Friday, September 18, 2015

TANF Community Investment Program Application


Mesa County
Temporary Aid to Needy Families
Community Investment Program
2016 Funding
Application Materials


General Information
The Mesa County Department of Human Services (DHS) announces the availability of federal Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) funds to be awarded in the form of grants for the delivery of services to accomplish one or more of the following federal goals of the TANF program:

·         Provide assistance to needy families so that children may be cared for in their own homes or in the homes of relatives;
·         Reduce dependency of needy families on government benefits by promoting job preparation, training, and employment;
·         Prevent and reduce out-of-wedlock births; and
·         Encourage the formation and maintenance of two-parent families.


DHS is responsible for administering the TANF Program that transitions individuals from reliance upon public assistance to self-sufficiency.  DHS invites your application for the Community Investment Program through a competitive selection process of Request for Applications (RFA) utilizing the TANF Block Grant as its source of funding. Priority will be given to proposals that increase the likelihood of employment and self-sufficiency.

Community Participation
To further describe the 2016 focus of funds, the process for applying, and to answer applicant questions, a community meeting will be held from 5:30-7 p.m. on Tuesday, September 8, 2015, in Business Center Room B of the Workforce Center Building, 512 29 ½ Road, Grand Junction, CO 81504. For additional information, contact Sara Tourney via email (sara.tourney@mesacounty.us) or phone (970.248.2831).

Anticipated Timetable
Request for Applications Issued                                  September 1, 2015
Community meeting/open house                               September 8, 2015
Deadline for Application Submissions                        September 30, 2015
Award Letters Sent                                                     October/November 2015
Grant Agreements executed                                      November 2015
Funding Begins                                                            January 1, 2016

Application Review Information
An Application Evaluation Committee will be convened to review and evaluate applicant proposals. The evaluation form is attached for your reference (Appendix A). Applicants will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

·         Organizational Experience and Capacity
o   Describe your experience in delivering social service programs and working with poor and vulnerable populations in the community. Explain your capacity to plan and implement a sound program with adequate staffing, partnerships, training, and technical assistance.
·         Program Design
o   Outline the significance, innovation, and beneficial impact of the program to address the need or problem described in the aforementioned section. 
·         Outcomes and Performance Measures
o   Identify goals and objectives and link them to specific measurements (indicators/factors) for program evaluation and effectiveness in determining the overall impact of the program.
·         Monitoring and Evaluation
o   Describe how your agency will evaluate the success of the program and how often the evaluation will take place.

Applications that meet the requirements of this RFA will be rated against the criteria listed above on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being most desirable.  A decision committee will review the applications and make the determination as to which programs most closely identify with the goals of the TANF program and the priorities of employment and self-sufficiency.



Award Announcement
The successful applicants will be notified through the issuance of a notice of intended grant award.  Applicants may not receive the full amount of the funding request. The grant award and signing will be contingent upon the size of the award.

Organizations whose applications will not be funded will be notified in writing and be given an opportunity to appeal the decision.

Reporting Requirements
Monthly Financial Report:  A financial status report is required to be submitted 15 days after the end of each month to account for all expenditures to conduct the program.

Quarterly Performance Reports:  Awardees must submit a quarterly progress report to DHS within 30 days after the end of each quarter. A detailed account of activities, program success stories, promising approaches, and performance outcomes achieved.

Final Programmatic and Financial Reports: Grantees are required to submit a closeout report to DHS 60 days after the close of the program period.  Includes a comprehensive evaluation of the effectiveness of the program, whether the anticipated outcomes were achieved, and any problems encountered and lessons learned.

Monitoring
Selected programs will be monitored frequently by DHS Contract Manager, Sara Tourney.  Monitoring may include a review of eligibility documents, financial documents, and other as deemed necessary by the contract manager.

Administrative Costs
As a general rule, administrative costs for TANF funded services should be no more than fifteen (15) percent of an entity’s total allocation.  Special permission to deviate above this standard must be substantiated in writing and approved by DHS prior to the approval of any grant agreement. The examples below should help illustrate the types of cost allocations that would generally be considered to be administrative or non-administrative costs.

The cost of salaries and related benefits should be calculated only for the percentage of time personnel works on TANF-funded activities.  For example, a program director may be employed full time, but only 4 hours per week is allocated for TANF-funded activities.  Only that portion of salary and benefits should be considered as an allowable cost, not the entire salary.

The following are guidelines as to what is considered an administrative cost:
Ø  General administration or coordination of program, including accounting and payroll functions;
Ø  Salaries and indirect costs associated with performing administrative functions;
Ø  Supplies, equipment, travel, postage, utilities and office space related to the administration of a program;
Ø  Activities related to eligibility determinations;
Ø  Preparation of program plan, budget and schedules; and
Ø  Program monitoring.

