[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 222 (Monday, November 17, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67884-67894]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-27151]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration


Notice of Availability of Funds and Solicitation for Grant 
Applications (SGA) for Local Young Offender Planning Grants, State/
Local Juvenile Offender Implementation Grants, and an Intermediary 
Juvenile Reentry Grant

AGENCY: Employment and Training Administration, U.S. Department of 
Labor.
    Announcement Type: Notice of Solicitation for Grant Applications.
    Funding Opportunity Number: SGA/DFA PY 08-09.
    Catalog Federal Assistance Number: 17.261.
SUMMARY: The Employment and Training Administration announces the 
availability of $17.3 million for Young Offender Grants. The grants 
will be awarded through a competitive process for three categories of 
projects--(1) Young Offender Planning Grants to be awarded to local 
governments; (2) Juvenile Offender Implementation Grants to be awarded 
to state/local government partnerships; and (3) a Juvenile Offender 
Reentry Grant to be awarded to an organization with experience 
conducting demonstrations in multiple cities. The goal of the planning 
grants is to allow selected localities to develop comprehensive 
blueprints for serving both juvenile and young adult offenders 
returning from correctional facilities. To qualify for these planning 
awards, applicants will need to provide one-to-one leveraged resources 
from a local or national foundation, local or state government, other 
federal funds, or other source. The goal of the implementation grants 
is to allow state juvenile justice departments and local juvenile 
justice agencies to join together to put into place a comprehensive 
strategy for serving all youth in the local area returning home from 
juvenile correctional or detention facilities. The goal of the 
intermediary reentry grant is to allow an organization to design and 
implement a model program for serving returning juvenile offenders in 
four cities that may be selected competitively after grant award.
    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.

DATES: Key Dates: The closing date for receipt of applications under 
this announcement is December 18, 2008. Application and submission 
information is explained in detail in Part IV of this SGA.

ADDRESSES: Applications that do not meet the conditions set forth in 
this notice will not be considered. No exceptions to the submission 
requirements set forth in this notice will be granted. For detailed 
guidance, please refer to Section IV.C.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This solicitation consists of eight parts:
    Part I provides a description of this funding opportunity.
    Part II describes the size and nature of the anticipated awards.
    Part III describes eligibility information.
    Part IV provides information on the application and submission 
process.
    Part V describes the criteria against which applications will be 
reviewed and explains the Proposal review process.
    Part VI provides award administration information.
    Part VII contains DOL agency contact information.
    Part VIII lists additional resources of interest to applicants and 
other information.

I. Overall Funding Opportunity Description

    The Employment and Training Administration announces the 
availability of $17.3 million for Young Offender Grants. The grants 
will be awarded through a competitive process for three categories of 
projects--(1) approximately 10 Young Offender Planning Grants of 
approximately $300,000 each to be awarded to local governments; (2) 
approximately three Juvenile Offender Implementation Grants of 
approximately $3,115,260 each to be awarded to state/local government 
partnerships; and (3) one Intermediary Reentry Grant of approximately 
$5 million to be awarded to an organization with experience

[[Page 67885]]

conducting demonstrations in multiple cities.
    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 high probabilities of returning to crime. For example, the State 
of Virginia reports that 79 percent of youth released from state 
correctional facilities and 60 percent of youth placed on probation in 
the state are arrested for a new crime within three years.
    Juvenile offenders do not return evenly to communities across the 
United States, but rather return disproportionately to high-crime, 
high-poverty areas. The social support system in such communities is 
typically overwhelmed by the volume of returning offenders. The purpose 
of all three categories of grants being awarded under this solicitation 
is to provide selected state and local governments and an intermediary 
organization the opportunity to develop comprehensive strategies for 
serving all young offenders returning to a city or county. The 
Department recognizes that the funds available under the state/local 
implementation grants and the intermediary reentry grant may not be 
sufficient to serve all youth returning to the local area from juvenile 
correctional facilities, but the funds will be enough to serve a 
significant number of returning youth and for the state and local area 
to put into place strategies that could eventually serve all returning 
youth.
    The goal of the planning grants is to allow selected localities to 
develop comprehensive blueprints for serving all juvenile and young 
adult offenders returning from correctional facilities. The 
Department's intent in funding these planning grants is that 
communities will then use resources outside of these grants to fully 
fund the plans that they develop. Applicants will need to show in their 
proposals and grantees will need to provide in the plans that they 
eventually develop how they intend to use state government, local 
government, and foundation resources to implement their plans.
    The goal of the implementation grants is to allow state juvenile 
justice departments and local juvenile justice agencies to join 
together to put into place a comprehensive strategy for serving all 
youth in the local area returning home from juvenile correctional or 
detention facilities. These grants are designed to be administered by a 
partnership of state juvenile justice departments and local juvenile 
justice agencies. Either of the state juvenile justice department or 
local juvenile justice agency partners is eligible to apply for a grant 
and be part of the partnership under this Notice. Each state is limited 
to submitting only one application, and this application is limited to 
having juvenile offenders from only one county in the state as its 
focus. We are requiring a partnership between state and local juvenile 
justice agencies in these grants because reentry programs for juvenile 
offenders need both pre-release and post-release components. Further, 
in many states, the majority of youth in juvenile correctional 
facilities come from one city, and improved reentry outcomes for youth 
from that city benefit both the state and the locality.
    The goal of the intermediary reentry grant is to allow an 
organization to design and implement a model program for serving 
returning juvenile offenders in four cities across the country. These 
cities may be selected after award through a competition open to faith 
and community-based organizations. The Department is allowing State/
Local Implementation Grantees and Intermediary Reentry Grantees to use 
both time and part of their grant resources to go through a planning 
process prior to the implementation of their projects.
    The Department's overarching reentry strategy, developed through 
the Ready-4-Work, Prisoner Reentry Initiative, and various Youthful 
Offender demonstrations, includes three main features: (1) The use of 
faith-based and community organizations in partnership with the 
juvenile or adult criminal justice system; (2) an emphasis on providing 
volunteer mentors for returning offenders; and (3) a focus on education 
for younger juvenile offenders and employment for older juvenile 
offenders and adult offenders. The Department expects that all three 
categories of grants being funded under this solicitation will develop 
programs based on this overarching strategy.
    The Department also expects that all three categories will form 
Community Reentry Teams to design these components. These Community 
Reentry Teams will include at a minimum representatives from state and 
local juvenile justice agencies, the local workforce system, the local 
public school system, the local foster youth system, faith-based and 
community organizations, local corporations and businesses, and local 
foundations. Since Planning Grantees will also be developing plans for 
serving young adult offenders, their Community Reentry Teams should 
also include representatives for state and local criminal justice 
agencies.
    The Ready-4-Work demonstration placed faith-based and community 
organization at the center of social service delivery to returning 
offenders. The Department of Labor funded 11 sites serving returning 
adult offenders, while the Department of Justice funded seven sites 
serving returning juvenile offenders. For more information on the 
Ready-4-Work demonstration, see the Public/Private Ventures report When 
the Gates Open: Ready4Work-A National Response to the Prisoner Reentry 
Crisis at http://www.ppv.org/ppv/publications/assets/189_publication.pdf. Also see the Department of Labor publication 
Ready4Reentry: A Prisoner Reentry Toolkit for Faith-Based and Community 
Organizations available at http://www.dol.gov/cfbci/PRItoolkit.pdf.
    The Prisoner Reentry Initiative includes both a pre-release 
component funded by the Department of Justice and a post-release 
component funded by the Department of Labor. The initial set of 30 
Prisoner Reentry Initiative grants are now in their third-year of 
operation, while a second set of 23 grants are now in their first year 
of operation. For more information on this project, see the Coffey 
Communications interim report Evaluation of the Prisoner Reentry 
Initiative at http://wdr.doleta.gov/research/FullText_Documents/PRI%2DEval%20Interim%20Report%20%2D%206%2D11%2D08%2Epdf.
    The Department sees faith-based and community organizations as 
important partners because they possess the compassion, commitment and 
expertise needed to help young offenders get back on track in their 
lives. These organizations also posses an intimate knowledge of the 
community, its resources, and potential program participants. Faith-
based and community organizations can provide assistance to young 
offenders in a variety of ways, including mentoring, case management, 
family support services, and supportive services necessary to help 
younger juvenile offenders return to and succeed in school and to help 
older juvenile offenders and young adult offenders find and retain 
employment.
    The Department also expects that projects in all three categories 
of grants will emphasize a Shared Youth Vision approach in which 
multiple state and local agencies work collaboratively across funding 
streams to best serve young people in their jurisdictions. Please go to 
the Employment and Training Administration's Web site for more 
information on the Shared Youth

