Request for Applications

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Fiscal Year 2010

Child and Adult Care Food Program

Child Care Wellness Grants

CFDA # 10.579

Request for Applications

Critical Dates:

April 2, 2010 Letter of Intent Deadline

June 1, 2010 Application Deadline

November 2010 Awards Announcement

FNS 728

OMB Control No. 0584-0512

An electronic version of this Request for Applications package is available at (website link)

Table of Contents

Authorization …………………………………………………………………………. 3

Purpose …………………………………………………………………………………. 3

Critical Dates ………………………………………………………………………… 3

Who May Apply ………………………………………………………………………... 3

Funding and Duration …………………………………………………………………. 4

Proposal Requirements …..……………………………………………………………... 4

Allowable Use of Funds ……………………………………………………..…. ….. 5

Unallowable Use of Funds ……………………………………………….…………….. 5

Sub-Grant Requirements ……………………………………………………………….. 6

Application Requirements ……………………………………………………………… 6

Letter of Intent …………………………………………………………………. 7

Letter of Commitment ………………………….…………………….………… 7

Application Review and Selection Criteria …………………………….………………. 7

Determination of Awards ……………………………………….………………. 9

Determination of Awards Amounts ………………………………..…………… 9

Awards Notification ………………………………………………..…………… 9

Terms and Conditions ……………………………………………..…………… 9

Recordkeeping and Reporting Requirements ……………………..……………. 10

Application Submission …………………………………………..…………………… 10

Due Date …………………………………………………….….………………. 10

Submitting an application by mail ……………………………………..………. 10

Application Contents ………………………..……..…….……………… 10

Application Guidelines …………………………………………………. 11

Mailing Address ……………………………………………………….. 12

Submitting an application Online ……………………………………………… 12

Attachments ………………………………………………………….………………… 13

Authorization

The Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-80) authorized the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) to award $8 million in grants to State Agencies administering the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) for projects aimed at improving the health and nutrition of children in child care settings.

Purpose

The Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) is a meal reimbursement program for eligible children and adults who attend non-residential day care facilities.

The purpose of this grant is to provide awards, on a competitive basis, to State agencies administering the child care portion of the CACFP to develop and implement programs promoting the health and nutrition improvement of children in child care settings.

State agencies receiving grant funding must use no less than fifty percent of grant funds to award sub-grants to child care institutions to promote the health and nutrition improvement of children in child care settings.

We encourage potential applicants to read carefully the review and selection criteria on pages 6-7. These criteria will inform potential applicants of the qualities FNS expects successful proposals to have; they will also guide the reviewers’ evaluation of proposals.

Critical Dates

April 2, 2010 Letter of Intent to submit an application to FNS due

June 1, 2010 Applications are due to FNS

November 2010 CACFP Child Care Wellness Grants are awarded

Who May Apply

State agencies that administer the child care portion of the CACFP.

Funding and Duration

Up to $8 million is available for the CACFP Child Care Wellness Grants. Through a competitive process, CACFP Child Care Wellness Grants will be funded for a period of two to three years after award distribution. We anticipate individual grant awards to be between $100,000 and $1,000,000 though we will consider request for other amounts, if justified. The submission of an application does not guarantee funding.

Funding approved for CACFP Child Care Wellness Grants will be provided through a Grant Award/Letter of Credit process, the same manner as other federal funds upon receipt of a properly executed Grant Agreement and subject to the availability of funding. All CACFP Child Care Wellness Grant funds must be obligated and all activities under the Grant must be completed within two to three years after distribution of grant funding. States may designate a two or three year grant period based on proposal complexity and award amount.

Proposal Requirements

All proposals should focus on the development and implementation of programs promoting the health and nutrition improvement of children in child care settings.

State agencies must include in their proposals:

• A plan to improve the quality of food provided in child care settings, including child care centers and/or family group day care homes, and

• A description of procedures and criteria by which the State agency will award sub-grants to child care institutions for authorized grant purposes.

In accordance with P.L. 111-10, FNS will consider proposals including one or more of the following areas:

1. Promote nutrition and physical activity in child care settings that reflect the recommendations of:

   1. The most recent version of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans published under Section 301 of the National Nutrition Monitoring and Related Research Act of 1990 (U.S.C. 5341); and

   2. The most recent scientific knowledge;

2. Provide technical assistance and training to sponsors and providers of child care centers and family and group day care homes in implementing State or local initiatives designed to improve the health and nutrition of children;

3. Perform outreach campaigns on the State and local level that are designed to increase access to the program in underserved areas and populations; and/or

4. Make innovative use of technology to provide training.

We encourage State agencies to think comprehensively in developing proposals. Proposals including all areas described above will receive additional points when scored.

