Source: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/grants/open/foa/files/HHS-2014-ACF-OHS-CH-R06-0766_0.htm
Timestamp: 2013-12-11 08:48:47
Document Index: 54313499

Matched Legal Cases: ['arts 1301', '§ 9831', '§ 1301', '§ 1305', '§ 9836', '§ 9840', '§ 794']

HHS-2014-ACF-OHS-CH-R06-0766
Application Due Date: 10/21/2013
Program Office:Office of Head Start Funding Opportunity Title:Early Head Start Grantee - Communities within Pulaski and Garland Counties, Arkansas
Funding Opportunity Number:HHS-2014-ACF-OHS-CH-R06-0766
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. This funding opportunity announcement is the mechanism for implementing this new competitive requirement as well as competitions that result from grantee relinquishments and terminations. This announcement solicits applications from public or private non-profit organizations, including faith-based organizations or for-profit organizations that seek to provide high-quality Early Head Start services to children and families residing in Communities within Pulaski and Garland Counties, Arkansas.
Funds in the amount of $1,338,272 annually will be available to provide Early Head Start program services to eligible infants, toddlers and pregnant women in Communities within Pulaski and Garland Counties, Arkansas. This dollar amount includes base funding of $1,303,862 (for use in program operations, staffing, materials, equipment, facilities, etc.) and $34,410 in 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 645A(g) of the Head Start Act.
The Head Start program is administered by the Administration for Children and Families (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 an Early Head Start program that raises the quality of early care and education in the community and helps children eventually start school ready to succeed. School readiness requires that children are cognitively, physically, socially, and emotionally prepared to continue to make progress as they grow and eventually enter preschool and Kindergarten. Effective 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 care and education practices and home visiting services, in their programs and provide effective family engagement and health promotion.
Early Head Start is governed by Program Performance Standards that define the scope of services necessary to support children's development. These Program Performance Standards are found in 45 CFR Parts 1301-1310 and in Section VI.2. Award Administration Information, Administrative and National Policy Requirements of this funding opportunity announcement.
The evaluation criteria in this funding opportunity announcement are structured into two phases. Phase One is organized around six core elements of an effective Early Head Start 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;
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.
Eligibility is limited to public or private non-profit organizations, including faith-based organizations, or for-profit organizations that can provide Early Head Start services to infants, toddlers, and pregnant women residing in Communities within Pulaski and Garland Counties, Arkansas.
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 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. I. Funding Opportunity Description Statutory Authority The Head Start program is authorized by the Head Start Act, 42 U.S.C. § 9831 et seq. Description Program Background and Purpose
The Head Start program provides 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.
Early Head Start 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 an 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 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 Early Head Start 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. 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.
Early Head Start provides services for predominantly low-income pregnant women and children from birth to three years of age. Families must either be below the poverty line or be eligible for public assistance in order to be income eligible for Early Head Start. In addition, homeless children and children in foster care are categorically eligible for Early Head Start. 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 children and pregnant women to be from families that do not meet these low-income criteria. (NOTE: Please see Section 645(a) of the Head Start Act for a complete discussion of Early Head Start eligibility. 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 an additional 35 percent of a program's enrollment from families with incomes greater than or equal to 100 percent, but less than 130 percent, of the poverty line would apply for this announcement).
Additionally, Head Start programs must ensure that at least 10 percent of the total number of children enrolled by the Head Start agency and delegates are children with disabilities unless a waiver is granted.
Federal Head Start funds must be used to serve eligible children as described above. Additional children who are not income eligible for 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.
Early Head Start Grantee: Communities within Pulaski and Garland Counties, Arkansas
ACF solicits applications from public or private non-profit organizations, including faith-based organizations or for-profit organizations that wish to compete for funds that are available to provide Early Head Start services to infants, toddlers and pregnant women residing in Communities within Pulaski and Garland Counties except the Townships of College Station, Sweet Homes, Higgins, and Wrightsville to Oak Street; City of Little Rock, Pulaski County, except the township of Granite Mountain; and in east Little Rock, the area east of Main Street to include West Broadway North and South; Interstate 30 South, Scott Hamilton Road, Baseline Road, and Geyer Springs Road, Arkansas.
Funds in the amount of $1,338,272 annually will be available to provide Early Head Start program services to eligible infants, toddlers, and pregnant women in Communities within Pulaski and Garland Counties, Arkansas. This dollar amount includes base funding of $1,303,862 (for use in program operations, staff, materials, equipment, facilities, etc.) and $34,410 in training and technical assistance (T/TA) funding. The appropriate use of T/TA funds for the purposes of improving program quality and supporting children's development are described in Section 645A(g)(2) of the Head Start Act.