[[Page 67886]]

Vision at http://www.doleta.gov/ryf/WhiteHouseReport/VMO.cfm.
    The Department believes that a wide variety of programming is 
necessary to meet the diverse needs of young offenders, and that the 
projects carried out with the state/local implementation grants and the 
intermediary reentry grant and the strategies developed with the 
planning grants will include all the components listed below. The 
state/local implementation grantees and the intermediary reentry 
grantee will actually put into place these components, while the 
planning grantees will develop strategies for implementing these 
components.
    1. Employment Strategies. For the state/local 
implementation grants and the intermediary reentry grant, the 
employment component should be aimed at juvenile offenders ages 18 and 
above. For the planning grants, the employment component will be the 
main strategy for the young adult portion of the plan and also a key 
component for youth ages 18 and above in the juvenile portion of the 
plan. The employment component can include strategies such as on-the-
job training; vocational training; subsidized jobs in both the public 
and private sectors; participation in conservation and service corps 
programs; participation in YouthBuild programs; job readiness training; 
job placement; internships for juvenile offenders who return to school; 
efforts to expose students to careers and to coordinate with industry-
based youth organizations; and efforts to expand the career awareness 
of juvenile offenders and to make them aware of the educational 
requirements of various careers. See the Web sites of Skills USA at 
http://www.skillsusa.org and Health Occupations Students of America at 
http://www.hosa.org/natorg.html for examples of programs that 
coordinate with industries in teaching youth about careers.
    Designing this component will require coordinating with the local 
workforce system to provide access both to the corporations represented 
on the Workforce Investment Board and the service providers funded by 
the local workforce system. As part of the planning process after grant 
award, local areas also will need to do a scan of existing DOL-funded 
initiatives in the community, including the WIA formula youth program, 
WIRED, Beneficiary Choice projects, community-based job training 
projects, youth offender projects, and high-growth job training grants, 
to determine potential linkages, if present.
    2. Case Management. This component will provide a team of 
full-time advocates to serve young offenders returning to the city or 
county. The Department sees these case managers or advocates as 
assisting parole officers in serving returning young offenders and in 
linking these offenders to available social services. The Department 
also sees these case managers or advocates getting to know the parents 
of juvenile offenders and making home visits to the youth. The 
Department expects that case management will start at some point prior 
to release to allow young offenders to become familiar with their case 
managers prior to release. This component may also include having a 
separate team of case managers to work with youth at correctional 
facilities to prepare the youth for their release. See the Ready-4-Work 
and Prisoner Reentry Initiative publications referenced above for 
discussions of implementing case management components for returning 
offenders.
    3. Educational Strategies. This component will be 
primarily aimed at juvenile offenders under the age of 18, but will 
also include strategies aimed at serving juvenile offenders ages 18 and 
above. Juvenile offenders returning from out-of-home placements face 
great difficulties when they re-enroll in school, and the Department 
expects that grantees in all three categories will coordinate with 
local school districts in developing this component. One study of a 
large urban school district found that within a year of re-enrolling in 
high school, nearly two-thirds of first-time ninth graders and over 
three-fourths of ninth grade repeaters who were incarcerated and then 
returned to school withdraw or drop out. The study found that only 12 
percent of first-time ninth graders and 15 percent of ninth grade 
repeaters completed their high school education within four years. 
Educational activities can be operated under this grant both during 
pre-release and post-release. The Department sees this educational 
component as offering a variety of educational pathways to serve the 
diverse needs of youth. The Department expects that this educational 
component will include the following elements:
     Reading and math remediation;
     Assisting young offenders compile the credits they have 
received in various schools and correctional facilities they have 
attended;
     Credit retrieval opportunities to allow young juvenile 
offenders to catch up with their age cohort in high school credits;
     Transition programs such that juvenile offenders returning 
from out-of-home placements do not re-enter classrooms in the middle of 
a semester;
     Tutoring in high school classes for returning offenders; 
and
     Having case managers coordinate with teachers and parole 
officers to help ensure the success of juvenile offenders when they 
return to school.
    4. Mentoring. This component will be aimed at providing 
adult mentors for returning young offenders. For the State/Local 
Implementation Grants and the Intermediary Reentry Grant, the 
Department requires that a faith-based or community organization 
experienced in providing social services to youth or in operating 
mentoring programs have the lead in this component of the program. This 
organization may be selected competitively by the grantee after award. 
Mentoring can be provided through volunteers recruited through a 
variety of ways, and may include one-on-one mentoring, group mentoring, 
and service-based mentoring. The Department recognizes that it may not 
be possible to provide a mentor for every youth returning from a 
juvenile correctional facility, but grantees should develop strategies 
to provide a high proportion of returning youth offenders with mentors, 
with the goal of eventually serving all such youth.
    5. Restorative Justice Projects. The Department expects 
that each grantee will develop restorative justice projects that allow 
youth offenders to participate in community service projects to give 
something positive back to their neighborhood to make up for their 
delinquent offenses. Plans should provide for different types of 
projects appropriate for the different age groups of offenders. As 
examples, age-appropriate work for participants ages 18 and above could 
include construction projects such as helping build housing for poor 
families or helping build community centers, while age-appropriate work 
for younger participants youth could include conservation projects such 
as tree planting and clearing trails in parks. The Department expects 
that this component will be developed in conjunction with local 
conservation and service corps programs, volunteer organizations, and 
state and local parks.
    6. Community-Wide Efforts to Reduce Crime and Violence. 
The Department expects that grantees will include in each of the 
components listed above connections with neighborhood leaders and 
institutions which serve youth as part of their missions, such as 
faith-based and community groups with youth programs, Settlement 
Houses, Boys and Girls Clubs, Girls Inc, YMCAs, and YWCAs. The 
Department expects that the overall strategy developed by all

[[Page 67887]]

three categories of grantees will include faith-based and community 
organizations and social service organizations in neighborhoods with 
large numbers of juvenile offenders joining together to form a 
community-wide net to serve juvenile offenders and to prevent youth 
violence, as was done in Boston's 10 Point Coalition (http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=212652).

