Questions and Answers for Pre-Application Conference

May 22, 2007

Child Welfare Agency and Regional Partnerships

There were a number of questions regarding the child welfare agency partner requirement for this funding announcement.

The answer to these questions is below:

If your regional partnership consists of a county that is located in a State that is State-supervised, county-administered, the county child welfare agency satisfies the “administration of the State plan” requirement described above.  In such a partnership, the State agency that is ultimately responsible for State Plan compliance under title IV-B or title IV-E is not required to be a partner in the regional partnership, but also is not precluded from participating as a member of the regional partnership.  In a state administered system, a local office of the state child welfare agency can participate in the partnership and satisfy this statutory requirement.

Clarification & Follow-Up:

The following are points of clarification from the Pre-Applicant Conference requiring additional follow up.

            Bonus Points Clarification

The bonus points are available only to those projects that demonstrate in their application a problem with solely methamphetamine or methamphetamine in combination with other drugs as outlined in the Evaluation Criteria Section, Needs and Objectives, Bonus Points on pg. 42 of the program announcement pdf.  Bonus points will not be awarded if the statement of the problem does not include methamphetamine.  However, that does not preclude an application from being scored highly in all other areas, and therefore being a potentially successful applicant.

            Follow Up & Clarification

Q: “Need clarification on pg. 35 of the grant announcement where it says: “If any data is to be collected, maintained, and/or disseminated, clearance may be required from OMB”
A: ACF (Administration for Children and Families) would be the entity to request OMB approval for data collection, not the grantees.

Q: “If the proposed program budget is greater than the (in-kind or cash) match plus the grant funds combined, how would it be best to demonstrate the budget details and total budget picture?”
A: Regional Partnerships may contribute matching funds greater than the amount listed in the tables.  However, as noted on pg. 19 of the program announcement pdf, any applications requesting more than the Federal share will be deemed non-responsive and will not be considered for funding under this announcement.

Q: “Can this grant be written to place children approximately 7-11 years old in residential treatment?”
A: The Regional Partnership is to identify the scope of the problem and demonstrate how proposed services and activities address the identified need.

Q: “Can we utilize an internal evaluator (i.e., our own research department) for evaluation?”
A: Yes. Additional information for this question may be found on pg. 47 #6 of the program announcement pdf.  This item focuses on evaluation.

Q: “Can the courts be considered a non-state partner?”
A: Yes. The Regional Partnership is to include at least one entity from among those listed in the Eligibility Information Section of this funding announcement that is not 1) a State child welfare agency as described in this section (or a county that is located in a State that has a State-supervised, county-administered system) or is not 2) a State agency that is responsible for administering the substance abuse prevention and treatment (SAPT) block grant as described in this section.

Q: “Since the grant award cannot be used for construction and purchase of real property, can the match portion be used for that?”
A:  No, construction and purchase of real property are not allowable activities or expenditures under this grant award, this includes Federal and non-Federal share of the award.  Space donation to the project is an allowable cost.  Regional Partnerships are to review Cost Principles.

45 CFR Parts 74 and 92 (found in the program announcement on page 58) reference the
OMB Cost Principles which can be found on
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars/index.html

 

Q: “Can existing state funds be used for the match?”
A: Yes, as long as they are not Federal funds.

Q: “Page 11 mentions the possibility of a national evaluation; how is this different from the applicant's evaluation; how is it paid for by the partnership?”
A: In the program announcement pdf, pg. 11 includes standard ACF OMB approved language regarding national cross-site evaluations.  Currently there is no plan for a national evaluation of this grant.  If there is a decision to conduct a national evaluation ACF would provide funding.

Q: “To clarify, the state child welfare agency and the state agency responsible for Federal SAPT block grant need to have a 3rd party for the regional partnership requirement?”
A: Yes, there needs to be a third party.

New Questions

The following are questions submitted during the pre-application conference.  These questions were not answered due to time constraints; they are listed and answered here. 

Q: “Does the funding cover any capital expenditures?”
A: Applicants should review Cost Principles cited below. Construction and purchase of real property are not allowable activities or expenditures under this grant award, this includes Federal and non-Federal share of the award.  Space donation to the project is an allowable cost.

45 CFR Parts 74 and 92 (found in the program announcement pdf on page 58) reference the
OMB Cost Principles which can be found on http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars/index.html

Q: “Child Welfare Services in Florida have been privatized, and community based care providers who contract with the Florida Department of Children and Families provide the local leadership for child welfare services.  Should a partner be DCF or the CBC in FL?”
A: Florida has a State administered child welfare system and therefore the State has oversight for the contracts with CBCs.  The State child welfare agency must be a partner.  That does not preclude the CBC or others from serving as a partner, it is up to the Regional Partnership to determine its partners.