Allowable Use of Funds

The law requires that grant funds be used for improving the health and nutrition of children in child care settings. Project activities may include, but are not limited to:

• Hands-on activities such as the preparation and tasting of healthy foods;

• Production, purchase, and dissemination of nutrition-themed education materials (State agencies are strongly encourage to use free and low-cost nutrition education materials available through USDA Foods, Team Nutrition, National Food Service Management Institute, etc.) ;

• Purchase of small equipment for structured physical activity periods;

• Training regarding nutrition and/or food safety;

• Parent and provider education and promotion regarding physical activity;

• Establishing and implementing a statewide infrastructure for nutrition and physical activity education and promotion.

Unallowable Use of Funds

Child Care Wellness Grants are intended to improve the health and nutrition of children in child care settings. Specifically, award funds cannot be used for:

• Purchasing reimbursable meal components;

• Commissioning of program studies and/or evaluations of the CACFP;

• Purchasing equipment; USDA regulations at 7 CFR 3016.3 and Office of Management and Budget Circular A-87 define equipment as articles of nonexpendable, tangible personal property with a useful life of more than one year and a per unit acquisition cost of $5,000 (or such lesser amount as the State agency uses when reporting equipment as assets in its financial statements).

State agencies may use a portion of the Child Care Wellness grants to cover expenses related to the administration of State projects and the oversight of sub-grant recipients’ conduct of the project and related activities. Administration and/or oversight cost should be reasonable in comparison to the total amount of the requested funding.

Sub-Grants Requirements

State agencies are expected to award sub-grants through a competitive process that is fair, equitable and consistent with prudent management and statutory requirements. State agencies are expected to follow the same laws, principles, procedures, and practices in awarding the competitive sub-grants funds as they do with other Federal funds. State agencies will be required to follow all Federal, State, and Local procurement laws when expending grant funds.

State agencies are expected to:

• Provide oversight to sub-grant recipients to ensure that expenditures authorized under the sub-grants are allowable, allocable, and reasonable;

• Ensure that all expenditures are consistent with local, State, and Federal policies, regulations, and procedures;

• Ensure that sub-grant expenditures do not exceed that which would be incurred by a prudent person under similar circumstances and would qualify as a sound business practice;

• Ensure the institutions receiving sub-grants are enrolled in the child care portion of the CACFP; and

• Ensure that the sub-grants promote the health and nutrition improvement of children in

child care settings

All sub-grant distributions must be monetary distributions to the sub-grantee to support the conduct of project activities.

Application Requirements

Letter of Intent

State Agencies interested in the CACFP Child Wellness Grants should submit a Letter of Intent on or before April 2, 2010. This letter does not commit the State agency to apply; it will assist FNS in planning workload requirements for the selection, award, and implementation of grants. Letters of intent must include the date, State agency’s name and address, the names, titles, email addresses, and telephone numbers of the project director and child nutrition director. State agencies must mail or deliver letters of intent to:

Kiev Randall, Program Analyst

USDA, Food and Nutrition Service

Child Nutrition Division

3101 Park Center Drive, Room 640

Alexandria, VA 22302

Letter of Commitment

The State agency must submit, with its application, a letter of commitment that affirms its dedication to the project. The letter of commitment must:

• Describe the State agency’s roles and responsibilities in the proposed project;

• Outline the amount of time it intends to commit to the proposed project;

• Delineate duties and the amount of time and effort that each participating staff member will contribute to the proposal project; and

• Be on the State agency’s letterhead and signed by an authorized official.

Application Review and Selection Criteria

The following selection criteria will be used to evaluate applications under this competition. The maximum score for all criteria is 100 points. Each criterion has a maximum score as indicated in parentheses. Proposals including all of the priority activities listed in the Proposal Requirements section above will receive an additional 5 points. The maximum score for proposals which include all priority activities is 105 points.

Soundness and Merit of Project Design (50 points)

• Shows a clear progression from idea to practice in a State agency.

• Includes a realistic project timeline which demonstrates that sufficient time is allotted for described tasks and activities.

• Identifies the activities to be undertaken and goals related to improving the health and nutrition of children in child care settings, are measurable, realistic, attainable, accessible, and address one or more of the focus areas requested (listed under Application Requirements).

• Demonstrates how the proposal fits into the four priority activities listed.

• Defines how the agency will distribute funds and monitor the grant related activities to child care institutions receiving sub-grants.

• Describes the competitive process by which sub-grants will be made.

• Includes funding range for sub-grant distributions.

• Is well presented, organized, concise, and complete.

Proposal Impact and Transferability (20 points)

• Describes the impact the project is expected to make on the health and wellness of children in child care settings.

