12688 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 39 / Tuesday, February 27, 2001 / Notices

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND

HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and

Families

[Program Announcement No. OCS–2001–

04]

Request for Applications Under The

Office of Community Services’ Fiscal

Year 2001 Assets for Independence

Demonstration Program (IDA Program)

AGENCY: Office of Community Services

(OCS), Administration for Children and

Families, Department of Health and

Human Services

ACTION: Announcement of availability of

funds and request for competitive

applications under the Office of

Community Services’ Assets for

Independence Demonstration Program.

SUMMARY: The Administration for

Children and Families (ACF), Office of

Community Services (OCS), invites

eligible entities to submit competitive

grant applications for new

demonstration projects that will

establish, implement, and participate in

the evaluation of Individual

Development Accounts for lower

income individuals and families.

Applications will be screened and

competitively reviewed as indicated in

this Program Announcement. Awards

will be contingent on the outcome of the

competition and the availability of

funds.

DATES: To be considered for funding

applications must be postmarked on or

before June 12, 2001. Applications

postmarked after that date will not be

accepted for consideration. See Part IV

of this announcement for more

information on submitting applications.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Sheldon Shalit (202) 401–4807,

sshalit@acf.dhhs.gov, or Richard Saul

(202) 401–9341, rsaul@acf.dhhs.gov,

Department of Health and Human

Services, Administration for Children

and Families, Office of Community

Services, 370 L’Enfant Promenade, SW,

Washington, DC, 20447.

In addition, this Announcement is

accessible on the OCS WEBSITE for

reading or downloading at: http://

www.acf.dhhs.gov/programs/ocs/ under

‘‘Funding Opportunities.’’

The Catalog of Federal Domestic

Assistance (CFDA) number for this

program is 93.602. The title is Assets for

Independence Demonstration Program

(IDA Program).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This

program announcement consists of

seven parts plus Attachments:

Part I: Background Information:

Legislative authority, program purpose,

project goals, definition of terms, and

program evaluation.

Part II: Program Objectives and

Requirements: Program priority areas,

eligible applicants, project and budget

periods, funds availability and grant

amounts, project eligibility and

requirements, non-Federal matching

funds requirements, preferences,

multiple applications, treatment of

program income, and agreements with

partnering financial institutions.

Part III: The Project Description,

Program Proposal Elements and Review

Criteria: Purpose, project summary/

abstract; objectives and need for

assistance, results or benefits expected,

approach, organizational profiles,

budget and budget justification, nonFederal resources, and evaluation

criteria.

Part IV: Application Procedures:

Application development/availability of

forms, application submission,

intergovernmental review, initial OCS

screening, consideration of applications,

and funding reconsideration.

Part V: Instructions for Completing

Application Forms: SF424, SF424A,

SF424B.

Part VI: Contents of Application and

Receipt Process: Content and order of

program application, acknowledgment

of receipt.

Part VII: Post Award Information and

Reporting Requirements: Notification of

grant award, attendance at technical

assistance and evaluation workshops/

conferences, reporting requirements,

audit requirements, prohibitions and

requirements with regard to lobbying,

applicable Federal regulations.

Attachments: Application forms and

required attachments.

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995

Public reporting burden for this

collection of information is estimated to

average 10 hours per response,

including the time for reviewing

instructions, gathering and maintaining

the data needed and reviewing the

collection information.

The project description is approved

under OMB control number 0970–0139

which expires 12/31/2003.

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.

Part I. Background Information

A. Legislative Authority

The Assets for Independence

Demonstration Program (IDA Program)

was established by the Assets for

Independence Act (AFI Act), under Title

IV of the Community Opportunities,

Accountability, and Training and

Educational Services Act of 1998 (Pub.

L. 105–285, 42 U.S.C. 604 Note), as

amended.

B. Program Purpose

The purpose of the program is, in the

language of the AFI Act: to provide for

the establishment of demonstration

projects designed to determine:

(1) The social, civic, psychological,

and economic effects of providing to

individuals and families with limited

means an incentive to accumulate assets

by saving a portion of their earned

income;

(2) The extent to which an asset-based

policy that promotes saving for

postsecondary education,

homeownership, and microenterprise

development may be used to enable

individuals and families with limited

means to increase their economic selfsufficiency; and

(3) The extent to which an asset-based

policy stabilizes and improves families

and the community in which the

families live.

There are some 300 IDA programs of

various designs operating today in

different communities across the

country. Most are quite new and all are

in the process of learning what design

features work best with a variety of

circumstances and target populations.

Applicants are encouraged to contact

these programs to see what might be

learned from their experiences: what

pitfalls to avoid, what successes might

be emulated or adapted. An excellent

source of information and discussion

about existing IDA programs is the

website operated by the Corporation for

Enterprise Development (CFED), and its

‘‘IDA Learning Network’’ and related

ListServe. These can be reached at

www.idanetwork.org. In addition, the

OCS Demonstration Division expects its

website to be up in February 2001 at

www.acf.dhhs.gov/programs/ocs/demo.

C. Project Goals

The ultimate goals of the projects to

be funded under the Assets for

Independence Demonstration Program

are:

(1) To create, through project

activities and interventions, meaningful

asset accumulation opportunities for

households eligible for Temporary

Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)

and other eligible individuals and

working families.

(2) To evaluate the projects to

demonstrate the effectiveness of these

activities and interventions and of the

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 39 / Tuesday, February 27, 2001 / Notices 12689

project designs through which they

were implemented, and the extent to

which an asset-based program can lead

to economic self-sufficiency of members

of the communities served through one

or more qualified expenses; and

(3) Thus to make it possible to

determine the social, civic,

psychological, and economic effects of

providing to individuals and families

with limited means an incentive to

accumulate assets by saving a portion of

their earned income, and the extent to

which an asset-based policy stabilizes

and improves families and the

community in which the families live.

D. Definition of Terms

For the purposes of this

Announcement:

(1) AFI Act means the Assets for

Independence Act (Title IV of the

Community Opportunities,

Accountability, and Training and

Educational Services Act of 1998, as

amended) which authorizes this

program.

(2) Custodial Account means an

alternative structure to a Trust for the

establishment of an Individual

Development Account, as described in

PART II, Section G(5).

(3) Eligible Individual means an

individual who meets the income and

net worth requirements of the program

as set forth in PART II, Section G(3)(a)

below.

(4) Emergency Withdrawal means a

withdrawal of only those funds, or a

portion of those funds, deposited by the

eligible individual (Project Participant)

in an Individual Development Account

of such individual. Such withdrawal

must be approved by the Project

Grantee, must be made for an allowable

purpose as defined in the AFI Act and

under the Project Eligibility

Requirements set forth in Part II of this

Announcement, and must be repaid by

the individual Project Participant within

12 months of the withdrawal. [See Part

II, Section G(7)(b)]

(5) Household means all individuals

who share use of a dwelling unit as

primary quarters for living and eating

separate from other individuals.

(6) Individual Development Account

(IDA) means a trust or a custodial

account created or organized in the

United States exclusively for the

purpose of paying the qualified

expenses of an eligible individual, or

enabling the eligible individual to make

an emergency withdrawal, but only if

the written governing instrument

creating the trust or custodial account

meets the requirements of the AFI Act

and of the Project Eligibility and

Requirements set forth in this

Announcement. [See Part II, Section

G(4) and (5).]

(7) Net Worth of a Household means

the aggregate market value of all assets

that are owned in whole or in part by

any member of the household, exclusive

of the primary dwelling unit and one

motor vehicle owned by a member of

the household, minus the obligations or

debts of any member of the household.

(8) Project Grantee means a Qualified

Entity as defined in paragraph (11)

below, which receives a grant pursuant

to this Announcement.

(9) Project participant means an

Eligible Individual as defined in

paragraph (3) above who is selected to

participate in a demonstration project

by a qualified entity.

(10) Project Year means, with respect

to a funded demonstration project, any

of the 5 consecutive 12-month periods

beginning on the date the project is

originally awarded a grant by ACF.

(11) Qualified Entity means an entity

eligible to apply for and operate an

assets for independence demonstration

project, under Priority Area 1.0, as one

or more not-for-profit 501(c)(3) tax

exempt organizations, or a State or local

government agency or a tribal

government submitting an application

jointly with such a not-for-profit

organization, or an entity that—

(I) is—

(a) a credit union designated as a lowincome credit union by the National

Credit Union Administration (NCUA);

or

(b) an organization designated as a

community development financial

institution (CDFI) by the Secretary of the

Treasury (or the Community

Development Financial Institutions

Fund); and

(II) can demonstrate a collaborative

relationship with a local communitybased organization whose activities are

designed to address poverty in the

community and the needs of community

members for economic independence

and stability.

(12) Qualified Expenses means one or

more of the expenses for which payment

may be made from an individual

development account by a project

grantee on behalf of the eligible

individual in whose name the account

is held, and is limited to expenses of (A)

post-secondary education, (B) first home

purchase, and/or (C) business

capitalization, as defined below:

(A) Post-Secondary Educational

Expenses means post-secondary

educational expenses paid from an

individual development account

directly to an eligible educational

institution, and includes:

(i) Tuition and Fees required for the

enrollment or attendance of a student at

an eligible educational institution.

(ii) Fees, Books, Supplies, and

Equipment required for courses of

instruction at an eligible educational

institution, including a computer and

necessary software.

(iii) Eligible Educational Institution

means the following:

(I) Institution of Higher Education—

An institution described in Section 101

or 102 of the Higher Education Act of

1965.

(II) Post-Secondary Vocational

Education School—An area vocational

education school (as defined in

subparagraph (C) or (D) of section 521(4)

of the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and

Applied Technology Education Act (20

U.S.C. 2471(4)) which is in any State (as

defined in section 521(33) of such Act)

as such sections are in effect on the date

of enactment of the AFI Act.

(B) First-Home Purchase means

qualified acquisition costs with respect

to a principal residence for a qualified

first-time homebuyer, if paid from an

individual development account

directly to the persons to whom the

amounts are due. Within this definition:

(i) Principal Residence means a main

residence, the qualified acquisition

costs of which do not exceed 120

percent of the average purchase price

applicable to a comparable residence in

the area.

(ii) Qualified Acquisition Costs means

the cost of acquiring, constructing, or

reconstructing a residence, including

usual or reasonable settlement,

financing, or other closing costs.

(iii) Qualified First-Time Homebuyer

means an individual participating in the

project involved (and, if married, the

individual’s spouse) who has no present

ownership interest in a principal

residence during the 3-year period

ending on the date on which a binding

contract is entered into for purchase of

the principal residence to which this

subparagraph applies.

(C) Business Capitalization means

amounts paid from an individual

development account directly to a

business capitalization account that is

established in a Qualified Financial

Institution and is restricted to use solely

for qualified business capitalization

expenses of the eligible individual in

whose name the account is held. Within

this definition:

(i) Qualified Business Capitalization

Expenses means qualified expenditures

for the capitalization of a qualified

business pursuant to a qualified plan,

when so certified by a Qualified Entity

(Grantee) as meeting the requirements of

sub-paragraphs (ii), (iii), and (iv) below.

12690 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 39 / Tuesday, February 27, 2001 / Notices

(ii) Qualified Expenditures means

expenditures included in a qualified

plan, including but not limited to

capital, plant, equipment, working

capital, and inventory expenses.

(iii) Qualified Business means any

business that does not contravene any

law or public policy (as determined by

the Secretary).

(iv) Qualified Plan means a business

plan, or a plan to use a business asset

purchased, which—

(I) is approved by a financial

institution, a microenterprise

development organization, or a

nonprofit loan fund having

demonstrated fiduciary integrity;

(II) includes a description of services

or goods to be sold, a marketing plan,

and projected financial statements; and

(III) may require the eligible

individual to obtain the assistance of an

experienced entrepreneurial advisor.

(D) Transfers to IDAs of Family

Members—Amounts paid from an

individual development account

directly into another such account

established for the benefit of an eligible

individual who is—

(i) the individual’s spouse; or

(ii) any dependent of the individual

with respect to whom the individual is

allowed a deduction under section 151

of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

(13) Qualified Financial Institution

means a Federally insured Financial

Institution, or a State insured Financial

Institution if no Federally insured

Financial Institution is available.

(14) Qualified Savings of the

Individual for the Period means the

aggregate of the amounts contributed by

an eligible individual from earned

income to the individual development

account of the individual during the

period.

(15) Secretary means the Secretary of

Health and Human Services, acting

through the Director of the Office of

Community Services.

(16) Tribal Government means a tribal

organization, as defined in section 4 of

the Indian Self-Determination and

Education Assistance Act (24 U.S.C.

450b) or a Native Hawaiian

organization, as defined in section 9212

of the Native Hawaiian Education Act

(20 U.S.C. 7912).

(17) Trust Agreement means the

instrument by which an Individual

Development Account is established as

a trust in the partnering Financial

Institution under Part II Section G(4).

(18) Trustee means the Qualified

Financial Institution responsible for

management of an Individual

Development Account established as a

trust pursuant to a Trust Agreement.

E. Program Evaluation

Section 414 of the Assets for

Independence Act requires that the

Secretary enter into a contract with an

independent research organization to

evaluate the demonstration projects

conducted under the Act, individually

and as a group, including evaluating all

qualified entities participating in and

sources providing funds for the

demonstration projects conducted under

the AFIA Act. To support this

evaluation, the AFIA also provides that

not less than 2% of funds in the Reserve

Fund be used by grantees to provide the

independent research organization with

such information regarding the

demonstration project as may be

required for the evaluation. The

Secretary has contracted with Abt

Associates, in Cambridge,

Massachusetts, to carry out the required

evaluation. OCS and ACF’s Office of

Planning, Research and Evaluation

(OPRE) have worked together with the

contractor in the development of an

evaluation design whose

implementation will get underway in

the Spring of 2001.

Section 414 also lists the factors to be

addressed by the research organization

in its evaluation, which include:

(1) The effect of incentives and

institutional support on savings

behavior;

(2) The savings rates of individuals

based on demographic characteristics

and income;

(3) The economic, civic, psychological

and social effects of asset accumulation

and how such effects vary among

different populations or communities;

(4) The effects of IDA’s on savings

rates, home ownership, level of post

secondary education attained, and selfemployment, and how such effects vary

among different populations or

communities;

(5) The potential financial returns to

the Federal Government and to other

public and private sector investors in

IDA’s over a 5 and 10 year period;

(6) The lessons to be learned from the

demonstration projects and if a

permanent program of IDA’s should be

established; and

(7) Such other factors as the Secretary

may prescribe.

The section then stipulates that in

evaluating any demonstration project

under the AFIA, the research

organization shall, before, during and

after the project, obtain such

quantitative data as are necessary to

evaluate the program thoroughly. To

this end OCS and its technical

assistance contractor, PeopleWorks,

Inc., have worked with OPRE and the

research organization to develop a

reporting format for AFIA grantees, and

expect to make available to all grantees

an Asset Development Information

System to facilitate the maintenance,

collection, verification and reporting of

the data. In addition, section 414 directs

that the research organization shall

develop a qualitative assessment,

derived from sources such as in-depth

interviews, of how asset accumulation

affects individuals and families.

Section 414 of the AFIA, as amended,

further provides that of the funds

appropriated for each Fiscal Year,

beginning with FY 2001, $500,000 will

be available to carry out the evaluation.

Part II. Program Objectives and

Requirements

The Office of Community Services

(OCS) invites qualified entities to

submit competing grant applications for

new demonstration projects that will

establish, support, manage, and

participate in the evaluation of

Individual Development Accounts for

eligible participants among lower

income individuals and working

families.

A. Program Priority Areas

There is one Program Priority Area

under this program for Fiscal Year 2001:

Priority Area 1.0, under which OCS will

accept applications from Qualified

Entities as described below and in

Section G. Applications for continuation

of grants funded under Priority Area 2.0

of the Fiscal Year 1999 Assets For

Independence Program Announcement

are not covered by this Program

Announcement; but will be the subject

of direct correspondence between OCS

and the grantees.

B. Eligible Applicants

(1) In general. Eligible applicants for

the Assets for Independence

Demonstration Program Priority Area

1.0 are one or more not-for-profit

501(c)(3) tax exempt organizations, or a

State or local government agency or a

tribal government submitting an

application jointly with such a not-forprofit organization, or an entity that—

(I) is—

(a) a credit union designated as a lowincome credit union by the National

Credit Union Administration (NCUA);

or

(b) an organization designated as a

community development financial

institution by the Secretary of the

Treasury (or the Community

Development Financial Institutions

Fund); and

(II) can demonstrate a collaborative

relationship with a local communityVerDate 11<MAY>2000 14:18 Feb 26, 2001 Jkt 194001 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 4701 Sfmt 4703 E:\FR\FM\27FEN3.SGM pfrm08 PsN: 27FEN3
Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 39 / Tuesday, February 27, 2001 / Notices 12691

based organization whose activities are

designed to address poverty in the

community and the needs of community

members for economic independence

and stability.

Not-for-profit Applicants, including

those filing jointly with government

agencies or Tribal Governments, must

provide documentation of their tax

exempt status. The applicant can

accomplish this by providing a copy of

the applicant’s listing in the Internal

Revenue Service’s (IRS) most recent list

of tax-exempt organizations described in

Section 501(c)(3) of the IRS code or by

providing a copy of their currently valid

IRS tax exemption certificate. Failure to

provide evidence of Section 501(c)(3)

tax exempt status will result in rejection

of the application. Similarly, eligible

credit unions and CDFI’s must provide

written documentation of their status

and evidence of their collaborative

relationship with an appropriate local

community-based organization.

(2) Applications submitted jointly by

state or local government agencies or

tribal governments and tax exempt nonprofit organizations. Joint applications

by government agencies and non-profit

organizations must clearly identify the

joint applicants; and the SF 424

Application for Federal Assistance must

be signed by one of the joint applicants.

The applicant signing the SF 424 will be

responsible for proper implementation

of the grant in accordance with the

approved work program and the terms

and conditions of the grant. (It may be

either the government agency applicant

or a non-profit applicant). In either case,

a Reserve Fund must be established for

the Project by a non-profit Joint

Applicant, and maintained and

managed as agreed by the Joint

Applicants. The Reserve Fund must be

established in accordance with Section

G, Paragraphs (1) and (2), below; and

where the project includes a group or

consortium of operating partners, may

include both a central and local Reserve

Funds as described there. Such joint

applications must also include:

(a) proof of tax exempt status of the

non-profit Joint Applicant, as described

in Paragraph (1), above; and

(b) a Joint Applicant Agreement,

signed by the responsible officials of

both Joint Applicants, setting forth the

responsibilities of each Joint Applicant

for implementation of the proposed

project, including management and

oversight of the Reserve Fund and

carrying out of the project activities and

interventions described in Element II of

the proposal narrative. (See Part III,

below.) The Joint Applicant Agreement

should be the first Appendix to the

Application, and the responsibilities it

sets out should be described in the

Project Narrative under Elements I and

II, Part III, Section I Evaluation Criteria

(below).

(3) Applications submitted by a lead

agency on behalf of a consortium of

partnering organizations. Where the

Applicant is applying as the lead agency

for a consortium or group of partnering

organizations, each of these

organizations must be briefly described

in the Application, and background

materials citing their relevant

experience and staff capabilities should

be included in the Appendix. In such

cases the Applicant should document

its capability and experience in

managing such consortia, and the roles

and responsibilities of all Participating

agencies should be clearly set forth in

signed Partnering Agreements between

the Applicant and each of the Partnering

members. Copies of the Partnering

Agreements should be included in the

Appendix, and the roles and

responsibilities of each participating

agency clearly explained in Part III,

Element I and Element II(b), Project

Design, and reflected in the Work Plan

under Element II(d). These explanations

must include the plans for establishing

one or more Reserve Fund(s), and how

and where IDA Accounts and Parallel

Match Accounts will be maintained, as

reflected in the Financial Institution

Agreement(s)/Statement of Policy under

Part III, Element II(c). (See also Section

G. Paragraph (1), and Section M, below.)

C. Project and Budget Periods under

Priority Area 1.0

This announcement is inviting

applications under Priority Area 1.0 for

project and budget periods of five (5)

years. Grant actions, on a competitive

basis, will award funds for the full five

year project and budget period. As

noted below in Section E., subject to the

availability of funds, grantees may be

offered the opportunity to submit

applications for supplementary funding

in later years during the five-year

project.

Note: Applicants should be aware that OCS

funds awarded pursuant to this

Announcement will be from FY 2001 funds

and may not be expended after the end of the

five-year Project/Budget Period to support

administration of the project or matching

contributions to Individual Development

Accounts which may be open at that time.

Consequently, Applicants should consider

carefully the length of time participants will

need to achieve their savings goals and at

what point in the project they may wish to

discontinue the opening of new accounts.

Consequently, and as noted below, deposit of

non-Federal share funds needs to be carried

out on a schedule consistent with the

planned schedule of new account opening.

