Source: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/grants/open/foa/files/HHS-2014-ACF-OHS-CH-R04-0700_0.htm
Timestamp: 2014-03-09 00:00:08
Document Index: 608931838

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 1304', '§ 1301', '§ 1305', 'art 1307', '§ 9836', '§ 9840', '§ 1307', '§ 1303', 'art 1307', '§ 1303', '§ 794']

HHS-2014-ACF-OHS-CH-R04-0700
Application Due Date: 10/22/2013
Program Office:Office of Head Start Funding Opportunity Title:Head Start and/or Early Head Start Grantee - Muscogee, Talbot, Clay, Quitman, Chattahoochee, and Stewart Counties, Georgia
Funding Opportunity Number:HHS-2014-ACF-OHS-CH-R04-0700
The Head Start program provides high-quality, comprehensive early education programming to low-income children and families so that children start school ready to succeed. In 2007, Congress enacted legislation that required, for the first time in the program's history, greater competition within communities for Head Start funding. The goal of the legislation and the subsequent regulations, which were effective on December 9, 2011, is to ensure that federal Head Start funding is directed to the organizations that are most capable of delivering high-quality early education that puts children on a pathway to improved outcomes, school success, and opportunity. In select service areas, the Office of Head Start is now offering applicants the opportunity to apply for funding to serve children from birth to age 5 and pregnant women in one application. This provides the opportunity to create a high-quality early childhood education and comprehensive services program with a particular emphasis on the transition from Early Head Start to Head Start or to another high-quality early education program. Applicants are strongly encouraged to bring new and innovative ideas that are evidence-based or evidence-informed to maximize the extent to which Early Head Start and Head Start, in collaboration with other partners and early childhood education providers, can prepare children and their families for school. Applicants are urged to explore synergies and partnerships with existing early childhood programs. This may include combining Head Start and Early Head Start funds with resources from other early childhood programs or funding streams, including state, local, and private sector funding for child care, pre-Kindergarten, and special education services. Applicants that can show a strong track record of successfully preparing young children for school will be given special consideration.
The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is piloting this funding opportunity announcement in some communities where Head Start and Early Head Start are slated for competition as a result of this new competitive requirement. The goal is to ensure an equitable distribution of resources to meet the demonstrated community needs of children from birth to age 5, ensuring continuity of services and taking into account the availability of high-quality and comprehensive early childhood education opportunities (which may include public pre-Kindergarten programs for 4-year-olds). This single funding opportunity announcement solicits applications from public or private non-profit organizations, including faith-based organizations or for-profit organizations that seek to provide a high-quality, comprehensive birth-to-five program incorporating both Head Start and Early Head Start funding, or to provide services for Head Start only or Early Head Start only, in a manner that ensures continuous services and seamless transitions for children and families residing in Muscogee, Talbot, Clay, Quitman, Chattahoochee, and Stewart Counties, Georgia.
Through this funding opportunity announcement, interested applicants have an opportunity to consider proposing a comprehensive, seamless birth-to-five Head Start and Early Head Start program, including services for expectant families, through a coordinated application. The goal is to foster innovative and coordinated models that better integrate Head Start and Early Head Start programming and address community need. This pilot also provides applicants the opportunity to propose to reallocate funding between Head Start and Early Head Start based on both the needs in the community and the applicant's capacity and experience serving pregnant women, infants, toddlers, and/or preschool-age children. The Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project reports better outcomes for children and families when they enrolled into programs early in life and received the full spectrum of services until they aged out of the program. ACF is interested in applicants that can provide high-quality birth-to-five programs by providing both Head Start and Early Head Start services, as well as applications that can provide quality services in only one of the two programs. Applicants can also consider the locally designed program option, which provides grantees with flexibility in providing Head Start and/or Early Head Start services. For example, if state pre-Kindergarten is widely available to 4-year-olds, a grantee might consider using Head Start resources to provide comprehensive services to a larger number of eligible children.
