[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 31 (Wednesday, February 17, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7958-7961]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-3874]
[[Page 7957]]
_______________________________________________________________________
Part II
Department of Health and Human Services
_______________________________________________________________________
Administration for Children and Families
_______________________________________________________________________
Request for Applications Under the Office of Community Services' Fiscal
Year 1999 Family Violence Prevention and Services Discretionary
Program; Notice
Federal Register / Vol. 64, No. 31 / Wednesday, February 17, 1999 /
Notices
[[Page 7958]]
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Administration for Children and Families
[Program Announcement No. OCS-99-06]
Request for Applications Under the Office of Community Services'
Fiscal Year 1999 Family Violence Prevention and Services Discretionary
Program
AGENCY: Office of Community Services, ACF, DHHS.
ACTION: Announcement of availability of funds and request for
applications under the Office of Community Services' Family Violence
Prevention and Services (FVPS) Discretionary Program.
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SUMMARY: The Office of Community Services (OCS) invites eligible
entities to submit applications for FY 1999 funding of competitive
grants under the FVPS.
The Office of Community Services intends to publish another program
announcement at a later date to cover the following program: CSBG/
Training, Technical Assistance and Capacity Building.
Applications received in response to the FVPS will be screened and
evaluated as indicated in this document. Awards will be contingent on
the outcome of the competition and the availability of funds.
ADDRESSES: Prior to submitting an application, potential applicants
must obtain a copy of the FVPS Application Kit, containing additional
program information, forms, and instructions. Application Kits are
available by writing or calling the Office of Community Services at 5th
Floor West, Aerospace Building, 370 L'Enfant Promenade, SW Washington
DC 20447. To obtain a copy of the Family Violence Prevention and
Services Application Kit, call: (202) 401-4787.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Administration for Children and
Families, Office of Community Services, Division of State Assistance,
370 L'Enfant Promenade, SW Washington, DC 20447. Telephone: Sunni
Knight, (202) 401-5319; James Gray, (202) 401-5705; or William Riley
(202) 401-5529.
A copy of the Federal Register containing the FVPS announcement is
available for reproduction at most local libraries and Congressional
District Offices. It is also available on the Internet through GPO
Access at the following web address: http://www.access.gpo.gov/
su__docs/aces/aces140.html If the announcement is not available at
these sources, it may be obtained by writing to the office listed under
ADDRESSES above. Application Deadlines: The closing dates for
submission of applications is May 3, 1999. Further details regarding
application submission are provided in the Supplementary Information
section of this program announcement. Mailed applications postmarked
after the closing date will be classified as late. Refer to Application
Submission below for other details.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
A. Program Announcement
The Application Kit for the FY 1999 FVPS will not be published in
the Federal Register. Rather, OCS is publishing FY 1999 Program
Announcement OCS-99-06 in the Federal Register. Program Announcement
OCS-99-06 contains the following information for the FVPS: Program
Contact Person; Availability Date of Application Kit; Application
Deadline; Legislative Authority; FY 1999 Family Violence Priority
Areas; Eligible Applicants and Availability of Funds; Matching
Requirements; Type of Awards; and Review Criteria.
B. General Instructions
In order to be considered for a grant under this OCS FVPS program
announcement, an application must be submitted on the forms supplied
and in the manner prescribed by OCS in the FVPS Application Kit. When
requesting an Application Kit, the applicant must specify the Family
Violence Prevention and Services Program Application Kit. This is to
ensure receipt of all necessary forms and information, including any
program-specific evaluation criteria. Application Kits, including all
of the necessary forms and instructions, will be available for reading
and downloading from the Internet at the OCS Website at: http://
www.acf.dhhs.gov/programs/ocs
C. Application Submission
Mailed applications shall be considered as meeting an announced
deadline if they are either received on or before the deadline date or
sent on or before the deadline date and received by ACF in time for the
independent review to: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,
Administration for Children and Families, Office of Grants Management/
OCSE, 4th Floor Aerospace, 370 L'Enfant Promenade, SW, Washington, DC
20447; with the note: Attention: Application for Family Violence
Prevention and Services Program or CFDA No. 93-592.