II. Award Information

A. Award Amount

    Planning Grants: The Department expects to award 10 planning grants 
of approximately $300,000 each.
    State/Local Implementation Grants: The Department expects to award 
three state/local implementation grants of approximately $3,115,260 
each. These grants may receive additional years of funding depending on 
the availability of such funds and demonstrated performance.
    Intermediary Reentry Grant: The Department expects to award one 
Intermediary Reentry Grant of approximately $5 million. This grant may 
receive additional years of funding depending on the availability of 
such funds and demonstrated performance.

B. Period of Performance

    Planning Grants: Planning Grants will be awarded for a 12-month 
period of performance.
    State/Local Implementation Grants and Intermediary Reentry Grant: 
These grants will be funded for an 18-month period of performance that 
includes up to six months of planning and 12 full months of operation. 
In the Budget Narrative, applicants must provide separate budgets for 
planning and operations. Regardless of the length of the planning 
period, applicants must budget for a full 12 months of operation. 
Grantees should be judicious in their use of funds during the planning 
period and careful to use them specifically for planning components 
associated with this grant.

III. Eligibility Information and Other Grant Specifications

A. Eligible Applicants

    Planning Grants: City and county governments are eligible to apply 
for planning grants, with the mayor being the signatory for the city or 
county executive being the signatory for the county.
    State/Local Implementation Grants: As described above, these grants 
are designed to be administered by a partnership of state juvenile 
justice departments and local juvenile justice agencies. Either of the 
state juvenile justice department or local juvenile justice agency 
partners is eligible to apply for a grant under this Notice. Each state 
is limited to submitting only one application, and this application is 
limited to having juvenile offenders from only one county in the state 
as its focus.
    Intermediary Reentry Grant: An organization that has experience in 
conducting multi-site demonstrations in several localities may apply 
for this grant.
    Note for all three categories of grants: DOL/ETA's acceptance of a 
proposal and award of Federal funds to sponsor any program do not 
provide a waiver of any grant requirements and/or procedures. OMB 
Circulars require that an entity's procurement procedures must ensure 
that all procurement transactions are conducted, as much as practical, 
to provide open and free competition. If a proposal identifies a 
specific entity to provide services, the DOL/ETA's award does not 
provide the justification or basis to sole source the procurement, 
i.e., avoid competition, unless the activity is regarded as the primary 
work of an official partner to the application.

B. Cost Sharing or Matching

    Planning Grants: Planning grants must provide one-to-one leveraged 
resources from a local or national foundation, local or state 
government, other federal funds, or other source.
    State/Local Implementation Grants and Intermediary Reentry Grant: 
There are no cost-sharing or matching requirements for state/local 
implementation grants or the intermediary reentry grant, but the 
development of leveraged resources is strongly encouraged in these 
grants and will be one of the factors considered in the review of 
proposals.

C. Other Eligibility Requirements

    Participant Eligibility. Youth ages 14 and above who have been 
involved in the juvenile justice system within the past year, but never 
involved in the adult criminal justice system, may be served by the 
state/local implementation grants and intermediary reentry grant. The 
first priority of service for these grants is youth currently in or 
recently released from juvenile correctional facilities. If grant funds 
are still available after all such youth from the local area are 
served, the second priority for service is youth currently in or 
recently released from local juvenile detention centers. If grant funds 
are still available after all such youth from the local area are 
served, the third priority is youth who have been placed on probation 
through the local juvenile justice system. A minimum of 80 percent of 
youth enrolled must be those currently in or released within the last 
30 days from either juvenile correctional facilities or juvenile 
detention centers.

IV. Application and Submission Information

A. Address to Request 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

    The proposal will consist of two separate and distinct parts--a 
cost proposal and a technical proposal. Applications that fail to 
adhere to the instructions in this section will be considered non-
responsive and will not be considered.
    Part I. The Cost Proposal. The Cost Proposal must include the 
following three items:
     The Standard Form (SF) 424, ``Application for Federal 
Assistance'' (available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/grants/sf424.pdf ), http://www07.grants.gov/agencies/forms_repository_information.jsp and http://www.doleta.gov/grants/find_grants.cfm). The 
SF 424 must clearly identify the applicant and 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 representative of the 
applicant. Indicate on Line 12 of SF 424 the category for which you are 
applying under this Notice.
     All applicants for Federal grant and funding opportunities 
are required to have a Dun and Bradstreet (DUNS) number. See Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) Notice of Final Policy Issuance, 68 FR 
38402 (June 27, 2003). Applicants must supply their DUNS number on the 
SF 424. The DUNS number is a nine-digit identification number that 
uniquely identifies business entities. Obtaining a DUNS number is easy 
and there is no charge. To obtain a DUNS number, access this Web site: 
http://www.dunandbradstreet.com or call 1-866-705-5711.
     The SF 424A Budget Information Form (available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/grants/sf424a.pdf), http://www07.grants.gov/

[[Page 67888]]

agencies/forms--repository--information.jsp and http://www.doleta.gov/grants/find_grants.cfm. In preparing the Budget Information Form, the 
applicant must provide a detailed backup budget for both the planning 
and operations aspects of the project, with a narrative explanation in 
support of the request. The budget narrative should break down the 
budget and leveraged resources by project activity, should discuss 
cost-per-participant, and should discuss precisely how the 
administrative costs support the project goals. Administrative costs do 
not need to be identified separately from program costs on the SF 424A 
Budget Information Form. Please note that applicants who fail to 
provide a SF 424, SF 424A and/or a budget narrative will be removed 
from consideration prior to the technical review process. If the 
proposal calls for integrating WIA or other Federal funds or includes 
other leveraged resources, these funds should not be listed on the SF 
424 or SF 424A Budget Information Form, but should be described in the 
budget narrative and in Part II of the proposal. The amount of Federal 
funding requested for the entire period of performance should be shown 
on the SF 424 and SF 424A Budget Information Form. Applicants are also 
encouraged, but not required, to submit OMB Survey N. 1890-0014: Survey 
on Ensuring Equal Opportunity for Applicants, which can be found at 
http://www07.grants.gov/agencies/forms_repository_information.jsp and 
http://www.doleta.gov/grants/find_grants.cfm.
    Part II. The Technical Proposal. The Technical Proposal will 
demonstrate the applicant's capability to plan and implement a project 
in accordance with the provisions of this solicitation. The guidelines 
for the content of the Technical Proposal are provided in Part V 
Section A of this SGA. The Technical Proposal for planning grants is 
limited to ten (10) double-spaced single-sided pages with 12 point text 
font and one-inch margins. The Technical Proposal for state/local 
implementation grants and the intermediary reentry grant is limited to 
twenty (20) double-spaced single-sided pages with 12 point text font 
and one-inch margins. Any pages submitted in excess of these page 
limits will not be reviewed. In addition, applications for planning 
grants must include a memorandum of understanding signed by the State 
juvenile correctional agency, the State adult correctional agency, and 
the local juvenile justice agency committing that these agencies will 
work together in carrying out the grant. Applications for State/local 
implementation grants must include a memorandum of understanding signed 
by the State juvenile correctional agency and the local juvenile 
justice agency committing that these agencies will work together in 
carrying out the grant. Applications for intermediary reentry grants do 
not need to include such agreements because the cities to be served by 
this grant and the local sub-grantees may be selected competitively 
after grant award. The applications for all three categories must also 
include a 2-page Executive Summary. These additional materials do not 
count against the 20-page limit for the Technical Proposal.
    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.