Any applicant responding to this funding opportunity announcement will submit one application, whether the applicant is proposing to provide: 1) Head Start services only, 2) Early Head Start services only, or 3) both Head Start and Early Head Start services. Applicants proposing to serve pregnant women are expected to serve the newborn through the Early Head Start program. Applicants should explain their reason for deciding to apply to conduct a program to serve the proposed population, including the particular age group of children and, if applicable, pregnant women. This decision should be based on the needs of the community. Successful applicants will demonstrate capacity and experience serving the relevant target populations (i.e., pregnant women, infants, toddlers, and/or preschool-age children). Finally, applications submitted in response to this funding opportunity announcement must propose the coordination of services within a community that support transitions for children and families, and at a minimum comply with 45 CFR § 1304.41 of the Head Start Program Performance Standards. Successful applicants will have a strong plan for transitioning children and families from Early Head Start into Head Start and other preschool programs, as well as transitioning children in Head Start to Kindergarten. ACF will evaluate the responses by applicant organizations based upon the review criteria in Section V.1. Criteria. Funds in the amount of $6,955,128 annually will be available to provide Head Start and/or Early Head Start services to eligible children and their families in Muscogee, Talbot, Clay, Quitman, Chattahoochee, and Stewart Counties, Georgia. This dollar amount includes base funding of $6,850,669 (for use in program operations, staffing, materials, equipment, facilities, etc.) and $104,459 in training and technical assistance (T/TA) funding. The appropriate use of T/TA funds for the purposes of improving program quality and helping prepare children to succeed in school are described in Section 648 and Section 645A(g) of the Head Start Act.
The Head Start program is administered by ACF, an operating division (OPDIV) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). ACF intends to fund applications that demonstrate an organization's commitment and capacity to operate a Head Start and/or Early Head Start program that raises the quality of early care and education in the community and helps children start school ready to succeed. School readiness requires that children are cognitively, physically, socially, and emotionally prepared to continue to make progress as they enter Kindergarten. Effective Head Start and Early Head Start programs help children develop in each of these areas. ACF is seeking applicants that are able to utilize the best evidence-based early education practices in their programs to support high-caliber classroom instruction, home visiting services, and effective family engagement and health promotion.
The evaluation criteria in this funding opportunity announcement are structured into two phases. Phase One is organized around six core elements of an effective program that is focused on school readiness and ongoing academic success. They are as follows:
(1) Demonstration of Need for Child Development and Health Services: Location, Population, and Service Delivery Options;
(2) Achieving Early Learning and Development Outcomes to Promote School Readiness for Children;
(3) Past Performance;
(4) Staffing and Supporting a Strong Early Learning Workforce;
(5) Organizational Capacity and Governance; and (6) Budget and Budget Justification.
Phase Two focuses on an organization's ability to effectively implement and oversee operations that comply with applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations. ACF is interested in awarding federal funds to entities that can demonstrate strong organizational capacity as supported by their internal fiscal systems. Public Comment
ACF welcomes public comments from the community listed in this funding opportunity announcement. We are particularly interested in hearing from parents of children presently enrolled in Head Start or Early Head Start, persons employed by such agencies, local government officials, and other representatives of the community to be served. The intent of the public comment is to inform ACF about the needs of the service area and any pertinent information commenters may wish to provide about potential applicants. Comments should be sent to the OHS Operations Center at OHS@headstartgrants.org.
The Head Start and Early Head Start programs provide grants to public and private non-profit and for-profit agencies to provide comprehensive child development services to predominately economically disadvantaged children and families. Head Start's primary purpose is to prepare children to be ready for school. In FY 1995, the Early Head Start program was established to serve pregnant women and children from birth to 3 years of age in recognition of the mounting evidence that the earliest years matter a great deal to children's growth and development. Since its beginning in 1965, Head Start has served more than 30 million children and their families. In FY 2012, Head Start served 956,497 children and families; of these, more than 113,000 participants were served in Early Head Start programs. There are approximately 1,600 Head Start grantees, including 950 grantees providing Early Head Start.
Head Start and Early Head Start programs must provide directly or through referral, early, continuous, intensive, and comprehensive child development and family support services that will enhance the physical, social, emotional, and intellectual development of participating children in the key domains of physical development and health, social, and emotional development, approaches to learning, language and literacy, and cognition and general knowledge. Programs support parent engagement in their roles as their children’s teachers and advocates, and help parents move toward self-sufficiency. Head Start promotes school readiness by addressing the key domains of language, literacy, mathematics, science, and social and emotional development.
