Women's Bureau, Senior Community, National Farmworker, Reentry Demonstration, VETS, Women's Apprenticeship, Career Pathway, SWA Grants, FOAs

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration

Notice of Availability of Funds and Funding Opportunity Announcement for:

Reentry Demonstration Projects for Young Adults

Announcement Type: Initial

Funding Opportunity Number: FOA-ETA-16-06

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 17.270

Key Dates: The closing date for receipt of applications under this Announcement is

[insert date XX days after the date of publication on Grants.gov]. We must receive applications no later than 4:00:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

Addresses: Address mailed applications to:

The U.S. Department of Labor

Employment and Training Administration, Office of Grants Management Attention: Eric Luetkenhaus, Grant Officer

Reference FOA-ETA-16-06

200 Constitution Avenue, NW, Room N4716

Washington, DC 20210

For complete application and submission information, including online application instructions, please refer to Section IV.

Executive Summary:

The Employment and Training Administration (ETA), U.S. Department of Labor (DOL, or the Department, or we), announces the availability of approximately $30,250,000 in grant funds authorized by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). The Department intends to award these grants to a combination of rural- and urban-serving organizations.

Through this announcement, ETA seeks to prevent and reduce crime and enhance young adult reentry strategies through collaboration with the field to identify, define, and respond to emerging or chronic youthful offender reentry challenges and issues. ETA is seeking proposed strategies to address these issues, including trying new approaches, addressing gaps in services, building or translating research knowledge, or building capacity. ETA’s field-initiated programs announcement provides opportunities to support a small number of multi-site projects that bring fresh perspectives and ideas to enhance practice and prevent recidivism of youthful offenders.

This Reentry Demonstration Projects for Young Adults Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) provides the opportunity for organizations to build a customized project built on evidence-based and informed interventions. These projects will serve young adults between the ages of 18 to 24 who have been involved in the juvenile or adult justice system and reside in high-poverty, high-crime communities.

Youthful offenders who exit the correctional system are faced with a myriad of challenges that include a lack of education and employment skills, antisocial attitudes and values, mental health and substance abuse problems, medical issues, lack of housing, and family issues.

The focus of this initiative is to assist communities in planning and implementing comprehensive "reentry" programs to address the full range of challenges involved in helping young offenders released from incarceration make a successful transition back to the community. The intent of this initiative is to protect community safety through the successful reintegration of offenders returning to the community by ensuring that offenders:

• become productive, responsible, and law-abiding citizens;

• are provided with positive opportunities to engage in pro-social activities such as employment or education;

• maintain long-term employment;

• sustain a stable residence; and

• successfully address their substance abuse issues and mental health needs.

Field-initiated project designs have been used to develop methods that maximize inclusion and integration into society, employment, family support, and economic and social self-sufficiency for disadvantaged populations in a range of disciplines. Field-initiated projects are designed by organizations in the field with minimal parameters to meet specific goals; the design and methods for these projects will be proposed by the field of applicants based on current evidence and research of “what works” as well as promising practices. These projects will support the improvement and effectiveness of services, and the Department supports the testing of new services and existing services in new combinations. Applicants must propose evidence-based and informed interventions that lead to increased employment outcomes for this population and must frame their goals and objectives to address this issue. Applicants are able to select, implement, and test different program services and/or features of program models that demonstrate evidence-based and informed interventions or test new interventions that theory or research suggests are promising. The Department is interested in understanding what works or is promising from the field and empowering applicants to assemble the model that will deliver the best results for young adults in their projects. In addition, the Department wants to be able to evaluate those services to determine what work best for this population. Please note that all proposed projects must include case management services; case management is a fundamental service that is essential in all reentry programs.

Eligible applicants are limited to either 1) intermediary organizations (for the purpose of this Announcement, intermediary organizations are defined as community- or faith-based organizations with 501(c)(3) non-profit status, including women’s and minority organizations, that have an affiliate network or offices in at least three communities and across at least two states) or 2) any Indian and Native American entity eligible for grants under Section 166 of WIOA that has a presence in at least three communities and across at least two states. Applicants may include current or former DOL grantees; new applicants that have not received previous DOL grants are also encouraged to apply.

The Employment and Training Administration (ETA) plans to award approximately seven grants of up to $4,500,000 each to eligible applicants. DOL intends to award these grants to a combination of rural- and urban-serving organizations. All applicants must have the capacity to implement multi-site projects and may only submit one application in response to this FOA.

These grants have a performance period of 36 months, which includes a planning period, period of operation, and follow-up period; the period of operation must be at least 24 months of the total period of performance.

1. Funding Opportunity Description

The Department will competitively select applicants that have proposed service delivery approaches that are comprised of evidence-based and informed interventions previously shown to achieve successful employment outcomes for justice-involved young adults or test new interventions that theory or research suggests are promising. These models must provide solutions to improving workforce outcomes for justice-involved young adults between the ages of 18 to 24 located in high-poverty, high-crime communities. Applicants must have a clear framework for delivering services and must identify their goals and objectives that lead to better employment outcomes for this population.

