equivalent) and industry-recognized credentials. Programs already serving eligible participants must increase their overall enrollment with DOL funds, rather than serve existing participants through a co-enrollment process.

B. Required Program Components To address the evaluation criteria in Section V.A. each applicant under this SGA must include each of the components described below.

1. Meaningful service-learning opportunities. Programs funded under these grants must conduct service-learning projects of value to the local community. These projects should also help participants learn work-based skills required for effective and sustained employment, including “soft skills” such as professionalism, communication, and problem-solving. The Department also encourages having participants work in teams. Examples of possible service-learning projects include: conservation projects such as restoration of public lands, maintaining federally-managed fish hatcheries, urban tree planting, and park trail maintenance; graffiti removal; staffing and support for community events like fairs or community days; improving sports fields; and other appropriate activities at health clinics, hospitals, or food banks. Grantees must also place a high priority on public safety, as well as the safety of program participants at project worksites.

2 For more information on the history and justification for involving offenders in civic justice projects, see Gordon Bazemore and David Carp, “A Civic Justice Corps: Community Service as a Means of Reintegration,” available at http://www.cjcj.org/files/bazemore.pdf.

http://www.cjcj.org/files/bazemore.pdf

2. Educational interventions that lead to placement opportunities in post-secondary education and vocational training that leads to industry-recognized credentials in demand industries in the geographic area to be served. Programs funded under these grants should provide a comprehensive set of interventions to address the varying academic levels of participants. The educational component should integrate education interventions with career and occupational development and include basic skills instruction and remedial education;

language instruction for individuals with limited English proficiency; tutoring; study skills training; and credit retrieval. Programs must provide reasonable accommodations to participants with disabilities. Additional educational interventions could include counseling participants on acquiring financial aid to attend college, taking them on visits to local community and four-year colleges, and helping them fill out necessary application forms for college. These interventions should be designed to lead to the attainment of a secondary school diploma, GED, or other State-recognized equivalent, including recognized alternative standards for individuals with disabilities. Applicants must also offer vocational training that leads to industry-recognized credentials in demand industries in their geographic area to be served. Applicants should use Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data and information obtained by their local economic development agency and local Workforce Investment Board (WIB) to develop training programs that are relevant to the local communities’ workforce and economic development needs.

3. Community awareness of the youth’s service projects that rebuilds the community’s trust in the youth and enables the community to view the youth as assets rather than liabilities. Programs funded under these grants must emphasize rebuilding the community’s trust in the young offenders served by the program and also instill a sense of community responsibility in the youth offenders served. Grantees should coordinate with their local communities in developing and implementing service-learning projects that meet real and specific needs. Depending on the project, this could include working with civic organizations, local government leaders, employers, or clergy. Programs should develop ways for the community to recognize the participants who worked on projects, once the projects are completed. The grantees should also work with the community to help support further positive community involvement by the participants.

4. High Staff-to-Participant Ratios, including Close Adult Supervision on Service-Learning Projects. Programs funded under these grants must have a sufficient number of staff to run a high-quality program. In particular, grantees must have enough adult project site supervisors to ensure that work being conducted on service-learning projects is of high quality; that participants are being productive and demonstrating a positive attitude toward the service-learning project at hand; and that participants are gaining employment skills and learning positive behaviors such as leadership, teamwork, and respect for authority and for fellow participants. Programs will also need to ensure that case management is provided either directly with grant funds or through referrals to partner agencies, to address participants’ barriers to employment, such as a lack of transportation and childcare, substance abuse and mental health issues, and history of family instability. Programs will also need to develop strategies to ensure that the interaction among juvenile offenders does not cause them to re-offend. Funding for these grants is appropriated under the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA). Under WIA Section 181(b)(4), health and safety standards established under Federal and State law otherwise applicable to working conditions of employees are equally applicable to working conditions of program participants engaged in training and other activities.

