[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 68 (Monday, April 10, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18103-18107]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-8757]



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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families


Home Visitor Services (Number: OPE-HVS-5)

AGENCY: Office of Policy and Evaluation (OPE), ACF, DHHS.

ACTION: Announcement of the availability of funds and request for 
applications to provide research assistance for the Home Visitor 
Services Demonstration.

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SUMMARY: The Office of Policy and Evaluation of the Administration for 
Children and Families (ACF) announces the availability of Federal 
funding to provide research assistance for the Home Visitor Services 
Demonstration. Funding under this announcement is authorized by section 
1110 of the Social Security Act governing Social Services Research and 
Demonstration activities (Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance 
93.647).

DATES: The closing date for submission of applications is June 9, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Application receipt point: Applications may be mailed to the 
Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children 
and Families, Division of Discretionary Grants, 370 L'Enfant Promenade 
SW., MS 6C-62 OFM/DDG, Washington, DC 20447; Attn: Mrs. Shirley Parker; 
Reference: Announcement Number OPE-HVS-5. Hand delivered applications 
are accepted during the normal working hours of 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., 
Monday through Friday, on or prior to the established closing date at: 
Administration for Children and Families, Division of Discretionary 
Grants, 6th Floor, ACF Guard Station, 901 D Street SW., Washington, DC 
20447.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Administration for Children and 
Families, Office of Policy and Evaluation, 370 L'Enfant Promenade SW., 
Washington, DC 20447; Attn: Nancye Campbell, telephone (202) 401-760.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Office of Policy and Evaluation of the 
Administration for Children and Families announces that competing 
applications are being accepted for Federal financial assistance to 
provide research assistance for the Home Visitor Services (HVS) 
Demonstration. A single award will be made under this announcement. The 
recipient will receive an initial financial award for 12 months and be 
eligible to apply on a non-competitive basis for a continuation award 
of 12 months duration. The recipient will also be expected to enter 
into a cooperative agreement with ACF.
    This program announcement consists of four parts. Part I provides 
background information about the HVS demonstration. Part II describes 
the activities supported by this announcement and application 
requirements. Part III describes the application review process. Part 
IV provides information and instructions for the submission of 
applications.

Part I--Introduction

    ACF has entered into a partnership with the Henry J. Kaiser Family 
Foundation to develop and assess a demonstration of home visiting 
services for teenage parents on AFDC who are required to participate in 
the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training (JOBS) program. Through 
a separate [[Page 18104]] competitive process, ACF provided funding 
support for five state welfare agencies to plan, implement and conduct 
the demonstrations. Such funding support was only available to the 
single state agency responsible for the administration of the AFDC 
program as required by section 1115 of the Social Security Act.
    The Kaiser Foundation has awarded a grant to the University of 
Pennsylvania to provide background analysis, project design assistance, 
and research assistance for the HVS initiative. However, the research 
assistance which can be provided through the Kaiser grant is 
insufficient.
    Background on the Demonstrations: The Assistant Secretary for 
Children and Families sent a letter to the all state welfare directors 
announcing the availability of funds for demonstration grants to 
conduct the HVS demonstration. In the September of 1994 ACF awarded 
planning and development grants and waivers to five states (Illinois, 