Grantees must provide a detailed description of the need for services in their target communities; their expected outcomes; their project design; their organizational, administrative, and fiscal capacity; and their past performance and programmatic capability serving justice-involved individuals. Throughout their application, applicants must identify their proposed sub-grantees, including their locations in areas of high poverty and high crime, and describe how the sub-grantees will implement the Applicant’s program design.

1. Program Purpose

This Announcement solicits applications for Reentry Demonstration Projects for Young Adults. The purpose of these grants is to utilize evidence-based and informed interventions or new interventions that theory or research suggests are promising to improve employment outcomes of young adults between the ages of 18 to 24 who have been involved in the juvenile or adult justice system and who reside in high-poverty, high-crime communities.

2. Program Authority

The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), Section 169, Public Law 113-128, codified at 29 U.S.C. 3224, and Section 212 of the Second Chance Act (SCA), Public Law 110-199, codified at 42 U.S.C. 17532 authorize this program.

2. AWARD INFORMATION

   1. Award Type and Amount

Funding will be provided in the form of a grant.

We expect availability of approximately $30,250,000 to fund approximately seven grants of up to $4,500,000 each to eligible applicants. DOL intends to award these grants to a combination of rural- and urban-serving organizations. According to the U.S. Census 2010 definition, “rural” encompasses all population, housing, and territory not included within an urban area (see http://www.census.gov for more information). For the purposes of this FOA, any Census tract that is either an Urbanized Area or an Urban Cluster is considered “urban;” any Census tract that is neither an Urbanized Area nor an Urban Cluster is considered “rural.” You may apply for a ceiling amount of up to $4,500,000. Awards made under this Announcement are subject to the availability of Federal funds. In the event that additional funds become available, we reserve the right to use such funds to select additional grantees from applications submitted in response to this Announcement. Applicants must not exceed an $8,000 cost-per-participant (CPP) for the duration of this grant, which includes administrative, planning, and follow-up costs. The CPP calculation divides the total DOL grant award by the number of proposed enrolled participants. Grantees must serve at least the number of participants identified in their application. Organizations submitting applications requesting the maximum $4,500,000 must ensure that their sub-grantees cumulatively serve at least at 563 participants over 36 months.

2. Period of Performance

These grants have a performance period of 36 months, which includes a planning period, period of operation, and follow-up period; the period of operation must be at least 24 months of the total period of performance. The anticipated start date is July 1, 2016.

To ensure that grantees are prepared to begin program implementation, the Federal Project Officer (FPO) will evaluate the completion of specific preliminary steps within the identified planning period of the grant. Grantees must complete these key preliminary steps during the planning period: hiring key staff (Director, Fiscal Manager, and Case Manager), securing locations to house the training, finalizing sub-grant agreements, meeting with any additional partners identified in the application to solidify partnerships, and ensuring readiness for inputting data into the DOL Management Information System (MIS). The Department may subject grantees that do not meet these preliminary steps to corrective action. The application to the FOA serves as the Statement of Work for the grant.

3. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

   1. Eligible Applicants

Eligible applicants are limited to either 1) intermediary organizations (for the purpose of this Announcement, intermediary organizations are defined as community- or faith-based organizations with 501(c)(3) non-profit status, including women’s and minority organizations, that have an affiliate network or offices in at least three communities and across at least two states) or 2) any Indian and Native American entities eligible for grants under Section 166 of WIOA that have a presence in at least three communities and across at least two states. Applicants may include current or former DOL grantees; new applicants that have not received previous DOL grants are also encouraged to apply.

Applicants must identify and include in their application the local sub-grantees that will operate their identified program designs; applicants must identify the communities that will be served by the sub-grantees and the project must be in a minimum of three communities. Applicants are encouraged to serve high-poverty, high-crime communities. Sub-grantee projects must be located in at least two states. All applicants must have the capacity to implement multi-site projects and may only submit one application in response to this FOA.

For the purpose of this FOA, high-poverty and high-crime rates are defined as:

• High-poverty rate: communities with poverty rates of at least 30 percent, as exhibited through the use of American Community Survey (ACS) data, as outlined below.

• High-crime rate: communities with violent crime rates within the targeted area that are higher than the violent crime rate of the overall city (for urban areas) or of non-metropolitan counties in the state (for rural areas), as outlined below. (For more information on metropolitan counties, see: http://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/rural-economy-population/rural-classifications.aspx.)

Selection of Sub-Grantees

In selecting sub-grantees, applicants must use the latest available American Community Survey 5-Year data to find the cumulative poverty rate of the various Census Tracts or counties included in each target community. Applicants must also compare the most recently available violent crime rate of the police precinct, sheriff’s office, county police department, or other relevant jurisdiction that most closely overlaps with each target community to the violent crime rate of the overall city (for urban areas) or of non-metropolitan counties in the state (for rural areas) where each target area is located.