Applicants must ensure that a legibly dated U.S. Postal Service
postmark or a legibly dated, machine produced postmark of a commercial
mail service is affixed to the envelope/package containing the
application(s). To be acceptable as proof of timely mailing, a postmark
from a commercial mail service must include the logo/emblem of the
commercial mail service company and must reflect the date the package
was received by the commercial mail service company from the applicant.
Private Metered postmarks shall not be acceptable as proof of timely
mailing. (Applicants are cautioned that express/overnight mail services
do not always deliver as agreed.)
Applications handcarried by applicants, applicant couriers, or by
other representatives of the applicant shall be considered as meeting
an announced deadline if they are received on or before the deadline
date, between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., EST, at the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children
and Families, Office of Grants Management/OCSE, ACF Mailroom, 2nd Floor
Loading Dock, Aerospace Center, 901 D Street, SW, Washington, DC 20024,
between Monday and Friday (excluding Federal holidays). The address
must appear on the envelope/ package containing the application with
the note: Attention: Family Violence Prevention and Services Program or
CFDA No. 93-592.
ACF cannot accommodate transmission of applications by fax or
through other electronic media. Therefore, applications transmitted to
ACF electronically will not be accepted regardless of date or time of
submission and time of receipt.
Applications, once submitted, are considered final and no
additional materials will be accepted.
Late applications: Applications, which do not meet the criteria
above, are considered late applications. ACF shall notify each late
applicant that its application will not be considered in the current
competition.
Extension of deadlines: ACF may extend application deadlines when
circumstances such as acts of God (floods, hurricanes, etc.) occur, or
when there are widespread disruptions of the mail service.
Determinations to extend or waive deadline requirements rest with ACF's
Chief Grants Management Officer.
D. Details for This Program Announcement
Pertinent information of concern for potential applicants for the
Family
[[Page 7959]]
Violence Prevention and Services Program is set forth below:
(CFDA No. 93.592) Deadline Date: May 3, 1999
(1) Program Contact Persons: Sunni Knight (202) 401-5319; James
Gray (202) 401-5705; or William Riley (202) 401-5529.
(2) Date of Application Kit: February 17, 1999.
(3) Application Deadline: Applications must be POSTMARKED by May 3,
1999. Detailed application submission instructions are included in the
Application Kit.
(4) Legislative Authority: Title III of the Child Abuse Amendments
of 1984, (Pub. L. 98-457, 42 U.S.C. 10401, et seq.) is entitled the
Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (the Act). The Act was
first implemented in FY 1986, was reauthorized and amended in 1992 by
Pub. L. 102-295, and was amended and reauthorized for fiscal years 1996
through 2000 by Pub. L. 103-322, the Violent Crime Control and Law
Enforcement Act of 1994 (the Crime Bill). The Act was most recently
amended by Pub L. 104-235, the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act
Amendment of 1996.
(5) FY 1999 Family Violence Priority Areas:
(a) Priority Area Number FV-01-99, Improving the Health Care
Response to Domestic Violence;
(b) Priority Area Number FV-02-99, Training Grant Stipends in
Domestic Violence for Historically Black, Hispanic-Serving and Tribal
Colleges and Universities; and
(c) Priority Area Number FV-03-99, Public Information Community
Awareness Campaign Projects for the Prevention of Family Violence.
(6) Eligible Applicants and Availability of Funds
(a) FV-01-99: Eligible applicants are State and local domestic
violence coalitions or domestic violence advocacy programs; State and
local health agencies, State and local health professional associations
or societies; nonprofit health care facilities; and State or local
entities with experience in the field of family violence prevention.
The eligible applicant must represent a team of organizations from both
the domestic violence and health care communities. The maximum federal
share for this project is not to exceed $75,000. The length of the
project should not exceed a 17-month project period. Applications for
lesser amounts will also be considered under this priority area. It is
anticipated that 4 projects may be funded; more may be funded depending
on the number of acceptable applications received for lesser amounts.