Head Start and Early Head Start programs emphasize family engagement because of the critical role that parents play in supporting their children's healthy development and school success. Effective programs engage parents in their children's development and learning, and help parents make progress toward their own educational, literacy, and employment goals. Programs also emphasize the significant involvement of parents in the administration of local Head Start and Early Head Start programs. These leadership opportunities are designed to strengthen skills that parents can apply to improving their family's economic well-being and to becoming more effective advocates for their children.
Historically, many communities have provided Head Start services based on a part-day, part-year, or other model. Applicants are strongly encouraged to use this opportunity to design a model of services and program options that best meet the needs of children and families over time, including helping to meet the child care needs of parents who are either working, in school, or in job training. In many cases, this may include providing services across the full working day and the full year, often through collaborations with local child care providers and through utilization of the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) and other funding sources. Given the need for continuity of care to support the rapid development in the earliest years, the Office of Head Start (OHS) expects that applicants intending to serve pregnant women, infants, and toddlers to propose serving children in a full-year model for no less than 48 weeks of actual service per year. OHS expects that applicants requesting to implement a full-year model will propose per-child costs that will, in most circumstances, be higher than the costs needed to provide part-year services. It is also expected that applicants, based on community and family need, will select the program option(s) that best meet the changing needs of families over the time they are in the program.
ACF is interested in new and innovative models that provide continuous and seamless services for pregnant women, children from birth to age 5, and their families. These models should be designed to be responsive to community needs, be evidence-based or evidence-informed, and maximize the extent to which the Early Head Start and Head Start resources, in collaboration with other partners and early childhood education providers, can prepare children and their families for school.
Head Start and/or Early Head Start programs will:
Provide high-quality early education services that promote the physical, health, social, and emotional development approaches to learning, language and literacy, and cognition and general knowledge of young children during the early years;
Assist enrolled pregnant women to access comprehensive prenatal and postpartum care through referrals;
Provide early opportunities for children to grow and develop in warm, nurturing, and inclusive environments;
Recruit, train, and supervise high-quality staff to ensure the kinds of warm and continuous relationships and stimulating interactions between caregivers and children that are crucial to learning and development;
Provide professional development plans for each staff member to ensure that each staff person maintains qualifications for his/her position, including meeting all requirements for staff working with the particular age group;
Ensure that the level of services provided to families responds to their needs and circumstances, including appropriate screening for all children and referral for children with documented behavioral and/or developmental problems;
Ensure that all enrolled participants receive health, mental health, nutritional, and oral health screenings, services, as well as follow-up evaluation and treatment.
Ensure that services provided meet the needs of children with disabilities and their families, including procedures to identify such children and plans to coordinate with programs providing services as described in Section 645A(b)(11) of the Head Start Act;
Provide parent education that supports healthy parent and child relationships, including working with fathers;
Ensure formal linkages with other agencies in the community providing services to pregnant women, infants, toddlers, and preschoolers;
Support transition planning with families that ensures each pregnant woman and child experiences smooth transitions into Early Head Start, and from Early Head Start to Head Start or other preschool programs, and from Head Start to Kindergarten.
Head Start and Early Head Start are designed to increase the number of low-income children receiving high-quality, comprehensive early education services that help facilitate healthy development, including physical and social/emotional development, and prepare them for school success. To meet this goal, it is critical that funds awarded through this funding opportunity announcement do not supplant existing services. Thus, an entity receiving a Head Start and/or Early Head Start grant must 1) expand the number of children it is serving relative to the number it would serve in the absence of the grant; and/or 2) improve the services provided to children it would serve in the absence of the grant (i.e., enhancing quality standards or extending the day). Because the cost of serving infants and toddlers is typically higher than the cost associated with serving preschool-aged children, increasing the relative number of Early Head Start slots may result in fewer overall children being served.
Grantees must, unless a waiver is granted, contribute 20 percent of the total cost of the program from non-federal funds. A waiver may be granted for any of the grounds listed in Section 640(b) of the Head Start Act. No more than 15 percent of total costs may be used for program administration. An HHS official may grant a waiver of the 15 percent limitation on allowable development and administration costs for a Head Start or Early Head Start program approving a higher percentage for a specific period of time not to exceed 12 months (45 CFR § 1301.32).