• Addresses the feasibility of the proposal project being transferred to and replicated easily in other States or child care settings in other areas.

• Has the potential to be sustained after the grant period ends.

• Describes a well thought out and organized review and evaluation process that will measure the usefulness and effectiveness of the proposed project activities.

Organizational Experience, Project Management, and Personnel Capability (10 points)

• Describes the qualifications of the project director and other key personnel including resumes or other thorough description demonstrating that they have the appropriate education, technical, and experiential background for their proposed roles. Applications should address contingency or back-up plans in the event of key staff departures.

• Discusses and demonstrates that effective communication will exist among State agency staff and institutions receiving sub grants.

• Describes a commitment to provide financial and administrative oversight for the proposed project as well as sub-grants distributed to local institutions.

• Includes a letter of commitment by the State agency delineating duties and the amount of effort that each participating staff member will contribute to the proposal project.

Budget Appropriateness and Economic Efficiency (20 points)

• Includes a standard form 424A.

• Is cost effective and demonstrates consistency with project objectives and task.

• Includes a line budget narrative which demonstrates how funds will be spent, by whom, and for what purpose. The narrative should provide enough detail for reviewers to easily understand how costs were determined and how they relate to the goals and objectives of the proposed project.

• Includes a copy of the State agency’s negotiated and approved rate and an approved indirect cost rate plan if indirect cost are proposed to be charged to the grant.

Determination of Awards

The grants review panel will screen applications that meet the published deadline for submissions to ensure their completeness and conformity to the requirements and will then make recommendations to the selecting official. The selecting official will consider panel recommendations and may consider additional factors including but not limited to the official’s confidence in prospective grantee’s ability to satisfactorily perform the grant requirements. FNS reserves the right to not fund an application based on any of the above mentioned factors. To fully utilize the $8 million available, if the panel review indicates that FNS has received too few technically acceptable proposals to fully utilize the $8 million available, the selecting official may determine that FNS will commit less than the $8 million authorized and conduct another competitive process in another fiscal year.

Determination of Award Amounts

If the application has been selected for funding and the budget for funding is well-justified and realistic, the application will be funded at the level requested. However, FNS reserves the right to fund applications at a lesser amount if it judges that the application can be implemented with less, or if Federal funding is not sufficient to fully fund all applications that merit awards.

Awards Notification

FNS will notify selected State Agencies in writing in November 2010 and will issue funds as promptly as possible thereafter, subject to the availability of funding.

Terms and Conditions

This grant will be awarded and administered in accordance with the following Federal Regulations: the corresponding cost circular that establishes the principles for cost determination found in OMB Circular A-87, Cost Principles for State, Local and Indian Tribal Governments, OMB Circular A-21, Cost Principles for Educational Institutions, and OMB Circular A-122, Cost Principles for Non-Profit Organizations.

1. 7 CFR Part 15 “Nondiscrimination”

2. 7 CFR Part 226: “Child and Adult Care Food Program”

3. 7 CFR Part 3015: “Uniform Federal Assistance Regulations”

4. 7 CFR Part 3016: “ Uniform Administrative Requirements for Grants and Cooperative Agreements to State and Local Governments other than Entitlement Programs (Reference OMN-Circular A-102 Common Rule)

5. 7 CFR Part 3017: “Government-wide Debarment and Suspension (Non-Procurement)

6. 7 CFR Part 3018: “New Restrictions on Lobbying”

7. 7 CFR Part 3019: “ Uniform Administrative Requirements for Grants and Cooperative Agreements with Institutions of Higher Education, Hospitals, and other Non-Profit Organization”

8. 7 CFR Part 3021: Government-wide Requirements for Drug-Free Workplace (Financial Assistance)”

9. 7 CFR Part 3052: “Audits of States, Local Governments, and Non-Profit Organizations”

Copies of these documents are available from the FNS Grants Management Division, upon request.

Recordkeeping and Reporting Requirements

Grantees selected in connection with the Request for Applications will be required to submit quarterly Financial Status Reports (SF-425), quarterly progress reports, and final reports. Grantees will be required to submit an original and two copies of each report. FNS will provide a reporting schedule and the address to which grantees may send reports at the time of the award.

The selected State agencies must operate a financial management system that provides accurate, current, and complete disclosure of the financial status of the project. The progress reports must provide a brief description of the project activities conducted during the reporting period, major accomplishments with completion dates and budget deviations from the proposed plan, difficulties encountered and solutions developed, and major planned activities for the next quarter. The final progress report should be a project summary that includes lessons learned, future implications within the State, transferability to other States and other local institutions, and an evaluation of the project’s impact on improving the nutrition and wellness of children in child care settings.