Applicants should provide assurance that in

every case provision will be made for

payment of all promised matching deposits

to IDA accounts opened by project

participants in the course of the

demonstration project.

D. Funds Availability and Grant

Amounts under Priority Area 1.0

In Fiscal Year 2001 OCS expects

approximately $13 million to be

available under Priority Area 1.0 for

funding commitments to approximately

45 new projects, generally not to exceed

$500,000 each for the five-year project

and budget periods. However, in special

circumstances where applicants have

secured over $500,000 in non-Federal

share contributions which they will lose

if not able to secure a Federal grant of

equal amount, applications for up to $1

million will be considered; but the

agency would prefer to limit initial

grants to not more than $500,000, with

the possibility open to additional

supplemental funding in years two and

three of the project. Applicants are

reminded that grant awards are limited

to the amount of committed non-Federal

cash matching contributions; and that

OCS recognizes that this is a limiting

factor in the amount of grant funds

requested. Applicants are assured that

OCS will welcome requests for less than

the maximum grant amounts, and are

urged to make realistic projections of

project activity over the five year project

and propose project budgets

accordingly. As in the past, subject to

the availability of funds and the

progress of individual demonstration

projects, grantees that have raised

additional cash non-Federal share

contributions may be given the

opportunity to request supplementary

funding in later years during the fiveyear project. Draw-down of grant funds

over the five-year budget period may be

made in amounts that will match nonFederal deposits into the Project Reserve

Fund. (See Section G. Paragraph (2) and

Section I, below).

E. Funds Availability for Supplementing

FY 1999 and 2000 Grantees

As explained in the FY 1999 and 2000

Assets for Independence Program

Announcements and noted above,

subject to availability of funds and the

progress of individual demonstration

projects, grantees may be offered the

opportunity to submit requests for

supplementary funding during the fiveyear project, if there were a

determination that this would be in the

best interest of the government.

Pursuant to those Announcements,

approximately $7 million of FY 2001

funds will in like manner be made

12692 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 39 / Tuesday, February 27, 2001 / Notices

available for supplementary grants to FY

1999 and 2000 grantees which will be

solicited directly by OCS. Any funds not

expended for supplementary grants will

be available for new project grants

under Priority Area 1.0, and vice versa.

F. Funds Availability and Grant

Amounts for Continuation Funding of

Grandfathered State Grantees (FY 1999

Priority Area 2.0 Grantees: Indiana and

Pennsylvania)

In Fiscal Year 2001 up to

approximately $2 million is expected to

be available under Priority Area 2.0 for

up to two continuation grants not to

exceed $1 million each for the third

budget year of a five-year State project

funded under Priority Area 2.0 of the FY

1999 Assets for Independence Program

Announcement. Any funds not

expended in FY 2001 for these

Continuation Grants will be available

for project grants under Priority Area 1.0

or for supplementary grants as described

above in Paragraph E.

G. Project Eligibility and Requirements

under Priority Area 1.0

To be eligible for funding under

Priority Area 1.0, projects must be

sponsored and managed by Qualified

Entities and must meet the following

requirements:

(1) Reserve Fund

Every project funded under this

Announcement must establish and

maintain a Reserve Fund in accordance

with this paragraph. Such Reserve Fund

must be maintained in accordance with

the accounting regulations prescribed by

the Secretary (See 65 FR 10027, Feb. 25,

2000), in a Qualified Financial

Institution or other insured financial

institution satisfactory to the Secretary.

Note: Where an applicant is lead agency for

a consortium or group of partnering

organizations, each of which will be

implementing an IDA program under the

Applicant’s grant pursuant to this

Announcement, the Applicant/lead agency

must maintain a Reserve Fund into which all

required non-Federal share matching

contribution funds and OCS grant funds shall

be deposited in accordance with subParagraph (a). The consortium has two

alternatives for maintenance of Reserve

Fund(s) in its IDA programs: First,

participating organizations may all operate

out of the one central Reserve Fund

maintained by the Applicant/lead agency. In

this case separate accounting structures

would be maintained for each of the

organizations and the funds assigned for their

use in accordance with agreements between

the Applicant and each organization. Or

second, in addition to the Central Reserve

Fund, participating organizations may each

establish a local Reserve Fund in their

community into which the Applicant/lead

agency will deposit from the Central Reserve

Fund the funds (grant and non-Federal share)

allocated for use by the particular

organization. Central and local Reserve

Funds will be subject to all of the

requirements of this Section. Whatever the

arrangement, it must be spelled out and

agreed to in the Partnering Agreements

required under Section B. Paragraph (3)

between the Applicant and each consortium

member.

(a) Amounts in the reserve fund. As

soon after receipt as is practicable,

grantees shall deposit in the Reserve

Fund the non-Federal matching

contributions received pursuant to the

‘‘Non-Federal Share Agreement’’ or

Agreements reached with the

provider(s) of non-Federal matching

contributions. Once such non-Federal

funds are deposited in the Reserve

Fund, grantees may draw down OCS

grant funds in amounts equal to such

deposits. Similarly, as soon after receipt

as practical, grantees shall deposit in the

Reserve Fund the income received from

any investment made of those funds (see

paragraph (d) below).

(b) Use of amounts in the reserve

fund. Grantees shall use the amounts in

such Reserve Fund as follows:

(A) at least 85% of the federal grant

funds, and an equal amount of the

required non-Federal share funds, shall

be used as matching contributions,

equally divided between federal and

non-federal monies, to individual

development accounts for project

participants, in an agreed upon ratio to

deposits made in those accounts by

project participants from earned

income.

(B) at least 2% but no more than 15%

of the Federal grant funds shall be used

toward the expense of collecting and

providing to the research organization

evaluating the demonstration project the

data and information required for the

evaluation.

(C) up to 7.5% of the Federal grant

funds may be used for administration of

the demonstration project and, and an

additional 5.5% shall go toward nonadministrative support expenses of

assisting project participants to obtain

the skills (including economic literacy

classes, budgeting, and business

management skills), training, and

information necessary to achieve

economic self-sufficiency through

activities requiring qualified expenses.

If the cost of such non-administrative

support expenses is less than 5.5% of

the Federal grant funds, then any

unused portion may be used for

administrative expenses.

(D) up to 15% of the required

matching non-Federal funds may be

used for expenses outlined in

Paragraphs (B) and (C), above, or other

project-related expenses as agreed by

the Applicant and the providing entity.

Note: If a grantee mobilizes matching nonFederal contributions in excess of the

required 100 percent match, such nonFederal funds may be used however the

grantee and provider of the funds may agree.

Where the use of such funds is proposed

within a Program Element/Proposal Review

Criterion which formed the basis for the grant

award, Grantees will be held accountable for

commitments of such excess matching funds

and additional resources, even though over

the amount of the required non-Federal

match.

(c) Authority to invest funds. A

grantee shall invest the amounts in its

Reserve Fund that are not immediately

needed for payment under paragraph

(b), in a manner that provides an

appropriate balance between return,

liquidity, and risk, and in accordance

with Guidelines which will be issued by

the Secretary prior to making of grant

awards and provided to grantees at the

time of grant award.

(d) Use of investment income. Income

generated from investment of Reserve

Fund monies that are not allocated to

existing Individual Development

Accounts may be added by grantees to

the funds committed to program

administration, participant support, or

evaluation data collection. As noted in

Paragraph M, below, once funds have

been committed as matching

contributions to Individual

Development Accounts, then any

income subsequently generated by such

funds must be deposited/credited to the

credit of such accounts.

Note: No part of such income is to be

considered as a Federal funds contribution

subject to the $2000/$4000 limitations under

Paragraph (5)(b), below.

(e) Joint project administration. If two

or more qualified entities are jointly

administering a project, none shall use

more than its proportional share for the

purposes described in subparagraphs (B)

and (C), of paragraph (b).

(2) Use of Grant Funds by State and

Local Government Agencies and Tribal

Governments.

As set forth in Section B. Paragraph

(2) above, grantees who are State or

local government agencies or Tribal

governments are required to submit

applications jointly with tax exempt

non-profit organizations. In such cases,

whether the lead applicant signing the

SF 424 is the government agency or the

non-profit organization, a Reserve Fund

must be established for the Project by

the non-profit Joint Applicant and

maintained and managed as agreed by

the Joint Applicants. The Reserve Fund

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 39 / Tuesday, February 27, 2001 / Notices 12693

shall be subject to the requirements of

Paragraph (1) above, and Section I,

below.

(3) Eligibility and Selection of Project

Participants

(a) Participant eligibility. Eligibility

for participation in the demonstration

projects is limited to individuals who

are members of households eligible for

assistance under TANF, or of

households whose adjusted gross

income does not exceed the earned

income amount described in Section 32

of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986,

which establishes eligibility for the

Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)(taking

into account the size of the household),

or of households whose annual income

does not exceed 200% of the poverty

income guidelines as established and

published by the Department of Health

and Human Services, and whose net

worth as of the end of the calendar year

preceding the determination of

eligibility does not exceed $10,000,

excluding the primary dwelling unit

and one motor vehicle owned by a

member of the household.

Note: The most recent EITC Earned Income

Guidelines which set the limits on annual

income for eligibility in the IDA Program are

as follows:

—for a household without a child: $10,380.

—for a household with one child: $27,413.

—for a household with more than one child:

$31,152.

The most recent Poverty Income

Guidelines (published in February 2000)

are set forth in Attachment M to this

Announcement. Annual revisions of

these Guidelines are normally published

in the Federal Register in February or

early March of each year. Where

relevant to IDA Project criteria, grantees

will be required to apply the most

recent guidelines throughout the project

period. These revised guidelines may be

obtained at public libraries,

Congressional offices, or by writing the

Superintendent of Documents, U.S.

Government Printing Office,

Washington, DC 20402. They are also

accessible on the OCS Website for

reading and/or downloading

(www.acf.dhhs.gov/programs/ocs).

Applicants are reminded that there is

also a net worth assets test for eligibility

in the program, as noted above.

(b) Participant Selection. In keeping

with the statutory preference in Section

405(d)(3) of the AFI Act for applications

that target individuals from

neighborhoods or communities that

experience high rates of poverty or

unemployment, grantees in their

selection of Project Participants may

restrict participation in such

neighborhoods or communities targeted

by their demonstration projects to

individuals and households with lower

incomes and net worth than set forth

above, provided that they shall

nonetheless select individuals who they

determine are well suited to participate

in the demonstration project.

(4) Establishment of Individual

Development Accounts

Project Grantees must create, through

written governing instruments, either (a)

Trusts, under this paragraph, or (b)

Custodial Accounts described in

Paragraph (5) below, which will be

Individual Development Accounts on

behalf of Project Participants. Trustees

of Trusts must be Qualified Financial

Institutions. Custodians of Custodial

Accounts may be Qualified Financial

Institutions, other insured financial

institutions satisfactory to the Secretary,

or Demonstration Project Grantees. In

every case the Participant’s personal

savings from earned income shall be

deposited in the Participant’s Individual

Development Account in a participating

insured financial Institution, which in

the case of Qualified Entities which are

eligible Credit Unions or CDFI’s, may be

the Qualified Entity itself. In every case

where the participating insured

financial institution and the

Demonstration Project Grantee are not

one and the same, both shall be parties

to the written governing instruments

creating the Trust or Custodial Account.

Such instruments must contain the

following provisions:

(a) All contributions to the accounts

must be either in cash, by check, money

order, or by electronic transfer of funds.

(b) The assets of the account will be

invested in accordance with the

direction of the Project Participant after

consultation with the grantee and

pursuant to the guidelines of the

Secretary (which will be issued prior to

the making of grant awards and made

available to grantees at the time of grant

award).

(c) The assets of the account will not

be commingled with other property

except in a common trust fund or

parallel account or common investment

fund.

(d) In the event of the death of the

Project Participant, any balance

remaining in the account shall be

distributed within 30 days of the date of

death to another Individual

Development Account established for

the benefit of an eligible individual as

directed by the deceased Participant in

the Savings Plan Agreement under subparagraph (g), below; provided, that the

Participant may at their option direct

the disposition of any funds in the

account which were deposited in the

account by the Participant as he or she

may see fit, except that where such

disposition is not to another Individual

Development Account, all matching

contributions made by the grantee to the

account, and any income earned

thereby, shall be returned to the Reserve

Fund. [Note that this will mean that

each Project Participant must provide

such direction at the time the Individual

Development Account is established.

Provision should be made by grantees

for modification of such directions

during the course of the project, in the

event of changing circumstances.]

(e) Except in the case of the death of

the Project Participant, amounts in the

account attributable to deposits by the

grantee from grant funds and matching

non-federal contributions, and any

interest thereon, may be paid,

withdrawn or distributed out of the

account only for the purpose of paying

qualified expenses of the Project

Participant including transfers under

Paragraph (7)(d), below).

(f) The procedures governing the

withdrawal of funds from the Individual

Development Account, for both

Qualified Expenses and Emergency

Withdrawals, must comply with the

provisions of Paragraph (7) Withdrawals

from Individual Development Accounts,

below.

(g) A ‘‘Savings Plan Agreement’’

between the grantee and the Project

Participant, which may be incorporated

by reference, and which should include:

(1) Savings goals (including a proposed

schedule of savings deposits by the

Participant from earned income, which

may be for a period of less than five

years); (2) the rate at which participant

savings will be matched (from one

dollar to eight dollars for each dollar in

savings deposited by Participant, the

Federal grant funds portion of which

may not exceed $2000 during the fiveyear project period); (3) the proposed

qualified expense for which the

Account is maintained, (4) agreement by

the grantee to provide and the

Participant to attend classes in

Economic Literacy; (5) any additional

training or education related to the

qualified expense which the Grantee

agrees to provide and of which the

Participant agrees to partake, (6)

contingency plans in the event that the

Participant exceeds or fails to meet

projected savings goals or schedules, (7)

any agreement as to investments of

assets described in subparagraph (b),

above, (8) an explanation of withdrawal

procedures and limitations, including

the consequences of unauthorized

withdrawal, (9) provision for

disposition of the funds in the account

12694 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 39 / Tuesday, February 27, 2001 / Notices

in the event of the Participant’s death

(see sub-Paragraph (d), above; and (10)

provision for amendment of the

Agreement with the concurrence of both

Grantee and Participant.

(5) Custodial Accounts

As provided in Paragraph (4), above,

Grantees may, in the alternative, create,

through written governing instruments,

Custodial Accounts which shall be

Individual Development Accounts on

behalf of Project Participants, except

that they will not be trusts. As in the

case of trusts established under

paragraph (4), the written governing

instruments of the accounts must

contain the requirements outlined in

subparagraphs (a) through (g) of that

paragraph, with the following

exceptions. Whereas trustees of the

trusts created under Paragraph (4) must

be Qualified Financial Institutions, the

assets of the custodial account may be

held by a bank or another ‘‘person’’ (or

institution) who demonstrates to the

satisfaction of the Secretary that the

manner in which the account will be

administered will be consistent with the

provisions of the AFI Act, and that the

IDA’s will be created and maintained as

described in paragraph (4) and Section

404(5)(A) of the AFI Act. In addition, in

the case of a custodial account treated

as a trust by reason of this paragraph,

the custodian of such account may be

the Project Grantee, provided that it can

assure compliance with the

requirements of Paragraph (4) above,

and Section 404(5)(A) of the AFI Act.

These arrangements would place the

‘‘custodial’’ responsibilities with the

grantee, and relieve financial

institutions of trustee obligations. The

Secretary has determined that the assets

of any such accounts must be held in an

insured financial institution and be

subject to the provisions of Paragraph

M, below, pertaining to agreements

between applicants/grantees and

participating financial institutions.

Within the meaning of this OCS

Program Announcement, IDA

‘‘Custodial Accounts’’ in which project

participants deposit their savings may

be solely owned by the participant and

in the sole name of the participant.

Funds in the account may only be

expended for ‘‘Qualified Expenses’’ or

an ‘‘Emergency Withdrawal’’ as defined

in the AFIA and this Program

Announcement; and in keeping with

this restriction, any withdrawals must

be approved in writing by a responsible

official of the project grantee. At the

same time, if the participant requests

approval for an ‘‘unauthorized

withdrawal’’, that is, for other than a

‘‘Qualified Expense’’ or ‘‘Emergency

Withdrawal’’ as defined in the AFIA,

and Part I, Section D (4) and (12), above,

the project grantee must agree to

approve such an ‘‘Unauthorized

Withdrawal’’, with the explicit

understanding on the part of both the

grantee and the participant, that the

participant thereby loses any matching

funds credited to the account, and must

exit the program.

(6) Deposits in Individual Development

Accounts

(a) Matching contributions. Not less

than once every three months during the

demonstration project grantees will

make deposits into Individual

Development Accounts as matching

contributions to deposits from earned

income made by Project Participants

during the period since the previous

deposit. Such deposits may be made

either into the accounts themselves or

into a parallel account maintained by

the grantee in an insured financial

institution (or in the grantee institution

itself, in the case of grantees which are

eligible Credit Unions or CDFI’s).

Note: Deposits made by Project

Participants shall be deemed to have been

made from earned income so long as the

Participant’s earned income (as defined in

Section 911(d)(2) of the Internal Revenue

Code of 1986) during the period since the

Participant’s previous deposit in the account

is greater than the amount of the current

deposit.

Section 911(d)(2) provides, in relevant

part, ‘‘the term ‘earned income’ means

wages, salaries, or professional fees, and

other amounts received as

compensation for personal services

actually rendered’’.

Matching contributions (as deposits to

IDA accounts or to parallel accounts)

must be made to IDA’s in equal amounts

from Federal grant funds and the nonFederal public and private funds

committed to the project as matching

contributions, as described in Section I

below, and Sections 405(c)(4) and

406(b)(1) of the AFI Act. Such matching

contribution deposits by grantees may

be from $0.50 to $4 in non-Federal

funds and an equal amount in Federal

grant funds, for each dollar of earned

income deposited in the account by the

Project Participant in whose name the

account is established. At the time

matching contribution deposits are

made, the grantee will also deposit into

the Individual Development Account (or

the parallel account) any interest or

income that has accrued since the last

deposit on amounts previously

deposited in or credited to that IDA in

the parallel account.

(b) Additional matching

contributions. Once such equal

matching contribution deposits are

made, grantees may make additional

matching contributions to IDA’s from

other non-Federal sources, or other

Federal sources, such as TANF, where

the legislation or policies governing

such programs so permit. Such

additional matching contributions

would not be a use of funds falling

within any Program Element/Proposal

Review Criterion under Part III below,

which formed the basis for the grant

award, and as such, grantees will not be

held accountable for their commitment

to the project.

(c) Limitations on matching

contributions. Over the course of the

five year demonstration, not more than

$2,000 in Federal grant funds shall be

provided through matching

contributions to any one individual; and

not more than $4,000 shall be provided

to IDA’s in any one household. [As

noted in Paragraph (1)(d), above, no part

of any investment income earned by

monies in the Reserve Fund or a parallel

account credited to the Participant is to

be considered as a Federal funds

contribution subject to this limitation.]

(7) Withdrawals From Individual

Development Accounts

(a) Limitations. Under no

circumstances may funds be withdrawn

from an Individual Development

Account earlier than six months after

the initial deposit by a Project

Participant in the Account. Thereafter

funds may be withdrawn from such

account only upon written approval of

the Project Participant and of a

responsible official of the project

grantee, and only for one or more

Qualified Expenses (as defined in Part I)

or for an Emergency Withdrawal. (But

see Paragraph (5) Custodial Accounts,

above, for the Participant’s right to make

‘‘unauthorized withdrawals’’ and the

consequences thereof.)

(b) Emergency withdrawals. An

Emergency Withdrawal may only be of

those funds, or a portion of those funds,

deposited in the account by the Project

Participant, and only for the following

purposes:

(i) expenses for medical care or

necessary to obtain medical care for the

Project Participant or a spouse or

dependent of the Participant;

(ii) payments necessary to prevent

eviction of the Project Participant from,

or foreclosure on the mortgage for, the

principal residence of the Participant;

(iii) payments necessary to enable the

Project Participant to meet necessary

living expenses (food, clothing,

shelter—including utilities and heating

fuel) following loss of employment.

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 39 / Tuesday, February 27, 2001 / Notices 12695

(c) Reimbursement of emergency

withdrawals. A Project Participant shall

reimburse an Individual Development

Account for any funds withdrawn from

the account for an Emergency

Withdrawal, not later than 12 months

after the date of the withdrawal. If the

Participant fails to make the

reimbursement, the Project Grantee

must transfer back to its Reserve Fund

Federal and non-Federal matching

contributions deposited into the account

or a parallel account, and any income

generated thereby. Any remaining funds

deposited by the Project Participant

(plus any income generated thereby)

shall be returned to such Project

Participant.

Applicants are urged to consider the

establishment of a separate alternative

crisis or emergency loan fund that can

respond to participant emergencies

without having them risk putting their

IDA in jeopardy because of an inability

to make reimbursement within the

required timeframe.

