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93.086 HEALTHY MARRIAGE PROMOTION AND RESPONSIBLE
FATHERHOOD GRANTS

FEDERAL AGENCY

ADMINISTRATION FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES, DEPARTMENT OF
HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

AUTHORIZATION

Section 403(a)(2), 42 U.S.C. 603(a)(2) of Part A of Title
IV of the Social Security Act as included in the Deficit Reduction Act of
2005.

OBJECTIVES

Includes four objectives: (1) To fund Healthy Marriage
Promotion activities that will help couples, who have chosen marriage for
themselves, gain greater access to marriage education services on a
voluntary basis. These services will help couples acquire the skills and
knowledge necessary to form and sustain a healthy marriage; (2) To fund
Responsible Fatherhood promotion activities specifically designed to
promote responsible fatherhood to reverse the rise in father absence and
its subsequent impact on our nation's children. ACF will award these funds
on a competitive basis to states, territories, Indian tribes and tribal
organizations, and public and nonprofit community entities, including
faith-based organizations; (3)To award competitive based demonstration
projects designed to test the effectiveness of tribal governments or
tribal consortia in coordinating the provision to tribal families at risk
of child abuse or neglect of child welfare services and services under
tribal programs funded under this part; and, (4) To provide technical
assistance by the Federal government to states, Indian tribes and tribal
organizations, receiving a grant for any program funded under this Part.

TYPES OF ASSISTANCE

Project Grants; Dissemination of Technical Information.

USES AND USE RESTRICTIONS

The Secretary may not award funds on a noncompetitive
basis, and may not provide any such funds to an entity for the purpose of
carrying out healthy marriage promotion activities or for the purpose of
carrying out activities promoting responsible fatherhood unless the entity
has submitted to the Secretary an application which describes how the
programs or activities proposed in the application will address, as
appropriate, issues of domestic violence; and what the applicant will do,
to the extent relevant, to ensure that participation in the programs or
activities is voluntary, and to inform potential participants that their
participation is voluntary; and contains a commitment by the entity to not
use the funds for any other purpose; and to consult with experts in
domestic violence or relevant community domestic violence coalitions in
developing the programs and activities.

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

Applicant Eligibility

Eligible organizations for Healthy Marriage Grants in
general are public and private entities. This includes, but is not limited
to: States; County governments; City or township governments; Special
district governments; State controlled institutions of higher education;
Native American tribes and tribal organizations; Nonprofit organizations;
Private organizations of higher education; For-profit organizations; and
faith-based and community organizations. Application Eligibility for
Responsible Fatherhood Grants include: States; territories; Indian tribes
and tribal organizations; and public and non-profit community entities ,
including Faith-based organizations. Application Eligibility for Tribal
TANF Child Welfare TA Grants are Native American Tribal governments.

Beneficiary Eligibility

Families, couples, individuals in need of assistance with
marriage enhancement and relationship education, parenting education,
economic stability services. In general these funds will assist in the
efforts to enhance and expand the ability of States, Native American
governments, local governments, for-profit organizations, non-profit
community organizations and other public entities to provide family
formation services to those in need.

Credentials/Documentation

Any nonprofit agency must provide proof of its nonprofit
status through one of the following: a) A reference to the applicant
organization's listing in the Internal revenue Service's (IRS) most recent
list of tax-exempt organizations described in the IRS code. b) A copy of a
currently valid IRS tax exemption certificate c) A statement from a State
taxing body, State Attorney General, or other appropriate State official
certifying that the applicant organization has a nonprofit status and that
none of the net earnings accrue to any private shareholders or
individuals. d) A certified copy of the organization's certificate of
incorporation or similar document that clearly establishes nonprofit
status. e) Any of the items in the subparagraphs immediately above for a
State or national parent organization and a statement signed by the parent
organization that the applicant organization if it's local nonprofit
affiliate.

APPLICATION AND AWARD PROCESS

Preapplication Coordination

This program is eligible for coverage under E.O. 12372,
Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs. An applicant should consult
the office or official designated as the single point of contact in his or
her State for more information on the process the State requires to be
followed in applying for assistance, if the State has selected the program
for review. In addition, the legislation requires that applicants consult
with experts in domestic violence or relevant community domestic violence
coalitions in developing their programs and activities. Therefore,
applicants should engage in this process before the official application
is submitted.

Application Procedure

Applicants need to complete all the standard forms required
for making application for awards under this announcement. Applicants
requesting financial assistance must submit Standard Forms 424, 424A, 424B
and the associated certifications and assurances. Specific instructions
will be published in the official program announcement.