OHS is responsible for monitoring the quality of Head Start and/or Early Head Start program services and the grantee's compliance with federal and other applicable requirements. The federal government uses several mechanisms to conduct its oversight. Most notably, each grantee is subject to onsite monitoring reviews. These reviews can either be announced or unannounced. During onsite visits, all aspects of a grantee's program are reviewed, including compliance with health and safety requirements, compliance with rules related to children's eligibility for the program, and compliance with financial management requirements. For grantees operating a Head Start program, the review also includes the administration of the CLASS instrument, an observation-based evaluation of teacher-child interaction associated with child outcomes. New grantees are reviewed at the end of their first year of operation based on the authority in Section 641A(c) of the Head Start Act.
Head Start serves children when they are at least 3 years old by the date used to determine eligibility for public school in the community where the Head Start program is located. Early Head Start programs enroll pregnant women and infants and toddlers from birth to age 3. Families must either have incomes below the poverty line or be eligible for public assistance in order to be income eligible for Head Start or Early Head Start programs. In addition, homeless children and children in foster care are categorically eligible for services. Children are selected for enrollment based on age and income eligibility and relative level of need with regard to other criteria that are identified within each community (45 CFR § 1305.6).
Head Start regulations permit up to 10 percent of enrolled participants to be from families that do not meet these low-income criteria. A new provision in the Head Start Act, as discussed in Section 645(a)(1)(B), which is applicable to both Head Start and Early Head Start, allows grantees that can ensure that all eligible children, including homeless children, are served, to enroll up to an additional 35 percent of its participants from families with incomes greater than or equal to 100 percent, but less than 130 percent, of the poverty line. It is not expected, however, given the relatively low Early Head Start participation rates, that the provisions of Section 645(a)(1)(B) regarding serving up to 35 percent of a program’s enrollment from families with incomes up to 130 percent of the poverty line would apply for this announcement.
Additionally, programs must ensure that at least 10 percent of the total number of children enrolled by the Head Start or Early Head Start agency and delegates are children with disabilities unless a waiver is granted.
Applicants may elect to propose program models that promote socioeconomic diversity within classrooms. Federal Head Start funds must be used to serve eligible children as described above. Additional children who are not income eligible for Head Start or Early Head Start can be served so long as their participation is supported through other funding sources including child care subsidies, public school pre-K allocations, parent paid tuition, or other sources. Such program designs may be beneficial in promoting socioeconomic diversity within classrooms. All costs must be allocated to appropriate funding sources in compliance with federal requirements.
Head Start and/or Early Head Start: Muscogee, Talbot, Clay, Quitman, Chattahoochee, and Stewart Counties, Georgia
It is important to note that the eligibility requirements are different for Head Start and Early Head Start. For Head Start, local public or private non-profit organizations, including community-based and faith-based organizations or for-profit agencies in the community are eligible to apply. Applicants must demonstrate they meet the statutory requirement for designation as a Head Start and/or Early Head Start agency as defined in the Head Start Act. For Early Head Start, all public or private non-profit organizations, including community-based and faith-based organizations, or for-profit agencies are eligible to apply. Entities operating Head Start programs are eligible to operate Early Head Start programs.
ACF solicits applications from the organizations described in Section III.1. Eligible Applicants that wish to compete for funds that are available to provide Head Start and/or Early Head Start services to children and families residing in Muscogee, Talbot, Clay, Quitman, Chattahoochee, and Stewart Counties, Georgia.
Funds in the amount of $6,955,128 annually will be available to provide Head Start and/or Early Head Start program services to eligible children and their families in Muscogee, Talbot, Clay, Quitman, Chattahoochee, and Stewart Counties, Georgia. This dollar amount includes base funding of $6,850,669 (for use in program operations, staff, materials, equipment, facilities, etc.) and $104,459 in training and technical assistance (T/TA) funding. The appropriate use of T/TA funds for the purposes of improving program quality and helping prepare children to succeed in school are described in Section 648 of the Head Start Act.
Mortgages and Long-Term Lease Agreements
OHS strongly encourages entities interested in applying for this funding opportunity to visit http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/hs/grants. This interactive applicant support website offers a robust collection of resources intended to support organizations in gaining a deeper understanding of the Head Start and Early Head Start programs, the funding opportunity announcement, and evaluation criteria. A profile of current grantee services, equipment, and inventory can also be found through this website. Head Start is a federal program with important statutory requirements and regulations that grantees must meet. At the applicant support website, applicants can familiarize themselves with these requirements. Finally, the website includes helpful tips for applying via www.Grants.gov. All interested applicants are reminded to frequently refer back to this funding opportunity announcement when preparing their application.