(d) Transfers to individual

development accounts of family

members. At the request of a Project

Participant, and with the written

approval of a responsible official of the

grantee, amounts may be paid from an

individual development account

directly into another such account

established for the benefit of an eligible

individual who is—

(i) the Participant’s spouse, or

(ii) any dependent of the Participant

with respect to whom the Participant is

allowed a deduction under section 151

of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

Note that such transfers may be made

to dependents who in turn would

become IDA project participants who

would be able to use these funds for any

of the Qualified Expenditures defined in

Part I. Applicants are reminded of the

limit of $4000 in Federal IDA matching

contributions per household.

H. Project Eligibility and Requirements

Under Priority Area 2.0

As previously noted in Part II Section

A, there is no Priority Area 2.0 under

this Announcement. Applications for

continuation of grants funded under

Priority Area 2.0 of the Fiscal Year 1999

Assets For Independence Program

Announcement will be the subject of

direct correspondence between OCS and

the grantees.

I. Non-Federal Matching Funds

Requirements

Applicants must obtain firm

commitments for at least one hundred

percent of the requested OCS grant

amount in cash non-Federal share for

deposit to the Reserve Fund as matching

contribution. Public sector resources

that can be counted toward the

minimum required match include funds

from State and local governments, and

funds from various block grants

allocated to the States by the Federal

Government provided that the

authorizing legislation for these grants

permits such use. Note, for example,

that Community Development Block

Grant (CDBG) funds may be counted as

matching funds; Community Services

Block Grant (CSBG) funds may not.

With regard to State TANF funds, any

State funds that comprise Maintenance

Of Effort (MOE) under the TANF

regulations may NOT be used as

required non-Federal share under this

Announcement. (But see discussion of

Additional Matching Contributions in

Paragraph (6)(a), above.)

To be considered for funding an

Application must include a copy of a

‘‘Non-Federal Share Agreement’’ or

Agreements in writing executed by the

Applicant and the organization or

organizations providing the required

non-Federal matching contributions,

signed for the organization by a person

authorized to make a commitment on

behalf of the organization, and signed

for the Applicant by the person signing

the SF424. Such Agreement(s) must

include: (1) a commitment by the

organization to provide the non-Federal

funds contingent only on the grant

award; and (2) an agreement as to the

schedule of the opening of Individual

Development Accounts by the

Applicant, and the schedule of deposits

by the organization to the project’s

Reserve Fund, such that the two

schedules will together assure that there

will be at all times in the Reserve Fund

non-Federal matching contribution

funds sufficient to meet the maximum

pledges of matching contributions under

the ‘‘Savings Plan Agreements’’ for all

Individual Development Accounts then

open and being maintained by the

grantee as part of the demonstration

project.

Thus, for example, if the provider of

non-Federal share only agrees to a fixed

schedule of deposits, this non-Federal

share requirement can be met by the

Applicant agreeing to a schedule for

opening new accounts that will assure

that new IDA accounts will only be

opened when there are sufficient funds

in the Reserve Fund to meet the

maximum amount of matching

contributions pledged under the

‘‘Savings Plan Agreements’’.

Where the Applicant is itself

providing any of the required cash nonFederal share, it must include a

statement of commitment, on applicant

letterhead, signed by the official signing

the SF 424 and countersigned by the

Applicant’s Board Chairperson or

Treasurer, that the non-Federal

matching funds will be provided,

contingent only on the OCS grant

award, and that non-Federal share

deposits to the Reserve Fund and the

opening of Individual Development

Accounts will be coordinated so that

new accounts will only be opened when

there are sufficient funds in the Reserve

Fund to cover the maximum matching

requirements of the Savings Plan

Agreements.

With regard to Applicants which are

State or local government agencies or

Tribal governments, submitting jointly

with tax exempt non-profit

organizations, note that under Section G

Paragraphs (1) and (2), above, Reserve

Funds are required to be established as

in other applications/projects.

OCS has determined that the strict

legislative limitations on the use of

Federal grant funds and of the minimum

required non-Federal match (under the

recent amendments to the AFIA, at least

85% of each must go toward matching

deposits in Individual Development

Accounts) mean that important training,

counseling and support activities,

critical to the success of a project, may

best be supported by additional

resources, both of the applicant itself

and mobilized by the applicant in the

community. Consequently, Applicants

are encouraged to mobilize additional

resources, which may be cash or in-kind

contributions, Federal or non-Federal,

for support of project administration

and assistance to Project Participants in

obtaining skills, knowledge, and needed

support services. (See Part III, Element

V) Applicants are reminded that they

will be held accountable for

commitments of such additional

resources even if over the amount of the

required non-Federal match.

J. Preferences

In accordance with the provisions of

the AFI Act, in considering an

application to conduct a demonstration

project under this Announcement, OCS

will give preference to an application

that:

(1) demonstrates the willingness and

ability of the applicant to select eligible

individuals for participation in the

project who are predominantly from

households in which a child (or

children) is living with the child’s

biological or adoptive mother or father,

or with the child’s legal guardian.

Note: Applications that target TANF

eligible households will be deemed to have

met this preference.

12696 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 39 / Tuesday, February 27, 2001 / Notices

(2) provides a commitment of nonFederal funds with a proportionately

greater amount of such funds committed

from private sector sources; and

(3) targets individuals residing within

one or more relatively well-defined

neighborhoods or communities

(including rural communities) that

experience high rates of poverty or

unemployment.

Note: Applications which target residents

of Empowerment Zones, Enterprise

Communities, Public Housing, or CDFI Funddesignated Distressed Communities will be

deemed to have met this preference. (For

information on CDFI Fund designation of

Distressed Communities applicants may visit

the CDFI Help Desk Website at: http://

www.cdfifundhelp.gov.)

Each of these preferences will be

valued at 2 points in the Application

Review process, so that applicants not

meeting these preferences will have 2

points subtracted from its score for a

given Proposal Element for each

preference not met. [Preferences (1) and

(3) fall under Proposal Element II(a);

Preference (2) falls under Proposal

Element V(a)]. In the case of a

consortium of organizations operating

programs funded through a lead agency,

if a majority of the participating

organizations meet these legislative

preferences, the Application as a whole

will be awarded these points.

K. Multiple Applications

Qualified Entities may submit more

than one application for different

demonstration projects, but no more

than one such application will be

funded to the same Qualified Entity

pursuant to this Announcement.

L. Treatment of Program Income.

As noted in Section G Paragraph

(1)(d), above, income generated from

investment of unallocated funds in the

Reserve Fund may be added to the

funds already committed from the

Reserve Fund to program

administration, participant support, or

evaluation data collection. However,

once funds have been committed as

matching contributions to Individual

Development Accounts, then any

income subsequently generated by such

funds must be deposited

proportionately to the credit of such

accounts.

Note: No part of such income is to be

considered as a Federal funds contribution

subject to the $2000/$4000 limitations under

Section G Paragraph (6)(c), above.

M. Agreements with Partnering

Financial Institutions/Statements of

Policy

One of the most critical parts of a

successful IDA project is the

relationship between the project

operator and a partnering financial

institution, be it a bank or credit union.

Not only does the financial institution

provide the situs of the Individual

Development Accounts, but it also

represents for IDA holders their

doorway to mainstream economic life:

savings and checking accounts, ATM

machines, payroll deduction savings,

home mortgages, and the opportunity

for credit repair, student and business

loans, all within a framework of sound

financial planning. Moreover, many

banks see non-Federal share

contributions to the project’s Reserve

Fund as sound investments which not

only offer them tax deductions and CRA

credit, but also introduce them to a

whole new body of potential long-term

clients.

For all these reasons it is vitally

important for applicants to develop

strong and mutually supportive

relationships with the financial

institutions which will be their partners

in carrying out the IDA project. Thus, all

applicants under this Announcement

must enter into agreements with one or

more insured Financial Institutions, in

collaboration with which Reserve Funds

and Individual Development Accounts

will be established and maintained. [For

applicants which are eligible Credit

Unions or CDFI’s, see Note at end of this

Section, below.]

To be considered for funding, an

Application submitted by other than an

eligible Credit Union or Community

Development Financial Institution must

include a copy of an Agreement or

Agreements with one or more partnering

insured Financial Institutions which

include(s) the provisions set out in Part

III Element II(c), which state(s) that the

accounting procedures to be followed in

account management will conform to

Guidelines (CFR Part 74) established by

the Secretary (Note: Such regulations

may be found at 45 CFR part 1000), and

under which the partnering insured

Financial Institution agrees to provide

data and reports as requested by the

applicant. In the case of IDA’s

established as Trusts under Section G

Paragraph (4), above, the partnering

financial institution must be a Qualified

Financial Institution as defined in PART

I Section D(12). In the case of IDA’s

established as Custodial Accounts, the

partnering financial institution must be

insured and must meet the requirements

of Section G Paragraph (5), above, to the

satisfaction of the Secretary. [For

applications submitted by eligible

Credit Unions or Community

Development Financial Institutions

(CDFI’s) see Note below.]

The Agreement may also include

other services to be provided by the

partnering Financial Institution that

could strengthen the program, such as

Financial Education Seminars, favorable

pricing or matching contributions

provided by the Financial Institution,

and assistance in recruitment of Project

Participants. Strong and complete

Agreements with financial institutions

will be recognized in the application

review process under Sub-Element II(c)

of the application Evaluation Criteria

under Part III, below.

Note: In the case of applications submitted

by eligible Credit Unions or Community

Development Financial Institutions, where

the Reserve Fund and IDA accounts are to be

held by the applicant Institution itself, the

applicant must submit, in lieu of a Financial

Institution Agreement, a Statement of Policy,

approved by its Board of Directors and

attested to by its Chairperson and Chief

Financial Officer, which meets the

requirements set forth in this section (M.)

and in Part III Sub-Element II(c). This

Statement of Policy will be considered in the

application review process under SubElement II(c). Where such applicants are

proposing the establishment of Reserve

Fund(s) or IDA’s in other partnering

Financial Institutions, they must submit as

part of their applications copies of

Agreements with such Partnering Financial

Institution(s) in accordance with this section

(M.).

Part III. The Project Description,

Program Proposal Elements and Review

Criteria

A. Purpose

The project description provides the

major means by which an application is

evaluated and ranked to compete with

other applications for available

assistance. The project description

should be concise and complete and

should address the activity for which

Federal funds are being requested.

Supporting documents should be

included where they can present

information clearly and succinctly.

Applicants are encouraged to provide

information on their organizational

structure, staff, related experience, and

other information considered to be

relevant. Awarding offices use this and

other information to determine whether

the applicant has the capability and

resources necessary to carry out the

proposed project. It is important,

therefore, that this information be

included in the application. However,

in the narrative the applicant must

distinguish between resources directly

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related to the proposed project from

those that will not be used in support

of the specific project for which funds

are requested.

B. Project Summary/Abstract

Provide a summary of the project

description (a page or less) with

reference to the funding request.

C. Objectives and Need for Assistance

Clearly identify the physical,

economic, social, financial,

instructional, and/or other problem(s)

requiring a solution. The need for

assistance must be demonstrated and

the principal and subordinate objectives

of the project must be clearly stated;

supporting documentation, such as

letters of support and testimonials from

concerned interests other than the

applicant, may be included. Any

relevant data based on planning studies

should be included or referred to in the

endnotes/footnotes. Incorporate

demographic data and participant/

beneficiary information, as needed. In

developing the project description, the

applicant may volunteer or be requested

to provide information on the total

range of projects currently being

conducted and supported (or to be

initiated), some of which may be

outside the scope of the program

announcement.

D. Results or Benefits Expected

Identify the results and benefits to be

derived. For example, describe the

population to be recruited to the IDA

program, how many accounts are

projected to be opened, what qualified

expenses are expected to be achieved,

and how they will assist participants to

move towards self-sufficiency.

E. Approach

Outline a plan of action which

describes the scope and detail of how

the proposed work will be

accomplished. Account for all functions

or activities identified in the

application. Cite factors which might

accelerate or decelerate the work and

state your reason for taking the

proposed approach rather than others.

Describe any unusual features of the

project such as design or technological

innovations, reductions in cost or time,

or extraordinary social and community

involvement.

Provide quantitative monthly or

quarterly projections of the

accomplishments to be achieved for

each function or activity in such terms

as the number of people to be served

and the number of accounts opened.

When accomplishments cannot be

quantified by activity or function, list

them in chronological order to show the

schedule of accomplishments and their

target dates.

If any data is to be collected,

maintained, and/or disseminated,

clearance may be required from the U.S.

Office of Management and Budget

(OMB). This clearance pertains to any

‘‘collection of information that is

conducted or sponsored by ACF’’.

List organizations, cooperating

entities, consultants, or other key

individuals who will work on the

project along with a short description of

the nature of their effort or contribution.

F. Organization Profiles

Provide information on the applicant

organization(s) and cooperating partners

such as organizational charts, financial

statements, audit reports or statements

from CPAs/Licensed Public

Accountants, Employer Identification

Numbers, names of bond carriers,

contact persons and telephone numbers,

child care licenses and other

documentation of professional

accreditation, information on

compliance with Federal/State/local

government standards, documentation

of experience in the program area, and

other pertinent information. Any nonprofit organization submitting an

application must submit proof of its

non-profit status in its application at the

time of submission. The non-profit

agency can accomplish this by

providing a copy of the applicant’s

listing in the Internal Revenue Service’s

(IRS) most recent list of tax-exempt

organizations described in Section

501(c)(3) of the IRS code, or, by

providing a copy of the currently valid

IRS tax exemption certificate, or, by

providing a copy of the articles of

incorporation bearing the seal of the

State in which the corporation or

association is domiciled.

G. Budget and Budget Justification

Provide a line item detail and detailed

calculations for each budget object class

identified on the Budget Information

form. Detailed calculations must

include estimation methods, quantities,

unit costs, and other similar quantitative

detail sufficient for the calculation to be

duplicated. The detailed budget must

also include a breakout by the funding

sources identified in Block 15 of the SF–

424.

Provide a narrative budget

justification that describes how

categorical costs are derived. Discuss

the necessity, reasonableness, and

allocability of the proposed costs.

The following guidelines are for

preparing the budget and budget

justification. Both Federal and nonFederal resources shall be detailed and

justified in the budget and narrative

justification. For purposes of preparing

the budget and budget justification,

‘‘Federal resources’’ refers only to the

ACF grant for which you are applying.

Non-Federal resources are all other

Federal and non-Federal resources. It is

suggested that budget amounts and

computations be presented in a

columnar format: first column, object

class categories; second column, Federal

budget; next column(s), non-Federal

budget(s), and last column, total budget.

The budget justification should be a

narrative.

Personnel

Description: Costs of employee

salaries and wages.

Justification: Identify the project

director or principal investigator, if

known. For each staff person, provide

the title, time commitment to the project

(in months), time commitment to the

project (as a percentage or full-time

equivalent), annual salary, grant salary,

wage rates, etc. Do not include the costs

of consultants or personnel costs of

delegate agencies or of specific

project(s) or businesses to be financed

by the applicant.

Fringe Benefits

Description: Costs of employee fringe

benefits unless treated as part of an

approved indirect cost rate.

Justification: Provide a breakdown of

the amounts and percentages that

comprise fringe benefit costs such as

health insurance, FICA, retirement

insurance, taxes, etc.

Travel

Description: Costs of project-related

travel by employees of the applicant

organization (does not include costs of

consultant travel).

Justification: For each trip, show the

total number of traveler(s), travel

destination, duration of trip, per diem,

mileage allowances, if privately owned

vehicles will be used, and other

transportation costs and subsistence

allowances. Travel costs for key staff to

attend ACF-sponsored workshops

should be detailed in the budget.

Equipment

Description: ‘‘Equipment’’ means an

article of nonexpendable, tangible

personal property having a useful life of

more than one year and an acquisition

cost which equals or exceeds the lesser

of (a) the capitalization level established

by the organization for the financial

statement purposes, or (b) $5,000. (Note:

Acquisition cost means the net invoice

unit price of an item of equipment,

12698 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 39 / Tuesday, February 27, 2001 / Notices

including the cost of any modifications,

attachments, accessories, or auxiliary

apparatus necessary to make it usable

for the purpose for which it is acquired.

Ancillary charges, such as taxes, duty,

protective in-transit insurance, freight,

and installation shall be included in or

excluded from acquisition cost in

accordance with the organization’s

regular written accounting practices.)

Justification: For each type of

equipment requested, provide a

description of the equipment, the cost

per unit, the number of units, the total

cost, and a plan for use on the project,

as well as use or disposal of the

equipment after the project ends. An

applicant organization that uses its own

definition for equipment should provide

a copy of its policy or section of its

policy which includes the equipment

definition.

Supplies

Description: Costs of all tangible

personal property other than that

included under the Equipment category.

Justification: Specify general

categories of supplies and their costs.

Show computations and provide other

information which supports the amount

requested.

Contractual

Description: Costs of all contracts for

services and goods except for those

which belong under other categories

such as equipment, supplies,

construction, etc. Third-party evaluation

contracts (if applicable) and contracts

with secondary recipient organizations,

including delegate agencies and specific

project(s) or businesses to be financed

by the applicant, should be included

under this category.

Justification: All procurement

transactions shall be conducted in a

manner to provide, to the maximum

extent practical, open and free

competition. Recipients and

subrecipients, other than States that are

required to use Part 92 procedures, must

justify any anticipated procurement

action that is expected to be awarded

without competition and exceed the

simplified acquisition threshold fixed at

41 USC 403(11) (currently set at

$100,000.) Recipients might be required

to make available to ACF pre-award

review and procurement documents,

such as request for proposals or

invitations for bids, independent cost

estimates, etc.

Note: Whenever the applicant intends to

delegate part of the project to another agency,

the applicant must provide a detailed budget

and budget narrative for each delegate

agency, by agency title, along with the

required supporting information referred to

in these instructions.

Other

Enter the total of all other costs. Such

costs, where applicable and appropriate,

may include but are not limited to

insurance, food, medical and dental

costs (noncontractual), professional

services costs, space and equipment

rentals, printing and publication,

computer use, training costs, such as

tuition and stipends, staff development

costs, and administrative costs.

Justification: Provide computations, a

narrative description and a justification

for each cost under this category.

H. Non-Federal Resources

Amounts of non-Federal resources

that will be used to support the project

as identified in Block 15 of the SF–424.

The firm commitment of these resources

must be documented and submitted

with the application in order to be given

credit in the review process. A detailed

budget must be prepared for each

funding source.

I. Evaluation Criteria

Proposal Elements and Review Criteria

for Applications

Each application which passes the

initial screening will be assessed and

scored by three independent reviewers.

Each reviewer will give a numerical

score for each application reviewed.

These numerical scores will be

supported by explanatory statements on

a formal rating form describing major

strengths and weaknesses under each

applicable criterion published in the

Announcement. Scoring will be based

on a total of 100 points, and for each

application will be the average of the

scores of the three reviewers.

The competitive review of proposals

will be based on the degree to which

applicants:

(1) Adhere to the requirements in Part

II and incorporate each of the Elements

and Sub-Elements below into their

proposals, so as to:

(2) Describe convincingly a project

that will develop new asset

accumulation opportunities for

households eligible for TANF and other

eligible individuals and working

families that can lead to a transition

from dependency to economic selfsufficiency through the accumulation of

assets and the pursuit of activities

requiring one or more qualified

expenses; and

(3) Provide for the collection and

validation of relevant data to support

the national evaluation to be carried out

by the independent research

organization, under contract with ACF,

of the project design, implementation,

and outcomes of this Demonstration

Program.

In order to simplify the application

preparation and review process, OCS

seeks to keep grant proposals cogent and

brief. Applications with project

narratives (excluding Project

Summaries, Budget Justifications and

Appendices) of more than 30 lettersized pages of 12 c.p.i. type or

equivalent on a single side will not be

reviewed for funding. Applicants

should prepare and assemble their

project description using the following

outline of required project elements.

They should, furthermore, build their

project concept, plans, and application

description upon the guidelines set

forth for each of the project elements.

Project descriptions are evaluated on

the basis of substance, not length. Pages

should be numbered and a table of

contents should be included for easy

reference. For each of the Project

Elements or Sub-Elements below there

is at the end of the discussion a

suggested number of pages to be

devoted to the particular element or

sub-element. These are suggestions

only; but the applicant must remember

that the overall Project Narrative must

not be longer than 30 pages.

Evaluation Criteria 1: Organizational

Profiles

Element I. Organizational Experience

and Administrative Capability; Ability

to Assist Participants. (0 to 20 points)

Criterion: The capability and relevant

experience of the applicant and its

partners and collaborators in developing

and operating programs which deal with

poverty problems similar to those to be

addressed by the proposed project.

Applicants should include their

experience and capability in providing

supportive services to TANF recipients

and other low income individuals and

working families seeking to achieve

economic stability and self-sufficiency;

and in recruiting, educating, and

assisting project participants to increase

their economic independence and

general well-being through economic

literacy education and the accumulation

of assets.