5. Career Development. Programs funded under these grants must have a strong career development component that seeks to place each participant in employment, post-secondary education, registered apprenticeship program, or vocational training leading to industry-recognized credentials in demand industries in the geographic area to be served. This component should include partnerships with employers, the local workforce investment system’s One-Stop Career Center(s), community colleges, and four-year colleges. This component should be integrated with educational interventions. Career development services also should be an extension of service-learning projects so that the employment skills gained during service-learning projects are related to current and future work opportunities. There should be an emphasis on career development for in demand industries such as health care. DOL has developed a tool to assist in career development and planning called “My Next Move,” which can be accessed at http://mynextmove.org. Service-learning projects may provide exposure to various industries and, in such cases, participants should be exposed to relevant industry data, such as future job openings and educational requirements for different occupations within those industries. For example, service-learning projects in the area of conservation may be connected to learning about job opportunities in land management agencies such as the National Park Service, the Forest Service, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Other service-learning projects conducted in hospitals or clinics may be connected, for example, to job or post-secondary educational opportunities in allied health occupations, such as dental hygienists, diagnostic medical sonographers, opticians, and radiologic technologists.

6. Post-Program Support and Follow-Up. Programs funded under these grants must have strong post-program support and follow-up components, including continued coordination and contact with employers, the local workforce development agency, local community colleges, and four-year colleges where participants have been placed, to ensure that participants retain jobs and remain in the schools and in other career development opportunities in which they are placed.

Applicants must define the length of these post-placement services which must occur during the 26-month operation period of the grant. Time for follow-up services must be for a period of 3 to 4 months. Some participants may be receiving follow-up services while others are still receiving direct services.

C. Required Partnerships with the Juvenile Justice System and Social Service Agencies In addition to the links to employers, the local workforce investment system’s One-Stop Career Center(s), Workforce Investment Boards (WIBs), local economic development agencies, community colleges, and four-year colleges described in the Career Development and Post- Program Support and Follow-Up components, each Program funded under this SGA will be expected to develop partnerships with the entities listed in the bullet points below, to leverage resources to provide services.

The local juvenile justice system to receive referrals of eligible individuals who are being released from juvenile correction facilities, who are on probation, who received an alternative sentence, who were diverted before adjudication as an alternative to juvenile prosecution, or who have been involved in the juvenile justice system, and to coordinate services to program participants with juvenile probation officers; and

Social service agencies to provide referrals for health care and mental health services, substance abuse services, parenting classes and services, assistance in using the Earned Income Tax Credit, assistance in accessing the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) for food stamps and other Federal services, and housing assistance.

Grantees must partner with existing networks of county or regional social service agencies funded by state or federal resources that provide services to ex-offenders, where these networks exist.

D. Allowable Uses of Grant Funds Allowable uses of grant funds for projects funded under these grants include but are not necessarily limited to the following activities:

1) Service-learning, career development, and education activities, such as:

Service-learning projects;

Skill and interest assessment and career development planning;

Skills training that lead to credentials recognized in demand industries in the geographic area to be served;

Payment of wages to participants;

Payment of stipends to participants based on their performance in the program;

Incentives payments to participants for recognition and achievement tied to training activities and work experiences;

Job placement activities;

Equipment, materials, and supplies for community service projects that support the occupational training aspect of public community service projects, consistent with requirements in 2 CFR 225 and 2 CFR 230, which require prior agency approval for equipment over $5,000 and that materials and supplies be charged at their actual net cost;

Purchase of equipment for reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities;

The purchase of bonds through the Federal Bonding Program;

Basic skills instruction and remedial education;

Referrals to parenting classes;

Credit retrieval and GED instruction;

Language instruction educational programs for individuals with limited English proficiency;

Counseling and assistance in compiling high school credits, applying for post-secondary education, and applying for financial aid; and Supportive services to include needs-related payments in accordance with Part IV.E. 5.