(b) FV-02-99: Eligible applicants are: Historically Black Colleges
and Universities; Hispanic/Latino Institutes of Higher Education; and
American Indian Tribally-controlled Community Colleges and
Universities. (Fiscal Year 1998 recipients of Family Violence Training
Grant Stipend awards are not eligible applicants.) The institution must
be fully accredited by one of the regional institutional accrediting
commissions recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education and the
Council on Social Work Education;
This competitive program provides stipends for a maximum amount not
to exceed $300,000 per project period (the project period is 36
months). This amount includes direct and indirect costs per college or
university. The federal share will fund, per each 12 month budget
period, up to 5 student candidates at a maximum of $11,250 each and
will fund 1 faculty coordinator of the project at $43,750. It is
anticipated that 8 projects will be funded yearly at $100,000 each.
Applications for lesser amounts will also be considered for this
priority area.
(c) FV-03-99: Eligible applicants are: State and local public
agencies, Territories, and Native American Tribes and Tribal
Organizations who are, or have been, recipients of Family Violence
Prevention and Services Act grants; State and local private non-profit
agencies experienced in the field of family violence prevention; and
public and private non-profit educational institutions, community
organizations and community-based coalitions, and other entities that
have designed and implemented family violence prevention information
activities or community awareness strategies. The maximum federal share
of the project is not to exceed $35,000 for the 1-year project period.
Applications for lesser amounts also will be considered under this
priority area. It is anticipated, subject to the availability of funds,
that 4 projects will be funded at the maximum level; more than 4
projects may be funded depending on the number of acceptable
applications for lesser amounts which are received.
(7) Matching Requirements: Successful applicants must provide at
least 25 percent of the total cost of the project. The approved total
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 $50,000 in federal funds (based on an award of $50,000 per
budget period) must include a match of at least $16,666 (25% of the
total project cost) for a total budget of $66,666. Therefore, a project
requesting $100,000 in federal funds (based on an award of $100,000 per
budget period) must include a match of at least $33,333 (25% of the
total project cost) for a total budget of $133,333. If approved for
funding, grantees will be held accountable for commitments of non-
federal resources and failure to provide the required amount will
result in a disallowance of unmatched Federal funds. This matching
requirement applies to all 3 Priority Areas.
(8) Type of Awards: Grants.
(9) Review Criteria for Family Violence Prevention and Services
Competitive Discretionary Grants: Using the appropriate criteria below,
a panel of at least three reviewers (primarily experts from outside the
Federal government) will review each application. Applicants should
ensure that they address each minimum requirement in the priority area
description under the appropriate section of the Program Narrative
Statement.
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 section may be given in the review process:
(a) Need for the Project (10 Points)
The extent to which the need for the project and the problems it
will address have national significance; the applicability of the
project to coordination efforts by national, Tribal, State and local
governmental and non-profit agencies, and its ultimate impact on
domestic violence prevention services and intervention efforts,
policies and practice; the relevance of other documentation as it
relates to the applicant's knowledge of the need for the project; and
the identification of the specific topic or program area to be served
by the project. Maps and other graphic aids may be attached;
(b) Goals and Objectives (10 Points)
The extent to which the specific goals and objectives have national
or local significance, the clarity of the goals and objectives as they
relate to the identified need for and the overall purpose of the
project, and their applicability to policy and practice. The provision
of a detailed discussion of the objectives and the
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extent to which the objectives are realistic, specific, and achievable;
(c) Approach (30 Points)
The extent to which the application outlines a sound and workable
plan of action pertaining to the scope of the project, and details how
the proposed work will be accomplished; relates each task to the
objectives and identifies the key staff member who will be the lead
person; provides a chart indicating the timetable for completing each
task, the lead person, and the time committed; cites factors which
might accelerate or decelerate the work, giving acceptable reasons for
taking this approach as opposed to others; describes and supports any
unusual features of the project, such as design or technological
innovations, reductions in cost or time, or extraordinary social and
community involvements, and provides for projections of the
accomplishments to be achieved.
The extent to which, when applicable, the application describes the
evaluation methodology that will be used to determine if the needs
identified and discussed are being met and if the results and benefits
identified are being achieved;
(d) Results and Benefits (20 Points)
The extent to which the application identifies the results and
benefits to be derived, the extent to which they are consistent with
the objectives of the application, the extent to which the application
indicates the anticipated contributions to policy, practice, and
theory, and the extent to which the proposed project costs are
reasonable in view of the expected results. Identify, in specific
terms, the results and benefits, for target groups and human service
providers, to be derived from implementing the proposed project.