Applicants must justify the number of participants that each sub-grantee will serve and demonstrate that the sub-grantee project locations are in high-poverty, high-crime communities, where applicable. Census Tracts that make up the community to be served must be contiguous, and applicants must provide a table that shows: the overall population and population below the poverty level of each Census Tract in the target area and all Census Tracts combined as well as the violent crime rate for each sub-grantee target community, calculated as described above. Instructions for accessing American Community Survey data for grantees to include in their solicitations to select sub-grantees are in Section F of Part VIII: Other Information at the end of this announcement. Furthermore, applicants will receive priority consideration of two (2) bonus points if at least one sub-grantee has designation as a member of a Promise Zone collaboration; applicants will not receive additional bonus points for more than one Promise Zone sub-grantee. (For more information about Promise Zones, go to: www.HUD.gov/promisezones.

Applicants do not need to competitively select local sub-grantees. Applicants must select intended sub-grantees before submitting their applications and must identify all local sub-grantees and sites in their applications. Applicants may, but are not required to, select their local offices, affiliates, or members to serve as one or more sub-grantees.

2. Cost Sharing or Matching

This program does not require cost sharing or matching funds. Including such funds is not one of the application screening criteria and applications that include any form of cost sharing or match will not receive additional consideration during the review process. Instead, the agency considers any resources contributed to the project beyond the funds provided by the agency as leveraged resources. Section IV.B.2 provides more information on leveraged resources.

3. Other Information

   1. Application Screening Criteria

You should use the checklist below as a guide when preparing your application package to ensure that the application has met all of the screening criteria. Note that this checklist is only an aid for applicants and should not be included in the application package. We urge you to use this checklist to ensure that your application contains all required items. If your application does not meet all of the screening criteria, it will not move forward through the merit review process.

Application Requirement	Instructions	Complete?
The deadline submission requirements are met	Section IV.C
If submitted through Grants.gov, the components of the application are saved in any of the specified formats and are not corrupt. (We will attempt to open the document, but will not take any additional measures in the event of problems with opening.)	Section IV.C.
Application Federal funds request does not exceed the ceiling amount of $4,500,000	Section II.A
Application does not exceed the Cost-per-Participant of $8,000	Section II.A
The eligibility requirements are met	Section III.A.
SAM Registration	Section IV.B.1
SF-424, Application for Federal Assistance	Section IV.B.1
SF-424 includes a DUNS Number	Section IV.B.1
SF-424A, Budget Information Form	Section IV.B.2
Budget Narrative	Section IV.B.2
Project Narrative	Section IV.B.3

2. Number of Applications Applicants May Submit

We will consider only one application from each organization. If we receive multiple applications from the same organization, we will only consider the most recently received application that met the deadline. If the most recent application is disqualified for any reason, we will not replace it with an earlier application.

3. Eligible Participants

   1. Participants Eligible to Receive Training

An individual is eligible to participate in a program funded through this FOA if that individual:

• is at least 18 years and not older than 24 years of age on the date of enrollment;

• is currently involved or has been involved with the juvenile or adult justice system, which includes:

  • previously incarcerated;

  • under the supervision of the justice system, either in out-of-home placements, on probation, or on parole;

  • under an alternative sentence by the justice system; or

  • under a diversion program as an alternative to prosecution;

• is currently residing in (or before confinement in a correctional facility resided in) the community to be served; and

• has never been convicted of a sex crime other than prostitution.

Grantees have the discretion to enroll individuals convicted of violent offenses or assessed as high-risk. Grantees that serve this population must conduct a rigorous risk assessment of criminogenic need. Applicants proposing to serve this population may adjust their outcomes accordingly; enrollment goals based on cost-per-participant may not be reduced. In all cases, the grantee must have a clear and consistent written enrollment policy that addresses program enrollment. More information on risk assessments can be found at http://csgjusticecenter.org/reentry/the-reentry-and-employment-project/ as well as in Section VIII, Part G of this FOA.

NOTE: Male participants are required to register for selective service before participating in services. Grantees should determine eligibility of male participants by accessing the Selective Service System at https://www.sss.gov/. For additional guidance, including how this requirement applies to male participants incarcerated at the time of their 18^th birthdays, please see Training and Employment Guidance Letter (TEGL) 11-11. Change 2 clarifies the implementation of the Selective Service registration requirements of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998 § 189(h) for grantees funded or authorized by Title I of WIA, located at http://wdr.doleta.gov/directives/attach/TEGL/TEGL_11-11_change2.pdf. This guidance applies to grants funded or authorized by WIOA.