Award Procedure

Applications received by the due date will be reviewed and
scored competitively. Experts in the field, generally persons from outside
the Federal government, will use the evaluation criteria listed in Part V
of the Program Announcement to review and score the applications. The
results of the review will be a primary factor in making funding
decisions. ACF may also solicit comments from Regional Office staff and
other Federal agencies. ACF may consider a variety of factors in addition
to the review criteria identified above, including geographic
diversity/coverage and types of applicant organizations, in order to
ensure that the interests of the Federal Government are met in making the
final selections. The successful applicants will be notified through
issuance of a Financial Assistance Award document which sets forth the
amount of funds granted, the terms and conditions of the grant, the budget
period for which initial support will be given, the nonfederal share to be
provided, and the total project period for which support is contemplated.

Deadlines

Deadlines for proposals are as specified in the program
announcement or applications instructions which will be posted via the ACF
website www.acf.hhs.gov/healthymarriage/index.html or via www.grants.gov.

Range of Approval/Disapproval Time

Range of Approval/Disapproval Time: 60-90 days.

Appeals

None.

Renewals

Awards are generally made for five-year project periods,
funding for years 2 thru 5 will not be competitive and will depend upon
satisfactory performance and availability of funds.

ASSISTANCE CONSIDERATIONS

Formula and Matching Requirements

Cost sharing or matching requirements will be provided in
the official program announcement.

Length and Time Phasing of Assistance

The grants are awarded for project periods of up to five
years. Awards, however, will be made on a competitive basis, for a
one-year budget period. Applications for continuation grants funded under
these awards beyond the one-year budget period but within the five-year
project period will be entertained in subsequent years on a noncompetitive
basis, subject to availability of funds, satisfactory progress of the
grantee and a determination that continued funding would be in the best
interest of the government.

POST ASSISTANCE REQUIREMENTS

Reports

Grant recipients are required to submit semi-annual program
reports; grantees are also required to submit semi-annual expenditure
reports using the required financial standard form (SF-269) which is
located on the Internet at: http://forms.psc.gov/forms/sf/SF-269.pdf. A
suggested format for the program report is sent to all grantees after the
awards are made.

Audits

Audits are conducted in accordance with the requirements in
45 CFR 74 and 92. These provisions are also outlined in OMB Circular No.
A-133 (Revised, June 24, 1997), Audits of States, Local Governments, and
Nonprofit Organizations, non-federal entities that receive financial
assistance of $500,000 or more in Federal awards will have a single or a
program-specific audit conducted for that year. Nonfederal entities that
expend less than $500,000 a year in Federal awards are exempt from the
Federal audit requirements for that year, except as noted in Circular No.
A-133.

Records

All financial records are to be maintained for 3 years
after termination of the project or until audit is completed, whichever
occurs first.

FINANCIAL INFORMATION

Account Identification

75-1552-1-0-506.

Obligations

FY 05 $0; FY 06 est $150,000,000; and FY 07 est
$150,000,000.

Range and Average of Financial Assistance

Healthy Marriage Grants will range from $250,000 to
$5,000,000 depending on the scope of the project. Average award:
$1,000,000. Responsible Fatherhood Grants will range from $200,000 to
$2,000,000 depending on the scope of the project. Average award: $700,000.
Tribal TANF Child Welfare Grants will range from $25,000 to $100,000.
Average Award: $80,000.

PROGRAM ACCOMPLISHMENTS

None.

REGULATIONS, GUIDELINES, AND LITERATURE

None.

INFORMATION CONTACTS

Regional or Local Office

Not Applicable.

Headquarters Office

Office of Family Assistance (OFA), Administration for
Children and Families, Department of Health and Human Services, 370
L'Enfant Promenade, 5th Floor East, Washington, DC 20447. Contact: Lois
Bell (202) 401-9317 (office); (202) 205-5887 (fax).

Web Site Address

http://12.46.245.173/pls/portal30/www.acf.hhs.gov/healthymarriage/index.html

RELATED PROGRAMS

None.

EXAMPLES OF FUNDED PROJECTS

None.

CRITERIA FOR SELECTING PROPOSALS

The criteria used for selecting successful proposals will
be as follows: approach, objectives and need for assistance,
organizational profiles, evaluation and budget and budget justification.
The needs of target populations to be served and the needs of communities
to be served are factors for evaluating the objectives and need for
assistance of the applicant. The staff and position data and past
experience are factors used to evaluate the organizational profile of the
applicant. Applicants will be evaluated under the budget and budget
justification criteria on the extent to which they include a budget that
is clear, easy to understand, and provides a detailed justification for
the amount requested. Under the approach criterion, applicants are
evaluated on the extent to which the specific goals and activities of the
proposed project are highly innovative, reasonable , quantified, and
directly support the authorized activities outlined in the legislation.
The official evaluation criteria will be published as a part of the
program announcement, which will be posted at www.grants.gov and
www.acf.hhs.gov/healthymarriage/index.html. Applications for discretionary
grants are subject to a competitive peer review process leading to
recommendations for approval or disapproval.

General Services Administration
Office of Chief Acquisition
Officer
Regulatory and Federal Assistance Division (VIR)