C. Submission Date, Times, and Addresses

    The closing date for receipt of applications under this 
announcement is December 18, 2008. Applications must be received at the 
address below no later than 5 p.m. (Eastern Time). Applications 
submitted electronically through Grants.gov must be successfully 
submitted at http://www.grants.gov no later than 5 p.m. (Eastern Time) 
on December 29, 2008, 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.
    Applications sent by e-mail, telegram, or facsimile (fax) will not 
be accepted.
    Applications that do not meet the conditions set forth in this 
notice will not be honored. No exceptions to the mailing and delivery 
requirements set forth in this notice will be granted.
    Mail/overnight mail/hand delivery--Mailed applications must be 
addressed to the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training 
Administration, Division of Federal Assistance, Attention: Chari 
Magruder, Reference SGA/DFA PY 08-09, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., 
Room N-4716, Washington, DC 20210. Applicants are advised that mail 
delivery in the Washington 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.
    Electronic submission--Applicants may apply online through 
Grants.gov (http://www.grants.gov). It is strongly recommended 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. These 
steps may take multiple days or 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. 
It is highly recommended that online submissions be completed at least 
two (2) working days prior to the date specified for the receipt of 
applications to ensure that the applicant still has the option to 
submit by overnight delivery service in the event of any electronic 
submission problems. It is also highly recommended that applicants use 
the ``Organization Registration Checklist'' at http://www.grants.gov/assets/Organization_Steps_Complete_Registration.pdf to ensure the 
registration process is complete.
    Within two business days of application submission, Grants.gov will 
send the applicant two e-mail messages to provide the status of 
application progress through the system. The first e-mail, almost 
immediate, will confirm receipt of the application by Grants.gov. The 
second e-mail will indicate the application has either been 
successfully validated or has been rejected due to errors. Only 
applications that have been successfully submitted and successfully 
validated will be considered. It is the sole responsibility of the 
applicant to ensure a timely submission, therefore sufficient time 
should be allotted for submission (two business days), and if 
applicable, subsequent 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.
    The components of the application must be saved as either .doc, 
.xls or .pdf files. Documents received in a format other than .doc, 
.xls or .pdf will not be read.
    The Grants.gov helpdesk is available from 7 a.m. (Eastern Time) 
until 9 p.m. (Eastern Time). Applicants should factor the 
unavailability of the Grants.gov helpdesk after 9 p.m. (Eastern Time) 
into plans for submitting an application.

[[Page 67889]]

Applicants are strongly advised to utilize the plethora of tools and 
documents, including FAQs that are available on the ``Applicant 
Resources'' page at http://www.grants.gov/applicants/app_help_reso.jsp#faqs. 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 to speak 
to a Customer Support Representative or e-mail [email protected].
    Late Applications: For applications submitted on Grants.gov, only 
applications that have been successfully submitted no later 5 p.m. 
(Eastern Time) on the closing date and successfully validated will be 
considered. For applicants not submitting on Grants.gov, any 
application received after the exact date and time specified for 
receipt at the office designated in this notice will not be considered, 
unless it is received before awards are made, was properly addressed, 
and: (a) Was sent by U.S. Postal Service registered or certified mail 
not later than the fifth calendar day before the date specified for 
receipt of applications (e.g., an application required to be received 
by the 20th of the month must be post marked by the 15th of that month) 
or (b) Was sent by professional overnight delivery service to the 
addressee not later than one working day prior to the date specified 
for receipt of applications. ``Post marked'' means a printed, stamped 
or otherwise placed impression (exclusive of a postage meter machine 
impression) that is readily identifiable, without further action, as 
having been supplied or affixed on the date of mailing by an employee 
of the U.S. Postal Service. Therefore, applicants should request the 
postal clerk to place a legible hand cancellation ``bull's eye'' 
postmark on both the receipt and the package. Failure to adhere to the 
above instructions will be a basis for a determination of 
nonresponsiveness. Evidence of timely submission by a professional 
overnight delivery service must be demonstrated by equally reliable 
evidence created by the delivery service provider indicating the time 
and place of receipt.

D. Intergovernmental Review

    This funding opportunity is not subject to Executive Order (EO) 
12372, ``Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs.''

E. Funding Restrictions

    All proposal costs must be necessary and reasonable in accordance 
with Federal guidelines. Determinations of allowable costs will be made 
in accordance with the applicable Federal cost principles. Disallowed 
costs are those charges to a grant that the grantor agency or its 
representative determines not to be allowed in accordance with the 
applicable Federal Cost Principles or other conditions contained in the 
grant. Applicants will not be entitled to reimbursement of pre-award 
costs. Funds provided under these grants shall only be used for 
activities that are in addition to those that would otherwise be 
available in the local area in the absence of such funds. Paying for 
food is only allowable in circumstances in which it is integral to a 
training activity. Grant funds may be used to pay wages to participants 
for summer and after-school work experience and internships as long as 
participants are assigned real work for these wages, but grant funds 
cannot be used for paying stipends to participants. Grantees must 
submit an implementation plan and detailed budget for project officer 
review and approval prior to starting operations. If grantees are 
starting some components sooner than others, they can submit separate 
plans for the components as they are ready to start them.
    Indirect Costs. As specified in OMB Circulars on Cost Principles, 
indirect costs are those that have been incurred for common or joint 
objectives and cannot be readily identified with a particular cost 
objective. In order to utilize grant funds for indirect costs incurred, 
the applicant must obtain an Indirect Cost Rate Agreement with its 
Federal Cognizant Agency either before or shortly after the grant 
award. The Federal Cognizant Agency is generally determined based on 
the preponderance of Federal dollars received by the recipient.
    Administrative Costs. An entity that receives a grant to carry out 
a project or program may not use more than 10 percent of the amount of 
the grant to pay administrative costs associated with the program or 
project. Administrative costs could be both direct and indirect costs 
and are defined at 20 CFR 667.220. Administrative costs do not need to 
be identified separately from program costs on the SF 424A Budget 
Information Form. They should be discussed in the budget narrative and 
tracked through the grantee's accounting system. To claim any 
administrative costs that are also indirect costs, the applicant must 
obtain an Indirect Cost Rate Agreement from its Federal Cognizant 
Agency as specified above.

