[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 133 (Wednesday, July 13, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40371-40372]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-13773]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families


Notice of Correction to Availability of Funds for the Projects To 
Establish Public Assistance Reporting Information System (PARIS) State 
Partnership Grants

AGENCY: Administration for Children and Families, ACF, DHHS.
    Funding Opportunity Title: Public Assistance Reporting Information 
System (PARIS) State Partnership Grants.

ACTION: Notice of correction.

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    Funding Opportunity Number: HHS-2005-ACF-OA-TA-0017.
SUMMARY: This notice is to inform interested parties of changes made to 
the Funding Opportunity for Projects to Establish Public Assistance 
Reporting Information System (PARIS) State Partnership Grants published 
on Monday, April 25, 2005, with a due date for applications of June 24, 
2005, which is now extended until August 8, 2005.
    1. The following changes are made to Section I, ``Funding 
Opportunity Description'':
    a. There will be separate grants awarded to each Member and Partner 
State, such that a Member State will no longer have fiduciary 
responsibility for its Partner State [page 21222];
    b. The following paragraph is struck: ``After evaluation of all 
grant applications, and if chosen for an award, the Member state will 
be awarded a grant under which it will act as a fiduciary agent to the 
Partner state. The Member state will be responsible for all funding 
that is provided to its Partner state and will reimburse funding 
provided hereunder, as costs are incurred, for specific items 
delineated in its approved grant application budget and in accordance 
with HHS fiscal and grants management requirements.'' [page 21222]
    and replaced with: ``Separate applications for a partnership 
agreement must be submitted by both the Member State and the Partner 
State with separate budget requests. An application from a Partner 
State must identify its Member State and an application from a Member 
State must identify its Partner State. As costs are incurred for 
specific items delineated in the approved grant application budgets, 
States must adhere to HHS fiscal and grants management requirements.'';
    c. The phrase ``Member State'' is struck and replaced with 
``State'' in the paragraph that reads: ``This list is meant to be 
illustrative, not exhaustive of the type of issues the Member state 
should address when preparing the application.'' [page 21222];
    2. The following changes are made to Section I, ``Funding 
Opportunity Description,'' under the ``parameters'' list [page 21222]:
    a. In the first sentence in paragraph (3), the phrase ``the Member 
State'' is replaced with ``each applicant'' so that the sentence reads, 
``Each applicant must provide a proposed budget that includes the 
resources and associated costs it believes are necessary to participate 
in the match process.'' The second sentence is revised to read: ``The 
proposed budgets will be evaluated for adequacy, reasonableness, and to 
ensure that implementation of the partnership will be both 
operationally effective and successful'';

[[Page 40372]]