2. Veterans’ Priority for Participants

38 U.S.C. 4215 requires grantees to provide priority of service to veterans and spouses of certain veterans for the receipt of employment, training, and placement services in any job training program directly funded, in whole or in part, by DOL. The regulations implementing this priority of service are at 20 CFR Part 1010. In circumstances where a grant recipient must choose between two qualified candidates for a service, one of whom is a veteran or eligible spouse, the veterans’ priority of service provisions require that the grant recipient give the veteran or eligible spouse priority of service by first providing him or her that service. To obtain priority of service, a veteran or spouse must meet the program’s eligibility requirements. Grantees must comply with DOL guidance on veterans’ priority. ETA’s Training and Employment Guidance Letter (TEGL) No. 10-09 (issued November 10, 2009) provides guidance on implementing priority of service for veterans and eligible spouses in all qualified job training programs funded in whole or in part by DOL. TEGL No. 10-09 is available at http://wdr.doleta.gov/directives/corr_doc.cfm?DOCN=2816.

4. Application and Submission Information

   1. How to Obtain an Application Package

This FOA, found at www.Grants.gov and http://www.doleta.gov/grants/find_grants.cfm, contains all of the information and links to forms needed to apply for grant funding.

2. Content and Form of Application Submission

Applications submitted in response to this FOA must consist of four separate and distinct parts:

(1) the SF-424 “Application for Federal Assistance;”

(2) Project Budget;

(3) Project Narrative; and

(4) attachments to the Project Narrative.

You must ensure that the funding amount requested is consistent across all parts and sub-parts of the application.

(1) SF-424, “Application for Federal Assistance”

• You must complete the SF-424, “Application for Federal Assistance” (available at http://apply07.grants.gov/apply/forms/sample/SF424_2_1-V2.1.pdf).

• In the address field, fill out the nine-digit (plus hyphen) zip code. Nine-digit zip codes can be looked up on the USPS website at https://tools.usps.com/go/ZipLookupAction!input.action.

• The SF-424 must clearly identify the applicant and must be signed by an individual with authority to enter into a grant agreement. Upon confirmation of an award, the individual signing the SF-424 on behalf of the applicant is considered the Authorized Representative of the applicant. As stated in block 21 of the SF-424 form, the signature of the Authorized Representative on the SF-424 certifies that the organization is in compliance with the Assurances and Certifications form SF-424B (available at http://apply07.grants.gov/apply/forms/sample/SF424B-V1.1.pdf). You do not need to submit the SF-424B with the application.

In addition, the applicant’s Authorized Representative’s signature in block 21 of the SF-424 form constitutes assurance by the applicant of compliance with the following requirements in accordance with 29 CFR 37.20.

As a condition to the award of financial assistance from the Department of Labor under Title I WIOA¹, the grant applicant assures that it will comply fully with the nondiscrimination and equal opportunity provisions of the following laws: Section 188 of the WIOA, which prohibits discrimination against all individuals in the United States on the bases of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, political affiliation or belief, and against beneficiaries on the basis of either citizenship/status as a lawfully admitted immigrant authorized to work in the United States or participation in any WIOA Title I—financially assisted program or activity; Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, which prohibits discrimination on the bases of race, color and national origin; Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, which prohibits discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities; The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1975, as amended, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of age; and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, as amended, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in educational programs. The grant applicant also assures that it will comply with 29 CFR part 37 and all other regulations implementing the laws listed above. This assurance applies to the grant applicant's operation of the WIOA Title I-financially assisted program or activity, and to all agreements the grant applicant makes to carry out the WIOA Title I-financially assisted program or activity. The grant applicant understands that the United States has the right to seek judicial enforcement of this assurance.

• Requirement for DUNS Number

All applicants for Federal grant and funding opportunities must have a DUNS number, and must supply their DUNS Number on the SF-424. The DUNS Number is a nine-digit identification number that uniquely identifies business entities. If you do not have a DUNS Number, you can get one for free through the D&B website: http://fedgov.dnb.com/webform/displayHomePage.do .

Grant recipients authorized to make subawards must meet these requirements related to DUNS Numbers

• Grant recipients must notify potential subawardees that no entity may receive a subaward from you unless the entity has provided its DUNS number to you.

• Grant recipients may not make a subaward to an entity unless the entity has provided its DUNS number to you.

(See, Appendix A to 2 CFR section 25.)

• Requirement for Registration with SAM

Applicants must register with the System for Award Management (SAM) before submitting an application. Find instructions for registering with SAM can at https://www.sam.gov .

A recipient must maintain an active SAM registration with current information at all times during which it has an active Federal award or an application under consideration. To remain registered in the SAM database after the initial registration, the applicant is required to review and update the registration at least every 12 months from the date of initial registration or subsequently update its information in the SAM database to ensure it is current, accurate, and complete. For purposes of this paragraph, the applicant is the entity that meets the eligibility criteria and has the legal authority to apply and to receive the award. If an applicant has not fully complied with these requirements by the time the Grant Officer is ready to make a Federal award, the Grant Officer may determine that the applicant is not qualified to receive a Federal award and use that determination as a basis for making a Federal award to another applicant.