F. Legal Rules Pertaining to Inherently Religious Activities by 
Organizations That Receive Federal Financial Assistance

    Direct Federal grants, sub-award funds, or contracts under this 
program shall not be used to support inherently religious activities 
such as religious instruction, worship, or proselytization. Therefore, 
organizations must take steps to separate, in time or location, their 
inherently religious activities from the services funded under this 
program. Neutral, secular criteria that neither favor nor disfavor 
religion must be employed in the selection of grant and sub-grant 
recipients. In addition, under the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 and 
DOL regulations implementing the Workforce Investment Act, a recipient 
may not use direct Federal assistance to train a participant in 
religious activities, or employ participants to construct, operate, or 
maintain any part of a facility that is used or to be used for 
religious instruction or worship. See 29 CFR 37.6(f). Under WIA, ``no 
individual shall be excluded from participation in, denied the benefits 
of, subjected to discrimination under, or denied employment in the 
administration of or in connection with, any such program or activity 
because of race, color, religion, sex (except as otherwise permitted 
under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and the Religious 
Freedom Restoration Act of 1993), national origin, age, disability, or 
political affiliation or belief.'' Regulations pertaining to the Equal 
Treatment for Faith-Based Organizations, which includes the prohibition 
against Federal funding of inherently religious activities, can be 
found at 29 CFR Part 2, Subpart D. Provision relating to the use of 
indirect support (such as vouchers) is at 29 CFR 2.33(c) and 20 CFR 
667.266.
    A faith-based organization receiving federal funds retains its 
independence from Federal, State, and local governments, and may 
continue to carry out its mission, including the definition, practice, 
and expression of its religious beliefs. For example, a faith-based 
organization may use space in its facilities to provide secular 
programs or services funded with Federal funds without removing 
religious art, icons, scriptures, or other religious symbols. In 
addition, a faith-based organization that receives Federal funds 
retains its authority over its internal governance, and it may retain 
religious terms in its organization's name, select its board members on 
a religious basis, and

[[Page 67890]]

include religious references in its organization's mission statements 
and other governing documents in accordance with all program 
requirements, statutes, and other applicable requirements governing the 
conduct of DOL funded activities.
    The Department notes that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act 
(RFRA), 42 U.S.C. sec. 2000bb, applies to all Federal law and its 
implementation. If your organization is a faith-based organization that 
makes hiring decisions on the basis of religious belief, it may be 
entitled to receive Federal financial assistance under Title I of the 
Workforce Investment Act and maintain that hiring practice even though 
Section 188 of the Workforce Investment Act contains a general ban on 
religious discrimination in employment. If you are awarded a grant, you 
will be provided with information on how to request such an exemption.

V. Application Review Information

A. Evaluation Criteria

    This section identifies and describes the criteria that will be 
used to evaluate proposals submitted for planning grants and 
implementation grants. Note that applications for planning grants do 
not need to include a Project Design section in their proposals, as 
their project design will be developed through the planning grants. 
Also note that that the allocation of points to need varies between the 
state/local and intermediary proposals because the intermediary 
applicants will not yet have identified the cities in which they will 
be operated.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                              Points for state/
                                                               Points for           local          Points for
                         Criterion                           planning grant    implementation     intermediary
                                                              applications          grant            reentry
                                                                                applications      applications
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Local Need.............................................                40                20                10
2. Project design.........................................               N/A                35                30
3. Collaboration..........................................                40                35                20
4. Organizational capacity................................                20                10                40
                                                           -----------------------------------------------------
    Total Possible Points.................................               100               100               100
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The rated components listed above make up the Technical Proposal 
(along with the additional requirements listed in section IV.B).
1. Local Need
    Planning Grants and State/Local Implementation Grants:
    The points for local need for both planning grants and State/local 
implementation grants will be assigned based on a combination of the 
number of delinquency cases in the county to be served by your proposed 
project and the justification that you make in your application for the 
need for the project. Half of the points under this criterion will be 
assigned based on the number of youth in delinquency cases as 
determined by the most recent data available provided voluntarily by 
juvenile courts across the country to the National Juvenile Court Data 
Archive (NJCDA), a project maintained by the National Center for 
Juvenile Justice (NCJJ) with funds provided by the Office of Juvenile 
Justice and Delinquency Prevention. These Juvenile Court statistics 
include State and county-level caseload data showing the annual 
delinquency, status offense, and dependency cases handled by juvenile 
courts. These county-level statistics are available on the OJJDP Web 
site under Easy Access to State and County Juvenile Court Case Counts 
at http://ojjdp.ncjrs.org/ojstatbb/ezaco/asp/TableDisplay.asp. We will 
be using the combined number of petitioned and non-petitioned 
delinquency cases.
    If you are from Kentucky, Louisiana, or Mississippi, please provide 
the number of combined petitioned and non-petitioned delinquency cases 
in the county that you will be serving for the latest year available as 
the national base does not include these statistics for these three 
States. If you are applying from any other State, you do not need to 
provide in your application the statistics for the area that you will 
be serving as we can access that information from the national data 
base as long as you indicate in the Needs Section of your application 
the county that you will be serving. If you are from Connecticut, 
indicate the venue district that you will be serving.
    The other half of the points under this criterion will be based on 
the justification that you provide in your application for the need for 
this project in the area that you will be serving. Make your best case 
for why your local area needs this grant. Present the number of youth 
from the county placed in a juvenile correctional facility this past 
year; the number of youth placed in local detention centers; and the 
number who returned home from juvenile correctional facilities. Provide 
the source of this data. Discuss the extent of youth gangs in the city 
or county. Discuss why the problems of juvenile crime and youth gangs 
exist to the extent that they do in the county, what resources are 
currently available for serving returning juvenile offenders; and what 
gaps currently exist in these services. Applicants for planning grants 
also should discuss the extent of the problem of young adult crime in 
the city or county to be served, as planning grants will be developing 
blueprints for serving young adult as well as juvenile offenders.
    Intermediary Reentry Grant:
     Discuss what factors indicating local need you will 
include in your solicitation for selecting cities competitively after 
award, why you believe that these factors are a good indicator of local 
need for the project, whether data is available on these factors, and 
what weight you will place on need factors.
     Discuss why the problems of juvenile crime and gangs exist 
to the extent that they do in the country as a whole; what resources 
typically are currently available for serving returning juvenile 
offenders; and what gaps currently exist in these services.
    Planning Grant and State/Local Implementation proposals will be 
evaluated under this criterion as follows:
     Half of the points under this criterion will be based on 
the number of delinquency cases in the county to be served by the 
project reported in the Easy Access to State and County Juvenile Court 
Case Counts data base. A scale will be used to rank the number of 
delinquency cases in a county as high, medium, or low, with the most 
points being provided to counties with high numbers of delinquency 
cases.
     The other half of the points under this criterion will be 
based on the case