Prospective applicants will also have the opportunity to send questions to OHS by email through the applicant support website listed above. A summary of the questions and OHS' responses will be posted for public view on this website as soon as they become available.
$6,955,128 Expected Number of Awards:
2 Award Ceiling:
$6,955,128 Per Budget Period Award Floor:
$0 Per Budget Period Length of Project Periods: 60-month project with five 12-month budget periods Additional Information on Awards Awards made under this announcement are subject to the availability of federal funds.Expected Number of Awards Please note that the expected number of awards represents an estimated range of awards that OHS might make as the result of this funding opportunity announcement. If the expected number of awards is 1, applicants are expected to submit proposals for the entire service area. If the expected number of awards is 2 or greater, applicants may submit 1 application to apply to serve either the entire service area, or a portion of the service area.Award Ceiling DisqualificationApplications requesting an award amount that exceeds the Award Ceiling per budget period or per project period, as stated in this section, will be disqualified from competitive review and from funding under this announcement. This disqualification applies only to the Award Ceiling listed for the first 12-month budget period for projects with multiple budget periods. If the project and budget period are the same, the disqualification applies to the Award Ceiling listed for the project period. Please see Section III.3. Application Disqualification Factors.Inclusion of start-up/pre-award costs in the application submission is not subject to the “Award Ceiling Disqualification.” that is explained in Section III.3. Other, Disqualification Factors. However, if an applicant does not segregate start-up/pre-award costs from the base funding award request (SF-424, line 18a, Federal), the “Award Ceiling Disqualification” will apply. Whether applications are proposing a comprehensive birth-to-five program incorporating both Head Start and Early Head Start funding, or proposing to provide services for Head Start only, or Early Head Start only, applicants may request funding only up to the Award Ceiling listed in this section, which is inclusive of base and training and technical assistance funding, but not inclusive of start-up/pre-award costs, if requested.
Note: For those programs that require matching or cost sharing, grantees will be held accountable for projected commitments of non-federal resources in their application budgets and budget justifications by budget period or by project period for fully funded awards, even if the projected commitment exceeds the required amount of match or cost share. A grantee’s failure to provide the required matching amount may result in the disallowance of federal funds. The Designation Renewal System (DRS), as established in 45 CFR Part 1307 - Policies and Procedures for Designation Renewal of Head Start and Early Head Start Grantees, went into effect on December 9, 2011. This regulation requires all Head Start and Early Head Start grants be transitioned from indefinite project periods with 12-month budget periods to 5-year grants (60 months with five 12-month budget periods).
Inclusion of start-up/pre-award costs in the application submission is not subject to the “Award Ceiling Disqualification” that is explained in Section II. Award Information and in Section III.3. Other, Disqualification Factors. However, if an applicant does not segregate start-up/pre-award costs from the base funding award request (SF-424, line 18a, Federal), the “Award Ceiling Disqualification” will apply.
Note: Costs incurred for grant application preparation are not considered an approved use of pre-award costs and may not be included in the project budget or budget justification.
Due to the availability of current year appropriated funds, the successful applicant(s) under this funding opportunity announcement may receive grant awards with a 5-year project period (60 months) that include 6 budget periods. In cases where a full 12 months of funding is not available at the time of the grant award, the first and sixth budget periods within the 5-year project period will be pro-rated, so that when combined, they equal 12 months of funding. The second, third, fourth, and fifth budget periods would be a full 12 months.
It is important to note that the eligibility requirements are different for Head Start and Early Head Start. Entities applying for Head Start only - OR - both Head Start and Early Head Start:
Eligible applicants are limited to local public or private non-profit agencies, including community-based and faith-based organizations, or local for-profit agencies, pursuant to Section 641(a)(1) of the Head Start Act, 42 U.S.C. § 9836(a)(1) in the service area, that can provide Head Start services to children and families residing in Muscogee, Talbot, Clay, Quitman, Chattahoochee, and Stewart Counties, Georgia. Applicants must demonstrate they meet the statutory requirement for designation as a Head Start and/or Early Head Start agency as defined in the Head Start Act.
Eligible applicants are any public or private non-profit agencies, including community-based and faith-based organizations, or for-profit agencies pursuant to Section 645A(d) of the Head Start Act, 42 U.S.C. § 9840A(d).