Maryland, Ohio, Oregon, and Texas) to enable them to begin the design 
and development of a demonstration to incorporate home visiting 
services into their JOBS program for teenage parents and to participate 
in the demonstration. Based on performance during the feasibility 
(planning and development) phase, up to three states will be selected 
to continue full demonstration operation for an additional 24-month 
period.
    The central goals of the HVS initiative are to help young AFDC 
families achieve economic self-sufficiency and to add to current 
knowledge regarding the effectiveness of strategies designed to improve 
the social, personal, health, and economic outcomes among teenage 
parents and their children. To achieve these goals, home visits by 
paraprofessionals will be included as a part of the JOBS program in 
demonstration sites and the interventions effect on a range of outcomes 
will be measured.
    It is expected that the home visitors will establish a close 
relationship with the teens and their children while they are also 
providing them with instruction and supportive guidance in four areas: 
parenting; family planning; obtaining appropriate health care; and 
accessing community resources and supports. In addition to the 
provision of direct services in the four areas mentioned, the home 
visitors will also be a link between the teen and the JOBS program and 
welfare agency. Through the relationships developed through regular, 
weekly visits to provide the instruction and guidance in the four key 
areas discussed above, it is also expected that the visitors will be 
able to identify potential problems early and bring appropriate 
attention to the problems or otherwise help the young mother resolve 
the problem as it relates to participation in JOBS or other areas.
    The home visits will be targeted to teen parents who are applying 
for AFDC for the first time or who have their first child while on 
AFDC, and who are required, through waiver authority, to participate in 
education, training or employment activities under JOBS. The home 
visitors will be ``housed'' in two types of JOBS settings: the program 
staffed by the welfare agency and a program staffed by a service 
provider in the community (e.g., a community-based organization). While 
participation in the JOBS program and with the home visiting component 
is mandatory, considerable sensitivity to the concerns of the teens or 
other family members to having someone come into their home will be 
required. Therefore, the meetings between the teen and the visitor can 
occur at any suitable location. The curriculum to be used by the sites 
to address the key areas is being developed under the guidance of the 
University of Pennsylvania research team.
    The welfare agencies which were considered for the demonstration 
grants were ones which proposed to operate the demonstration in sites 
which have an adequate caseload to identify approximately 425 new AFDC 
teen parent cases over a 12-month period and in which the JOBS program 
currently provides a comprehensive set of services targeted to teen 
parents. The community provider programs considered were ones in the 
same site which provide a comprehensive set of services in a single 
location and can enroll and serve at least 75 new teen parent cases. 
Specifically, in addition to the provision of appropriate education, 
training or employment activities, a comprehensive program is expected 
to provide: assistance with child care and transportation, specialized 
case management, and additional services targeted to teen parents such 
as parenting or life skills development. The selected sites were 
required to document their ability and willingness to randomly assign 
new teen parent cases to: (1) The current welfare-agency staffed JOBS 
program for teen parents, which will serve as the control group; (2) 
The welfare-agency staffed JOBS program with home visitors; and (3) The 
provider staffed JOBS program with home visitors.
    In order to be considered as a site, the welfare agency was 
required to document their willingness and ability to collect and 
provide the data necessary to support research analyses related to 
process, impacts, and costs which will be conducted by the University 
of Pennsylvania researchers through the Kaiser grant as well as that 
which will be conducted through this expanded effort.