2) Case management, supportive services and related activities, including but not limited to:

Mentoring;

Referrals to housing assistance;

Referrals to mental health counseling;

Referrals to parenting classes and services;

Referrals to and payment of legal services related to the purpose of this grant, such as:

providing legal assistance to secure driver’s license, expunge criminal records and modify child support orders; and

Referrals to substance abuse treatment.

3) Leadership and personal development activities that seek to develop cognitive and soft skills that participants will need to succeed in future jobs and that support one or more workplace competencies, including:

Problem-solving;

Oral communication skills;

Strong work ethic; and Ability to work as part of a team.

4) Follow-up services that focus on job retention, retention in education and training, wage gains, and career progress through regular contact with employers, educational institutions, and other post-placement supporting agencies, including:

Assistance in addressing work-related problems that arise;

Assistance in securing better-paying jobs;

Career development and further education;

Continued coordination with colleges where participants have been placed and local workforce agencies;

Work in peer support groups;

Mentoring; and Tracking of progress made by participants in employment, education, and training.

II. Award Information A. Award Amount The Department has approximately $30 million in grant funds available through this competition for Training and Service-Learning grants and expects to award a minimum of 20 grants of various amounts. Applicants may submit only one proposal for up to $1.5 million, with the amount requested depending on the number of offenders ages 18 through 21 who have been involved in the juvenile justice system at the age of 14 or above and have never been convicted as an adult under Federal or State law as defined in Section III.D.I the applicant plans to serve.

Any grant application with a proposed value greater than $1.5 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. Period of Performance These grants will be funded for a 30-month period of performance that includes up to four months for a planning phase and a minimum of 26 months of operation, which must include a follow-up period that lasts 3 to 4 months. This follow-up must be included in the period of performance. In the Budget Narrative, discussed in section IV.B.I, applicants must provide separate budgets for planning and operations. Regardless of the length of the planning period, applicants must budget for a minimum of 26 months of operation. Grantees should be judicious in their use of funds during the planning period and use funds specifically for planning and pre-implementation activities associated with this grant. Applicants should plan to fully expend grant funds during the period of performance while ensuring full transparency and accountability for all expenditures. Grantees must achieve all planning milestones during the planning phase.

These milestones will include: the hiring of core program staff, including the Project Director, Job Developer(s), and Case Manager(s); establishment of all necessary partnerships for the successful delivery of services; and the initiation of recruitment and outreach efforts for enrollment of participants. Completion of these milestones within the grant’s planning phase will be reviewed by the Federal Project Officer.

III. Eligibility Information A. Eligible Applicants Any non-profit organization with IRS 501(c)(3) status, unit of state or local government, or any Indian and Native American entity eligible for grants under WIA Section 166 may apply for these grants. An organization may submit only one application for up to $1.5 million. If more than one application is submitted, only the first application will be reviewed.

B. Cost Sharing or Matching Cost sharing or matching funds are not required as a condition for application.

C. Other Eligibility Criteria There are no other eligibility criteria.

D. Eligible Participants

1. Participants Eligible to Receive Services Individuals ages 18 through 21 who have been involved in the juvenile justice system at the age of 14 or above and have never been convicted as an adult under Federal or State law.

Involvement in the juvenile justice system includes individuals who were:

under the supervision of the juvenile justice system either in out-of-home placements or on probation or parole;

under an alternative sentence by the juvenile justice system; or in a diversion program as an alternative to juvenile prosecution by the juvenile justice system.

Individuals served with funds under this SGA must reside in the geographic area identified by the applicant (which can be a city, a county, a sub-area of a city or county, a set of contiguous counties, an Indian Reservation, a local workforce investment area, or other similar geographic area), or be returning to the geographic area from an out-of-home placement in the juvenile justice system.

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 veterans’ 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 http://wdr.doleta.gov/directives/corr_doc.cfm?DOCN=2816.