    b. The language in paragraph (5) is struck and replaced with: ``For 
Member States to be eligible for this funding opportunity they must 
have participated in at least two of the last six PARIS matches from 
(February 2004 through May 2005)'';
    c. The language in paragraph (6) is struck and replaced with: 
``Applicants are cautioned that the ceiling for each grant award is 
$200,000 for a Partner State and $100,000 for a Member State. 
Applications exceeding the $200,000/$100,000 threshold will be 
considered non-responsive and will not be eligible for funding under 
this announcement'';
    d. The first sentence in paragraph (7) is struck and replaced with: 
``Two applications must be submitted for each identified partnership--
One from a Member State and one from a Partner State.'';
    e. The language in paragraph (8) is struck and replaced with: ``The 
Partner State must enroll in the PARIS Project and provide a copy of 
the PARIS agreement to ACF prior to the grant award issuance in order 
to document the Partner State's consent to the project. The following 
link shows the PARIS Agreement: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/nhsitrc/paris/agree_par.html '';
    f. The language in paragraph (10) is struck and replaced with: 
``Besides the Interstate and Veterans matches, States are encouraged to 
participate in any additional matches available, such as the Federal 
match.'';
    3. The following changes are made to Section II, ``Award 
Information'': The ``Ceiling on the Amount of Individual Awards Per 
Project Period'' and the ``Average Projected Award Amount Per Project 
Period'' are revised as follows: ``$200,000 for a Partner State and 
$100,000 for a Member State'' [page 21223];
    4. The following changes are made to Section III.1, ``Eligibility 
Information, Additional Information on Eligibility'' [page 21223]:
    a. The first sentence is struck and replaced with, ``In the context 
of this grant announcement, eligible applicants include both Member 
States of PARIS and proposed Partner States as defined in Section I, 
``Funding Opportunity Description.'' To be considered an eligible 
Member State, the State must have participated in at least two of the 
last six quarterly matches from February 2004 through May 2005.'';
    b. The sentence reading: ``The following States meet this 
eligibility factor'' now includes Oregon in the list of eligible Member 
States;
    c. The sentence that reads ``* * * and only these Member States may 
submit applications under this grant'' is struck and replaced with 
``only these eligible Member States may qualify to submit applications 
under this grant announcement as Member States defined in this grant 
announcement.'';
    d. The sentence reading, ``The application must include the 
Partnership agreement as well as the appropriate signed PARIS agreement 
for the Partner State,'' is struck and replaced with: ``The application 
need only identify the other State in the Partnership in lieu of 
attaching the actual agreement; however, a signed PARIS agreement and 
Partnership agreement must both be provided to ACF prior to the grant 
award issuance.''
    5. The following changes are made to Section III (3), ``Eligibility 
Information, Other, Disqualification Factors'' [page 21223]:
    a. The sentence stating, ``Applications that are not submitted by a 
Member state,'' is struck and replaced with: ``Applications that are 
not submitted by a State.'' ;
    b. The following sentence is struck: ``Applications that fail to 
include a written Partnership agreement between the Member state and 
Partner state.'';
    c. The following sentence is struck: ``Applications that fail to 
provide a signed PARIS agreement by the Partner state.'';
    d. In the sentence that reads, ``Applications that fail to specify 
at least two of the last six quarterly PARIS matches from November 2003 
through February 2005 in which the Member state has participated,'' the 
dates are struck and replaced with ``February 2004'' and ``May 2005'' 
respectively.
    6. The following changes are made to IV.2, ``Application and 
Submission Information, Content and Form of Application Submission'':
    a. The sentence, ``Applications must contain a partnership 
agreement from the Partner State indicating its agreement to team with 
the Member State for purposes of this grant'' is struck and replaced 
with: ``Applications should identify what other State, be they a Member 
State or a Partner State, they are teaming with. The teaming or 
partnership agreement must be submitted to ACF prior to grant award 
issuance.'' [page 21223];
    b. The sentence, ``Note that the application requires proof of an 
agreement between the PARIS Member State and its Partner State as well 
as a signed PARIS agreement (available on the PARIS website)'' is 
struck and replaced with: ``The proof of agreement between the PARIS 
Member State and its Partner State, as well as a signed PARIS agreement 
(available on the PARIS website), must both be submitted to ACF prior 
to grant award issuance.'' [page 21224];
    7. The following changes are made to Section IV. 3, ``Submission 
Dates and Times, Due Date for Applications'': The due date for 
applications is extended from June 24, 2005 to August 8, 2005. [page 
21224];
    8. The following changes are made to Section IV.3, the 
``Checklist'': Under the ``When to Submit'' column, the language for 
the PARIS Agreement and Partnership Agreement is replaced with, ``By 
date of award.'' [page 21225];
    9. The following changes are made to Section V, ``Application 
Review Information, Evaluation Criteria'' [page 21228]:
    a. The paragraph under the criterion ``Approach'' is struck and 
replaced with: ``Applications will be evaluated in terms of the extent 
to which they include a plan that (1) reflects the understanding of the 
characteristics, needs and services that are available from the PARIS 
Project and the potential for a Partnership agreement achieving the 
provision of services that directly address the fulfillment of the 
PARIS Project; (2) is appropriate and feasible; (3) can be reliably 
evaluated; (4) if successfully implemented, can be sustained after 
Federal funding has ceased.'';
    b. The point value for the criterion ``Budget and Budget 
Justification'' is revised from 10 points to 15 points;
    c. The entire criterion ``Third-Party Agreements'' worth 5 points 
is struck.
    10. The second full paragraph in Section V(2), ``Review and 
Selection Process'' is revised to read: ``If an insufficient number of 
acceptable applications, as determined by ACF, are received under this 
program announcement ACF has the option of negotiating and awarding 
grant amounts higher than the $200,000 award ceiling for Partner States 
and $100,000 award ceiling for Member States, set forth in this 
announcement among those applicants who have submitted acceptable 
applications.''

    Dated: July 8, 2005.
Curtis L. Coy,
Director, Office of Administration.
[FR Doc. 05-13773 Filed 7-12-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-01-P