(2) Project Budget

You must complete the SF-424A Budget Information Form (available at: http://apply07.grants.gov/apply/forms/sample/SF424A-V1.0.pdf). In preparing the Budget Information Form, you must provide a concise narrative explanation to support the budget request, explained in detail below.

Budget Narrative: The budget narrative must provide a description of costs associated with each line item on the SF-424A. It should also include a description of leveraged resources provided (as applicable) to support grant activities.

Use the following guidance for preparing the budget narrative:

Personnel: – List all staff positions by title (both current and proposed). Give the annual salary of each position, the percentage of each position’s time devoted to the project, the amount of each position’s salary funded by the grant, and the total personnel cost for the period of performance.

Fringe Benefits: Provide a breakdown of the amounts and percentages that comprise fringe benefit costs such as health insurance, FICA, retirement, etc.

Travel: Specify the purpose, mileage, per diem, estimated number of in-state and out-of-state trips, and other costs for each type of travel.

Equipment: Identify each item of equipment you expect to purchase which has an estimated acquisition cost of $5,000 or more per unit (or if your capitalization level is less than $5,000, use your capitalization level) and a useful lifetime of more than one year (see 2 CFR 200.33 for the definition of Equipment). List the quantity and unit cost per item. Items with a unit cost of less than $5,000 are supplies, not “equipment”. In general, we do not permit the purchase of equipment during the last funded year of the grant.

Supplies: Identify categories of supplies (e.g. office supplies) in the detailed budget and list the quantity and unit cost per item. Supplies include all tangible personal property other than “equipment” (see 2 CFR 200.94 for the definition of Supplies).

Contractual: Identify each proposed contract and specify its purpose and estimated cost. If applicable, identify any subrecipient agreements, including purpose and estimated costs. See Section VI.B.2.f. for more information on the distinction between contractor and subrecipient.

Construction: Construction costs are not allowed and this line must be left as zero. Minor alterations to adjust an existing space for grant activities (such as a classroom alteration) may be allowable. We do not consider this as construction and you must show the costs on other appropriate lines such as Contractual.

Other: List each item in sufficient detail for us to determine whether the costs are reasonable or allowable. List any item, such as stipends or incentives, not covered elsewhere here.

Indirect Costs: If you include indirect costs in the budget, then include either

a) the approved indirect cost rate with a copy of the Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (NICRA), a description of the base used to calculate indirect costs along with the amount of the base, and the total indirect costs requested,

or

b) if you meet the requirements to use the 10% de minimis rate as described in 2 CFR 200.414(f), then include a description of the modified total direct costs base (see 2 CFR 200.68 for definition) used in the calculation along with the amount of the base, and the total indirect costs requested based on the 10% de minimis rate. See Section IV.B.4. and Section IV.E.1. for more information. Additionally, the following link contains information regarding the negotiation of Indirect Cost Rates at DOL: http://www.dol.gov/oasam/boc/dcd/index.htm.

Note that the SF-424, SF-424A, and budget narrative must include the entire Federal grant amount requested (not just one year). [If cost sharing or match is required, include the following sentence.] Applicants must also show cost sharing or match on the SF-424 (line 18b), SF-424A, and budget narrative.

Do not show leveraged resources on the SF-424 and SF-424A. You should describe leveraged resources in the budget narrative.

Applicants should list the same requested Federal grant amount on the SF-424, SF-424A, and budget narrative. If minor inconsistencies are found between the budget amounts specified on the SF-424, SF-424A, and the budget narrative, ETA will consider the SF-424 the official funding amount requested. However, if the amount specified on the SF-424 would render the application nonresponsive, the Grant Officer will use his or her discretion to determine whether the intended funding request (and match if applicable) is within the responsive range.

(3). Project Narrative

Preparing the Project Narrative

The Project Narrative must demonstrate your capability to implement the grant project in accordance with the provisions of this Announcement. It provides a comprehensive framework and description of all aspects of the proposed project. It must be succinct, self-explanatory, and well organized so that reviewers can understand the proposed project.

The Project Narrative is limited to 20 double-spaced single-sided 8.5 x 11 inch pages with Times New Roman 12 point text font and 1 inch margins. You must number the Project Narrative beginning with page number 1.

We will not read or consider any materials beyond the specified page limit in the application review process.

The following instructions provide all of the information needed to complete the Project Narrative. Carefully read and consider each section, and include all required information in your Project Narrative. The agency will evaluate the Project Narrative using the evaluation criteria identified in Section V.A. You must use the same section headers identified below for each section of the Project Narrative:

Throughout the Project Narrative, applicants should describe, as appropriate, the role of the sub-grantees in implementing the project.

(a) Statement of Need

Applicants must identify:

• Geographic Areas Served: Identify at least three target geographic areas, located in at least two states in which the projects will be located and demonstrate the need for services. The geographic areas may be described as city or local area boundaries, zip codes, or other means of identifying the specific area where services will be provided and should be supported by Census Tract data. Within each target community, Census Tracts that make up the community to be served must be contiguous.