Q: “re: indirect costs, if it's a low rate like 10%, do we still need approval from HHS?”
A: HHS Grants Policy Statement (found in the program announcement pdf on page 58) can be found on http://www.hhs.gov/grantsnet/docs/HHSGPS_107.doc

• Protection of Human Subjects Page II-9
• Allowable Costs and Activities Page II-29
• Allocation of Costs   Page II-45
• Cost Sharing  Page II-47
• Donation of Space Page II-48

 

Q: “If data is to be maintained for outcomes analysis should IRB approval be obtained? How to address this.”
A: Information on IRB can be found on pgs. 23-24 of the program announcement pdf.

Q: “Will applications be considered if proposed program funding is below the $1M or $500K amounts?”
A: As noted in the program announcement pdf, applications should reflect the budgets in the tables of the Program Options section pgs. 13-16.  As noted in the legislation, awards will not be made for less than $500,000. 

Q: “Would like to clarify that a county and tribal consortium can be considered a regional partnership?”
A: Yes.

Q: “Are there any requirements relating to the participation of state substance abuse programs?”
A: No, legislation and the program announcement note the state substance abuse program may be a member of the Regional Partnership and may serve as the Lead Agency.

Q: “Can the partnership consist of state child welfare agency, state chemical health agency, and the judicial branch?”
A: Yes.

Q: “Can funds that are provided to a nonprofit service provider (i.e., child welfare provider or alcohol and drug services) by a local gov. entity (i.e. county) be counted as matching funds for this grant award?”
A: Yes, as long as they are not Federal funds.

Q: “Could you please provide a few examples of what an "in-kind match" could include? Thank you.”
A: It is up to the Regional Partnership to define the roles, responsibilities and financial arrangements or contributions of each partner. This may include “in-kind” vs. financial contributions such as; staff time, space, local evaluation services, etc.

Q: “If an applicant is going to suggest a different indicator than those listed in the announcement, does this need to be approved prior to submission of the application?”
A: No.

Q:  “Project period starts Oct 1, 2007?”
A:  The project period starts no later than September 30, 2007.

Q: “Please clarify the extent to which the focus on the grant program is just methamphetamine related. Your prior response sounded as though a partnership needed to demonstrate effect of meth AND other substance abuse rather than meth OR other substances.”
A: As noted in the program announcement and legislation the Regional Partnership needs to demonstrate the effect of methamphetamine and/or other substances.  Up to 5 bonus point may be awarded if a Regional Partnership demonstrates a problem with solely methamphetamine or methamphetamine in combination with other drugs (as outlined in the Evaluation Criteria pgs. 42-43 program announcement pdf.)

Q: “Regarding grant funding, is this grant a draw-down process (reimbursable) or is it funded by a certain percentage over the course of the grant cycle?”
A: Please see pg. 57, VI, 1.

Q: “ACF is funding this grant but is not specific to Tribes, so what is the likelihood that a tribe would receive a grant?  Is this the type of grant that filters to state government to local government to tribal governments?”
A: Tribes or Tribal Consortia are eligible Regional Partnership and Lead Agency organizations, as listed in the eligibility criteria.

Q: “In the $1M program option, will reviewers expect to see a "smaller" program in the later project yrs. due to declining federal funds and total budgets? e.g. less services and clients served in yrs 2-5”
A: No.  Please see pg. 45 of the program announcement pdf criteria 1 and pg. 55 #11, paragraphs 4 and 6.

Q: Is it possible to use the funds to expand an existing Federally funded project?
A: Yes.

Q: “Will there be random grant audits or site visits to ensure the grants are being utilized appropriately?”
A: Reporting Requirements are detailed on pg. 59 #3 in the program announcement pdf.

Q: “re the annual trainings, is it a 1 time event or does it happen 5 times during the 5 year grant?  it's not clear in the grant.  it will cost a lot for our folks to fly in from Calif.  W/out the no. of times and no. of days the budget won't be accurate”
A: Please refer to pg. 11 #7,  items b and c, which detail use of grant funds for meetings and travel.  Budget accordingly for annual meetings as noted.

Q: “Can a non-state agency be a Federal agency, Federal grant supported organization or a Federal based agency, such as CASA?”
A: Eligible applicants are listed on pgs 17 & 18 in the program announcement pdf.

Q: “Are you saying that the $500K proposals must show budgets of exactly $500K (can't come in below because of legislation or above as judged nonresponsive)”
A: Yes. The legislation dictates that no grants can be awarded under $500,000 and the program announcement pdf, pg. 19, under disqualifying factors, states that “requests that exceed the ceiling amounts….will be deemed non-responsive and will not be considered for funding under this announcement.”

Q: “Do DCFS licenses for daycare suffice for proof of partnership?”
A: No.

Q: “Should all partners on the grant receive a portion of the grant funding?”

A: This is up to the Regional Partnerships to decide, this is addressed under Evaluation Criteria, Organizational Profiles, specifically pg. 54.