[[Page 67891]]

you make in your proposal for the local need for your project. Based on 
evidence that you provide regarding the number of youth from the county 
placed in a juvenile correctional facility this past year; the number 
of youth placed in local detention centers; the number who returned 
home from juvenile correctional facilities; and current gaps in 
services to juvenile offenders, the review panel will rank the 
seriousness of the problems of juvenile crime and youth gangs in your 
county as severe, moderate, or low. Local areas with severe juvenile 
crime and youth gangs will receive the most points. Planning grant 
applications will also be ranked based on the evidence provided 
regarding the seriousness of their adult crime problem.
    Intermediary Grant proposals will be evaluated under this criterion 
as follows:
     The review panel will evaluate how you will include local 
need as part of your competitive selection of cities. The review panel 
will consider how well you have thought through what factors of local 
need should be included in your solicitation for the cities that will 
be part of your project; whether data is available on the factors that 
you propose; and the extent to which these factors accurately reflect 
local need. Panelists will rate your response on a scale of fair, good, 
and excellent, with excellent receiving the most points (5 points).
     The review panel will evaluate your response regarding why 
juvenile crime and youth gangs exist to the extent that they do in the 
country as a whole; what resources typically are currently available 
for serving returning juvenile offenders; and what gaps currently exist 
in these services. The panel will consider how well you have thought 
through these issues and how insightful your analysis is of existing 
gaps in services. Panelists will rate your response on a scale of fair, 
good, and excellent, with excellent receiving the most points (5 
points).
2. Project Design (Applications for Planning Grants Do Not Complete 
This Section)
    State/Local Implementation Grants and Intermediary Reentry Grants: 
Discuss how you will implement each of the required project components 
in Part I of the grant announcement:
     Community Reentry Team: Discuss which agencies will serve 
on this team. Discuss the roles and responsibilities of the Community 
Reentry Team.
     Employment Strategies: Discuss how you plan to place older 
juvenile offenders in jobs. Discuss how you will link with the local 
Workforce Investment Board, One-Stop Centers, and corporations.
     Case Management: Discuss how you will carry out this 
component, including the number of case managers or advocates you 
expect to hire, how these case managers or advocates will interact with 
guidance counselors and staff, the expected number of students to be 
served each year in this component, and the anticipated case load size.
     Educational Strategies: Discuss the educational strategies 
that you will implement with grant funds. Provide details regarding how 
you will implement each strategy, including the number of full-time 
staff positions that will be dedicated to each new strategy and the 
expected number of students to be served each year by each strategy. 
Describe the level of staff development that will be provided in 
implementing these educational strategies.
     Mentoring: Describe how the mentoring component will be 
carried out, including how mentors will be recruited, screened, and 
trained, the anticipated number of youth who will receive mentors, and 
the number of full-time staff to be hired for this component. Also, 
discuss the extent to which you will use one-on-one mentoring, group 
mentoring, service-based mentoring, and work-based mentoring.
     Restorative Justice: Discuss how you will implement 
community service projects for juvenile offenders both ages 18 and 
above and ages 17 and below. Discuss possible links with local 
conservation and service corps programs, volunteer organizations, and 
state and local parks.
     Community-Wide Violence Reduction Efforts: Discuss plans 
for churches and social service organizations in neighborhoods served 
by the grant to join together to prevent youth violence and serve 
juvenile offenders.
    State/Local Implementation Grant proposals and Intermediary Reentry 
Grant proposals will be evaluated under this criterion for each of the 
six required components plus the Community Reentry Team as follows:
    For State/Local Implementation Grant proposals, up to 5 points will 
be awarded for each of the six required components plus the Community 
Reentry Team. For Intermediary Reentry Grant proposals, up to 5 points 
each will be awarded for the employment and education components and up 
to 4 points each will be awarded for the other four components and the 
Community Reentry Team. The points for each of the required components 
and the Community Reentry Team will be rated by the panel based on:
     The extent to which the applicant demonstrates that it has 
thought through how it will implement the component;
     The practicality and likelihood of success of the design 
that the applicant is proposing for the component; and
     The potential for the component as designed by the 
applicant to have large impact on the young offender population in the 
communities to be served.
3. Collaboration
    This section should include for all three categories a discussion 
of how the project will be carried out in a shared youth vision 
framework in which multiple state and local agencies work 
collaboratively across funding streams to best serve young people in 
their jurisdictions.
    Planning Grants: This section should include:
     A discussion of each of the key partners that will be 
involved in the project, including the state and local juvenile justice 
agencies, state and local agencies responsible for returning adult 
offenders, the school district, the workforce investment system, local 
foundations, and corporations.
     A discussion of the community's potential commitment to 
the project, including a description of organizations that serve 
neighborhoods with large numbers of returning young offenders, 
including churches with youth programs, Settlement Houses, Boys and 
Girls Clubs, Girls Inc, YMCAs, and YWCAs, and how these organizations 
could help serve as a community-wide net for at-risk youth.
     A description of the one-to-one leveraged resources and 
the extent to which the leveraged resources represent funding or 
staffing that would not otherwise be dedicated to improving services 
for juvenile and young adult offenders.
    State/Local Implementation Grants: This section should include:
     A discussion of each of the key partners that will be 
involved in the project, including the state and local juvenile justice 
agencies, the school district, the workforce investment system, local 
foundations, and corporations.
     A discussion of the community's potential commitment to 
the project, including a description of organizations that serve 
neighborhoods with large numbers of returning young offenders, 
including churches with youth programs, Settlement Houses, Boys and 
Girls Clubs, Girls Inc, YMCAs, and YWCAs, and how these organizations

[[Page 67892]]