• High-Poverty, High-Crime: Demonstrate through data that the project geographic areas are high-poverty, high-crime communities, as defined above in Section III.A. Applicants should provide a poverty and crime rate table, as an attachment to the Project Narrative, that shows the overall population and the population below the poverty level of each Census Tract in each sub-grantee target area and all Census Tracts combined for each sub-grantee community; if a sub-grantee target area is an entire county, applicants only need to show the overall population and the population below the poverty level of the county. Applicants must also include in the table the most recently available violent crime rate of the police precinct, sheriff’s office, county police department, or other relevant jurisdiction that most closely overlaps with the target community to the violent crime rate of the overall city (for urban areas) or of non-metropolitan counties in the state (for rural areas) for each sub-grantee target community. State the source of the violent crime data, the reason for the choice of that data source, and the jurisdiction measured.

• Justice-Involved Young Adults Served: Identify the number of justice-involved young adults that each sub-grantee proposes to serve and demonstrate that there is a sufficient pool of potential participants to recruit into the program for each of the areas to be served. The number of justice-involved young adults in each sub-grantee target area in the previous year must be at least double the number of participants expected to be served by that sub-grantee. Applicants must provide evidence to support the number of proposed participants in each of the areas to be served.

• Selected Training Programs: Describe the need for the selected training programs in the areas to be served and identify the source of this information, such as Workforce Development Boards (WDBs), business/industry groups, or labor market projections.

Promise Zone Designation: As a participant in the Promise Zone (PZ) Initiative, DOL is cooperating with the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Department of Agriculture, and nine other federal agencies to support comprehensive revitalization efforts in 20 of the highest poverty urban, rural, and tribal communities across the country. Applicants that submit a certification (HUD Form 50153) signed by an authorized representative of the lead organization of a HUD or USDA designated Promise Zone that identifies least one sub-grantee as a Promise Zone collaboration member will receive 2 bonus points priority consideration. Currently, Promise Zones are located in: San Antonio, TX; Los Angeles, CA; Philadelphia, PA; Southeastern Kentucky; the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma; Camden, NJ; Hartford, CT; Indianapolis, IN; Minneapolis, MN; Sacramento, CA; St. Louis, MO; South Carolina Low Country; and Pine Ridge Indian Reservation of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, SD. To view the most recent list of designated Promise Zones and lead organizations, please go to: http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/program_offices/comm_planning/economicdevelopment/programs/pz.

(b) Expected Outcomes

Outcomes are the measurable results of the project. They are the positive benefits, negative changes, or measurable characteristics that occur resulting from the project activities or outputs. Goals are the rate of attainment of those outcomes.

Example: A community college receives a grant to address a need for more workers in all health-related fields. An outcome of the project is an increase in graduates in health-related fields by 5 percent.

Applicants must identify:

• Outcomes: Clearly identify the proposed outcomes that will result from the project and describe how they are consistent with increasing employment outcomes for justice-involved young adults between the ages of 18 to 24.

• Project Objectives: Identify the project objectives and explain how and why the proposed project design will lead to these objectives and accomplish its goal of increasing employment outcomes for this population. Objectives are to be specific, quantifiable statements of the project’s proposed results and clearly linked to increasing the employment outcomes.

• Support Strategies: Describe how the applicant will assist sub-grantees to meet the identified outcomes. Grantees will be required to report to ETA quarterly throughout the period of performance on their progression of outcomes.

(c) Project Design

Applicants must identify and describe:

• Evidence-Based and Informed Interventions and Promising Practices: Identify and describe the evidence-based and informed interventions or new interventions that theory or research suggests are promising used in this project. Applicants must propose models infused with combinations of service delivery components that are evidence-based and informed or promising practices. Applicants must provide a clear theory and empirical evidence to support the choice of model/components. For additional information, including definitions of evidence-based and evidence-informed interventions, a list of resources, and sample model components, see Section VIII.E.

• Strategies, Approaches, and Methods: Outline the strategies and approaches that will be used to implement the program and explain their integration into the program model, as well as the milestones within the 36-month grant period associated with achieving major tasks and achieving the outcomes. Justify the proposed approaches and state the reason for their selection rather than other approaches. Propose methods that will be used to provide the proposed services and how they will lead to the stated outcomes.

• Project Timelines: Identify reasonable timelines for completion of work and describe how the applicant will support and assist its sub-grantees to achieve the overarching work plan to implement this grant.

• Planning Phase Milestones: Describe a plan to meet the milestones during the planning phase and assist sub-grantees to meet these milestones.