Applications should briefly cite a few

specific, concrete examples of

successful programs and activities, with

accomplishments, with which applicant

has been involved which have

contributed to its experience and

capability to carry out the proposed

project. This should include experience

in working with the target or similar

populations, as well as collaborative

programming and operations which

involve financial institutions and

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 39 / Tuesday, February 27, 2001 / Notices 12699

financial planning, budget counseling,

educational guidance, preparation for

home ownership, and/or selfemployment training.

Applications should identify

applicant agency executive leadership

in this section and briefly describe their

involvement in the proposed project

and provide assurance of their

commitment to its successful

implementation. (This can be achieved

by a statement or letter from agency

executive leadership which may be

included in the Appendix.) The

application should note and justify the

priority that this project will have

within the agency including the

facilities and resources that it has

available to carry it out.

The application must also identify the

individual staff person(s) who will have

the most responsibility for managing the

project, coordinating services and

activities for participants and partners,

and for achieving performance targets.

The focus should be on the

qualifications, experience, capacity and

commitment to the program of the key

staff person(s) who will administer and

implement the project, and the

application should indicate the amount

of time (in FTE) each will be expected

to devote to the project. The person

identified as Project Director should

have supervisory experience, experience

in working with financial institutions

and budget related problems of the poor,

and experience with the target

population. Because this is a

demonstration project within an

already-established agency, OCS expects

that the key staff person(s) would be

identified, if not hired, in which case a

resume or resumes should be included

in the Appendix. If the person or

persons have not been identified, then

Position Description(s) should be

included in the Appendix.

Finally, the application should cite

the roles, responsibilities, and

experience of any other organizations

that will be collaborating with the

Applicant to assist and support Project

Participants in the pursuit of their goals

under the project. Supporting

documentation concerning these

partnering agencies and their

commitment to participation in the

project should be included in the

Appendix to the proposal.

Where the Applicant is applying as

the lead agency for a consortium of

partnering organizations, each of these

organizations should be briefly

described in this section of the Project

Narrative; and background materials

citing their relevant experience and staff

capabilities should be included in the

Appendix. In such cases the Applicant

should document its capability and

experience in managing such consortia,

and the roles and responsibilities of all

participating agencies should be clearly

set forth in Partnering Agreements

between the Applicant and each of the

member organizations. Copies of the

Agreements should be included in the

Appendix, and the roles and

responsibilities clearly explained in

Element II(b), Project Design, and

reflected in the Work Plan under

Element II(d).

It is suggested that applicants use no

more than 5 pages for this sub-Element,

not counting actual resumes or position

descriptions, which should be included

in an Appendix to the proposal.

Background materials on consortium

members (if any) and other collaborating

agencies, supportive materials, and

Partnering Agreements with members

should also be included in the

Appendix.

Evaluation Criteria 2: Approach I

Element II. Sufficiency of the Project

Theory, Design, and Plan (0–45 points)

Criterion: The degree to which the

project described in the application

appears likely to result in the

establishment of a workable, fiscally

sound program that will provide a

structure of incentives and supports for

TANF eligible households and other

working families of limited means that

will enable them to increase their

economic self sufficiency through

economic literacy training and asset

accumulation for one or more ‘‘qualified

expenses’’.

OCS seeks to learn from the

application why and how the project as

proposed is expected to establish the

creation of new opportunities for asset

accumulation by eligible individuals

and families that can lead to significant

improvements in individual and family

self-sufficiency through activities

requiring one or more qualified

expenses: for post-secondary education,

home ownership, and/or qualified

business capitalization.

Applicants are urged to design and

present their project in terms of a

conceptual cause-effect framework that

makes clear the relationship between

what the project plans to do and the

results it expects to achieve.

Sub-Element II(a). Description of Target

Population, Analysis of Need, and

Project Assumptions (0–10 points)

In this sub-element of the proposal

the applicant must precisely identify the

target population(s) to be served. The

geographic area to be impacted should

then be briefly described, citing the

percentage of residents who are lowincome individuals and TANF

recipients, as well as the unemployment

rate, and other data that are relevant to

the project design. Note: Both the

poverty rate and unemployment rate of

the target community(s) are needed to

be set forth in the Application so that its

eligibility for the legislative preference

may be determined (see below).

The project design or plan should

begin with identifying the underlying

assumptions about the program. These

are the beliefs on which the proposed

program is built. They should begin

with assumptions about the strengths

and needs of the population(s) to be

served; about how the accumulation of

assets will enable project participants to

build on those strengths in their quest

to achieve self-sufficiency; and about

what anticipated needs of the

participants could be barriers to that

achievement.

In other words, the underlying

assumptions of the program are the

applicant’s analysis of the participant

strengths and potential to be supported

and their needs and problems to be

addressed by the project, and the

applicant’s theory of how its proposed

interventions will address those

strengths and needs to achieve the

desired result. Thus a strong application

is based upon a clear description of the

strengths, opportunities, needs and

problems to be supported and

addressed, and a persuasive

understanding of the nature of the

opportunities and causes of the

problems.

The application should include a

discussion of the identified personal

barriers to employment, job retention

and greater self-sufficiency faced by the

population to be targeted by the project.

(These might include such problems as

illiteracy, substance abuse, family

violence, lack of skills training, health

or medical problems, need for childcare,

lack of suitable clothing or equipment,

or poor self-image.) The application

should also include an analysis of the

identified community systemic barriers

which the applicant will seek to

overcome. These might include lack of

public transportation; lack of markets;

unavailability of financing, insurance or

bonding; inadequate social services

(employment service, child care, job

training); high incidence of crime; lack

of housing; inadequate health care; or

environmental hazards. Applicants

should be sure not to overlook the

personal and family services and

support needed by project participants

which will enhance job retention and

advancement, so as to assure continued

ability to save from earned income, and

12700 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 39 / Tuesday, February 27, 2001 / Notices

which will also help to assure that

benefits attainable through asset

accumulation are not diverted by crises

beyond the participants’ control which

would lead to emergency withdrawals.

The applicant should thus be prepared

to demonstrate that the proposed project

activities will provide participants with

realistic prospects for being able to

overcome these barriers and make the

investments needed to acquire the assets

which are the goal of the IDA.

Where applicant is the lead agency for

a group or consortium of organizations,

this narrative should briefly summarize

the location, character, and

unemployment and poverty status of the

different target populations. More

detailed information for each of the

participating organizations should be

included in the Appendix to the

Application.

Note: In accordance with the legislative

preferences set forth in Part II Section J,

above, the maximum score for this subElement in the review of applications under

Priority Area 1.0 will only be given to

applications which:

(1) demonstrate the willingness and ability

of the applicant to select individuals for

participation in the project who are

predominantly from households in which a

child (or children) is living with the child’s

biological or adoptive mother or father, or

with the child’s legal guardians.

(Applications which target TANF eligible

households will be deemed to have met this

preference); and

(2) target individuals residing within one

or more relatively well-defined

neighborhoods or communities (including

rural communities, public housing

developments, Empowerment Zones and

Enterprise Communities) that experience

high rates of poverty or unemployment.

(Applications which target residents of

Empowerment Zones, Enterprise

Communities, Public Housing, or CDFI Funddesignated Distressed Communities will be

deemed to have met this preference.) (See

Part II, Section J)

Each of these preferences will be

valued at 2 points in the proposal

review, so that the absence of one will

reduce the review score for the subElement by 2 points; the absence of both

will reduce the review score by 4 points.

In the case of a consortium of

organizations operating programs

funded through a lead agency, if a

majority of the participating

organizations meet these legislative

preferences, the Application as a whole

will be awarded these points.

It is suggested that applicants use no

more than 5 pages for this Sub-Element,

not including any more detailed

information about separate target

populations, which should be included

in the Appendix.

Sub-Element II(b). Project Approach and

Design: Interventions, Outcomes, and

Goals (0–15 points)

The Application should outline a plan

of action which describes the scope and

detail of how the proposed activities

will be undertaken. This Sub-Element

should begin with a concise statement

of the number of IDAs that are proposed

to be established for each of the

‘‘Qualified Expenses’’ under the AFI

Act, the projected monthly savings by

IDA holders and the planned rate of

matching contributions, and the

projected savings goals of the

participants. [It is recognized that these

projections may be revised during the

course of the project, based on actual

experience of the participants.] The

applicant should demonstrate that

projected savings goals have a true

relation to the ability of the Participant

to save and to the value or cost of the

‘‘Qualified Expense’’ for which the IDA

is to be used, be it housing,

postsecondary education, or business

capitalization.

Next, the Applicant should present a

clear and straightforward description,

from the point of view of the Project

Participant, of just how the proposed

IDA Project will operate. This

description should take an eligible

member of the target population through

project activities from recruitment

through the payment for the ‘‘Qualified

Expense’’ (and beyond, if appropriate).

It is suggested that the description

generally follow the outline below, plus

any additional activities that the

Applicant proposes to undertake as part

of its project:

(1) How/where does the potential

participant learn information about the

Project that will excite his/her interest?

(Recruitment)

(2) Once interested, how, when, by

whom, and on what basis is the recruit

selected to participate in the project?

(Selection)

(3) How and when and with what

assistance (Case Management? Family

Development?) does the new participant

make decisions concerning the amount

of weekly or monthly savings and the

selection of ‘‘Qualified Expense’’? Or is

this part of the Selection Process?

(Consultation)

(4) When and where and with whom

does the Participant reach agreement on

and sign a ‘‘Savings Plan Agreement’’?

[Include here a brief discussion of the

provisions of the Agreement, or refer to

a sample provided in the Appendix.]

(Savings Plan Agreement)

(5) Where, when and how does the

Participant actually open his/her IDA

account with the Insured Financial

Institution? Where is the Institution in

relation to the Participant’s home/place

of work? How does the Participant get

to the Institution? [Include here a brief

discussion of the role of the Financial

Institution in account management, data

collection and reporting, and any other

services it will provide, referring to

copies of the agreement(s) with the

Financial Institution(s) in the

Appendix.] (Opening of the IDA/Role of

the Financial Institution)

(6a) How and where will participant

make savings deposits? In person? By

mail? Through payroll deduction?

(Savings Deposits)

(6b) What happens if a scheduled

deposit is missed? Will the participant

be sent a post card? Receive a

supportive phone call? (Delinquency)

(7a) Where and when and from whom

does the participant receive ‘‘Economic

Literacy’’ or ‘‘Budgeting’’ training, and

do childcare and transportation need to

be provided? (Training and Support)

(7b) Where and when and from whom

does participant receive Credit Repair

Services if they are needed; and are

there ways to escape from, or avoid

Predatory Lenders? (Credit Repair)

(8a) Where and when and from whom

does the participant receive needed

support to remain on the job with

opportunity for advancement (So as to

assure continued savings from earned

income)? (Post Employment Support

Services)

(8b) Where and when and from whom

does the participant receive emergency

services so as to avoid having to make

Emergency Withdrawals? (Crisis

Intervention)

(9) Where and when and from whom

does the participant receive ‘‘Qualified

Expenditure’’ training related to home

ownership, pursuit of educational goals,

or business plan development and

business management? (Qualified

Expenditure Support)

(10) When the IDA savings/match

goals have been achieved, where, when

and how does the participant make or

arrange withdrawals to support the

‘‘Qualified Expenses’’? (Withdrawals)

In this description the applicant

should discuss all of the planned

activities and interventions, including

those supported by other available

resources, and should explain the

reasons for taking the approaches

proposed. The description should give a

clear picture of how the project as a

whole will operate from day to day,

including the recruiting, financial,

program support, and data collection

responsibilities of the applicant and any

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 39 / Tuesday, February 27, 2001 / Notices 12701

partners in the project, and just how

they will interact with the financial

institutions and other participating

agencies.

Where the Applicant is a lead agency

for a group or consortium of

organizations, the role of each must be

clearly defined in this section of the

application. In such cases Applicants

should attach copies of signed

Partnering Agreements with each of the

member organizations setting forth the

roles and responsibilities of each. (See

Element I and PART II Section B.(3)

above.)

Finally, and following the above

description, the Applicant should

explain how the proposed project

activities will result in outcomes which

will build on the strengths of the

Program Participants and assist them to

overcome the identified personal and

systemic barriers to achieving selfsufficiency. In other words, what will

the project staff do with the resources

available to the project and how will

what they do (interventions) assist

project participants to accumulate assets

in Individual Development Accounts

and use those assets for ‘‘Qualified

Expenses’’ in a manner that will help

lead them to self-sufficiency?

It is suggested that applicants use no

more than 9 pages for this Sub-Element,

not including copies of agreements with

financial institutions, partnering

agencies or organizations, or sample

‘‘Savings Plan Agreement’’, which

should be in an Appendix.

Sub-Element II(c). Financial Institution

Agreement/Statement of Policy (0–10

points)

Note: In the case of applications submitted

by eligible Credit Unions or Community

Development Financial Institutions, where

the Reserve Fund and IDA accounts are to be

held by the applicant Institution itself, the

applicant must submit, in lieu of a Financial

Institution Agreement, a Statement of Policy,

approved by its Board of Directors and

attested to by its Chairperson and Chief

Financial Officer, which sets forth the

provisions listed under this Sub-Element,

and which will be considered in like manner

in the competitive review process. Where

such applicants are proposing the

establishment of Reserve Fund(s) or IDA’s in

other partnering Financial Institutions, they

should submit as part of their applications

copies Agreements with such Partnering

Financial Institution(s) in accordance with

this Sub-Element. It is suggested that

applicants need not include discussion of

these Agreements/Statements of Policy in

their Proposal Narrative, but should only

identify the Financial Institution(s) and

reference the Agreement/Statement of Policy

as included in an Appendix to the

Application.

Applicants other than eligible Credit

Unions or CDFI’s must identify the

Qualified Financial Institution(s) with

which they are partnering in the

development and implementation of its

IDA Project, and all applicants must

include in an Appendix a copy of a

signed Agreement between the

Applicant and the Financial

Institution(s), or, in the case of eligible

Credit Unions or CDFI’s, a Statement of

Policy, which sets forth:

(1) that the project’s Reserve Fund

will be established in the Financial

Institution;

(2) that its management will conform

to the requirements of the AFIA (see

Part II–G(1) above);

(3) the rate of interest to be paid on

amounts in the Reserve Fund;

(4) that IDA accounts will be

established in the Financial Institution

through written governing instruments

in accordance with the requirements of

Part II, Section G (4), paragraphs (a)

through (g), above, including the

requirements for deposits (by cash,

check, money order or electronic

transfer) and withdrawals (signature of

the account holder and of a responsible

official of the project grantee required);

(5) how, when, and where participant

deposits will be made;

(6) how and when matching

contributions will be made (e.g. in a

parallel account);

(7) the rate and frequency of interest

payments on accounts, including

matching contributions;

(8) that the accounting procedures to

be followed in account management

will conform to the Guidelines

established by the Secretary as set forth

at CFR part 1000 published 65 FR

10027, Feb. 25, 2000:

(9) the data and reports that will be

furnished to the grantee concerning the

Reserve Fund and IDA accounts;

(10) the Non-Federal Share

contribution, if any, being made by the

Financial Institution for deposit in the

Reserve Fund, and the schedule of

deposits of such contribution; and

(11) other services to be provided by

the Financial Institution(s) that could

strengthen the project, such as Financial

Education Seminars, favorable pricing

on fees, out-stationing of services in

community facilities, or assistance in

recruitment of Project Participants.

Agreements/policies which meet the

basic requirements of paragraphs (1)

through (9), above will be awarded up

to eight (8) points in the competitive

review process. To be awarded a higher

score Agreements/Statements of Policy

must include some provisions from

those included in paragraphs (10) and

(11).

As noted above, the applicant need

only identify the partnering Financial

Institution(s) under this Sub-Element,

and reference the Agreement(s) or

Statement of Policy in the Appendix to

the Application.

Sub-Element II(d). Work Plan,

Projections, Time Lines (0–10 points)

Applicant should provide quantitative

quarterly projections of the activities to

be carried out and such information as

the projected number of participants to

be enrolled in each quarter, the number

of Individual Development Accounts

projected to be opened in each quarter

for each of the ‘‘Qualified Expenses’’,

the number and amount of projected

deposits in each quarter, a projected

schedule of IDA completions and

qualified expense payments, and the

number and types of services provided

to participants. The plan should briefly

describe the key project tasks, and show

the timelines and major milestones for

their implementation. Where the

Applicant is a lead agency for a group

or consortium of organizations, this

information should be broken out for

each of the member organizations.

Applicant may be able to use a time line

chart to convey this aspect of the work

plan in minimal space.

Note: Applicants should make sure that

these projections relate accurately to the

amount of grant funds requested and rates of

matching contributions that are planned for

IDA’s. In other words, applicants should not

project a greater number of IDA accounts

than that number that can be matched by the

grant funds that will be available to the

project. Applicants should also be aware that

OCS funds awarded pursuant to this

Announcement will be from FY 2001 funds

and may not be expended after the end of the

five-year Project/Budget Period to support

administration of the project or matching

contributions to Individual Development

Accounts which may be open at that time.

Consequently, Applicants should consider

carefully the length of time participants will

need to achieve their savings goals and at

what point in the project they may wish to

discontinue the opening of new accounts.

Applicants should provide assurance that in

every case provision will be made for

payment of all promised matching deposits

to IDA accounts opened by project

participants in the course of the

demonstration project.

This Element of the Proposal should

also include a management plan or chart

showing the responsibilities of the

applicant agency, key personnel, and all

partnering agencies and consortium

members (where applicable), with an

indication of who will be performing

various tasks such as recruiting,

training, economic education

instruction, and support activities. (This

12702 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 39 / Tuesday, February 27, 2001 / Notices

plan or chart should be included in the

Appendix to the Application.)

It is suggested that applicants use no

more than 3 pages for this Sub-Element,

not counting the management plan/

chart, which should be included in the

Appendix.

Evaluation Criteria 3: Budget and

Budget Justification

Element III. Appropriateness of Budget

and Proposed Use of Cash and In-Kind

Resources (0–5 points)

Criteria: Completeness of the Budget

Justification, and the degree to which a

description of the allocation of both

cash and in-kind resources available to

the project (including any income

generated for the project by the Reserve

Fund) demonstrates a thoughtful plan

that reflects the needs of Project

Participants and the responsive

activities and interventions to be

undertaken by the Applicant and its

partners.

Every application must include a

Budget Justification, placed after the

Budget Forms SF 424 and 424A,

explaining the sources and uses of

project funds, and completed in

accordance with instructions found in

Section G, above. The Budget

Justification will not be counted as part

of the Project Description subject to the

thirty page limitation. Applicant should

briefly but thoroughly describe how all

of the resources available to the Project

will be employed to carry out the Work

Plan described in Element II, including

those training elements and support

services designed to help assure

participant success in meeting their

savings commitments and their chosen

‘‘qualified expense’’ use of their

Individual Development Account assets.

In the budget forms and supporting

Budget Justification, Applicants must

clearly distinguish between AFI Act/

OCS grant funds and other funds, and

between cash and in-kind resources

described.

As noted above, the Budget

Justification will not be counted as part

of the Project Description subject to the

thirty page limitation.

Evaluation Criteria 4: Approach II

Element IV. Project Data: Adequacy of

Plan for Collecting, Validating and

Providing Project-related Data for

Management Information, Reporting,

and Evaluation Purposes. (0–5 points)

Criteria: Adequacy of the plan for

collecting, validating and providing

relevant, accurate and complete data for

internal management information,

statutory reporting and project

evaluation purposes; and clear

expression of a commitment to

cooperate with the statutorily mandated

evaluation of the national Assets for

Independence Demonstration Program.

Note: Under the AFI Act project grantees

are required to use at least 2%—but not more

than 15%—of grant funds to provide the

research organization evaluating the

demonstration project with such information

with respect to the demonstration project as

may be required for the evaluation.

The AFI Act allocates a portion of the

appropriated funds to support an

evaluation of the overall demonstration

program in addition to the funds

grantees are required to expend on data

collection. This Element requires the

Applicant to provide a well thought-out

plan for collecting, validating and

reporting or providing the necessary

data in a timely fashion. The Applicant

is also encouraged to identify the kinds

of data it believes would facilitate the

management information, reporting, and

evaluation purposes. The Applicant

should also declare its agreement to

cooperate with the evaluation of the

national program, and include a brief

explanation of its perception of what

that cooperation would entail.

Applicants are urged to carry out an

ongoing assessment of the data and

information collected as an effective

‘‘process’’ management/feedback tool in

implementing the project. If the

Applicant anticipates such an

undertaking, the plans should be briefly

outlined here.

Note: To attain a maximum score for this

Element, the Applicant must state its

agreement to use the ‘‘MIS IDA’’ information

system software developed by the Center for

Social Development, or a comparable and

compatible Asset Development Information

System, now in development, which OCS

expects to provide to grantees for the

maintenance, collection, and transmission of

data from the proposed project.