OHS strongly encourages entities interested in applying for this Early Head Start funding opportunity to visit http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/hs/grants. This interactive 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 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.
$1,338,272 Expected Number of Awards:
$1,338,272 Per Budget Period Award Floor:
$1,338,272 Per Budget Period Average Projected Award Amount:
Eligible applicants are any public or private non-profit agencies, including community-based and faith-based organizations, or for-profit agencies pursuant to the Head Start Act, 42 U.S.C. § 9836(a)(1) and Section 645A(d), 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 Communities within Pulaski and Garland Counties, Arkansas.
$1,338,272.00
$334,568.00
$1,672,840.00
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: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.
Documents must be readable and adhere to the formatting requirements specified in this section. Include the signed Absence of Non-Compete Agreement Assurance in this section.
ELECTRONIC APPLICATIONS SUBMITTED via www.Grants.gov: Notice: The Administration for Children and Families has implemented required electronic application submission via www.Grants.gov. Applicants are now required to submit their applications electronically unless they have requested and received an exemption that will allow submission in paper format. See Section IV.2. Application Submission Options.Electronic applications will only be accepted via www.Grants.gov. ACF will not accept applications submitted via email or via facsimile. Only applications, which pass the Grants.gov validation check, will be acknowledged.Please read this section carefully before beginning application submission. It is mandatory to follow the instructions provided in this section to ensure that your application can be printed efficiently and consistently so that no pages are excluded from competitive review.Application Upload Requirements Applicants must submit a single complete copy of the application package electronically in exactly four separate files (not including Standard Forms, and OMB-approved forms, which are submitted separately at Grants.gov). Each applicant is required to upload ONLY four electronic files, excluding Standard Forms and OMB-approved forms. No more than four files will be accepted for the review, and additional files will be removed and excluded from competitive review. Standard Forms and OMB-approved forms will not be considered additional files. Applicants submitting electronic applications need not provide additional copies of their application package. ACF strongly recommends that electronic applications be uploaded as Portable Document Files (PDFs). Details on the content of each of the four files, as well as page limitations for each, are listed later in this section.
To adhere to the four file requirement, applicants may need to convert and/or merge documents together using a PDF converter software. Many recent versions of Microsoft Office include the ability to save documents to the PDF format without need of additional software. Applicants using the Adobe Professional software suite will be able to merge these documents together. ACF recommends merging documents electronically rather than scanning multiple documents into one document manually, as scanned documents may have reduced clarity and readability. However, ACF understands that all applicants may not have access to this software. Grants.gov offers a listing of several free PDF conversion programs. These programs can be found on Grants.gov by clicking on ‘Applicant Resources’ on the far left side of the home page, and then by following the link to ‘Download Software’ near the top of the screen, or by clicking on http://www.grants.gov/help/download_software.jsp#pdf_conversion_programs. Free PDF software is available on this page that will allow users to convert and merge PDF documents. As an example, ACF is providing written instructions on downloading and using one type of free software listed at Grants.gov at the following link: https:// www.acf.hhs.gov/ sites/default/ files/assets/ pdf995_instructions_ for_video.pdf. A video demonstrating this process is also available at: http://www. youtube.com/ watch?v=lOly0HwXPsA. ACF does not endorse any of the software listed on Grants.gov, and applicants are not required to use a specific type of PDF conversion software to submit an application. NOTE: Applications submitted via www.Grants.gov will undergo a validation check. See Section IV.2. Application Submission Options and Section IV.3. Submission Due Dates and Times, Explanation of Due Dates for more information. The validation check can affect whether the application is accepted for review. If an application fails the Grants.gov validation check and is not resubmitted by 11:59 p.m., ET, on the due date, it will not be transmitted to ACF and will be excluded from the review. If an applicant resubmits their application to Grants.gov by 11:59 p.m., ET, on the due date and the application does not pass the validation check, it will not be transmitted to ACF and will be excluded from the review.
SignaturesFollow the AOR Authorization and E-Biz POC instructions provided at www.Grants.gov.Required OMB-Approved and Standard Forms (SFs)Standard Forms (SFs) and OMB-approved forms, such as the SF-424 application and budget forms and the SF-P/PSL (Project/Performance Site Location), are uploaded separately at Grants.gov. See Section IV.2. Required Forms, Assurances, and Certifications for the listing of required Standard Forms, OMB-approved forms, and required assurances and certifications.
Limited to 100 double-spaced pages, except the Table of Contents, which may be single-spaced. Only numerical budget tables included as part of the application narrative may be single-spaced. Any non-