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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
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