Eligibility is limited to public or private non-profit organizations, including faith-based organizations or for-profit organizations in the service area that can provide Early Head Start services to children and families residing in Muscogee, Talbot, Clay, Quitman, Chattahoochee, and Stewart Counties, Georgia. Entities operating Head Start programs are eligible to operate Early Head Start programs.
In accordance with 45 CFR § 1307.5, grantees terminated for cause by ACF within 5 years prior to the posting date of this funding opportunity announcement are ineligible for competition.
A Head Start or Early Head Start agency is ineligible for competition when it has had a "denial of refunding" (45 CFR § 1303.2) within 5 years prior to the posting date of this funding opportunity announcement.
$6,955,128.00
$1,738,782.00
$8,693,910.00
Please note: The following matching requirement waiver allowed by 48 U.S.C. 1469a(d) is only available to territorial governmental agencies that are applicants or grantees under Early Head Start in the Insular Areas. Head Start grantees in the Insular Areas are not eligible for this waiver.
Each time an application is submitted via www.Grants.gov, the application will receive a new date and time-stamp email. Only those applications with on-time date and time stamps that result in a validated application, which is transmitted to ACF, will be acknowledged. The deadline for receipt of paper applications is 4:30 p.m., ET, on the due date listed in the Overview and in Section IV.3. Submission Dates and Times. Paper applications received after 4:30 p.m., ET, on the due date will be disqualified from competitive review and from funding under this announcement. Paper applications received from applicants that have not received approval of an exemption from required electronic submission will be disqualified from competitive review and from funding under this announcement. See "Request an Exemption from Required Electronic Application Submission" in Section IV.2. Content and Form of Application Submission. Applications that are disqualified under any of these circumstances will receive written notification by letter or by email. Additional Application Disqualifications
In accordance with 45 CFR Part 1307 titled "Policies and Procedures for Designation Renewal of Head Start and Early Head Start Grantees," grantees terminated for cause by ACF within 5 years prior to the posting date of this funding opportunity announcement will be disqualified from competitive review and from funding under this announcement.
A Head Start or Early Head Start agency that has had a "denial of refunding," defined in 45 CFR § 1303.2, within 5 years prior to the posting date of this funding opportunity announcement will be disqualified from competitive review and from funding under this announcement.
IV.1. Address to Request Application Package Shawna Pinckney Office of Head Start OHS Operations Center c/o Lux Consulting Group 8405 Colesville Road, Suite 600 Silver Spring, MD 20910 Phone: (866) 796-1591 Electronic Application Submission: The electronic application submission package is available at www.Grants.gov.Applications in Paper Format: For applicants that have received an exemption to submit applications in paper format, Standard Forms, assurances, and certifications are available at the ACF Funding Opportunities Forms webpage at http://www.acf.hhs.gov/grants-forms. See Section IV.2.Request an Exemption from Required Electronic Application Submission if applicants do not have an Internet connection or sufficient computing capacity to upload large documents (files) to www.Grants.gov.Standard Forms that are compliant with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act (29 U.S.C. § 794d): Available at the Grants.gov Forms Repository website and at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/grants_forms.Federal Relay Service:Hearing-impaired and speech-impaired callers may contact the Federal Relay Service for assistance at 1-800-877-8339 (TTY - Text Telephone or ASCII - American Standard Code For Information Interchange). IV.2. Content and Form of Application Submission Section IV.2. Content and Form of Application Submission Formatting the Application Submission For All Applications:
Any applicant responding to this funding opportunity announcement will submit one application, whether the applicant is proposing to provide: 1) Head Start services only, 2) Early Head Start services only, or 3) both Head Start and Early Head Start services. Authorized Organizational Representative (AOR)The individual(s), named by the applicant/recipient organization, who is authorized to act for the applicant/recipient and to assume the obligations imposed by the federal laws, regulations, requirements, and conditions that apply to grant applications or awards.Each applicant must designate an Authorized Organizational Representative (AOR). An AOR is named by the applicant, and is authorized to act for the applicant, to assume the obligations imposed by the federal laws, regulations, requirements, and conditions that apply to the grant application or awards.AOR Authorization is part of the registration process at www.Grants.gov where the AOR will create a short profile and obtain a username and password from the Grants.gov Credential Provider. AORs will only be authorized for the DUNS number registered at www.sam.gov.