The following are guidelines as to what is considered a non-administrative cost:
Ø  Direct cost of providing program services including client activities, assessment, case management, etc.;
Ø  Salaries and indirect costs associated with performing services functions;
Ø  Supplies, equipment, travel, postage, utilities, and office space related to the performing of services functions;
Ø  Evaluations and audits of service functions; and
Ø  Technology/management information systems not related to payroll, personnel or other administrative functions.

The following are not generally considered allowable costs under TANF, even if they are related to program operations:
Ø  Inherently religious activities
Ø  Purchase of vehicles
Ø  Renovation, construction or purchase of a building used for program operation
Ø  Payment of bad debts, or interest payments as a result of credit agreements
Ø  Medical services
Ø  Purchase of alcohol
Ø  Any clothing such as T-shirts
Ø  Match for other federal funds
Ø  Lobbying costs
Ø  Penalties, fines, etc.
Ø  Replacement of funds for existing programs
Ø  Expenditures DHS determines are not allowable uses of TANF funds.


Application




Friday, September 4, 2015

Colorado Child Abuse and Neglect Hotline Restored After CenturyLink’s Nationwide Phone Outage

CenturyLink has informed Mesa County that toll-free service has been restored to Colorado’s Child Abuse and Neglect Hotline (1-844-CO-4-KIDS). The outage, which impacted all toll-free numbers hosted by CenturyLink throughout the nation, resulted in callers to the hotline hearing erroneous, recorded messages that the number was no longer a working number. 

We are pleased that this service is once again available throughout Mesa County and the state. The hotline, which was designed to provide one easy-to-remember phone number for reporting suspected child abuse and neglect, is an important tool for helping to keep the children of Colorado safe.

Thursday, September 3, 2015

Child Abuse & Neglect 800 Hotline Out Nationally

Mesa County re-routes 800 number to local hotline number

Mesa County – Mesa County, Colorado and Nationally 800 numbers are experiencing a failure. Currently, our local hotline number 970 242 1211 is working. Calls will be handled promptly by local Child Abuse Hotline operators.  

The Colorado State Hotline 1 844 CO 4 KIDS  is not working.  If Mesa County residents suspect Child Abuse or Neglect, please call the local number 970 242 1211. If the line is busy please leave a message and an Hotline operator will call you back. 

Centurylink reports, network engineers continue to work this toll free disruption at a critical level. As soon as information becomes available on their troubleshooting it will be provided. 

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

GOVERNOR DECLARES SEPTEMBER AS WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT MONTH


Annual focus is on variety of services for job seekers and employers

Governor John Hickenlooper has issued a proclamation declaring September as Workforce Development Month in Colorado.

During the next four weeks, state and county run employment offices called Workforce Centers will partner with the Department of Labor and Employment to spotlight a variety of services and resources available to the state’s 2.7 million men and women in the state’s labor force and the 170,000 Colorado businesses that hire them.

Workforce Development Month began modestly in 2004 with a handful of events.  Now in its second decade, the annual series of events has grown to include a wide array of workshops, open houses, hiring events (both in person and online), employer seminars and more.

Hiring events will take place almost every day across Colorado.  Some will be traditional, face-to-face meeting with employers; others will be virtual, online hiring events such as the one going on now and running the entire month of September.

In Mesa County:
Customer Appreciation Day: September 15th
o   11am to 1pm
 Job Fair Boot Camp: September 18th
o   9am to 11am
 JobFest Job Fair: September 22nd
o   8am to 3pm
o   8am to 8:30am – Exclusive Access for Veterans
o   Anticipating 30+ Employers (over 28 employers already committed)

On October 1, the Governor’s Summer Job Hunt will conclude its 36th season with an awards reception to honor the exemplary teens and the great businesses that hired them this summer.

Workforce Development Month will showcase how the Department of Labor and Employment and Workforce Centers across Colorado can help businesses and workers succeed.  A full calendar of events is available at www.coworkforce.com.   Events will also be posted to Facebook (facebook.com/ColoradoLabor) and Twitter (twitter.com/ColoradoLabor).

It is a time to focus on creating a stronger and more competitive Colorado.  In his proclamation, Governor Hickenlooper notes that “breaking down the barriers that keep people from following their dreams and reaching their goals is critically important if Colorado is to remain economically robust and globally competitive.”  Workforce Development Month provides an opportunity for Colorado’s workers and entrepreneurs to focus on those dreams.

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