E. Other Grant Specifications

1. Transparency DOL is committed to conducting a transparent grant award process and publicizing information about program outcomes. Posting grant applications on public websites is a means of promoting and sharing innovative ideas. For this grant competition, we will publish the abstracts required by Section IV, B. Part III for all applications on the Department’s public website or similar publicly accessible location. Additionally, we will publish a version of the Technical Proposal required by Section IV.B.Part II, for all those applications that are awarded grants, on the Department’s website or a similar location. No other parts of or attachments to the application will be published.

The Technical Proposals and Abstracts will not be published until after the grants are announced.

In addition, information about grant progress and results may also be made publicly available.

DOL recognizes that grant applications sometimes contain information that an applicant may consider proprietary or business confidential information, or may contain personally identifiable information (PII). Proprietary or confidential commercial/business information is information that is not usually disclosed outside your organization and the disclosure of which is likely to cause you substantial competitive harm. PII is information that can be used to distinguish or trace an individual‘s identity, such as name, social security number, date and place of birth, mother‘s maiden name, or biometric records, and any other information that is linked or linkable to an individual, such as medical, educational, financial, and employment information.3

Abstracts will be published in the form originally submitted, without any redactions. However, in order to ensure that PII and proprietary or confidential commercial/business information is properly protected from disclosure when DOL posts the winning Technical Proposals, applicants whose technical proposals will be posted will be asked to submit a second redacted version of their Technical Proposal, with any proprietary, confidential commercial/business, and PII redacted. All non-public information about the applicant’s staff should be removed as well. The Department will contact the applicants whose technical proposals will be published by letter or email, and provide further directions about how and when to submit the redacted version of the Technical Proposal. Submission of a redacted version of the Technical Proposal will constitute permission by the applicant for DOL to make the redacted version publicly available. If an

3 Memorandums 07-16 and 06-19. GAO Report 08-536, Privacy: Alternatives Exist for Enhancing Protection of Personally Identifiable Information, May 2008, http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d08536.pdf.

applicant fails to provide a redacted version of the Technical Proposal, DOL will publish the original Technical Proposal in full, after redacting PII. (Note that the original, unredacted version of the Technical Proposal will remain part of the complete application package, including an applicant’s proprietary and confidential information and any PII.)

Applicants are encouraged to maximize the grant application information that will be publicly disclosed, and to exercise restraint and redact only information that clearly is proprietary, confidential commercial/business information, or PII. The redaction of entire pages or sections of the Technical Proposal is not appropriate, and will not be allowed, unless the entire portion merits such protection. Should a dispute arise about whether redactions are appropriate, DOL will follow the procedures outlined in the Department’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) regulations (29 CFR Part 70).

Redacted information in grant applications will be protected by DOL from public disclosure in accordance with federal law, including the Trade Secrets Act (18 U.S.C. § 1905), FOIA, and the Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. § 552a). If DOL receives a FOIA request for your application, the procedures in DOL’s FOIA regulations for responding to requests for commercial/business information submitted to the government will be followed, as well as all FOIA exemptions and procedures. 29 CFR § 70.26. Consequently, it is possible that application of FOIA rules may result in release of information in response to a FOIA request that an applicant redacted in its “redacted copy.”

IV. Application and Submission Information A. How to Obtain an Application Package This SGA contains all of the information and links to forms needed to apply for grant funding.

B. Content and Form of Application Submission 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 reviewed. 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 http://apply07.grants.gov/apply/FormLinks?family=15 ). 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. As stated in block 21 of the SF-424 form, the signature of the authorized representative on the SF-424 certifies that the organization is in compliance with the Assurances and Certifications form SF-424B (available at http://apply07.grants.gov/apply/FormLinks?family=15 ). The SF-424B is not required to be submitted with the application.

http://apply07.grants.gov/apply/FormLinks?family=15

In addition, the applicant’s signature in block 21 of the SF-424 form constitutes assurance by the applicant of the following in accordance with 29 CFR § 37.20:

As a condition to the award of financial assistance from the Department of Labor under Title I of WIA, the grant applicant assures that it will comply fully with the nondiscrimination and equal opportunity provisions of the following laws: Section 188 of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA), which prohibits discrimination against all individuals in the United States on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, political affiliation or belief, and against beneficiaries on the basis of either citizenship/status as a lawfully admitted immigrant authorized to work in the United States or participation in any WIA Title I—financially assisted program or activity; Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, which prohibits discrimination on the bases of race, color and national origin; Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, which prohibits discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities; The Age Discrimination Act of 1975, as amended, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of age; and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, as amended, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in educational programs. The grant applicant also assures that it will comply with 29 CFR Part 37 and all other regulations implementing the laws listed above. This assurance applies to the grant applicant's operation of the WIA Title I-financially assisted program or activity, and to all agreements the grant applicant makes to carry out the WIA Title I-financially assisted program or activity. The grant applicant understands that the United States has the right to seek judicial enforcement of this assurance.

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

The SF-424A Budget Information Form (available at http://apply07.grants.gov/apply/FormLinks?family=15 ). 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 will not be reviewed.

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 http://www.grants.gov/applicants/org_step2.jsp. An awardee must maintain an active CCR http://fedgov.dnb.com/webform/displayHomePage.do http://www.grants.gov/applicants/org_step2.jsp 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 will not be reviewed.

Part 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 Solicitation.

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 text font and 1 inch margins. Any materials beyond the specified page limit will not be read. 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 will not be reviewed.

Part III. Attachments to the Technical Proposal. In addition to the Technical Proposal, the applicant must submit the following attachments:

A. Technical Proposal Attachments Required for Review of the Application:

1) An up to two-page abstract summarizing the proposed project, including but not limited to the scope of the project and proposed outcomes, a brief discussion of the geographic area to be served by the grant, the number of eligible participants to be served, the service-learning projects to be conducted, the educational interventions to be provided including vocational training that leads to industry recognized credentials in demand industries in the geographic area to be served, the employment opportunities to be offered, the sources of recruitment for participants, and the partnerships that will be developed. If using grants.gov for submission, this document must be attached under the Mandatory Other Attachment section and labeled abstract. Please note that applicants will be held to outcomes provided and failure to meet those outcomes may have a significant impact on future grants with ETA.

2) Project/Performance Site Location(s) form (available at http://apply07.grants.gov/apply/FormLinks?family=15 ). If using grants.gov for submission, this form must be attached under the required forms section. Please note that this is a standard form used for many programs and has a check box for applying as an individual. Disregard this box on the form as individuals are not eligible to apply for this solicitation; and

3) For those applicants submitting an application as a non-profit, verification from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) of non-profit 501(c)(3) status signed by an authorized representative of the IRS is required. ALL non-profit applicants must submit this verification even if you are a current DOL grantee and documentation is assumed to be on file.

Applications that do not include all of the required attachments listed above will be considered non-responsive and will not be reviewed.

B. Technical Proposal Attachments Required for Receiving Points in Particular Sections or Subsections of the Evaluation Criteria (Section V.) The following documents are required for receiving points in particular sections or subsections of the evaluation criteria:

1) Chart documenting need as discussed in Section V.A.1;

2) Evidence of progress made in developing partnerships as described in Section V.A.3, which may include letters of commitment and memoranda of understanding from expected partners and other letters to support the applicant’s response to the evaluation criteria found in section V.A.3;

3) Charts documenting past grant performance and timeliness of reports as discussed in Section V.A.5 and 6; and

4) Previous grantor contact information as discussed in Section V.A.5 and 6.

The required and additional attachments listed above do not count against the 25-page limit for the Technical Proposal.

The attachments must be affixed as separate, clearly identified appendices to the application.

Additional materials such as resumés or general letters of support or commitment will not be considered.

Applicants should not send documents separately to DOL, because documents received separately will be tracked separately through a different system and will not be attached to the application for review. DOL will not accept general letters of support submitted 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.

