20 Comments

1. What advice would you give a director who is writing a new grant application for the first time ?

   • The advice given to all applicants includes reading thoroughly the “Dear Applicant” letter, read thoroughly the Notice Inviting Applications, and utilize the links to the Webinars included in the application package.

2. In light of the “letter of confidentiality” sent out/released to all programs on June 13; is it alright to have a client write a letter of support for the grant application as long as they don’t include their name? They are asking and of course we want to be within guidelines.

   • If a client desires to write a letter of support for the grant application and has not been asked by the program to write such a letter, then the best avenue to follow would be to ask the client to sign a Release of Information (ROI) form. The ROI should include a statement indicating whether the client would allow his or her name or any other Personal Identifying Information to be released in the letter of support.

3. Do Peer Reviewers receive a copy of the proposed project budget? If so, what is the purpose of sharing that portion of the grant application when it is not a scored section of the grant? Thank you in advance for your reply.

   • Yes, the Peer Reviewers receive a copy of the proposed project budget. The purpose of sharing that portion of the grant application is because it is used to assist in scoring the section entitled Adequacy of Resources which states the Secretary considers the following factors: (i) The adequacy of support, including facilities, equipment, supplies, and other resources, from the applicant organization or the lead applicant organization; (ii) The extent to which the costs are reasonable in relation to the objectives, design, and potential significance of the proposed project; and (iii) The extent to which the costs are reasonable in relation to the number of persons to be served and to the anticipated results and benefits. We can only ask the Peer Reviewers to review the adequacy of resources which includes the matching funds and the reasonableness of costs if the costs are included in the grant application for them to review.

4. While Indian tribes with a federal or state recognized reservation are eligible; do we need to include that proof in the application?

   • In accordance with the Notice Inviting Applications (NIA) under Section “III. Eligibility Information” it says, “Applicants may be made only by Indian Tribes (and consortia of those Indian Tribes) located on Federal and State reservations. “Indian Tribe” is defined as “any Federal or State Indian tribe, band, rancheria, pueblo, colony, or community, including any Alaska native village or regional corporation (as defined in or established pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act) and a tribal organization (as defined in section 4(1) of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b(1)).” Additionally “Reservation” is defined as “a Federal or State Indian reservation, public domain Indian allotment, former Indian reservation in Oklahoma, land held by incorporated Native groups, regional corporations and village corporations under the provisions of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act; or a defined area of land recognized by a State or the Federal Government where there is a concentration of tribal members and on which the tribal government is providing structured activities and services.”

     Therefore, it is incumbent on the applicant to provide the documentation that demonstrates it meets the eligibility criteria described above and in the NIA.

5. I’ve read the instructions several times. It looks to me like we’re applying for funds only for FY2020. If so, is the budget we propose just a one-year budget? It also looks like if we’re awarded the grant, only then we may be offered a continuation. If this is correct, it looks to me like we’re still talking about having flat funding. There has been discussion about flat funding versus allowing us to build a 5-year budget that will allow for year-to-year modifications.

   • As stated in the Dear Applicant letter of the Application Package, “All applicants for a multi-year project are required to provided detailed budget information for each year of the grant (up to 60 months) on the ED Form 524.” A successful applicant is awarded a grant for up to 60 months (5 years) and each of the 4 fiscal years after the first year is awarded a continuation award when the grantee has demonstrated they have made substantial progress towards the goals and objectives of the approved grant application. This grant is not subject to “flat funding” and therefore the applicant can build a 5-year budget that will allow year-to-year modifications. The Dear Applicant letter of the Application Package does qualify the budget by saying, “The Department will address funding level requests of successful applicants for each year of the grant award and make appropriate funding recommendations in accordance to the availability of funds.” The budgets of each application will be reviewed in accordance with the cost principles of this program found in the Uniform Guidance at 2 CFR 200.

6. I’m looking at Section VI Award Administration Information, Number 4 Performance Measures, (2) and (4): When we propose to serve X number people under an IPE, is that the newly developed IPEs for the year, or will that include the people we might be serving under a previous fiscal year’s IPE? For example, right now I have 40 people in an active IPE status. By October, I will likely have added another 10 or 15. And I will lose a few (let’s say 5) of my current ones due to employment. In my mind, I’ll have 45 ish people I’m serving under an IPE, but 35 of them will be from FY19 or earlier.

   • For new grant applicants that have not been previously funded under this program, for the first year only, the number proposed to be served will be from new individuals applying for and receiving vocational rehabilitation (VR) services under an IPE. Those individuals who were determined eligible and received services under an IPE in the first year will carry over into the next fiscal year and will be counted along with new applicants determined eligible and receiving VR services under an IPE in the following year and this pattern will continue for each fiscal year after the first year. If the grant applicant has previously been funded under this program, then the number proposed to be served will include those individuals receiving VR services under an IPE from the previous grant, as well as new individuals applying for and receiving VR services under an IPE.

7. Is the funding level identified an annual amount or the amount awarded for the entire project period?

   • The Estimated Available Funds of $21,265,000, as described in the Notice Inviting Applications published in the Federal Register, is the annual amount for year one. The estimated funding level for fiscal years 2 through 4 for successful grant applicants in the 84.250M grant competition will depend on the annual budget appropriations and the amount successful grant applicants request for fiscal years 2 through 4.

8. I did not see a limit on the number of pages for the abstract and narrative or a font size requirement for the 84.250M OSERA Application when looking in:
   grants.gov/content/pkg/FR-2019-06-13/pdf/2019-1247pdf
   Vol.84, No 30/Wednesday, February 13.2019/ notices
   can you please provide this information
   thank you
   susie

   • Please see the application package, Section G Application Abstract Instructions. The abstract must be one page and there are no requirements in regards to font styling.

     Please see the application package, Section H Application Forms, Part III Application Narrative. There are no narrative formatting requirements related to the number of pages or font styling.

9. I have a question on the form for Objectives and Performance Measures.

   As long as we have the performance measures that will produce the number of individuals served and the employment outcome – do we still need to create a question regarding the cost per those outcomes ON THIS particular interface/form?

   Or is that a GPRA measure that will be calculated using this data and our SF425 reporting?

   • No, you do not have to create a question regarding the cost per outcomes on this particular interface/form. The inclusion of the performance measures will provide the data needed to determine the cost per outcomes.

10. I have a question regarding Executive Order 12372 review.
    If our state does not have a Single Point of Contact – how do we answer question 19 on the application for federal assistance?

    • The AIVRS Program is not subject to Executive Order 12372 and the answer to the question should be “N/A”

Comments are closed.