Part II--Project Design

    Purpose: The purpose of the research assistance is, through 
technical support and impact, process, and cost analyses, to inform the 
public, including states, regarding the difference the addition of an 
intervention of regular home visits makes to teenage parents and, 
through them, to the lives of their children. This assistance is being 
sought because the extent of the research assistance to be provided 
through the grant from the Kaiser Foundation to the University of 
Pennsylvania for the initiative is not sufficient to address the 
complete scope of the planned effort. ACF is interested in (1) 
Expanding the knowledge base to include information about more sites 
and about the differential impacts of the two treatment groups: the 
intervention administered through the welfare agency, and the 
intervention administered through a provider agency (e.g., a community-
based organization) and (2) Providing technical support to the sites 
regarding implementation and evaluation issues. The extent of the 
research assistance currently provided for through the Kaiser grant is 
limited to analyses of process, impacts, and costs in two sites with a 
single treatment group and a control group.
    The primary measures to be used to assess program impact include, 
but are not limited to:
     Participation in education or employment-related 
activities under JOBS;
     High school/GED completion;
     Employment and earnings;
     Public assistance use;
     Repeat pregnancies and births;
     Immunizations for young children;
     Health status of mothers and children;
     Parent-child relationships.
    The recipient will perform data collection and initial analyses 
that focus on the differential costs, processes, and impacts between 
the two treatment streams (i.e., welfare agency staffed setting and 
provider agency staffed setting) in all the sites. The analyses and 
technical support are expected to improve the available knowledge on 
how to help teenage parents who receive public assistance move toward 
economic self-sufficiency and provide safe and appropriate environments 
for their children. The results of the HVS [[Page 18105]] initiative 
are intended to assist States, other government agencies, and community 
organizations in improving and enhancing their employment and social 
service delivery systems for teen parents and their children.
    Eligible Applicants: Organizations eligible to apply for financial 
assistance under this announcement include States, for-profit 
organizations, and public or private nonprofit organizations. Any non-
profit organization submitting an application must submit proof of its 
non-profit status in its application at the time of submission. The 
non-profit agency can accomplish this by providing a copy of the 
applicant's listing in the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) most recent 
list of tax-exempt organizations described in Section 501(c)(3) of the 
IRS code or by providing a copy of the currently valid IRS tax 
exemption certificate, and by providing a copy of the articles of 
incorporation bearing the seal of the State in which the corporation or 
association is domiciled. Applications from nonprofit organizations 
that do not include the documentation will be rejected and receive no 
further consideration.
    ACF is interested in providing financial support for this effort to 
an organization with staff with (1) experience in executing multi-site 
social experiments, (2) an understanding of the demographics and 
experiences of welfare dependent teenaged parents who are required to 
participate in activities designed to increase economic self-
sufficiency and improve family planning skills, (3) experience in doing 
research involving waivers of federal AFDC and JOBS policies, and (4) 
experience in working directly with and obtaining relevant data (e.g., 
welfare data, participation data, earnings) from multiple state welfare 
programs.
    Minimum Requirements for Project Design: In order to compete 
successfully in response to this announcement, the applicant should 
develop and submit a plan which:
     Includes an outline of a research design which takes into 
account specific features of the funded demonstration, the research 
objectives, and the components and services that comprise the JOBS 
programs which will be a part of the study. The outline should include 
proposed hypotheses to be addressed.
     Describes how a differential impact analysis will 
determine the effects of the different demonstration service delivery 
systems on participants and their children. The information to be 
included in this analysis should include impacts on participation in 
education and training activities, welfare use, employment and 
earnings, repeat pregnancies and births, and parenting abilities, as 
well as others to be suggested by the applicant.
     Describes how a cost analysis will be conducted. The 
information to be included in the analysis should include program 
costs, support service costs, and welfare costs, as well as indirect 
costs, if appropriate, and other variables to be suggested by the 
applicant.
     Includes a description of the final report due at the end 
of this project period. This report is intended to inform State income 
maintenance and social service departments of the usefulness of 
different service delivery systems for the HVS intervention and to 
further general knowledge about serving teenage parents within the JOBS 
program.
     Includes the recipient's approach for working efficiently 
and effectively with the selected sites to provide technical support 
regarding implementation issues, random assignment implementation and 
monitoring, and evaluation data collection requirements. The technical 
support should focus on strengthening the sites' ability to deliver the 
services as prescribed by Federal guidelines in the context of their 
unique program models and their ability to meet the needs of the 
research effort (e.g., data collection and reporting, implementation 
and maintenance of random assignment) while also attempting to minimize 
the burden on the sites to meet those research needs.
     Includes financial support for HVS in addition to Federal 
funding to ensure uninterrupted research activities over the 
demonstration period. Applicants should provide evidence of funding 
commitments from organizations such as private foundations.
    Also, the recipient must be prepared to enter into a cooperative 
agreement with ACF which will outline the terms of ACF's involvement in 
the HVS demonstration as well as the responsibilities of the recipient. 
The cooperative agreement: (a) Will provide that ACF retain authority 
for review of the ongoing policy design decisions in the demonstration; 
(b) Will provide that ACF approve the continuation of waivers and grant 
awards to any site in the demonstration; (c) will provide that ACF 
receive and review written guidelines or directives provided to the 
sites; (d) require ACF approval of the technical support and research 
design to be employed; and (e) will provide for ACF review of reports 
(other than quarterly progress reports) before publication.
    Project Duration: This announcement is soliciting applications for 
project periods up to 2 years. Awards, on a competitive basis, will be 
for a one-year budget period, although project periods may be for 2 
years. Applications for continuation grants funded under these awards 
beyond the one-year budget period but within the 2-year project period 
will be entertained in the subsequent year on a non-competitive basis, 
subject to availability of funds, satisfactory progress of the grantee, 
and a determination that continued funding would be in the best 
interest of the Government.
    Federal Share of the Project: The maximum Federal share of the 
project is not to exceed $250,000 for the first budget period or 
$300,000 for the total two-year project period, subject to the 
availability of funds.
    Matching Requirement: Grantees must provide at least five percent 
of the total approved cost of the project. The total approved cost of 
the project is the sum of the ACF share and the non-Federal share. The 
non-Federal share may be met by cash or in-kind contributions, although 
applicants are encouraged to meet their match requirements through cash 
contributions. Therefore, a project requesting $300,000 in Federal 
funds must include a match of at least $15,789 (5% total project cost).
    Anticipated number of Projects to be Funded: One project will be 
funded under this announcement.