Point of ContactIn addition to the AOR, a point of contact on matters involving the application must also be identified. The point of contact, known as the Project Director or Principal Investigator, should not be identical to the person identified as the AOR. The point of contact must be available to answer any questions pertaining to the application.Application ChecklistApplicants may refer to Section VIII. Other Information for a checklist of application requirements that may be used in developing and organizing application materials. Details concerning acknowledgment of received applications are available in Section IV.3. Submission Dates and Times of this announcement.ALL APPLICATIONS MUST FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS PROVIDED IN THIS FORMATTING SECTION IN ORDER FOR THE FULL APPLICATION TO BE CONSIDERED FOR COMPETITIVE REVIEW. Failing to adhere to the page limitations and formatting restrictions may result in part of the application being excluded from competitive review. Observe Page LimitationsAll applicants must follow the instructions provided in this section. Be sure to print all attachments (components) on paper and count the number of pages before submission. Keep the printed copy as a hard copy of your application for your files. All pages in excess of the required page limitations will be removed from the application and excluded from competitive review. Page limitations are identical for electronically-submitted and paper format application submissions.
Observe Formatting RestrictionsAll applicants must follow the formatting instructions provided in this section. If any portion of the application exceeds the cited page limitation for that section, the extra pages will be removed and will not be considered for competitive review. In addition, if the Project Description/Phase One or Phase Two narrative is single-spaced and/or one-and-a-half spaced (in whole or in part), because the requirement for those sections is that pages be double-spaced, the total number of these lines will be doubled. This page calculation will also be applied if any non-numerical charts, tables, or other inserts are single-spaced. This adjustment may result in an increased total number of pages, which may cause the application to be over the page limit. All pages in excess of the required page limitations after calculation of correct formatting will be removed so that the application conforms to the cited double-spaced page limitation.Applications must not include any page that contains two or more reduced-sized pages on a single sheet. If an application contains two or more reduced-sized pages on a single sheet, ACF will count each reduced-sized page as if it were a full-sized page. For example, two pages printed onto one sheet of paper would be counted as two pages. This calculation may cause the application to be over the page limit, which would result in all pages over the page limit being removed from the end of the section (Abstract, Project Description/Phase One narrative, Budget Justification, Appendices, or Phase Two), and the removed pages being excluded from competitive review.Note: Be sure to print each of the four electronic files on paper and count the number of pages for each file before submission. Please keep the printed copy as a hard copy of the application for your files.
All narrative documents (e.g., Abstract, Project Description/Phase One, Budget Justification, Phase Two) must be typed in 12-point Times New Roman. The formula for page removal when font size is less than 12-point entails calculating the number of characters an applicant could use if following directions versus what the applicant submitted. For example, an application using Times New Roman with 1-inch margins, single-spaced in 11-point font would have an additional 26 lines or 1500 character advantage over an applicant who submitted using Times New Roman with 1-inch margins, double-spaced in 12-point font. All tables, charts, and inserts must also be in 12-point Times New Roman. If any non-numerical table, chart, or insert is in text smaller than 12-point Times New Roman, the page calculation will be applied. If the resulting page length (after the required font size is calculated) is over the stated page limit for any section, ACF will remove all pages over the page limit from the end of the section and exclude those pages from competitive review.
Formatting for Appendices (Including the Phase Two supporting documents)If the font size of pages in the appendices or the financial statements, notes, audit reports, or other supporting documents in Phase Two is not readable, all unreadable pages will be removed from the application and will not be reviewed. For example, pages that contain blurred text or text that is too small to read comfortably will be removed. In addition, applicants are prohibited from submitting two or more pages per page in reduced size onto one page. In the event that an application contains two or more pages on one page, each of the reduced-size pages will be counted as one page. This may result in the appendices being over the page limit, and all pages over the page limit will be removed from the application and excluded from competitive review.Application Package ComponentsApplications must be divided into the sections listed in the table. (The order in which components are submitted electronically via www.Grants.gov or included in a paper application may not be the same as listed in the table.) Contents of the application must include the following components, meeting all of the page limits and formatting specifications described in this section.
Double-spaced, 12-point Times New Roman. Only numerical budget tables included as part of the application narrative may be single-spaced. Any non-numerical tables, charts, or inserts must be double-spaced and in 12-point font.