• Work Plan and Logic Model: Provide a detailed narrative description of the proposed plan for accomplishing the work (the work plan) describing how the project will operate throughout the funding period and graphically illustrate, using a logic model as an attachment to the Project Narrative, how the applicant will successfully achieve outcomes. The work plan should account for all functions or activities identified in the application. The applicant should cite factors that might accelerate or delay the work and how they will be addressed amid program operations; identify any potential barriers and describe how the project will be able to overcome those barriers.

• Case Management: Case management services must begin at the time of enrollment and continue throughout the participant’s participation in the program, including the follow-up period. Applicants must ensure sub-grantees provide the case management component and must identify and justify in their application how the services will be provided – direct, contracted, or through other organization collaborations. Specifically, applicants must, at a minimum:

• Identify and provide justification for the ratio of case managers to participants and how the case managers will act as advocates for program participants, including the frequency of their interactions; and

• Identify, justify, and describe the evidence-informed types of case management services and/or activities provided.

(d) Organizational, Administrative, and Fiscal Capacity

Applicants must identify and describe:

• Staff and Multi-site Management and Organizational Structure: Provide information on how the applicant will manage and staff the project, including how it will oversee multiple sites, as well as the applicant’s current mission, structure, and relevant experience. Describe how these factors contribute to the ability of the applicant to conduct the project and its requirements and meet program expectations. Include information about any organization(s) under contract with the applicant that will have a significant role in implementing the project and any previous experience implementing projects of similar design or magnitude. Describe the applicant’s fiscal and administrative controls in place to manage Federal funds. Include the applicant’s capability to sustain some or all project activities after Federal financial assistance has ended, including supporting and sustaining some or all sub-grantee projects. In addition, for each sub-grantee, please describe the sub-grantee’s current mission, structure, and relevant experience and how these factors contribute to the ability of the sub-grantee to implement the project and meet program expectations.

• Sub-Grantee Commitments: Provide signed and dated Letters of Commitment or Memoranda of Understanding between the applicant and each identified sub-grantee.

• Sub-Grantee Partnerships: Describe how the applicant will ensure that sub-grantees will partner and collaborate with additional organizations to support the program model and lead to the identified outcomes.

(e) Past Performance – Programmatic Capability

Previously-Funded REO Applicants:

Applicants that previously completed a REO (formerly known as RExO) grant from the Department within the past five (5) years of the application due date (herein after referred to as “previously-funded REO applicants”) do not need to submit any additional documentation or narrative information for the Past Performance criteria. However, previously-funded REO applicants must submit an Auditor’s Report for the most recently completed independent audit, completed within three (3) years of the application due date. The information provided below is explanatory. Current REO grantees that have not previously completed a REO grant must provide the appropriate documentation identified in the “New Applicants” section below. Please note, applicants that have previously completed other Department grants that were not REO grants, including but not limited to YouthBuild grants, are not considered “Previously-Funded REO Applicants” for the purposes of this FOA and must provide the appropriate documentation identified in the “New Applicants” section below.

i - Performance Goals

Previously-funded REO applicants will receive points based on past performance demonstrated by the Quarterly Performance Report and Quarterly Financial Report (ETA-9130). Applicants DO NOT submit these two reports as attachments; the Department will use data previously submitted through the REO Management Information System (MIS) and the DOL financial reporting system. DOL will review the final quarter of the period of performance for the most recently completed REO grant. DOL will evaluate these two performance measures: 1) placement in education and/or employment and 2) certificate/degree attainment. Where applicable, the certificate/degree attainment will be calculated as the weighted rate of the combined high school diploma/equivalency and the industry recognized certificate attainment rates (i.e., the sum of the numerators for both metrics will be divided by the sum of the denominators for both metrics).

ii - Spending Rate Analysis

Previously-funded REO applicants will receive points based on the spending rate analysis. Spending grant funds within the original period of performance indicates that the applicant organization has the ability to adequately deploy the resources provided by the Department and manage a budget effectively. The Department will complete this analysis; previously-funded REO applicants DO NOT need to provide any supporting documentation.

iii - Fiscal Viability

Fiscal viability indicates that an organization has the ability to utilize Department resources responsibly and efficiently to serve program participants throughout the entire grant period of performance. Previously-funded REO applicants will receive points for fiscal viability as demonstrated in the Auditor’s Opinion recorded in the Auditor’s Report.

New Applicants:

Additional data is required from applicants who have not previously received a DOL REO grant in which the grantee submitted data through the REO Management Information System (MIS) within the past five (5) years and from applicants who have not yet completed a DOL REO grant; herein after, these applicants will be referred to as “new applicants.” New applicants must provide the following performance data, as an attachment to the Project Narrative, for their most recently-completed grant that is similar in size, scope, and relevance to the proposed program and that was completed within the last five (5) years, as of the closing date of this Announcement (includes federally or non-federally funded assistance agreements; federally funded assistance agreements include Federal grants and cooperative agreements but not Federal contracts):

• A performance chart that specifies the performance goals and spending rate analysis information identified in the below subsections for the indicated grant. In the chart, applicants must also provide the project grant number along with the name, title, organization, e-mail address, and telephone number of an individual from the previous grantor entity or agency who has oversight for the program referenced above and can verify the information stated by the applicant; and

• The Auditor’s Report for the most recently completed independent audit, completed within three (3) years of the application due date.