It is suggested that applicants use no

more than 2 pages for this Element.

Evaluation Criteria 5: Non-Federal

Resources

Element V. Commitment of Resources.

(Total of 0–15 points)

Sub-Element V(a). Proportion of Public/

Private Required Non-Federal Matching

Contributions. (0–2 points)

Criterion: Whether a proportionately

greater amount of committed required

non-Federal matching contribution

funds are from private sector as opposed

to public sources.

In accordance with the legislative

preferences set forth in Part III Section

J Preferences, above, applications which

provide a commitment of required nonFederal cash matching contributions

with a proportionately greater amount of

such funds committed from private

sector as opposed to public sources will

receive 2 points under this Element.

Applicants are reminded that as noted

in Part II Section I Non-Federal

Matching Funds Requirements, where

the Applicant is itself providing any of

the required cash non-Federal share, it

must include in the Appendix a

statement of commitment, on applicant

letterhead, signed by the official signing

the SF 424 and countersigned by the

Applicant’s Board Chairperson or

Treasurer, that the non-Federal

matching funds will be provided,

contingent only on the OCS grant

award, and that non-Federal share

deposits and the opening of Individual

Development Accounts will be

coordinated so that new accounts will

only be opened when there are

sufficient funds in the Reserve Fund to

cover the maximum matching

requirements of the Savings Plan

Agreements.

Sub-Element V(b). Availability of

Additional Resources. (0–13 points)

Criterion: The extent to which

additional resources (beyond the

required amount of direct funds from

non-federal public sector and from

private sources that are formally

committed to the project as matching

contributions) will be available to

support those activities and

interventions identified in sub-Element

II(b), such as economic literacy classes,

‘‘qualified expense’’-related training,

counseling, case management, postemployment support services, and crisis

intervention.

As noted below in Part IV, Paragraph

D Initial OCS Screening, the only

applications which will be considered

for competitive review are those which

include written documentation of a

commitment, contingent only on award

of the OCS grant, from the provider(s) of

non-Federal share, in cash as

distinguished from in-kind, of at least

the amount of the total Federal grant

requested.

OCS has determined that the strict

legislative limitations on the use of

Federal grant funds and of the minimum

required non-Federal match (at least

85% of each must go toward matching

deposits in Individual Development

Accounts) mean that important training,

counseling and support activities,

critical to the success of a project, can

best be supported by additional

resources, both of the applicant itself

and from the community.

In order to receive points in the

review process under this sub-Element,

the applicant must identify those

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 39 / Tuesday, February 27, 2001 / Notices 12703

additional resources, cash and in-kind,

which will be dedicated to support of

those activities and interventions

identified in sub-Element II(b), such as

economic literacy classes, training,

counseling, case management, postemployment support services, and crisis

intervention; and any staff data

collection/verification activities

described in Element III. Such resources

may be existing programs of the

applicant or a project partner, such as

Family Development, Economic

Literacy classes, or Small Business

Training, in which Project Participants

will be enrolled as part of their efforts

to achieve self-sufficiency. This Element

will be judged in the review process on

the adequacy of the available resources

to support the activities and

interventions described in sub-Element

II(b). The commitment of such resources

to the project must be documented in

writing and submitted as an Appendix

to the Application. Because such

additional resources are not part of the

legislatively mandated non-Federal

matching requirement, these additional

resources may be of Federal or nonFederal origin, public or private, in cash

or in-kind. Applicants are reminded that

they will be held accountable for

commitments of such additional

resources even if over the amount of the

required match.

It is suggested that no more than 3

pages be used for this Element, not

including non-Federal Share

Agreements, assurances, letters of

commitment, partnership agreements, or

Memoranda of Understanding, which

should be put in an Appendix to the

proposal.

Evaluation Criteria 6: Results or Benefits

Expected

Element VI. Significant and Beneficial

Impacts/Critical Issues or Potential

Problems (0–10 points)

Criteria: The extent to which

proposed project is expected to produce

permanent and measurable results that

will reduce the incidence of poverty in

the community and lead TANF eligible

households and other eligible

individuals and working families

toward economic self-sufficiency

through economic literacy education

and accumulation of assets; and the

extent to which applicant convincingly

explains how the project will meet any

critical issues or potential problems in

achieving these results.

Applicants should set forth their

realistic goals and projections for

attainment of these and other beneficial

impacts of the proposed project and

should demonstrate that projected

savings goals have a true relationship to

the ability of the participant to save the

projected amounts and to the value or

cost of the ‘‘Qualified Expense’’ for

which the IDA is to be used.

Results are expected to be quantifiable

in terms of the number of Individual

Development Accounts opened, their

rate of growth, the number and size of

withdrawals for each of the three

‘‘Qualified Expenses’’, and the impact of

the payment of those expenses on the

participants’ movement toward selfsufficiency.

Applicants should also in this

Element explicitly address critical

issues or potential problems that might

affect the achievement of project

objectives, with an explanation of how

they would be overcome, and how the

objectives will be achieved

notwithstanding any such problems.

It is suggested that no more than 3

pages be used for this Element.

Part IV. Application Procedures

A. Application Development/

Availability of Forms

In order to be considered for a grant

under this program announcement, an

application must conform to the

Program Requirements set out in Part II

and be prepared in accordance with the

guidelines set out in Part III, above. It

must be submitted on the forms

supplied in the attachments to this

Announcement and in the manner

prescribed below. Attachments A

through I contain all of the standard

forms necessary for the application for

awards under this OCS program. These

attachments and Parts IV and V of this

Announcement contain all the

instructions required for submittal of

applications.

Additional copies may be obtained by

writing or telephoning the office listed

under the section entitled FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT: at the beginning

of this announcement. In addition, this

Announcement is accessible on the

Internet through the OCS WEBSITE for

reading or downloading at: http://

www.acf.dhhs.gov/programs/ocs/ under

‘‘Funding Opportunities’’.

The applicant must be aware that in

signing and submitting the application

for this award, it is certifying that it will

comply with the Federal requirements

concerning the drug-free workplace, the

Certification Regarding Environmental

Tobacco Smoke, and debarment

regulations set forth in Attachments G,

H, and I.

Part III contains instructions for the

substance and development of the

project narrative. Part V contains

instructions for completing application

forms. Part VI, Section A describes the

contents and format of the application

as a whole.

B. Application Submission

(1) Number of copies required. One

signed original application and two

copies should be submitted at the time

of initial submission. (OMB 0976–0139).

Two additional optional copies would

be appreciated to facilitate the

processing of applications.

(2) Deadline. Mailed applications

shall be considered as meeting the

announced deadline of June 12, 2001 if

they are either received on or before the

deadline date or postmarked on or

before the deadline date and received by

ACF in time for the independent review.

Mailed applications must be sent to:

U.S. Department of Health and Human

Services, Administration for Children

and Families, Office of Grants

Management, Office of Child Support

Enforcement, ‘‘Attention: IDA Program’’,

370 L’Enfant Promenade, SW.,

Washington, DC 20447.

Applications submitted via overnight/

express delivery services should be

addressed to the Administration for

Children and Families, Office of Grants

Management, Office of Child Support

Enforcement, ‘‘Attention IDA Program’’,

901 D Street SW, Fourth Floor,

Washington, DC 20024.

Applicants must ensure that a legibly

dated U.S. Postal Service postmark, or a

legibly dated machine produced

postmark of a commercial mail service,

or an official dated receipt of an

overnight/express delivery 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 or receipt from an overnight/

express delivery service company must

include the logo/emblem of the

company and must reflect the date the

package was received by the company

from the applicant. Private Metered

postmarks shall not be acceptable as

proof of timely mailing.

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 8:00 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, Office of Child Support

Enforcement, Mailroom, 2nd Floor (near

loading dock), Aerospace Center, 901 D

Street, SW, Washington, DC 20024,

between Monday and Friday (excluding

Federal holidays). The address must

12704 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 39 / Tuesday, February 27, 2001 / Notices

appear on the envelope/package

containing the application with the note

‘‘Attention: IDA Program’’.

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.

(3) 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.

(4) Extension of deadlines. ACF may

extend an application deadline for

applicants affected by acts of God such

as floods and hurricanes, or when there

is widespread disruption of the mails. A

determinations to waive or extend

deadline requirements rest with ACF’s

Chief Grants Management Officer.

C. Intergovernmental Review

This 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 Program and Activities.’’ Under

the Order, States may design their own

processes for reviewing and

commenting on proposed Federal

assistance under covered programs.

*All States and Territories except

Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Colorado,

Connecticut, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana,

Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts,

Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New

Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma,

Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota,

Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia,

Washington, Wyoming, American

Samoa and Palau have elected to

participate in the Executive Order

process and have established Single

Points of Contact (SPOCs). Applicants

from these twenty-eight jurisdictions

need take no action regarding E.O.

12372. Applicants for projects to be

administered by Federally-recognized

Indian Tribes are also exempt from the

requirements of E.O. 12372. Otherwise,

applicants should contact their SPOCs

as soon as possible to alert them of the

prospective applications and receive

any necessary instructions. Applicants

must submit any required material to

the SPOCs as soon as possible so that

the program office can obtain and

review SPOC comments as part of the

award process. It is imperative that the

applicant submit all required materials,

if any, to the SPOC and indicate the date

of this submittal (or indicate ‘‘not

applicable’’ if no submittal is required)

on the Standard Form 424, item 16a.

Under 45 CFR 100.8(a)(2), a SPOC has

60 days from the application deadline to

comment on proposed new or

competing continuation awards.

SPOCs are encouraged to eliminate

the submission of routine endorsements

as official recommendations.

Additionally, SPOCs are requested to

clearly differentiate between mere

advisory comments and those official

State process recommendations which

may trigger the ‘‘accommodate or

explain’’ rule.

When comments are submitted

directly to ACF, they should be

addressed to: Department of Health and

Human Services, Administration for

Children and Families, OCSE Office of

Grants Management, 370 L’Enfant

Promenade, S.W., 4th floor East,

Washington, D.C. 20447.

A list of the Single Points of Contact

for each State and Territory is included

as Attachment J to this Announcement.

D. Initial OCS Screening

Each application submitted under this

program announcement will undergo a

pre-review to determine that the

application was postmarked by the

closing date and submitted in

accordance with the instructions in this

announcement.

All applications that meet the

published deadline requirements as

provided in this Program

Announcement will be screened for

completeness and conformity with the

following requirements. Only complete

applications that meet the requirements

listed below will be reviewed and

evaluated competitively. Other

applications will be returned to the

applicants with a notation that they

were unacceptable and will not be

reviewed.

The following requirements must be

met by all Applicants except as noted:

(1) The application must contain a

signed Standard Form 424 ‘‘Application

for Federal Assistance’’ (SF–424), a

budget (SF–424A), and signed

‘‘Assurances’’ (SF 424B) completed

according to instructions published in

Part V and Attachments A, B, and C of

this Program Announcement. The SF–

424 and the SF–424B must be signed by

an official of the organization applying

for the grant who has authority to

obligate the organization legally.

Applicants must also be aware that the

applicant’s legal name as required on

the SF–424 (Item 5) must match that

listed as corresponding to the Employer

Identification Number (Item 6).

(2) A project narrative must also

accompany the standard forms. OCS

requires that the narrative portion of the

application be limited to 30 letter-size

pages, numbered, and typewritten on

one side of the paper only with one-inch

margins and type face no smaller than

12 characters per inch (c.p.i.) or

equivalent. Applications with project

narratives (excluding Project Summaries

and appendices) of more than 30 lettersized pages of 12 c.p.i. type or

equivalent on a single side will not be

reviewed for funding. The Joint

Applicant Agreement (where

applicable), non-Federal share

agreement, Budget Narrative, Charts,

exhibits, resumes, position descriptions,

letters of support or commitment,

Agreements with Financial Institutions

and other partnering organizations, and

Business Plans (where required) are not

counted against this page limit, and

should be in the Appendix. It is

Strongly Recommended That

Applicants Follow the Format and

Content for the Narrative Described in

the Program Elements Set Out in Part III.

(3) Application must contain

documentation of the applicant’s (or

joint applicant’s) tax exempt status as

required under Part II, Section A.

(4) Application must include a copy

of a ‘‘Non-Federal Share Agreement’’ or

Agreements in writing executed with

the entity or entities providing the

required non-Federal matching

contributions, signed by a person

authorized to make a commitment on

behalf of the entity and signed for the

Applicant by the person signing the

SF424. Such Agreement(s) must

include: (1) A commitment by the

organization to provide the non-Federal

funds contingent only on the grant

award; and (2) an agreement as to the

schedule of the opening of Individual

Development Accounts by the

Applicant, and the schedule of deposits

by the organization to the project’s

Reserve Fund, such that the two

schedules will together assure that there

will be at all times in the Reserve Fund

non-Federal matching contribution

funds sufficient to meet the maximum

pledges of matching contributions under

the ‘‘Savings Plan Agreements’’ for all

Individual Development Accounts then

open and being maintained by the

grantee as part of the demonstration

project.

Where Applicants (or Joint

Applicants) themselves are providing

non-Federal share funding, then with

regard to those funds the application

should include an assurance, written on

the Applicant’s letterhead, signed by the

person signing the SF424, and

countersigned by the board Chairperson

or Treasurer, that the required nonFederal share funds will be provided

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 39 / Tuesday, February 27, 2001 / Notices 12705

and that deposits and the opening of

Individual Development Accounts will

be coordinated so that new accounts

will only be opened when there are

sufficient funds in the Reserve Fund to

cover the maximum matching

requirements of the Savings Plan

Agreements. (See Part II, Section I.)

Applicants are strongly encouraged to

mobilize additional resources, which

may be cash or in-kind contributions,

Federal or non-Federal, for support of

project administration and assistance to

Project Participants in obtaining skills,

knowledge, and needed support

services. [See PART III–I Element V(b)]

(5) All Applications other than those

submitted by eligible Credit Unions or

CDFI’s must include a copy of an

Agreement between the Applicant and

one or more Qualified Financial

Institutions, which includes the

provisions set out in PART III, Element

II(c), which states that the accounting

procedures to be followed in account

management will conform to Guidelines

(45 CFR Part 74) established by the

Secretary, and under which the

partnering financial institution will

agree to provide data and reports as

requested by the applicant. [Note: the

Accounting Guidelines may be found at

65 FR 10027, Feb. 25, 2000.]

E. Consideration of Applications

Applications which pass the initial

OCS screening will be reviewed and

rated by an independent review panel

on the basis of the specific review

criteria described and discussed in Part

III, above. Applications will be reviewed

and rated under the Program Elements

and Review Criteria set forth in PART

III Section I. The review criteria were

designed to assess the quality of a

proposed project, and to determine the

likelihood of its success. The review

criteria are closely related and are

considered as a whole in judging the

overall quality of an application. Points

are awarded only to applications which

are responsive to the review criteria and

program elements within the context of

this Program Announcement. The

results of these reviews will assist the

Director and OCS program staff in

considering competing applications.

Reviewers’ scores will weigh heavily in

funding decisions, but will not be the

only factors considered.

Applications generally will be

considered in order of the average

scores assigned by reviewers. However,

highly ranked applications are not

guaranteed funding since other factors

are taken into consideration, including,

but not limited to, the timely and proper

completion by applicant of projects

funded with OCS funds granted in the

last five (5) years; comments of

reviewers and government officials; staff

evaluation and input; the amount and

duration of the grant requested and the

proposed project’s consistency and

harmony with OCS goals and policy;

geographic distribution of applications;

previous program performance of

applicants; compliance with grant terms

under previous HHS grants, including

the actual dedication to program of

mobilized resources as set forth in

project applications; audit reports;

investigative reports; and applicant’s

progress in resolving any final audit

disallowances on previous OCS or other

Federal agency grants.

Since non-Federal reviewers will be

used for review of applications,

Applicants may omit from the

application copies which will be made

available to the non-Federal reviewers,

the specific salary rates or amounts for

individuals identified in the application

budget. Rather, only summary

information is required. OCS reserves

the right to discuss applications with

other Federal or non-Federal funding

sources to verify the applicant’s

performance record and the documents

submitted.

F. Reconsideration

After Federal fund are exhausted for

this grant competition, OCS may decide

to reconsider applications which have

been independently reviewed and

ranked but have no final disposition

(neither approved nor disapproved).

Reconsideration may occur at any time

funds become available within twelve

(12) months following ranking. If a

competition involving applications with

no final disposition should occur,

applications will be reviewed by

independent reviewers in a new

competition and ranked according to the

new score. Applicants that will be

reconsidered for possible funding will

be afforded an opportunity to request

reviewer comments from the prior

competition, and can revise and reapply

under the new competition. In this

instance, the previous application will

be discarded and the new application

will be considered.

Part V. Instructions for Completing

Application Forms

The standard forms attached to this

announcement shall be used to apply

for funds under this program

announcement.

It is suggested that you reproduce

single-sided copies of the SF–424 and

SF–424A, and type your application on

the copies. Please prepare your

application in accordance with

instructions provided on the forms

(Attachments A and B) as modified by

the instructions set forth in PART III G.,

above, and the OCS specific instructions

set forth below:

Provide line item detail and detailed

calculations for each budget object class

identified on the Budget Information

form. Detailed calculations must

include estimation methods, quantities,

unit costs, and other similar quantitative

detail sufficient for the calculation to be

duplicated. The detailed budget must

also include a breakout by the funding

sources identified in Block 15 of the SF–

424.

Provide a narrative budget

justification which describes how the

categorical costs are derived. Discuss

the necessity, reasonableness, and

allocability of the proposed costs. (Note:

The Budget detail and Narrative Budget

Justification should follow the SF 424

and 424A, and are not counted as part

of the Project Narrative.)

A. SF–424—Application for Federal

Assistance (Attachment A)

Top of Page

Where the applicant is a previous

Department of Health and Human

Services grantee, enter the Central

Registry System Employee Identification

Number (CRS/EIN) and the Payment

Identifying Number, if one has been

assigned, in the Block entitled Federal

Identifier located at the top right hand

corner of the form (third line from the

top).

Item 1. For the purposes of this

announcement, all projects are

considered Applications; there are no

Pre-Applications.

Item 7. If applicant is a State, enter

‘‘A’’ in the box. If applicant is an Indian

Tribe enter ‘‘K’’ in the box. If applicant

is a non-profit organization enter ‘‘N’’ in

the box.

Item 9. Name of Federal Agency—

Enter DHHS–ACF/OCS.

Item 10. The Catalog of Federal

Domestic Assistance number for OCS

programs covered under this

announcement is 93.602. The title is

‘‘Assets for Independence

Demonstration Program (IDA Program)’’.

Item 11. In addition to a brief

descriptive title of the project, indicate

the priority area for which funds are

being requested. Use the following letter

designations: I—Individual projects

under Priority Area 1.0

Item 13. Proposed Project—The

project start date must begin on or

before September 30, 2001; the ending

date should be calculated on the basis

of 60-month Project Period.

Item 15a. This amount should be no

greater than $1,000,000 for applications

under Priority Area 1.0.

12706 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 39 / Tuesday, February 27, 2001 / Notices

Item 15b–e. These items should

reflect both cash and third-party, inkind contributions for the Project Period

(60 months).

B. SF–424A—Budget Information—NonConstruction Programs (Attachment B)

In completing these sections, the

Federal Funds budget entries will relate

to the requested OCS funds only, and

Non-Federal will include mobilized

funds from all other sources—applicant,

state, local, and other. Federal funds

other than requested OCS funding

should be included in Non-Federal

entries. Sections A, B, and C of SF–

424A should reflect budget estimates for

each year of the Project Period.

Section A—Budget Summary

You need only fill in lines 1 and 5

(with the same amounts)

Col. (a): Enter ‘‘IDA Program’’ as Item

number 1. (Items 2, 3, 4, and 5 should

be left blank.)

Col. (b): Catalog of Federal Domestic

Assistance number is 93.602. Col. (c)

and (d): not relevant to this program.

Column (e)–(g): enter the appropriate

amounts in items 1. and 5. (Totals)

Column e should not be more than

$1,000,000 for applications under

Priority Area 1.0, and in no case can it

be more than the committed nonFederal matching cash contribution.

Section B—Budget Categories

(Note that the following information

supersedes the instructions provided

with the Form in Attachment C)

Columns (1)–(5): For each of the

relevant Object Class Categories:

Column 1: Enter the OCS grant funds

for the full 5-year budget period. With

regard to Class Categories, no less than

eighty-five percent (85%) of OCS grant

funds should be entered in ‘‘h. Other’’,

representing the funds to be deposited

in the Reserve Fund and which will be

used to match participant contributions

in IDA’s. The balance of up to fifteen

percent (15%) of OCS grant funds

should be allocated to Object Class

Categories in accordance with the

instructions found in PART III Section

G of this Announcement.

Columns 2, 3 and 4 are not relevant

to this program.