Part III--The Review Process

A. Review Process and Funding Decisions

    Timely applications from eligible applicants will be reviewed and 
scored competitively. After a determination has been made that the 
minimum requirements, as set forth in this announcement, have been met, 
reviewers will use the evaluation criteria listed below to review and 
score the application.
    In addition ACF may refer applications to other Federal or non-
Federal funding sources when it is determined to be in the best 
interest of the Federal Government or the applicant. It may also 
solicit comments from ACF Regional Office staff, other Federal 
agencies, interested foundations and national organizations. These 
comments along with those of the reviewers will be considered by ACF in 
making the funding decision.
    In making a funding decision, ACF may give preference to 
applications which reflect experience in working directly with multiple 
state welfare agencies which provide specialized services, including 
case management and employment-related services, to [[Page 18106]] teen 
parents since such experience on the part of a recipient has the 
potential to substantially improve the theory and practice of designing 
service delivery systems for teenaged parents and their children on 
AFDC.

B. Evaluation Criteria

    Using the evaluation criteria below, reviewers will review and 
score each application. Applicants should insure that they address each 
minimum requirement listed above.
    Reviewers will determine the strengths and weaknesses of each 
application in terms of the appropriate evaluation criteria listed 
below, provide comments, and assign numerical scores. The point value 
following each criterion heading indicates the maximum numerical weight 
that each criterion may be given in the review process.
Review Criteria
    (1) Organizational Experience (10 points) The application should 
provide evidence of organizational experience in providing research 
assistance for social experiments.
    (2) Staff Skills and Responsibilities (25 points) The application 
should provide evidence of staff experience (a) providing research 
assistance for social experiments involving multiple state AFDC and 
employment and training programs, particularly direct involvement with 
data collection through the State's public assistance, JOBS, and 
Unemployment Insurance data systems (include a list of published 
studies of these programs); (b) providing research assistance for 
multi-site experiments by state welfare agencies which provide case 
management and employment-related services for teen parents receiving 
AFDC; and (c) providing research assistance for demonstrations 
involving private foundations and Federal agencies. Applicants should 
list each consultant or other key individuals who will work on the 
project along with a short description of the nature of their 
contribution. Summarize the background and experience of the project 
director and key project staff. Applicants are encouraged to discuss 
staff experience in working with teenaged parents and programs which 
serve them.
    (3) Knowledge of Teenage Parents Who Are AFDC Recipients (15 
points) The application should provide evidence of the applicant's 
understanding of the demographics and experiences of teenaged parents 
on AFDC. Evidence of this understanding should include (a) familiarity 
with how teen parents interact with state welfare agency programs, 
including AFDC and JOBS; and (b) knowledge of teen parents' 
participation in programs designed to improve their educational 
attainment and employability and affect other life course decisions 
such as repeat pregnancy and living arrangements.
    (4) Approach and Project Design (35 points) The application should 
include: (a) An outline of a research design which takes into account 
specific features of the planned demonstration, the research 
objectives, and the components and services that comprise the 
``program'' being studied including proposed hypotheses to be 
addressed; (b) a description of how a differential impact analysis will 
determine the effects of the demonstration on participants and their 
children; (c) a description of how a cost analysis will be conducted; 
and (d) the applicant's approach for providing guidance and assistance 
to State/local JOBS/HVS staff on the research study and meeting the 
needs of the research objectives.
    (5) Public--Private Partnerships (10 points) In order to maximize 
the potential of using a limited Federal investment to further 
knowledge about the policies and practice of working with disadvantaged 
teenage parents, the application should provide evidence of commitments 
of non-Federal resources to the HVS study, including resources provided 
from other entities beyond the applicant organization. This criterion 
will be evaluated based on the amount of the non-Federal resources and 
the firmness of the commitment of the resources.
    (6) Budget Appropriateness (5 points) The application should 
demonstrate that the project's costs are reasonable in view of the 
anticipated results and benefits. Applicants may refer to the budget 
information presented in the Standard Forms 424 and 424A.

Part IV--Instructions for the Submission of Applications

    This part contains information and general instructions for 
submitting applications in response to this announcement. Application 
forms with instructions may be obtained by contacting: Nancye Campbell, 
Office of Policy and Evaluation, Administration for Children and 
Families, 370 L'Enfant Promenade SW., Washington, DC. 20447; telephone 
(202) 401-5760; fax (202) 205-3598.
    Applicants requesting financial assistance for a non-construction 
project must file the Standard Form 424B, ``Assurances: Non-
Construction Programs.'' Applicants must sign and return the Standard 
Form 424B with their applications. Applicants must provide a 
certification concerning Lobbying. Prior to receiving an award in 
excess of $100,000, applicants shall furnish an executed copy of the 
lobbying certification. Applicants must sign and return the 
certification with their applications.
    Applicants must make the appropriate certification of their 
compliance with the Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988 and with Part C--
Environmental Tobacco Smoke, of Public Law 103-27. By signing and 
submitting the applications, applicants are providing the 
certifications and need not mail back the certifications with the 
applications.
    Applicants must make the appropriate certification that they are 
not presently debarred, suspended or otherwise ineligible for award. By 
signing and submitting the applications, applicants are providing the 
certification and need not mail back the certification with the 
applications.