Describe how the expected results and benefits will relate to previous
demonstration efforts; and
(e) Level of Effort: (30 Points)
Staffing pattern--Describe the staffing pattern for the proposed
project, clearly linking responsibilities to project tasks and
specifying the contributions to be made by key staff.
Competence of staff--Describe the qualifications of the project
team including any experiences working on similar projects. Also,
describe the variety of skills to be used, relevant educational
background and the demonstrated ability to produce final results that
are comprehensible and usable. One or two pertinent paragraphs on each
key member are preferred to resumes. However, resumes may be included
in the ten pages allowed for attachments/appendices.
Adequacy of resources--Specify the adequacy of the available
facilities, resources and organizational experience with regard to the
tasks of the proposed project. List the financial, physical and other
resources to be provided by other profit and nonprofit organizations.
Explain how these organizations will participate in the day to day
operations of the project.
Budget--Relate the proposed budget to the level of effort required
to obtain project objectives and provide a cost/benefit analysis.
Demonstrate that the project's costs are reasonable in view of the
anticipated results.
Collaborative efforts--Discuss in detail and provide documentation
for any collaborative or coordinated efforts with other agencies or
organizations. Identify these agencies or organizations and explain how
their participation will enhance the project. Letters from these
agencies and organizations discussing the specifics of their commitment
must be included in the application.
Authorship--The authors of the application must be clearly
identified together with their current relationship to the applicant
organization and any future project role they may have if the project
is funded. Applicants should note that non-responsiveness to the
section designated as ``Minimum Requirements for Project Design'' in
the applicable priority areas, will result in a low evaluation score by
the panel of expert reviewers.
Applicants must clearly identify the specific priority area under
which they wish to have their applications considered, and tailor their
applications accordingly. Previous experience has shown that an
application which is broad and more general in concept than outlined in
the priority area description is less likely to score as well as one
which is more clearly focused and directly responsive to the concerns
of that specific priority area.
Additional Requirements: Applicants for grants must also meet the
following requirements:
A. Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 #0970-0062
Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13, the
Department is required to submit to OMB for review and approval any
reporting and record keeping requirements in regulations, including
Program Announcements. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a
person is not required to respond to, a collection of information
unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. This Program
Announcement does not contain information collection requirements
beyond those approved for ACF grant announcements/applications under
OMB Control Number 0970-0062.
B. Intergovernmental Review
The Family Violence Prevention and Services Program 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 Programs and Activities.''
Under the Order, States may design their own processes for reviewing
and commenting on proposed Federal assistance under covered programs.
Note: State/Territory participation in the Intergovernmental
Review process does not signify applicant eligibility for financial
assistance under a program. A potential applicant must meet the
eligibility requirements of the program for which it is applying
prior to submitting an application to its SPOC, if applicable, or to
ACF.
As of September 1998, a number of jurisdictions have elected not to
participate in the Executive Order process. Applicants from these
jurisdictions or for projects administered by federally recognized
Indian Tribes need take no action in regard to E.O. 12372. A list of
these non-participating jurisdictions can be found in the Application
Kit for the Family Violence Prevention and Services Program.
Although the non-participating jurisdictions no longer participate
in the process, entities which have met the eligibility requirements of
the program are still eligible to apply for a grant even if a State,
Territory, Commonwealth, etc. does not have a SPOC. All remaining
jurisdictions participate in the Executive Order process and have
established SPOCs. Applicants from participating jurisdictions should
contact their SPOCs as soon as possible to alert them of the
prospective applications and receive 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. The applicant must submit all
required materials, if any, to the SPOC and indicate the date 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
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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,
Office of Grants Management/OCSE, 4th Floor, 370 L'Enfant Promenade,
SW., Washington, DC 20447.
Dated: February 10, 1999.
Donald Sykes,
Director, Office of Community Services.
[FR Doc. 99-3874 Filed 2-16-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-01-P