could help serve as a community-wide net for at-risk youth.
     A description of the leveraged resources that will provide 
and the extent to which these resources represent funding or staffing 
that would not otherwise be dedicated to improving services for 
juvenile and young adult offenders.
     A description of the requirements that will go into the 
grant announcement for selecting faith-based and community 
organizations as sub-grantees/contractors. The Department strongly 
encourages the competitive selection of sub-grantees and contractors 
either before or after grant award.
    Intermediary Reentry Grants: Because cities in which the project 
will be operated will not be selected until after grant award, 
applicants will not be able to list specific local partners in this 
section. Rather, discuss the types of local organizations that you will 
seek out as partners. This section should include:
     A discussion of how you plan to involve key local 
partners, including the state and local juvenile justice agencies, the 
school district, the workforce investment system, local foundations, 
and corporations.
     A description of the types of local organizations that the 
applicant will seek to include in this project, including churches with 
youth programs, Settlement Houses, Boys and Girls Clubs, Girls Inc, 
YMCAs, and YWCAs, and how these organizations could help serve as a 
community-wide net for at-risk youth.
     A description of the types of leveraged funds that will be 
sought to carry out these grants.
     A description of the requirements for local state and 
local collaboration that will go into the grant announcement for 
selecting cities and local subgrantees. The Department strongly 
encourages the competitive selection of sub-grantees and contractors 
either before or after grant award.
    Planning Grant proposals will be evaluated under this criterion 
based on:
     The extent of planned partnerships between the state and 
local juvenile justice agencies, the school district, the workforce 
investment system, state and local agencies responsible for adult 
offenders, local foundations, and corporations (15 points).
     The extent of the potential commitment to the project of 
faith-based and community organizations that are operating in 
neighborhoods with large numbers of returning young offenders likely to 
be served by the grant (15 points).
     The extent to which the one-to-one leveraged resources 
represent funding or staffing that would not otherwise be dedicated to 
improving services for juvenile and young adult offenders (10 points).
    State/Local Implementation Grant proposals will be evaluated under 
this criterion based on:
     The extent of planned partnerships between the state and 
local juvenile justice agencies, the school district, the workforce 
investment system, state and local agencies responsible for adult 
offenders, local foundations, and corporations (9 points).
     The extent of the potential commitment to the project of 
faith-based and community organizations that are operating in 
neighborhoods with large numbers of returning young offenders likely to 
be served by the grant (9 points).
     The amount of leveraged resources and the extent to which 
these leveraged resources represent funding or staffing that would not 
otherwise be dedicated to improving services for juvenile offenders (9 
points).
     The extent to which the requirements that will go into the 
solicitation for selecting faith-based and community sub-grantees and 
contractors are practical and able to differentiate between proposals 
of different levels of merit (8 points).
    Intermediary Reentry Grant proposals will be evaluated under this 
criterion based on:
     The practicality and likelihood of success of the plan for 
involving key local partners in the project, including state and local 
juvenile justice agencies, the school district, the workforce 
investment system, state and local agencies responsible for adult 
offenders, local foundations, and corporations (5 points).
     The likelihood of success and the potential of having a 
large impact on the juvenile offender population of the plan for 
involving faith-based and community organizations in this project (5 
points).
     The likelihood of success of the plan for leveraging 
additional funds for the project, the amount of expected leveraged 
resources, and the extent to which these leveraged resources will 
represent funding or staffing that would not otherwise be dedicated to 
improving services for juvenile offenders (5 points).
     The extent to which the requirements that will go into the 
solicitation for selecting faith-based and community sub-grantees and 
contractors are practical and able to differentiate between proposals 
of different levels of merit (5 points).
4. Organizational Capacity
     Planning Grants: Discuss the capacity of the organization 
to lead this planning process. Discuss experience of the organization 
in carrying out previous planning efforts. Discuss the capacity of the 
organization to have the lead in following through to implement the 
blueprints for reform developed through the 12-month planning period 
funded by these grants. Discuss the experience of key staff related to 
the juvenile and criminal justice systems. Discuss the organization's 
previous success in operating projects in a shared youth vision 
approach involving collaboration among agencies and the use of 
leveraged resources.
     State/Local Implementation Grants: Discuss the capacity 
and the commitment to this project of the State juvenile justice 
department. Discuss the capacity and commitment of the local juvenile 
justice agency. Discuss each organization's previous success in 
providing services in a shared youth vision approach involving 
collaboration among agencies and the use of leveraged resources. 
Discuss the experience of key staff related to the juvenile justice 
system.
     Intermediary Reentry Grant: This section should include 
discussions of the organization's direct experience in conducting 
multi-site demonstrations; the proposed staff's direct experience in 
conducting multi-site demonstrations; the organization's and the key 
staff's direct experience relating to each of the seven required 
program components discussed above--community reentry teams, case 
management, employment, education, mentoring, balanced and restorative 
justice, and community violence reduction efforts; and the 
organization's previous success in operating demonstrations in a shared 
youth vision approach involving collaboration among agencies and the 
use of leveraged resources.
    Planning Grant proposals will be evaluated under this criterion 
based on:
     The experience of the organization in carrying out 
previous planning efforts (7 points).
     The experience of key staff related to the juvenile and 
criminal justice systems (7 points).
     The organization's previous success in operating projects 
in a shared youth vision approach involving collaboration among 
agencies and the use of leveraged resources (6 points).
    State/Local Implementation Grant proposals will be evaluated under 
this criterion based on:

[[Page 67893]]

     The experience of the State juvenile justice department 
and key staff in collaborating with other agencies (5 points).
     The experience of the local juvenile justice agency and 
key staff in collaborating with other agencies (5 points).
    Intermediary Reentry Grant proposals will be evaluated under this 
criterion based on:
     The organization's direct experience in conducting multi-
site demonstrations (9 points).
     The proposed staff's direct experience in conducting 
multi-site demonstrations country (9 points).
     The organization's and the key staff's direct experience 
relating to each of the seven required program components discussed 
above--community reentry teams, case management, employment, education, 
mentoring, balanced and restorative justice, and community violence 
reduction efforts (9 points).
     The organization's previous success in operating 
demonstrations in a shared youth vision approach involving 
collaboration among agencies and the use of leveraged resources (8 
points).

B. Review and Selection Process

    Proposals that are timely and responsive to the requirements of 
this SGA will be rated against the criteria listed above by an 
independent panel that may be comprised of representatives from DOL and 
other reviewers. Proposals will be grouped by the category for which 
they apply, and the proposals within each category will be rated 
separately. The ranked scores will serve as the primary basis for 
selection of applications for funding, in conjunction with other 
factors such as geographic balance; the availability of funds; and 
which proposals are most advantageous to the Government. Any 
applications that receive a score of 80 and above will be considered 
for award. The panel results are advisory in nature and not binding on 
the Grant Officer, and the Grant Officer may consider any information 
that comes to his/her attention. If no fundable proposals are received 
for a given category or if fewer fundable proposals are received for a 
category than we intended to fund, additional awards may be made in the 
other categories. The Government may elect to award the grant(s) with 
or without discussions with the applicants. Should a grant be awarded 
without discussions, the award will be based on the applicant's 
signature on the SF 424, which constitutes a binding offer by the 
applicant (including electronic signature via E-Authentication on 
http://www.grants.gov).

VI. Award Administration Information

A. Award Notices

    All award notifications will be posted on the ETA homepage (http://www.doleta.gov). The notice of award signed by the Grants Officer will 
serve as the authorizing document. Applicants not selected for award 
will be notified as soon as possible.

B. Administrative and National Policy Requirements

 1. Administrative Program Requirements
    All grantees, including faith-based organizations, will be subject 
to all applicable Federal laws, regulations, and the applicable OMB 
Circulars. The grant(s) awarded under this SGA will be subject to the 
following administrative standards and provisions:
    a. Non-Profit Organizations--OMB Circulars A-122 (Cost Principles) 
and 29 CFR Part 95 (Administrative Requirements).
    b. Educational Institutions--OMB Circulars A-21 (Cost Principles) 
and 29 CFR Part 95 (Administrative Requirements).
    c. State and Local Governments--OMB Circulars A-87 (Cost 
Principles) and 29 CFR Part 97 (Administrative Requirements).
    d. Profit Making Commercial Firms--Federal Acquisition Regulation 
(FAR)--48 CFR Part 31 (Cost Principles), and 29 CFR Part 95 
(Administrative Requirements).
    e. All entities must comply with 29 CFR Parts 93 and 98, and, where 
applicable, 29 CFR Parts 96 and 99.
    f. 29 CFR Part 2, subpart D--Equal Treatment in Department of Labor 
Programs for Religious Organizations, Protection of Religious Liberty 
of Department of Labor Social Service Providers and Beneficiaries.
    g. 29 CFR Part 31--Nondiscrimination in Federally Assisted Programs 
of the Department of Labor--Effectuation of Title VI of the Civil 
Rights Act of 1964.
    h. 29 CFR Part 32--Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Handicap in 
Programs and Activities Receiving or Benefiting from Federal Financial 
Assistance.
    i. 29 CFR Part 33--Enforcement of Nondiscrimination on the Basis of 
Handicap in Programs or Activities Conducted by the Department of 
Labor.
    j. 29 CFR Part 35--Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Age in 
Programs or Activities Receiving Federal Financial Assistance from the 
Department of Labor.
    k. 29 CFR Part 36--Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Sex in 
Education Programs or Activities Receiving Federal Financial 
Assistance.
    The following administrative standards and provisions may be 
applicable:
    a. Workforce Investment Act--20 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 
Part 667 (General Fiscal and Administrative Rules).
    b. 29 CFR Part 30--Equal Employment Opportunity in Apprenticeship 
and Training; and
    c. 29 CFR Part 37--Implementation of the Nondiscrimination and 
Equal Opportunity Provisions of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998.
    In accordance with Section 18 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 
1995 (Pub. L. 104-65) (2 U.S.C. 1611) non-profit entities incorporated 
under Internal Revenue Service Code section 501(c)(4) that engage in 
lobbying activities are not eligible to receive Federal funds and 
grants.