Column 5: Enter not less than 85% of

OCS grant funds for the five year budget

by Class Categories under ‘‘other’’,

showing a total of not more than

$1,000,000.

Section C—Non Federal Resources

This section is to record the amounts

of ‘‘non-Federal’’ resources that will be

used to support the project, including

both the required cash non-Federal

‘‘matching contributions’’ share, and the

‘‘additional resources’’ which will bring

additional support to the project, which

may be cash or in-kind, non-Federal or

Federal. In this context, ‘‘Non-Federal’’

resources mean any and all resources

other than the OCS funds for which the

applicant is applying. Therefore,

mobilized funds from other Federal

programs, such as the Job Training

Partnership Act program or the Welfareto-Work program, should be entered on

these lines. Provide a brief listing of

these ‘‘non-Federal’’ resources on a

separate sheet and describe whether it is

a grantee cost or a third-party cash or inkind contribution. The firm

commitment of these resources must be

documented and submitted with the

application in order to be given credit

in the review process under the NonFederal Resources program element.

Note: Even though non-Federal resources

mobilized may go beyond the amount

required as match under the IDA Program,

grantees will be held accountable for any

such cash or in-kind contribution proposed

or pledged as part of an approved application

where the use of such funds falls within a

Program Element/Proposal Review Criterion

which formed the basis for the grant award.

[See Part II, Section I. and Part III, Element

V(b).]

Sections D, E, and F may be left blank

by Applicants under Priority Area 1.0.

As noted in Part VI, a supporting Budget

Justification must be submitted

providing details of expenditures under

each budget category, with justification

of dollar amounts which relate the

proposed expenditures to the work

program and goals of the project.

C. SF–424B Assurances: NonConstruction Programs

Applicants requesting financial

assistance for a non-construction project

must file the Standard Form 424B,

‘‘Assurances: Non-Construction

Programs.’’ (Attachment C) Applicants

must sign and return the Standard Form

424B with their applications.

Applicants must provide a certification

concerning Lobbying. Prior to receiving

an award in excess of $100,000,

applicants shall furnish an executed

copy of the lobbying certification. (See

Attachments D and E) Applicants must

sign and return the certification with

their applications. Applicants should

note that the Lobbying Disclosure Act of

1995 has simplified the lobbying

information required to be disclosed

under 31 U.S.C. 1352.

Applicants must make the appropriate

certification on their compliance with

the Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988

and the Pro-Children Act of 1994

(Certification Regarding Smoke Free

Environment). (See Attachments G and

H) By signing and submitting the

applications, applicants are attesting to

their intent to comply with these

requirements and need not mail back

the certification with the applications.

Applicants must make the appropriate

certification that they are not presently

debarred, suspended or otherwise

ineligible for award. (See Attachment I)

By signing and submitting the

applications, applicants are providing

the certification and need not mail back

the certification with the applications.

Copies of the certifications and

assurances are located at the end of this

announcement.

Part VI. Contents of Application and

Receipt Process

Application pages should be

numbered sequentially throughout the

application package, beginning with a

Summary/Abstract of the proposed

project as page number one; and each

application must include all of the

following, in the order listed below:

A. Content and Order of IDA Program

Application

1. A Project Summary/Abstract—brief,

not to exceed one page, on the

Applicant’s letterhead (that will not be

counted as a part of the Project

Narrative/Description) and that includes

the following information:

—A brief identification of the

geographic area to be served,

indicating poverty and

unemployment rates, and the specific

population to be targeted by the

project;

—The amount of the grant requested;

—The name of partnering financial

institution(s) and collaborating

organizations (if applicable);

—The amount of required non-Federal

match committed;

—The number of IDA accounts

projected to be opened in the course

of the Demonstration Project;

—The proposed rate of matching

contributions, and the types and

numbers of ‘‘Qualified Expenses’’

expected to be achieved by

participants; and

—A brief narrative description of the

project indicating any of its

innovative aspects.

2. Table of Contents;

3. A completed Standard Form 424

(Attachment A) which has been signed

by an official of the organization

applying for the grant who has authority

to obligate the organization legally;

[Note: The original SF–424 must bear

the original signature of the authorizing

representative of the applicant

organization];

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 39 / Tuesday, February 27, 2001 / Notices 12707

4. A completed Budget InformationNon-Construction Programs (SF–424A)

(Attachment B);

5. A Budget Justification, including

narrative budget justification for each

object class category included under

Section B, as described in PART III,

Program Element III;

6. Proof of current tax-exempt status

of Applicant or Joint Applicant (See Part

II B.);

7. A project narrative, limited to the

number of pages specified below, which

includes all of the required elements

described in Part III. [Specific

information/data required under each

component is described in Part III

Section I, Evaluation Criteria.]

8. Appendices, which should include

the following:

(a) (Where Application is submitted

by a State or Local government agency

or Tribal government jointly with a tax

exempt non-profit organization) a

properly executed Joint Application

Agreement as described in PART II

B.(2), above;

(b) Filled out, signed and dated

Assurances—Non-Construction

Programs (SF–424B), (Attachment C);

(c) Restrictions on Lobbying—

Certification for Contracts, Grants,

Loans, and Cooperative Agreements:

filled out, signed and dated form found

at Attachment D;

(d) Disclosure of Lobbying Activities,

SF–LLL: Filled out, signed and dated

form found at Attachment E, if

appropriate (omit Items 11–15 on the SF

LLL and ignore references to

continuation sheet SF–LLL–A)

(e) Maintenance of Effort Certification

(See Attachment F);

(f) Signed Agreement(s) with

partnering Financial Institution(s) (or

Statements of Policy in the case of

Credit Union or CDFI applicants)

including identification of insurance

carrier and current insurance number

(see Part III. Program Sub-Element II(c));

(g) Signed Agreements with providers

of required non-Federal matching

contributions (See PART II, Section I.)

(h) Resumes and/or position

descriptions (see Part III Program

Element I);

(i) (Where Applicant is ‘‘lead agency’’

of a collaborative or consortium of

organizations) Copies of Partnering

Agreements between the Applicant and

each of the partnering members, setting

forth their roles and responsibilities.

(See Part III, Elements I and II(b))

(j) Any letters and/or supporting

documents from collaborating or

partnering agencies in target

communities, providing additional

information on staffing and experience

in support of narrative under Part III

Element I. [Such documents are not part

of the Narrative and should be included

in the Appendices. These documents

are therefore not counted against the

page limitations of the Narrative.]; and

(k) Single points of contact comments,

if applicable.

Applications must be uniform in

composition since OCS may find it

necessary to duplicate them for review

purposes. Therefore, applications must

be submitted on white 8–1/2 × 11 inch

paper only (See Part IV D. (2), above,

concerning margins, type size, etc).

They must not include colored,

oversized or folded materials. Do not

include organizational brochures or

other promotional materials, slides,

films, clips, etc. in the proposal. They

will be discarded if included. The

applications should be two-hole

punched at the top center and fastened

separately with a compressor slide

paper fastener, or a binder clip. The

submission of bound plans, or plans

enclosed in binders is specifically

discouraged.

B. Acknowledgment of Receipt

Acknowledgment of Receipt—All

applicants will receive an

acknowledgment with an assigned

identification number. Applicants are

requested to supply a self-addressed

mailing label with their Application, or

a FAX number or e-mail address which

can be used for acknowledgment. The

assigned identification number, along

with any other identifying codes, must

be referenced in all subsequent

communications concerning the

Application. If an acknowledgment is

not received within three weeks after

the deadline date, please notify ACF by

telephone at (202) 401–5307.

Part VII. Post Award Information and

Reporting Requirements

A. Notification of Grant Award

Following approval of the

applications selected for funding, notice

of project approval and authority to

draw down project funds will be made

in writing. The official award document

is the Financial Assistance Award

which provides the amount of Federal

funds approved for use in the project,

the project and budget period for which

support is provided, the terms and

conditions of the award, and the total

project period for which support is

contemplated.

B. Attendance at Technical Assistance

and Evaluation Workshops/Conferences

OCS hopes to sponsor one or more

national evaluation workshops in

Washington, DC or in other locations

during the course of the five-year

project. Project Directors will be

expected to attend such workshops

provided additional funds can be made

available by OCS for expenses of

attending.

C. Reporting Requirements

Grantees will be required to submit a

semi-annual program progress and

financial report (SF 269) covering the

six months after grant award, and

similar reports after conclusion of the

first Project Year. Such reports will be

due 60 days after the reporting period.

Thereafter grantees will be required to

submit annual program progress and

financial reports (SF 269), as well as a

final program progress and financial

report within 90 days of the expiration

of the grant.

D. Audit Requirements

Grantees are subject to the audit

requirements in 45 CFR Part 74 (nonprofit organizations) or Part 92

(governmental entities) which require

audits under OMB Circular A–133.

E. Prohibitions and Requirements with

Regard to Lobbying

Section 319 of Public Law 101–121,

signed into law on October 23, 1989,

imposes prohibitions and requirements

for disclosure and certification related

to lobbying on recipients of Federal

contracts, grants, cooperative

agreements, and loans. It provides

limited exemptions for Indian tribes and

tribal organizations. Current and

prospective recipients (and their subtier

contractors and/or grantees) are

prohibited from using appropriated

funds for lobbying Congress or any

Federal agency in connection with the

award of a contract, grant, cooperative

agreement or loan. In addition, for each

award action in excess of $100,000 (or

$150,000 for loans) the law requires

recipients and their subtier contractors

and/or subgrantees (1) to certify that

they have neither used nor will use any

appropriated funds for payment to

lobbyists, (2) to submit a declaration

setting forth whether payments to

lobbyists have been or will be made out

of non-appropriated funds and, if so, the

name, address, payment details, and

purpose of any agreements with such

lobbyists whom recipients or their

subtier contractors or subgrantees will

pay with the non-appropriated funds

and (3) to file quarterly up-dates about

the use of lobbyists if an event occurs

that materially affects the accuracy of

the information submitted by way of

declaration and certification.

The law establishes civil penalties for

noncompliance and is effective with

12708 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 39 / Tuesday, February 27, 2001 / Notices

respect to contracts, grants, cooperative

agreements and loans entered into or

made on or after December 23, 1989. See

Attachment H, for certification and

disclosure forms to be submitted with

the applications for this program.

F. Applicable Federal Regulations

Attachment K indicates the

regulations which apply to all

applicants/grantees under the Assets for

Independence Demonstration Program.

Dated: February 14, 2001.

Robert Mott,

Acting Director, Office of Community

Services.

BILLING CODE 4184–01–P

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 39 / Tuesday, February 27, 2001 / Notices 12709

12710 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 39 / Tuesday, February 27, 2001 / Notices

Attachment A

Instructions for the SF–424

Public reporting burden for this collection

of information is estimated to average 45

minutes 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 estimate or

any other aspect of this collection of

information, including suggestions for

reducing this burden, to the Office of

Management and Budget, Paperwork

Reduction Project (0348–0043), Washington,

DC 20503.

PLEASE DO NOT RETURN YOUR

COMPLETED FORM TO THE OFFICE OF

MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET. SEND IT TO

THE ADDRESS PROVIDED BY THE

SPONSORING AGENCY.

This is a standard form used by applicants

as a required facesheet for preapplications

and applications submitted for Federal

assistance. It will be used by Federal agencies

to obtain applicant certification that States

which have established a review and

comment procedure in response to Executive

Order 12372 and have selected the program

to be included in their process, have been

given an opportunity to review the

applicant’s submission.

Item and Entry

1. Self-explanatory.

2. Date application submitted to Federal

agency (or State if applicable) and applicant’s

control number (if applicable).

3. State use only (if applicable).

4. If this application is to continue or

revise an existing award, enter present

Federal identifier number. If for a new

project, leave blank.

5. Legal name of applicant, name of

primary organizational unit which will

undertake the assistance activity, complete

address of the applicant, and name and

telephone number of the person to contact on

matters related to this application.

6. Enter Employer Identification Number

(EIN) as assigned by the Internal Revenue

Service.

7. Enter the appropriate letter in the space

provided.

8. Check appropriate box and enter

appropriate letter(s) in the space(s) provided:

—‘‘New’’ means a new assistance award.

—‘‘Continuation’’ means an extension for an

additional funding/budget period for a

project with a projected completion date.

—‘‘Revision’’ means any change in the

Federal Government’s financial obligation

or contingent liability from an existing

obligation.

9. Name of Federal agency from which

assistance is being requested with this

application.

10. Use the Catalog of Federal Domestic

Assistance number and title of the program

under which assistance is requested.

11. Enter a brief descriptive title of the

project. If more than one program is

involved, you should append an explanation

on a separate sheet. If appropriate (e.g.,

construction or real property projects), attach

a map showing project location. For

preapplications, use a separate sheet to

provide a summary description of this

project.

12. List only the largest political entities

affected (e.g., State, counties, cities).

13. Self-explanatory.

14. List the applicant’s Congressional

District and any District(s) affected by the

program or project.

15. Amount requested or to be contributed

during the first funding/budget period by

each contributor. Value of in-kind

contributions should be included on

appropriate lines as applicable. If the action

will result in a dollar change to an existing

award, indicate only the amount of the

change. For decreases, enclose the amounts

in parentheses. If both basic and

supplemental amounts are included, show

breakdown on an attached sheet. For

multiple program funding, use totals and

show breakdown using same categories as

item 15.

16. Applicants should contact the State

Single Point of Contact (SPOC) for Federal

Executive Order 12372 to determine whether

the application is subject to the State

intergovernmental review process.

17. This question applies to the applicant

organization, not the person who signs as the

authorized representative. Categories of debt

include delinquent audit disallowances,

loans and taxes.

18. To be signed by the authorized

representative of the applicant. A copy of the

governing body’s authorization for you to

sign its application as official representative

must be on file in the applicant’s office.

(Certain Federal agencies may require that

this authorization be submitted as part of the

application.)

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 39 / Tuesday, February 27, 2001 / Notices 12711

12712 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 39 / Tuesday, February 27, 2001 / Notices

BILLING CODE 4184–01–C

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 39 / Tuesday, February 27, 2001 / Notices 12713

Attachment B

Instructions for the SF–424A

Public reporting burden for this collection

of information is estimated to average 180

minutes 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 estimate or

any other aspect of this collection of

information, including suggestions for

reducing this burden, to the Office of

Management and Budget, Paperwork

Reduction Project (0348–0044), Washington,

DC 20503.

PLEASE DO NOT RETURN YOUR

COMPLETED FORM TO THE OFFICE OF

MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET. SEND IT TO

THE ADDRESS PROVIDED BY THE

SPONSORING AGENCY.

General Instructions

This form is designed so that application

can be made for funds from one or more grant

programs. In preparing the budget, adhere to

any existing Federal grantor agency

guidelines which prescribe how and whether

budgeted amounts should be separately

shown for different functions or activities

within the program. For some programs,

grantor agencies may require budgets to be

separately shown by function or activity. For

other programs, grantor agencies may require

a breakdown by function or activity. Sections

A, B, C, and D should include budget

estimates for the whole project except when

applying for assistance which requires

Federal authorization in annual or other

funding period increments. In the latter case,

Sections A, B, C, and D should provide the

budget for the first budget period (usually a

year) and Section E should present the need

for Federal assistance in the subsequent

budget periods. All applications should

contain a breakdown by the object class

categories show in Lines a-k of Section B.

Section A. Budget Summary Lines 1–4

Columns (a) and (b)

For applications pertaining to a single

Federal grant program (Federal Domestic

Assistance Catalog number ) and ? a

functional or activity breakdown, enter on

Line 1 under Column (a) the Catalog program

title and the Catalog number in Column (b).

For applications pertaining to a single

program requiring budget amounts by

multiple functions or activities, enter the

name of each activity or function on each

line in Column (a), and enter the Catalog

number in Column (b). For applications

pertaining to multiple programs where none

of the programs require a breakdown by

function or activity, enter the Catalog

program title on each line in Column (a) and

the respective Catalog number on each line

in Column (b).

For applications pertaining to multiple

programs where one or more programs

require a breakdown by function or activity,

prepare a separate sheet for each program

requiring the breakdown. Additional sheets

should be used when one form does not

provide adequate space for all breakdown of

data required. However, when more than one

sheet is used, the first page should provide

the summary totals by programs.

Lines 1–4, Columns (c) through (g).

For new applications, leave Column (c)

and (d) blank. For each line entry in Columns

(a) and (b), enter in Columns (e), (f), and (g)

the appropriate amounts of funds needed to

support the project for the first funding

period (usually a year).

For continuing grant programs

applications, submit these forms before the

end of each funding period as required by the

grantor agency. Enter in Columns (c) and (d)

the estimated amounts of funds which will

remain unobligated at the end of the grant

funding period only if the Federal grantor

agency instructions provide for this.

Otherwise, leave these columns blank. Enter

in columns (e) and (f) the amounts of funds

needed for the upcoming period. The

amount(s) in Column (g) should be the sum

of amounts in Columns (e) and (f).

For supplemental grants and changes to

existing grants, do not use Columns (c) and

(d). Enter in Column (e) the amount of the

increase or decrease of non-Federal funds. In

Column (g) enter the new total budgeted

amount (Federal and non-Federal) which

includes the total previous authorized

budgeted amounts plus or minus, as

appropriate, the amounts show in Columns

(e) and (f). The amount(s) in column (g)

should not equal the sum of amounts in

Columns (e) and (f).

Line 5—Show the totals for all columns

used.

Section B Budget Categories

In the column headings (1) through (4),

enter the titles of the same programs,

functions, and activities shown on Lines 1–

4, Column (a), Section A. When additional

sheets are prepared for Section A, provide

similar column headings on each sheet. For

each program, function or activity, fill in the

total requirements for funds (both Federal

and non-Federal) by object class categories.

Line 6a–i—Show the totals of Lines 6a to

6h in each column.

Line 6j—Show the amount of indirect cost.

Line 6k—Enter the total of amounts on

Lines 6i and 6j. For all applications for new

grants and continuation grants the total

amount in column (5), Line 6k, should be the

same as the total amount shown in Section

A, Column (g), Line 5. For supplemental

grants and changes to grants, the total

amount of the increase or decrease as shown

in Columns (1)–(4), Line 6k should be the

same as the sum of the amounts in Section

A, Columns (e) and (f) on Line 5.

Line 7—Enter the estimated amount of

income, if any, expected to be generated from

this project. Do not add or subtract this

amount from the total project amount. Show

under the program narrative statement the

nature and source of income. The estimated

amount of program income may be

considered by the Federal grantor agency in

determining the total amount of the grant.

Section C. Non-federal Resources

Lines 8–11—Enter amounts of non-Federal

resources that will be used on the grant. If

in-kind contributions are included, provide a

brief explanation on a separate sheet.

Column (a)—Enter the program titles

identical to Column (a), Section A. A

breakdown by function or activity is not

necessary.

Column (b)—Enter the contribution to the

made by the applicant.

Column (c)—Enter the amount of the

State’s crash and in-kind contribution if the

applicant is not a State of State agency.

Applicants which are a State of State

agencies should leave this column blank.

Column (d)—Enter the amount of cash and

in-kind contributions to be made from all

other sources.

Column (e)—Enter totals of Columns (b)9,

(c), and (d).

Line 12—enter the total for each of

columns (b)-(e). The amount in Column (e)

should be equal to the amount on Line 5,

Column (f), Section A.

Section D. Forecasted Cash Needs

Line 13—Enter the amount of cash needed

by quarter from the grantor agency during the

first year.

Line 14—Enter the amount of cash from all

other sources needed by quarter during the

first year.

Line 15—Enter the totals of amounts on

Lines 13 and 14.

Section E. Budget Estimates of Federal Funds

Needed for Balance of the Project

Lines 16–19—Enter in column (a) the same

grant program titles shown in Column (a),

Section A. A breakdown by function or

activity is not necessary. For new

applications and continuation grant

applications, enter in the proper columns

amounts of Federal funds which will be

needed to complete the program or project

over the succeeding funding periods (usually

in years). This section need not be completed

for revisions (amendments, changes, or

supplements) to funds for the current year of

existing grants.

If more than four lines are needed to list

the program titles, submit additional

schedules as necessary.

Lines 20—Enter the total for each of the

Columns (b)–(e). When additional schedules

are prepared for this Section, annotate

accordingly and show the overall totals on

this line.

Section F. Other Budget Information

Line 21—Use this space to explain

amounts for individual direct object class

cost categories that may appear to be out of

the ordinary or to explain the details as

required by the Federal grantor agency.

Line 22—Enter the type of indirect rate

(provisional predetermined, final or fixed)

that will be in effect during the funding

period, the estimated amount of the base to

which the are is applied, and the total

indirect expense.

Line 23—provide any other explanations or

comments deemed necessary.

Attachment C

Assurances—Non-Construction

Programs

Public reporting burden for this collection

of information is estimated to average 15

minutes per response, including time for

12714 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 39 / Tuesday, February 27, 2001 / Notices

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 estimate or

any other aspect of this collection of

information, including suggestions for

reducing this burden, to the Office of

Management and Budget, Paperwork

Reduction Project (0348–0040), Washington,

DC 20503.