C. Submission Date, Times, Process and Addresses The closing date for receipt of applications under this announcement is April 17, 2012.

Applications may be submitted electronically on http://www.grants.gov 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 on the closing date. Applications submitted on grants.gov must also be successfully submitted (as described below) no later than 4:00 p.m.

Eastern Time on the closing date. 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 hardcopy and CD format may have an impact on the overall evaluation.

If an application is physically submitted by both hard copy and through http://www.grants.gov, 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 http://www.grants.gov.

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: Latifa Jeter, Grant Officer, Reference SGA/DFA PY 11-03, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW, Room N4716, Washington, DC 20210. Applicants are advised that mail delivery in the Washington DC 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 http://www.grants.gov 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 at http://www.grants.gov/applicants/get_registered.jsp. 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 http://www.grants.gov/assets/Organization_Steps_Complete_Registration.pdf 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:

http://www.grants.gov/applicants/org_step3.jsp.

http://www.grants.gov/applicants/org_step3.jsp

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 organization. The E-Biz POC will then log in to Grants.gov and approve an applicant as the AOR, thereby giving him or her permission to submit applications. To learn more about AOR Authorization visit:

http://www.grants.gov/applicants/org_step5.jsp, or to track AOR status visit:

http://www.grants.gov/applicants/org_step6.jsp.

An application submitted through Grants.gov constitutes a submission as an electronically signed application. The registration and account creation with Grants.gov, with E-Biz POC approval, establishes an AOR. When you submit the application through Grants.gov, the name of your AOR on file will be inserted into the signature line of the application. Applicants must register the individual who is able to make legally binding commitments for the applicant organization as the AOR; this step is often missed and it is crucial for valid submissions.

When a registered applicant submits an application with Grants.gov, an electronic time stamp is generated within the system when the application is successfully received by Grants.gov. Within two business days of application submission, Grants.gov will send the applicant two email messages to provide the status of the application’s progress through the system. The first email, sent almost immediately, will contain a tracking number and will confirm receipt of the application by Grants.gov. The second email will indicate the application has either been successfully validated or has been rejected due to errors. Grants.gov will reject applications if the applicant’s CCR is expired. Only applications that have been successfully submitted by the deadline and subsequently successfully validated will be considered. It is the sole responsibility of the applicant to ensure a timely submission. While it is not required that an application be successfully validated before the deadline for submission, it is prudent to reserve time before the deadline in case it is necessary to resubmit an application that has not been successfully validated. Therefore, sufficient time should be allotted for submission (two business days) and, if applicable, additional time to address errors and receive validation upon resubmission (an additional two business days for each ensuing submission). It is important to note that if sufficient time is not allotted and a rejection notice is received after the due date and time, the application will not be considered.

To ensure consideration, the components of the application must be saved as .doc, .docx, .xls, .xlsx, .rtf or .pdf files. If submitted in any other format, the applicant bears the risk that compatibility or other issues will prevent us from considering the application. ETA will attempt to open the document but will not take any additional measures in the event of problems with opening. In such cases, the non-conforming application will not be considered for funding.

We strongly advise applicants to use the various tools and documents, including FAQs, which are available on the “Applicant Resources” page at http://www.grants.gov/applicants/resources.jsp.

ETA encourages new prospective applicants to view the online tutorial, “Grant Applications 101:

A Plain English Guide to ETA Competitive Grants,” available through Workforce3One at:

http://www.workforce3one.org/page/grants_toolkit.

To receive updated information about critical issues, new tips for users and other time sensitive updates as information is available, applicants may subscribe to “Grants.gov Updates” at http://www.grants.gov/applicants/email_subscription_signup.jsp.

If applicants encounter a problem with Grants.gov and do not find an answer in any of the other resources, call 1-800-518-4726 or 606-545-5035 to speak to a Customer Support Representative or email “support@grants.gov”. The Contact Center is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

It is closed on federal…