All materials developed with funding from this grant must be submitted in MS Word Format and a hard copy must also be submitted at the end of the grant period. The Federal awarding agency reserves a royalty-free, non-exclusive, and irrevocable license to reproduce, publish, or otherwise use, and to authorize others to use, for Federal Government purposes, the copyright in any work developed under a grant or sub-grant, or contract under a grant or sub-grant or any rights of copyright to which a grantee, sub grantee, or a contractor purchase ownership with grant support.

Application Submission

Due Date

The completed application package must be received by FNS at the following address on or before June 1, 2010 at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. Applications may be personally delivered or electronically submitted until this time or mailed sufficiently in advance of the deadline to ensure timely receipt. Late applications, additions, or revisions to an application after it is received will not be considered.

1. Submitting an application by mail

If you opt to mail your application, we strongly suggest using a mail delivery service that guarantees delivery and allows you to track delivery to FNS.

Application Contents

An original and two copies of each application must be submitted. The original must bear the actual signature of the State agency’s authorized representative. Each application must include the following:

• Proposal Cover Letter – This is the title page of your application. See Attachment A.

• Grant Proposal – The narrative section must address all the selection criteria. The narrative must be limited to 20 typed pages.

• Budget- Applicants must include Standard Forms 424 and 424A to prepare a complete budget for the project and provide amounts for all major budget categories.

• Budget Narrative – Applicants should provide a detailed explanation for all funds requested on the Budget Form SF 424A and describe how those costs relate to the project objectives and proposed activities. The budget narrative must be limited to 3 typed pages and should provide enough detail for reviewers to easily understand how costs were determined and how they relate to the goals and objectives of the project.

• Indirect cost – a copy of the State agency’s negotiated and approved rate must be attached. Please note that submission of an approved indirect cost rate plan is required only if indirect cost are proposed to be charged to the Child Care Wellness Grant.

• Assurance and Disclosures – the following must be included:

  • Assurance- Non-Construction programs, SF 424B;

  • Disclosures of Lobbying Activities, SF LLL.

• Certification Regarding Debarment, Suspension, and other

Responsibility Matters, AD-1047

• Certification Regarding Debarment, Suspension, Ineligibility and Voluntary Exclusion - Lower Tier Covered Transactions, AD-1048

• Certification Regarding Drug-Free Workplace Requirements, State and State Agencies, AD-1052

• Supporting Documentation – the following must be included:

  • Letter of Commitment; and

  • Resumes or other thorough description of qualifications of the Project Director and all key staff (limit to 2 pages per resume/description).

Application Guidelines

When preparing an application, State agencies must:

• Prepare the application on only one side of each page;

• Use the standard size, 8 ½” x 11” white paper;

• Proved a typed application using 12 point Times New Roman font; and

• Number each page of the application sequentially throughout the package, starting with the Grant Proposal.

Mailing Address

Application packages, mail or hand-delivered, must be sent to:

Leslie Byrd, Grants Management Officer

Food and Nutrition Service, USDA

Grants & Fiscal Policy Division

Child Care Wellness Grants

3101 Park Center Drive, Room 738

Alexandria, VA 22302

2. Submitting an application via www.grants.gov

The www.grants.gov is a government-wide website designed for electronic submission of applications/proposals. We advise that you allow ample time to familiarize yourself with the system’s requirements. You will need both a Data Universal Number (DUNS) and a Contact Registry Number (CCR) to access the system. You may contact Dun and Bradstreet at (800) 234-3867 to obtain a DUNS number if you do not already have one.

All applicants that opt to submit their application/proposal via www.grants.gov must send an email to Leslie Byrd at [email protected] that the application was submitted no later than 5:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight time on the application due date. Please be aware that the grants.gov system provides several confirmation notices; you need to be sure that you have confirmation that the application was accepted.

All questions regarding the application should be referred to Leslie Byrd at [email protected]

Attachments

Attachment A- 2010 Child Care Wellness Grants Cover Sheet

2010 Child Care Wellness Grants

CFDA # (number)

STATE:______________________________________

State Child Nutrition Director(s):_________________________________________

Email Address:_______________________________________________________

Phone:_____________________________ Fax____________________________

Grant Contact Person/Project Director:____________________________________

Email Address:_______________________________________________________

Phone:____________________________ Fax:____________________________

Application must be received by FNS on or before, June 1, 2010, or delivered by hand to the FNS Park Office Center mailroom no later than 5:00PM Eastern Daylight Time to:

Leslie Byrd, Grants Management Officer

Food and Nutrition Service, USDA

Grants & Fiscal Policy Division

Child Wellness Grants

3101 Park Center Drive, Room 738

Alexandria, VA 22302