PLEASE DO NOT RETURN YOUR

COMPLETED FORM TO THE OFFICE OF

MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET. SEND IT TO

THE ADDRESS PROVIDED BY THE

SPONSORING AGENCY.

Note: Certain of these assurances may not

be applicable to your project or program. If

you have questions, please contact the

awarding agency. Further, certain Federal

awarding agencies may require applicants to

certify to additional assurances. If such is the

case, you will be notified.

As the duly authorized representative of

the applicant, I certify that the applicant:

1. Has the legal authority to apply for

Federal assistance and the institutional,

managerial and financial capability

(including funds sufficient to pay the nonFederal share of project cost) to ensure

proper planning, management and

completion of the project described in this

application.

2. Will give the awarding agency, the

Comptroller General of the United States and,

if appropriate, the State, through any

authorized representative, access to and the

right to examine all records, books, papers,

or documents related to the award; and will

establish a proper accounting system in

accordance with generally accepted

accounting standards or agency directives.

3. Will establish safeguards to prohibit

employees from using their positions for a

purpose that constitutes or presents the

appearance of personal or organizational

conflict of interest, or personal gain.

4. Will initiate and complete the work

within the applicable time frame after receipt

of approval of the awarding agency.

5. Will comply with the Intergovernmental

Personnel Act of 1970 (42 U.S.C. §§ 4728–

4763) relating to prescribed standards for

merit systems for programs funded under one

of the 19 statutes or regulations specified in

Appendix A of OPM’s Standards for a Merit

System of Personnel Administration (5 C.F.R.

900, Subpart F).

6. Will comply with all Federal statutes

relating to nondiscrimination. These include

but are not limited to: (a) Title VI of the Civil

Rights Act of 1964 (P.L. 88–352) which

prohibits discrimination on the basis of race,

color or national origin; (b) Title IX of the

Education Amendments of 1972, as amended

(20 U.S.C. §§ 1681–1683, and 1685–1686),

which prohibits discrimination on the basis

of sex; (c) Section 504 of the Rehabilitation

Act of 1973, as amended (29 U.S.C. § 794),

which prohibits discrimination on the basis

of handicaps; (d) the Age Discrimination Act

of 1975, as amended (42 U.S.C. §§ 6101–

6107), which prohibits discrimination on the

basis of age; (e) the Drug Abuse Office and

Treatment Act of 1972 (P.L. 92–255), as

amended, relating to nondiscrimination on

the basis of drug abuse; (f) the

Comprehensive Alcohol Abuse and

Alcoholism Prevention, Treatment and

Rehabilitation Act of 1970 (P.L. 91–616), as

amended, relating to nondiscrimination on

the basis of alcohol abuse or alcholism; (g)

§§ 523 and 527 of the Public Health Service

Act of 1912 (42 U.S.C. §§ 290 dd–3 and 290

ee 3), as amended, relating to confidentiality

of alcohol and drug abuse patient records; (h)

Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 (42

U.S.C. §§ 3601 et seq.), as amended, relating

to nondiscrimination in the sale, rental or

financing of housing; (i) any other

nondiscrimination provisions in the specific

statute(s) under which application for

Federal assistance is being made; and (j) the

requirements of any other nondiscrimination

statute(s) which may apply to the

application.

7. Will comply, or has already complied,

with the requirements of Title II and III of the

Uniformm Relocation Assistance and Real

Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970

(P.L. 91–646) which provide for fair and

equitable treatment of persons displaced or

whose property is acquired as a result of

Federal or federally-assisted programs. These

requirements apply to all interests in real

property acquired for project purposes

regardless of Federal participation in

purchases.

8. Will comply, as applicable, with

provisions, of the Hatch Act (5 U.S.C.

§§ 1501–1508 and 7324–7328) which limit

the political activities of employees whose

principal employment activities are funded

in whole or in part with Federal funds.

9. Will comply, as applicable, with the

provisions of the Davis-Bacon Act (40 U.S.C.

§§ 276a to 276a–7), the Copeland Act (40

U.S.C. § 276c and 18 U.S.C. § 874), and the

Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards

Act (40 U.S.C. §§ 327–333), regarding labor

standards for federally-assisted construction

subagreements.

10. Will comply, if applicable, with flood

insurance purchase requirements of Section

102(a) of the Flood Disaster Protection Act of

1973 (P.L. 93–234) which requires recipients

in a special flood hazard area to participate

in the program and to purchase flood

insurance if the total cost of insurable

construction and acquisition is $10,000 or

more.

11. Will comply with environmental

standards which may be prescribed pursuant

to the following: (a) institution of

environmental quality control measures

under the National Environmental Policy Act

of 1969 (P.L. 91–190) and Executive Order

(EO) 11514; (b) notification of violating

facilities pursuant to EO 11783; (c) protection

of wetlands pursuant to EO 11990; (d)

evaluation of flood hazards in floodplains in

accordance with EO 11988; (e) assurance of

project consistency with the approved State

management program developed under the

Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 (16

U.S.C. §§ 1451 et seq.); (f) conformity of

Federal actions to State (Clean Air)

Implementation Plans under Section 176(c)

of the Clean Air Act of 1955, as amended (42

U.S.C. §§ 7401 et seq.); (g) protection of

underground sources of drinking water under

the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974, as

amended (P.L. 93–523); and, (h) protection of

endangered species under the Endangered

Species Act of 1973, as amended (P.L. 93–

205).

12. Will comply with the Wild and Scenic

Rivers Act of 1968 (16 U.S.C. §§ 1271 et seq.)

related to protecting components or potential

components of the national wild and scenic

rivers system.

13. Will assist the awarding agency in

assuring compliance with Section 106 of the

National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as

amended (16 U.S.C. § 470), EO 11593

(identification and protection of historic

properties), and the Archaeological and

Historic Preservation Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C.

§§ 469a–1 et seq.).

14. Will comply with P.L. 93–348

regarding the protection of human subjects

involved in research, development, and

related activities supported by this award of

assistance.

15. Will comply with the Laboratory

Animal Welfare Act of 1966 (P.L. 89–544, as

amended, 7 U.S.C. §§ 2131 et seq.) pertaining

to the care, handling, and treatment of warm

blooded animals held for research, teaching,

or other activities supported by this award of

assistance.

16. Will comply with the Lead-Based Paint

Poisoning Prevention Act (42 U.S.C. §§ 4801

et seq.) which prohibits the use of lead-based

paint in construction or rehabilitation of

residence structures.

17. Will cause to be performed the required

financial and compliance audits in

accordance with the Single Audit Act

Amendments of 1966 and OMB Circular No.

A–133, ‘‘Auditis of States, Local

Governments, and Non-Profit Organizations.’’

18. Will comply with all applicable

requirements of all other Federal laws,

executive orders, regulations, and policies

governing this program.

lllllllllllllllllllll

Signature of Authorized Certifying Official

lllllllllllllllllllll

Title

lllllllllllllllllllll

Applicant Organization

lllllllllllllllllllll

Date Submitted

Attachment D

Certification Regarding Lobbying

Certification for Contracts, Grants, Loans, and

Cooperative Agreements

The undersigned certifies, to the best of his

or her knowledge and belief, that:

(1) No Federal appropriated funds have

been paid or will be paid, by or on behalf of

the undersigned, to any person for

influencing or attempting to influence an

officer or employee of an agency, a Member

of Congress, an officer or employee of

Congress, or an employee of a Member of

Congress in connection with the awarding of

any Federal contract, the making of any

Federal grant, the making of any Federal

loan, the entering into of any cooperative

agreement, and the extension, continuation,

renewal, amendment, or modification of any

Federal contract, grant, loan, or cooperative

agreement.

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 39 / Tuesday, February 27, 2001 / Notices 12715

(2) If any funds other than Federal

appropriated funds have been paid or will be

paid to any person for influencing or

attempting to infuence an officer or employee

of any agency, a Member of Congress, an

officer or employee of Congress, or an

employee of a Member of Congress in

connection with this Federal contract, grant,

loan, or cooperative agreement, the

undersigned shall complete and submit

Standard Form–LLL, ‘‘Disclosure Form to

Report Lobbying,’’ in accordance with its

instructions.

(3) The undersigned shall require that the

language of this certification be included in

the award documents for all subawards at all

tiers (including subcontracts, subgrants, and

contracts under grants, loans, and

cooperative agreements) and that all

subrecipients shall certify and disclose

accordingly. This certification is a material

representation of fact upon which reliance

was placed with this transaction was made

or entered into. Submission of this

certification is a prerequisite for making or

entering into this transaction imposed by

section 1352, title 31, U.S. Code. Any person

who fails to file the required certification

shall be subject to a civil penalty of not less

than $10,000 and not more than $100,000 for

each such failure.

Statement for Loan Guarantees and Loan

Insurance

The undersigned states, to the best of his

or her knowledge and belief, that:

If any funds have been paid or will be paid

to any person for influencing or attempting

to influence an officer or employee of any

agency, a Member of Congress, an officer or

employee of Congress, or an employee of a

Member of Congress in connection with this

commitment providing for the United States

to insure or guarantee a loan, the

undersigned shall complete and submit

Standard Form–LLL, ‘‘Disclosure Form to

Report Lobbying,’’ in accordance with its

instructions. Submission of this statement is

a prerequisite for making or entering into this

transaction imposed by section 1352, title 31,

U.S. Code. Any person who fails to file the

required statement shall be subject to a civil

penalty of not less than $10,000 and not more

than $100,000 for each such failure.

lllllllllllllllllllll

Signature

lllllllllllllllllllll

Title

lllllllllllllllllllll

Organization

BILLING CODE 4184–01–P

12716 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 39 / Tuesday, February 27, 2001 / Notices

BILLING CODE 4184–01–C

Attachment E

Instructions for Completion of SF–LLL,

Disclosure of Lobbying Activities

This disclosure form shall be completed by

the reporting entity, whether subawardee or

prime Federal recipient, at the initiation or

receipt of a covered Federal action, or a

material change to a previous filing, pursuant

to title 31 U.S.C. section 1352. The filing of

a form is required for each payment or

agreement to make payment to any lobbying

entity for influencing or attempting to

influence an officer or employee of any

agency, a Member of Congress, an officer or

employee of Congress, or an employee of a

Member of Congress in connection with a

covered Federal action. Complete all items

that apply for both the initial filing and

material change report. Refer to the

implementing guidance published by the

Office of Management and Budget for

additional information.

1. Identify the type of covered Federal

action for which lobbying activity is and/or

has been secured to influence the outcome of

a covered Federal action.

2. Identify the status of the covered Federal

action.

3. Identify the appropriate classification of

this report. If this is a followup report caused

by a material change to the information

previously reported, enter the year and

quarter in which the change occurred. Enter

the date of the last previously submitted

report by this reporting entity for this

covered Federal action.

4. Enter the full name, address, city, State

and zip code of the reporting entity. Include

Congressional District, if known. Check the

appropriate classification of the reporting

entity that designates if it is, or expects to be,

a prime or subaward recipient. Identify the

tier of the subawardee, e.g., the first

subawardee of the prime is the 1st tier.

Subawards include but are not limited to

subcontracts, subgrants and contract awards

under grants.

5. If the organization filing the report in

item 4 checks ‘‘Subawardee,’’ then enter the

full name, address, city, State and zip code

of the prime Federal recipient. Include

Congressional District, if known.

6. Enter the name of the Federal agency

making the award or loan commitment.

Include at least one organizational level

below agency name, if known. For example,

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 39 / Tuesday, February 27, 2001 / Notices 12717

Department of Transportation, United States

Coast Guard.

7. Enter the Federal program name of

description for the covered Federal action

(item 1). If known, enter the full Catalog of

Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) number

for grants, cooperative agreements, loans, and

loan commitments.

8. Enter the most appropriate Federal

identifying number available for the Federal

action identified in item 1 (e.g., Request for

Proposal (RFP) number, Invitation for Bid

(IFB) number; grant announcement number;

the contract, grant, or loan award number;

the application/proposal control number

assigned by the Federal agency). Include

prefixes, e.g., ‘‘RFP–DE–09–001.’’

9. For a covered Federal action where there

has been an award or loan commitment by

the Federal agency, enter the Federal amount

of the award/loan commitment for the prime

entity identified in item 4 or 5.

10. (a) Enter the full name, address, city,

State and zip code of the lobbying registrant

under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995

engaged by the reporting entity identified in

item 4 to influence the covered Federal

action.

(b) Enter the full names of the individual(s)

performing services, and include full address

if different from 10(a). Enter Last Name, First

Name, and Middle Initial (MI).

11. The certifying official shall sign and

date the form, print his/her name, title, and

telephone number.

According to the Paperwork Reduction

Act, as amended, no persons are required to

respond to a collection of information unless

it displays a valid OMB Control Number. the

valid OMB control number for this

information collection is OMB No. 0348–

0046. Public reporting burden for this

collection of information is estimated to

average 10 minutes 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

estimate or any other aspect of this collection

of information, including suggestions for

reducing this burden, to the Office of

Management and Budget, Paperwork

Reduction Project (0348–0046), Washington,

DC 20503.

Certification Regarding Maintenance Of

Effort

In accordance with the applicable program

statute(s) and regulation(s), the undersigned

certifies that financial assistance provided by

the Administration for Children and

Families, for the specified activities to be

performed under the llllllll

Program by llllllll (Applicant

Organization), will be in addition to, and not

in substitution for, comparable activities

previously carried on without Federal

assistance.

lllllllllllllllllllll

Signature of Authorized Certifying Official

lllllllllllllllllllll

Title

lllllllllllllllllllll

Date

Attachment G

Certification Regarding Drug-Free

Workplace Requirements

This certification is required by the

regulations implementing the Drug-Free

Workplace Act of 1988: 45 CFR Part 76,

Subpart, F. Sections 76.630(c) and (d)(2) and

76.645(a)(1) and (b) provide that a Federal

agency may designate a central receipt point

for STATE–WIDE AND STATE AGENCY–

WIDE certifications, and for notification of

criminal drug convictions. For the

Department of Health and Human Services,

the central point is: Division of Grants

Management and Oversight, Office of

Management and Acquisition, Department of

Health and Human Services, Room 517–D,

200 Independence Avenue, SW Washington,

DC 20201.

Certification Regarding Drug-Free Workplace

Requirements (Instructions for Certification)

1. By signing and/or submitting this

application or grant agreement, the grantee is

providing the certification set out below.

2. The certification set out below is a

material representation of fact upon which

reliance is placed when the agency awards

the grant. If it is later determined that the

grantee knowingly rendered a false

certification, or otherwise violates the

requirements of the Drug-Free Workplace

Act, the agency, in addition to any other

remedies available to the Federal

Government, may take action authorized

under the Drug-Free Workplace Act.

3. For grantees other than individuals,

Alternate I applies.

4. For grantees who are individuals,

Alternate II applies.

5. Workplaces under grants, for grantees

other than individuals, need not be identified

on the certification. If known, they may be

identified in the grant application. If the

grantee does not identify the workplaces at

the time of application, or upon award, if

there is no application, the grantee must keep

the identity of the workplace(s) on file in its

office and make the information available for

Federal inspection. Failure to identify all

known workplaces constitutes a violation of

the grantee’s drug-free workplace

requirements.

6. Workplace identifications must include

the actual address of buildings (or parts of

buildings) or other sites where work under

the grant takes place. Categorical descriptions

may be used (e.g., all vehicles of a mass

transit authority or State highway department

while in operation, State employees in each

local unemployment office, performers in

concert halls or radio studios).

7. If the workplace identified to the agency

changes during the performance of the grant,

the grantee shall inform the agency of the

change(s), if it previously identified the

workplaces in question (see paragraph five).

8. Definitions of terms in the

Nonprocurement Suspension and Debarment

common rule and Drug-Free Workplace

common rule apply to this certification.

Grantees’ attention is called, in particular, to

the following definitions from these rules.:

Controlled substance means a controlled

substance in Schedules I through V of the

Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 812)

and as further defined by regulation (21 CFR

1308.11 through 1308.15);

Conviction means a finding of guilt

(including a plea of nolo contender) or

imposition of sentence, or both, by any

judicial body charged with the responsibility

to determine violations of the Federal or

State criminal drug statutes;

Criminal drug statute means a Federal or

non-Federal criminal statute involving the

manufacture, distribution, dispensing, use, or

possession of any controlled substance.

Employee means the employee of a grantee

directly engaged in the performance of work

under a grant, including: (i) All direct charge

employees; (ii) All indirect charge employees

unless their impact or involvement is

insignificant to the performance of the grant;

and, (iii) Temporary personnel and

consultants who are directly engaged in the

performance of work under the grant and

who are on the grantee’s payroll. This

definition does not include workers not on

the payroll of the grantee (e.g., volunteers,

even if used to meet a matching requirement;

consultants or independent contractors not

on the grantee’s payroll; or employees of

subrecipients or subcontractors in covered

workplaces).

Certification Regarding Drug-Free Workplace

Requirements

Alternate I. (Grantees Other Than

Individuals)

The grantee certifies that it will or will

continue to provide a drug-free workplace by:

(a) Publishing a statement notifying

employees that the unlawful manufacture,

distribution, dispensing, possession, or use of

a controlled substance is prohibited in the

grantee’s workplace and specifying the

actions that will be taken against employees

for violation of such prohibition;

(b) Establishing an ongoing drug-free

awareness program to inform employees

about—

(1) The dangers of drug abuse in the

workplace;

(2) The grantee’s policy of maintaining a

drug-free workplace;

(3) Any available drug counseling,

rehabilitation, and employee assistance

programs; and

(4) The penalties that may be imposed

upon employees for drug abuse violations

occurring in the workplace;

(c) Making it a requirement that each

employee to be engaged in the performance

of the grant be given a copy of the statement

required by paragraph (a);

(d) Notifying the employee in the statement

required by paragraph (a) that, as a condition

of employment under the grant, the employee

will—

(1) Abide by the terms of the statement;

and

(2) Notify the employer in writing of his or

her conviction for a violation of a criminal

drug statute occurring in the workplace no

later than five calendar days after such

conviction;

(e) Notifying the agency in writing, within

ten calendar days after receiving notice under

paragraph (d)(2) from an employee or

otherwise receiving actual notice of such

12718 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 39 / Tuesday, February 27, 2001 / Notices

conviction. Employers of convicted

employees must provide notice, including

position title, to every grant officer or other

designee on whose grant activity the

convicted employee was working, unless the

Federal agency has designated a central point

for the receipt of such notices. Notice shall

include the identification number(s) of each

affected grant;

(f) Taking one of the following actions,

within 30 calendar days of receiving notice

under paragraph (d)(2), with respect to any

employee who is so convicted—

(1) Taking appropriate personnel action

against such an employee, up to and

including termination, consistent with the

requirements of the Rehabilitation Act of

1973, as amended; or

(2) Requiring such employee to participate

satisfactorily in a drug abuse assistance or

rehabilitation program approved for such

purposes by a Federal, State, or local health,

law enforcement, or other appropriate

agency;

(g) Making a good faith effort to continue

to maintain a drug-free workplace through

implementation of paragraphs (a), (b), (c), (d),

(e) and (f).

(B) The grantee may insert in the space

provided below the site(s) for the

performance of work done in connection

with the specific grant:

Place of Performance (Street address, city,

county, state, zip code)

Check if there are workplaces on file that

are not identified here.

Alternate II. (Grantees Who Are Individuals)

(a) The grantee certifies that, as a condition

of the grant, he or she will not engage in the

unlawful manufacture, distribution,

dispensing, possession, or use of a controlled

substance in conducting any activity with the

grant;

(b) If convicted of a criminal drug offense

resulting from a violation occurring during

the conduct of any grant activity, he or she

will report the conviction, in writing, within

10 calendar days of the conviction, to every

grant officer or other designee, unless the

Federal agency designates a central point for

the receipt of such notices. When notice is

made to such a central point, it shall include

the identification number(s) of each affected

grant. [55 FR 21690, 21702, May 25, 1990]

Attachment H

Certification Regarding Environmental

Tobacco Smoke

Public Law 103227, Part C Environmental

Tobacco Smoke, also known as the Pro

Children Act of 1994, requires that smoking

not be permitted in any portion of any indoor

routinely owned or leased or contracted for

by an entity and used routinely or regularly

for provision of health, day care, education,

or library services to children under the age

of 18, if the services are funded by Federal

programs either directly or through State or

local governments, by Federal grant, contract,

loan, or loan guarantee. The law does not

apply to children’s services provided in

private residences, facilities funded solely by

Medicare or Medicaid funds, and portions of

facilities used for inpatient drug or alcohol

treatment. Failure to comply with the

provisions of the law may result in the

imposition of a civil monetary penalty of up

to $1000 per day and/or the imposition of an

administrative compliance order on the

responsible entity. By signing and submitting

this application the applicant/grantee

certifies that it will comply with the

requirements of the Act.