A. Required Notification of the State Single Point of Contact

    This program announcement is covered under Executive Order 12372, 
``Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs,'' and 45 CFR part 100, 
``Intergovernmental Review of Department of Health and Human Services 
Program and Activities.'' Under the Order, States may design their own 
processes for reviewing and commenting on proposed Federal assistance 
under covered programs.
    All States and Territories except Alabama, Alaska, Colorado, 
Connecticut, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Montana, 
Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Virginia, Pennsylvania, 
Washington, American Samoa and Palau have elected to participate in the 
Executive Order process and have established Single Points of Contact 
(SPOCs), listed at the end of this announcement. Applicants from these 
nineteen jurisdictions need take no action regarding E.O. 12372.
    Applicants for projects to be administered by Federally-recognized 
Indian Tribes are also exempt from the requirements of E.O. 12372. 
Otherwise, applicants should contact their SPOCs as soon as possible to 
alert them of the prospective applications and receive any necessary 
instructions. Applicants must submit any required material to the SPOCs 
as soon as possible so that the program office can obtain and review 
SPOC comments as part of the award process. It is imperative that the 
applicant submit all required materials, if any, to the SPOC and 
indicate the date [[Page 18107]] of this submittal (or the date of 
contact if no submittal is required) on the Standard Form 424, item 
16a.
    Under 45 CFR 100.8(a)(2), a SPOC has 60 days from the application 
deadline to comment on proposed new or competing continuation awards. 
SPOCs are encouraged to eliminate the submission of routine 
endorsements as official recommendations. Additionally, SPOCs are 
requested to clearly differentiate between mere advisory comments and 
those official State process recommendations which may trigger the 
``accommodate or explain'' rule.
    When comments are submitted directly to ACF, they should be 
addressed to: Department of Health and Human Services, Administration 
for Children and Families, Division of Discretionary Grants, 370 
L'Enfant Promenade SW., Washington, DC. 20447; Attn: Mrs. Shirley 
Parker; Reference: OPE-HVS-5.

B. Deadline for Submittal of Applications

    The closing date for submittal of applications under this program 
announcement is found at the beginning of this announcement under the 
heading DATES. Applications may be mailed to the Department of Health 
and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Division 
of Discretionary Grants, 370 L'Enfant Promenade SW., MS 6C-62 OFM/DDG, 
Washington, DC 20447; ATTN: Mrs. Shirley Parker; Reference: OPE-HVS-5. 
Hand delivered applications are accepted during the normal working 
hours of 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, on or prior to the 
established closing date at: Administration for Children and Families, 
Division of Discretionary Grants, 6th Floor, ACF Guard Station, 901 D 
Street SW., Washington, DC 20447; Reference: OPE-HVS-5. Applications 
shall be considered as meeting the announced deadline if they are 
received on or before the deadline date at the place specified above.
    Late Applications: Applications which do not meet the criteria 
under Deadline for Submittal of Applications are considered late 
applications. ACF shall notify each late applicant that its application 
will not be considered in the competition under this announcement.
    Extension of Deadlines: ACF reserves the right to extend the 
deadline for all applicants due to acts of God, such as floods, 
hurricanes, or earthquakes; or if there is widespread disruption of the 
mail. However, if ACF does not extend the deadline for all applicants, 
it may not waive or extend the deadline for any applicants.

C. Submitting the Application

    Each application package must include a signed original and two 
copies of the complete application. Each copy should be stapled 
securely. All pages of the narrative (including charts, tables, maps, 
exhibits, etc.) must be sequentially numbered. In order to facilitate 
handling, please do not use covers, binders, or tabs.
    Applicant should include a self-addressed, stamped acknowledgment 
card. All applicants will be notified automatically about the receipt 
of their application.

    Dated: April 3, 1995.
Howard Rolston,
Director, Office of Policy and Evaluation.
[FR Doc. 95-8757 Filed 4-7-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-01-P