    Note: Except as specifically provided in this Notice, DOL/ETA's 
acceptance of a proposal and an award of Federal funds to sponsor 
any program(s) does not provide a waiver of any grant requirements 
and/or procedures. For example, OMB Circulars require that an 
entity's procurement procedures must ensure that all procurement 
transactions are conducted, as much as practical, to provide open 
and free competition. If a proposal identifies a specific entity to 
provide services, the DOL/ETA's award does not provide the 
justification or basis to sole source the procurement, i.e., avoid 
competition, unless the activity is regarded as the primary work of 
an official partner to the application.

2. Special Program Requirements
    Evaluation. DOL will require that State/Local Implementation 
Grantees and the Intermediary Reentry Grantee cooperate in an 
independent evaluation of their projects. This evaluation will make use 
of program MIS data, local administrative data on juvenile crime and 
recidivism, and program progress reports. DOL recognizes that there 
will be limitations on this cooperation due to state confidentiality 
requirements regarding data on individual juvenile offenders.
    Intellectual Property Rights. The Federal Government reserves a 
paid-up, nonexclusive and irrevocable license to reproduce, publish or 
otherwise use, and to authorize others to use for federal purposes: (i) 
The copyright in all products developed under the grant, including a 
subgrant or contract under the grant or subgrant; and (ii) any rights 
of copyright to which the grantee, subgrantee or a contractor purchases 
ownership under an award (including

[[Page 67894]]

but not limited to curricula, training models, technical assistance 
products, and any related materials). Such uses include, but are not 
limited to, the right to modify and distribute such products worldwide 
by any means, electronically or otherwise. Federal funds may not be 
used to pay any royalty or licensing fee associated with such 
copyrighted material, although they may be used to pay costs for 
obtaining a copy which is limited to the developer/seller costs of 
copying and shipping. If revenues are generated through selling 
products developed with grant funds, including intellectual property, 
these revenues are program income. Program income is added to the grant 
and must be expended for allowable grant activities.

C. Reporting and Accountability

    The state/local implementation grants and the intermediary reentry 
grant will be subject to performance standards measuring their progress 
in meeting the goals of the grants. National goals will be set after 
grant award in the following areas:
     Reducing the recidivism rate of youth returning from out-
of-home placements;
     Increasing the employment rate of returning juvenile 
offenders ages 18 and above;
     Increasing the rate which returning juvenile offenders 
ages 18 and above enter post-secondary education or training;
     Increasing the school retention rate of returning juvenile 
offenders under the age of 18;
     Increasing the rate which returning juvenile offenders 
under the age of 18 achieve a high school diploma.
    The planning grants will not be subject to performance standards, 
but DOL/ETA staff will review the completed plans submitted by grantees 
and will provide comments and suggestions to the grantees regarding 
their plans. The plans submitted by these grantees will also be shared 
with other localities in the country.
    Quarterly financial reports, quarterly progress reports, and MIS 
data will be submitted by the grantee electronically. Grantees must 
agree to meet DOL reporting requirements. The grantee is required to 
provide the reports and documents listed below:
    Quarterly Financial Reports. A Quarterly Financial Status Report is 
required until such time as all funds have been expended or the grant 
period has expired, whichever is sooner. Quarterly reports are due 45 
days after the end of each calendar year quarter. Grantees must use 
ETA's On-Line Electronic Reporting System; information and instructions 
will be provided to grantees.
    Quarterly Progress Reports. The grantee must submit a quarterly 
progress report based on a DOL template to its designated Federal 
Project Officer within 45 days after the end of each quarter. This 
report should provide a detailed account of activities undertaken 
during that quarter. The quarterly progress report should be in 
narrative form and should include:
    1. In-depth information on accomplishments, including project 
success stories, upcoming grant activities, and promising approaches 
and processes.
    2. Progress toward meeting performance outcomes.
    3. Challenges being faced by the grantee in implementing the 
project.
    MIS Reports. Organizations will be required to submit updated MIS 
data within 45 days after the end of each quarter based on a DOL 
template that reports on enrollment, services provided, placements, 
outcomes, and follow-up status.

VII. Agency Contacts

    For further information regarding this SGA, please contact B. Jai 
Johnson, Grants Management Specialist, Division of Federal Assistance, 
at (202) 693-3296 (please note this is not a toll-free number). 
Applicants should fax all technical questions to (202) 693-2705, or e-
mail: [email protected] and must specifically address the fax to the 
attention of B. Jai Johnson and should include SGA/DFA PY 08-09, a 
contact name, fax and phone number, and e-mail address. This 
announcement is being made available on the ETA Web site at http://www.doleta.gov/grants/find_grants.cfm, http://www.grants.gov, and in 
the Federal Register.

VIII. Additional Resources and Other Information

A. Resources for the Applicant

    DOL maintains a number of web-based resources that may be of 
assistance to applicants:
     Questions and responses submitted to the Grant Officer 
regarding the SGA will be posted on the Employment and Training Web 
site at http://www.doleta.gov. Questions will be received for one month 
after publication.

B. Other Information

    OMB Information Collection No. 1225-0086.
    Expires September 30, 2009.
    According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are 
required to respond to a collection of information unless such 
collection displays a valid OMB control number. Public reporting burden 
for this collection of information is estimated to average 20 hours per 
response, including time for reviewing instructions, searching existing 
data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing 
and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding 
the burden estimated or any other aspect of this collection of 
information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to the OMB 
Desk Officer for ETA, Office of Management and Budget, Room 10235, 
Washington, DC 20503. PLEASE DO NOT RETURN YOUR COMPLETED APPLICATION 
TO THE OMB. SEND IT TO THE SPONSORING AGENCY AS SPECIFIED IN THIS 
SOLICITATION.
    This information is being collected for the purpose of awarding a 
grant. The information collected through this ``Solicitation for Grant 
Applications'' will be used by the Department of Labor to ensure that 
grants are awarded to the applicant best suited to perform the 
functions of the grant. Submission of this information is required in 
order for the applicant to be considered for award of this grant. 
Unless otherwise specifically noted in this announcement, information 
submitted in the respondent's application is not considered to be 
confidential.

    Signed at Washington, DC, this 10th day of November 2008.
Chari A. Magruder,
Employment and Training Administration, Grant Officer.
 [FR Doc. E8-27151 Filed 11-14-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-FT-P