The applicant/grantee further agrees that it

will require the language of this certification

be included in any subawards which contain

provisions for the children’s services and that

all subgrantees shall certify accordingly.

Attachment I

Certification Regarding Debarment,

Suspension and Other Responsibility

Matters

Certification Regarding Debarment,

Suspension, and Other Responsibility

Matters—Primary Covered Transactions

Instruction for Certification

1. By signing and submitting this proposal,

the prospective primary participant is

providing the certification set out below.

2. The inability of a person to provide the

certification required below will not

necessarily result in denial of participation in

this covered transaction. The prospective

participant shall submit an explanation of

why it cannot provide the certification set

out below. The certification or explanation

will be considered in connection with the

department or agency’s determination

whether to enter into this transaction.

However, failure of the prospective primary

participant to furnish a certification or an

explanation shall disqualify such person

from participation in this transaction.

3. The certification in this clause is a

material representation of fact upon which

reliance was placed when the department or

agency determined to enter into this

transaction. If it is later determined that the

prospective primary participant knowingly

rendered an erroneous certification, in

addition to other remedies available to the

Federal Government, the department or

agency may terminate this transaction for

cause or default.

4. The prospective primary participant

shall provide immediate written notice to the

department or agency to which this proposal

is submitted if at any time the prospective

primary participant learns that its

certification was erroneous when submitted

or has become erroneous by reason of

changed circumstances.

5. The terms covered transaction, debarred,

suspended, ineligible, lower tier covered

transaction, participant, person, primary

covered transaction, principal, proposal, and

voluntarily excluded, as used in this clause,

have the meanings set out in the Definitions

and Coverage sections of the rules

implementing Executive Order 12549. You

may contact the department or agency to

which this proposal is being submitted for

assistance in obtaining a copy of those

regulations.

6. The prospective primary participant

agrees by submitting this proposal that,

should the proposed covered transaction be

entered into, it shall not knowingly enter into

any lower tier covered transaction with a

person who is proposed for debarment under

48 CFR part 9, subpart 9.4, debarred,

suspended, declared ineligible, or voluntarily

excluded from participation in this covered

transaction, unless authorized by the

department or agency entering into this

transaction.

7. The prospective primary participant

further agrees by submitting this proposal

that it will include the clause titled

‘‘Certification Regarding Deparment,

Suspension, Ineligibility and Voluntary

Exclusion-Lower Tier Covered Transaction,’’

provided by the department or agency

entering into this covered transaction,

without modification, in all lower tier

covered transactions and in all solicitations

for lower tier covered transactions.

8. A participant in a covered transaction

may rely upon a certification of a prospective

participant in a lower tier covered

transaction that it is not proposed for

debarment under 48 CFR part 9, subpart 9.4,

debarred, suspended, ineligible, or

voluntarily excluded from the covered

transaction, unless it knows that the

certification is erroneous. A participant may

decide the method and frequency by which

it determines the eligibility of its principals.

Each participant may, but is not required to,

check the List of Parties Excluded from

Federal Procurement and Nonprocurement

Programs.

9. Nothing contained in the foregoing shall

be construed to require establishment of a

system of records in order to render in good

faith the certification required by this clause.

The knowledge and information of a

participant is not required to exceed that

which is normally possessed by a prudent

person in the ordinary course of business

dealings.

10. Except for transactions authorized

under paragraph 6 of these instructions, if a

participant in a covered transaction

knowingly enters into a lower tier covered

transaction with a person who is proposed

for debarment under 49 CFR part 9, subpart

9.4, suspended, debarred, ineligible, or

voluntarily excluded from participation in

this transaction, in addition to other

remedies available to the Federal

Government, the department or agency may

terminate this transaction for cause or

default.

Certification Regarding Debarment,

Suspension, and Other Responsibility

Matters—Primary Covered Transactions

(1) The prospective primary participant

certifies to the best of its knowledge and

belief, that it and its principals:

(a) Are not presently debarred, suspended,

proposed for debarment, declared ineligible,

or voluntarily excluded by any Federal

department or agency;

(b) Have not within a three-year period

preceding this proposal been convicted of or

had a civil judgment rendered against them

for commission of fraud or a criminal offense

in connection with obtaining, attempting to

obtain, or performing a public (Federal, State

or local) transaction or contract under a

public transaction; violation of Federal or

State antitrust statutes or commission of

embezzlement, theft, forgery, bribery,

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 39 / Tuesday, February 27, 2001 / Notices 12719

falsification or destruction of records, making

false statements, or receiving stolen property;

(c) Are not presently indicted for or

otherwise criminally or civilly charged by a

governmental entity (Federal, State or local)

with commission of any of the offenses

enumerated in paragraph (1)(b) of this

certification; and

(d) Have not within a three-year period

preceding this application/proposal had one

or more public transactions (Federal, State or

local) terminated for cause or default.

(2) Where the prospective primary

participant is unable to certify to any of the

statements in this certification, such

prospective participant shall attach an

explanation to this proposal.

Certification Regarding Debarment,

Suspension, Ineligibility and Voluntary

Exclusion—Lower Tier Covered Transactions

Instructions for Certification

1. By signing and submitting this proposal,

the prospective lower tier participant is

providing the certification set out below.

2. The certification in this clause is a

material representation of fact upon which

reliance was placed when this transaction

was entered into. If it is later determined that

the prospective lower tier participant

knowingly rendered an erroneous

certification, in addition to other remedies

available to the Federal Government the

department or agency with which this

transaction originated may pursue available

remedies, including suspension and/or

debarment.

3. The prospective lower tier participant

shall provide immediate written notice to the

person to which this proposal is submitted if

at any time the prospective lower tier

participant learns that its certification was

erroneous when submitted or had become

erroneous by reason of changed

circumstances.

4. The terms covered transaction, debarred,

suspended, ineligible, lower tier covered

transaction, participant, person, primary

covered transaction, principal, proposal, and

voluntarily excluded, as used in this clause,

have the meaning set out in the Definitions

and Coverage sections of rules implementing

Executive Order 12549. You may contact the

person to which this proposal is submitted

for assistance in obtaining a copy of those

regulations.

5. The prospective lower tier participant

agrees by submitting this proposal that,

[[Page 33043]] should the proposed covered

transaction be entered into, it shall not

knowingly enter into any lower tier covered

transaction with a person who is proposed

for debarment under 48 CFR part 9, subpart

9.4, debarred, suspended, declared ineligible,

or voluntarily excluded from participation in

this covered transaction, unless authorized

by the department or agency with which this

transaction originated.

6. The prospective lower tier participant

further agrees by submitting this proposal

that it will included this clause titled

‘‘Certification Regarding Debarment,

Suspension, Ineligibility and Voluntary

Exclusion-Lower Tier Covered Transaction,’’

without modification, in all lower tier

covered transactions and in all solicitations

for lower tier covered transactions.

7. A participant in a covered transaction

may rely upon a certification of a prospective

participant in a lower tier covered

transactions that it is not proposed for

debarment under 48 CFR part 9, subpart 9.4,

debarred, suspended, ineligible, or

voluntarily excluded from covered

transactions, unless it knows that the

certification is erroneous. A participant may

decide the method and frequency by which

it determines the eligibility of its principals.

Each participant may, but is not required to,

check the List of Parties Excluded from

Federal Procurement and Nonprocurement

Programs.

8. Nothing contained in the foregoing shall

be construed to require establishment of a

system of records in order to render in good

faith the certification required by this clause.

The knowledge and information of a

participant is not required to exceed that

which is normally possessed by a prudent

person in the ordinary course of business

dealings.

9. Except for transactions authorized under

paragraph 5 of these instructions, if a

participant in a covered transaction

knowingly enters into a lower tier covered

transactions with a person who is proposed

for debarment under 48 CFR part 9, subpart

9.4, suspended, debarred, ineligible or

voluntarily excluded from participation in

this transaction, in addition to other

remedies available to the Federal

Government, the department or agency with

which this transaction originated may pursue

available remedies, including suspension

and/or debarment.

Certification Regarding Debarment,

Suspension, Ineligibility an Voluntary

Exclusion—Lower Tier Covered Transactions

(1) The prospective lower tier participant

certifies, by submission of this proposal, that

neither it nor its principals is presently

debarred, suspended, proposed for

debarment, declared ineligible, or voluntarily

excluded from participation in this

transaction by any Federal department or

agency.

(2). Where the prospective lower tier

participant is unable to certify to any of the

statements in this certification, such

prospective participant shall attach an

explanation to this proposal.

Attachment J

Office of Management and Budget

It is estimated that in 2001 the Federal

Government will outlay $305.6 billion in

grants to State and local governments.

Executive Order 12372, ‘‘Intergovernmental

Review of Federal Programs,’’ was issued

with the desire to foster the

intergovernmental partnership and

strengthen federalism by relying on State and

local processes for the coordination and

review of proposed Federal financial

assistance and direct Federal development.

The Order allows each State to designate an

entity to perform this function. Below is the

official list of those entities. For those States

that have a home page for their designated

entity, a direct link has been provided below.

States that are not listed on this page have

chosen not to participate in the

intergovernmental review process, and

therefore do not have a SPOC. If you are

located within one of these States, you may

still send application materials directly to a

Federal awarding agency.

Arkansas

Tracy L. Copeland, Manager, State

Clearinghouse, Office of Intergovernmental

Services, Department of Finance and

Administration, 1515 W. 7th St., Room

412, Little Rock, Arkansas 72203,

Telephone: (501) 682–1074, Fax: (501)

682–5206, tlcopeland@dfa.state.ar.us

California

Grants Coordination, State Clearinghouse,

Office of Planning and Research, P.O. Box

3044, Room 222, Sacramento, California

95812–3044, Telephone: (916) 445–0613,

Fax: (916) 323–3018,

state.clearinghouse@opr.ca.gov

Delaware

Charles H. Hopkins, Executive Department,

Office of the Budget, 540 S. Dupont

Highway, 3rd Floor, Dover, Delaware

19901, Telephone: (302) 739–3323, Fax:

(302) 739–5661, chopkins@state.de.us

District of Columbia

Ron Seldon, Office of Grants Management

and Development, 717 14th Street, NW,

Suite 1200, Washington, DC 20005,

Telephone: (202) 727–1705, Fax: (202 727–

1617, ogmd-ogmd@dcgov.org

Florida

Cherie L. Trainor, Florida State

Clearinghouse, Department of Community

Affairs, 2555 Shumard Oak Blvd.,

Tallahassee, Florida 32399–2100,

Telephone: (805) 922–5438, (850) 414–

5495 (direct), Fax: (850) 414–0479,

cherie.trainor@dca.state.fl.us

Georgia

Georgia State Clearinghouse, 270 Washington

Street, SW, Atlanta, Georgia 30334,

Telephone: (404) 656–3855, Fax: (404)

656–7901, gach@mail.opb.state.ga.us

Illinois

Virginia Bova, Department of Commerce, and

Community Affairs, James R. Thompson

Center, 100 West Randolph, Suite 3–400,

Chicago, Illinois 60601, Telephone: (312)

814–6028, Fax: (312) 814–8485,

vbova@commerce.state.il.us

Iowa

Steven R. McCann, Division of Community

and Rural Development, Iowa Department

of Economic Development, 200 East Grand

Avenue, Des Moines, Iowa 50309,

Telephone: (515) 242–4719, Fax: (515)

242–4809, steve.mccann@ided.state.ia.us

Kentucky

Ron Cook, Department for Local Government,

1024 Capital Center Drive, Suite 340,

Frankfort, Kentucky 40601, Telephone:

(502) 573–2382, Fax: (502) 573–2512,

ron.cook@mail.state.ky.us

Maine

Joyce Benson, State Planning Office, 184

State Street, 38 State House Station,

Augusta, Maine 04333, Telephone: (207)

12720 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 39 / Tuesday, February 27, 2001 / Notices

287–3261, (207) 287–1461 (direct), Fax:

(207) 287–6489, joyce.benson@state.me.us

Maryland

Linda Janey, Manager, Clearinghouse and

Plan Review Unit, Maryland Office of

Planning, 301 West Preston Street—Room

1104, Baltimore, Maryland 21201–2305,

Telephone: (410) 767–4490, Fax: (410)

767–4480, linda@mail.op.state.md.us

Michigan

Richard Pfaff, Southeast Michigan Council of

Governments, 660 Plaza Drive—Suite 1900,

Detroit, Michigan 48226, Telephone: (313)

961–4266, Fax: (313) 961–4869,

pfaff@semcog.org

Mississippi

Cathy Mallette, Clearinghouse Officer,

Department of Finance and

Administration, 550 High Street, 303

Walters Sillers Building, Jackson,

Mississippi 39201–3087, Telephone: (601)

359–6762, Fax: (601) 359–6758

Missouri

Lois Pohl, Federal Assistance Clearinghouse,

Office of Administration, P.O. Box 809,

Jefferson Building, Room 915, Jefferson

City, Missouri 65102, Telephone: (573)

751–4834, Fax: (573) 522–4395,

pohll_@mail.oa.state.mo.us

Nevada

Heather Elliott, Department of

Administration, State Clearinghouse, 209

E. Musser Street, Room 200, Carson City,

Nevada 89701, Telephone: (775) 684–0209,

Fax: (775) 684–0260,

helliott@govmail.state.nv.us

New Hampshire

Jeffrey H. Taylor, Director, New Hampshire

Office of State Planning, Attn:

Intergovernmental Review Process, Mike

Blake, 21⁄2 Beacon Street, Concord, New

Hampshire 03301, Telephone: (603) 271–

2155, Fax: (603) 271–1728,

jtaylor@osp.state.nh.us

New Mexico

Ken Hughes, Local Government Division,

Room 201 Bataan Memorial Building,

Santa Fe, New Mexico 87503, Telephone:

(505) 827–4370, Fax: (505) 827–4948,

khughes@dfa.state.nm.us

North Carolina

Jeanette Furney, Department of

Administration, 1302 Mail Service Center,

Raleigh, North Carolina 27699–1302,

Telephone: (919) 807–2323, Fax: (919)

733–9571, jeanette.furney@ncmail.net

North Dakota

Jim Boyd, Division of Community Services,

600 East Boulevard Ave., Dept 105,

Bismarck, North Dakota 58505–0170,

Telephone: (701) 328–2094, Fax: (701)

328–2308, jboyd@state.nd.us

Rhode Island

Kevin Nelson, Department of Administration,

Statewide Planning Program, One Capitol

Hill, Providence, Rhode Island 02908–

5870, Telephone: (401) 222–2093, Fax:

(402) 222–2083, knelson@doa.state.ri.us

South Carolina

Omeagia Burgess, Budget and Control Board,

Office of State Budget, 1122 Ladies Street,

12th Floor, Columbia, South Carolina

29201, Telephone: (803) 734–0494, Fax:

(803) 734–0645,

aburgess@budget.state.sc.us

Texas

Denise S. Francis, Director, State Grants

Team, Governor’s Office of Budget and

Planning, P.O. Box 12428, Austin, Texas

78711, Telephone: (512) 305–9415, Fax:

(512) 93–2681,

dfrancis@governor.state.tx.us

Utah

Carolyn Wright, Utah State Clearinghouse,

Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget,

State Capitol, Room 114, Salt Lake City,

Utah 84114, Telephone: (801) 538–1535,

Fax: (801) 538–1547,

cwright@gov.state.ut.us

West Virginia

Fred Cutlip, Director, Community

Development Division, West Virginia

Development Office, Building #6, Room

553, Charleston, West Virginia 25305,

Telephone: (304) 558–4010, Fax: (304)

558–3248, fcutlip@wvdo.org

Wisconsin

Jeff Smith, Section Chief, Federal/State

Relations, Wisconsin Department of

Administration, 101 East Wilson Street—

6th Floor, P.O. Box 7868, Madison,

Wisconsin 53707, Telephone: (608) 266–

0267, Fax: (608) 267–6931,

jeffrey.smith@doa.state.wi.us

Guam

Director, Bureau of Budget and Management

Research, Office of the Governor, P.O. Box

2950, Agana, Guam 96910, Telephone:

011–671–472–2285, Fax: 011–472–2825,

jer@ns.gov.gu

Puerto Rico

Jose Caballero/Mayra Silva, Puerto Rico

Planning Board, Federal Proposals Review

Office, Minillas Government Center, P.O.

Box 41119, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00940–

1119, Telephone: (787) 723–6190, Fax:

(787) 722–6783

North Mariana Islands

Ms. Jacoba T. Seman, Federal Programs

Coordinator, Office of Management and

Budget, Office of the Governor, Saipan, MP

96950, Telephone: (670) 664–2289, Fax:

(670) 664–2272, omb.jseman@saipan.com

Virgin Islands

Ira Mills, Director, Office of Management and

Budget, #41 Norre Gade Emancipation

Garden Station, Second Floor, Saint

Thomas, Virgin Islands 00802, Telephone:

(340) 744–0750, Fax: (340) 776–0069,

lrmills@usvi.org

Changes to this list can be made only after

OMB is notified by a State’s officially

designated representative. E-mail messages

can be sent to grants@omb.ceop.gov. If you

prefer, you may send correspondence to the

following postal address: Attn: Grants

Management, Office of Management and

Budget, New Executive Office Building, Suite

6025, 725 17th Street, NW, Washington, DC

20503.

Attachment K

DHHS Regulations Applying to All

Applicants/Grantees Under the Assets

for Independence DEMONSTRATION

Program (IDA Program)

Title 45 of the Code of Federal Regulations

Part 16—Department of Grant Appeals

Process

Part 74—Administration of Grants (grants

with subgrants to entities)

Part 75—Informal Grant Appeal Procedures

Part 76—Debarment and Suspension from

Eligibility for Financial Assistance

Subpart F—Drug Free Workplace

Requirements

Part 80—Non-Discrimination Under

Programs Receiving Federal Assistance

through the Department of Health and

Human Services Effectuation of Title VI of

the Civil Rights Act of 1964

Part 81—Practice and Procedures for

Hearings Under Part 80 of this Title

Part 83—Regulation for the Administration

and Enforcement of Sections 799A and 845

of the Public Health Service Act

Part 84—Non-discrimination on the Basis of

Handicap in Programs and Activities

Receiving Federal Financial Assistance

Part 85—Enforcement of Non-Discrimination

on the Basis of Handicap in Programs or

Activities Conducted by the Department of

Health and Human Services

Part 86—Nondiscrimination on the Basis of

Sex in Education Programs and Activities

Receiving or Benefiting from Financial

Assistance

Part 91—Non-discrimination on the Basis of

Age in Health and Human Services

Programs or Activities Receiving Federal

Financial Assistance

Part 92—Uniform Administrative

Requirements for Grants and Cooperative

Agreements to and Local Governments

(Federal Register, March 11, 1988)

Part 93—New Restrictions on Lobbying Part

100—Intergovernmental Review of

Department of Health and Human Services

Programs and Activities

Attachment L

Note: Attachment L can be found at 65 FR

10027, Feb. 25, 2000.

Attachment M

2001 POVERTY GUIDELINES FOR THE

48 CONTIGUOUS STATES AND THE

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Size of family unit

Poverty

guideline200%

1 .................................... $8,590 $17,180

2 .................................... 11,610 23,220

3 .................................... 14,630 29,260

4 .................................... 17,650 35,300

5 .................................... 20,670 41,340

6 .................................... 23,690 47,380

7 .................................... 26,710 53,420

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 39 / Tuesday, February 27, 2001 / Notices 12721

2001 POVERTY GUIDELINES FOR THE

48 CONTIGUOUS STATES AND THE

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA—Continued

Size of family unit

Poverty

guideline200%

8 .................................... 29,730 59,460

For family units with more than 8 members,

add $3,020 for each additional member. (For

200% add $6,040 for each additional

member.)

2001 POVERTY GUIDELINES FOR

ALASKA

Size of family unit

Poverty

guideline200%

1 .................................... $10,730 $21,460

2 .................................... 14,510 29,202

3 .................................... 18,290 36,580

4 .................................... 22,070 44,140

5 .................................... 25,850 51,700

6 .................................... 29,630 59,260

7 .................................... 33,410 66,820

8 .................................... 37,190 74,380

For family units with more than 8 members,

add $3,780 for each additional member. (For

200% add $7,560 for each additional

member.)

2001 POVERTY GUIDELINES FOR

HAWAII

Size of family unit

Poverty

guideline200%

1 .................................... $9,890 $19,780

2 .................................... 13,360 26,720

3 .................................... 16,830 33,660

4 .................................... 20,300 40,600

5 .................................... 23,770 47,540

6 .................................... 27,240 54,480

7 .................................... 30,710 61,420

8 .................................... 34,180 68,360

For family units with more than 8 members,

add $3,470 for each additional member. (For

200% add $6,940 for each additional

member.)

[FR Doc. 01–4242 Filed 2–26–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4184–01–P