ETA reserves the right to confirm this information for all applicants.

New applicants that completed any non-REO DOL grant within the past five (5) years must provide the performance data requested of new applicants for the DOL grant.

i - Performance Goals:

New applicants must submit a chart of past performance that identifies two (2) performance goals and the actual performance results for the most recently completed grant, as specified above. If available, new applicants should use the performance metrics most similar to employment/education placement and degree/certificate attainment. Using a chart, new applicants must identify the total number of participants enrolled in the program, the expected level of performance for each goal, and the actual outcomes for each goal displayed as both a fraction and a percentage. The numerator must be equal to the number of program participants who achieved the identified metric and the denominator equal to the total program participants eligible for the identified metric. New applicants will receive points based on past performance demonstrated in the attached performance chart.

ii - Spending Rate Analysis:

New applicants must submit, as part of the chart of past performance described above, the total grant amount and the percentage of grant funds spent during the original period of performance for their most recently completed grant, as specified above. New applicants will receive points for their spending rate, as demonstrated in the chart they provide.

iii - Fiscal Viability:

Fiscal viability indicates that an organization has the ability to utilize Department resources responsibly and efficiently to serve program participants throughout the entire grant period of performance. New applicants will receive points for fiscal viability as demonstrated in the Auditor’s Opinion recorded in the Auditor’s Report.

(f) Budget and Budget Justification

Please see Section IV.B.2. for information on requirements related to the budget and budget justification.

Applicants must provide:

• Budget: a budget that is reasonable based on the activities outlined in the project narrative, including an indication of the portion of funds that will be sub-granted to each sub-grantee.

• Budget Narrative: a budget narrative that identifies the time allocated to the project by the applicant’s key personnel.

4. Attachments to the Project Narrative

In addition to the Project Narrative, you must submit attachments. All attachments must be clearly labeled as Attachments. We will only exclude those attachments listed below from the page limit.

You must not include additional materials such as resumés or general letters of support. You must submit your application in one package because documents received separately will be tracked separately and will not be attached to the application for review.

Save all files with descriptive file names of 50 characters or less and only use standard characters in file names: A-Z, a-z, 0-9, and underscore (_). File names may not include special characters (e.g. &,–,*,%,/,#), periods (.), blank spaces or accent marks, and must be unique (i.e., no other attachment may have the same file name). You may use an underscore (example: my_Attached_File.pdf) to separate a file name.

Required Attachments

You must include the following attachments with the application package.

1. Abstract

You must submit an up to two-page abstract summarizing the proposed project, including, but not limited to, the scope of the project and proposed outcomes. The proposed project must include the applicant’s name, the project title, a list of all sub-grantees that will implement the proposed project design, a description of the areas to be served by each sub-grantee including a list of the specific Census tracts for each target community and an indication of whether each Census tract is rural or urban (as defined above), the number of participants to be served (total and per sub-grantee), the total cost per participant, and the funding level requested. The following website may assist the Applicant in identifying which census tracts exist in their counties https://www.census.gov/geo/maps-data/maps/2010tract.html. The Abstract is limited to two-page double-spaced single sided 8.5x11 inch pages with 12 point text font and 1 inch margins.

The project summary must provide a project description that includes the following:

• a description of the overall evidence-based and informed program design;

• a description of how the selected evidence-based and informed interventions will improve the employment outcomes for this population, including the proposed outcomes for the project; and

• a brief description of the applicant’s ability to manage a multi-site project to ensure that sub-grantees successfully implement the program design identified in the application.

When submitting in grants.gov, this document must be uploaded as an attachment to the application package and specifically labeled “Abstract.”

Requested Attachments

We request the following attachments, but their omission will not cause us to screen out the application. Furthermore, if the omission of the attachment will impact scoring, the description of the attachment will note such an impact.

1. Indirect Cost Rate Agreement: If you are requesting indirect costs based on a Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement approved by your Federal Cognizant Agency, then attach the most recently approved Agreement. (For more information, see Section IV.B.2. and Section IV.E.1.) This attachment does not impact scoring of the application.

2. The Auditor’s Report for the most recently completed independent audit, completed within three (3) years of the application due date. This attachment impacts the scoring of the application.

3. Documentation from the Internal Revenue Service that verifies the applicant’s non-profit 501(c)(3) status (for entities applying as 501(c)(3) intermediary organizations only). All applicants applying as a non-profit must submit this verification even if the applicant is a current DOL grantee. This attachment does not impact scoring of the application.

4. (For New Applicants Only) A performance chart specifying the performance goals, and spending rate analysis information for a previous grant. In the chart, applicants must also provide the project grant number along with the name, title, organization, e-mail address, and telephone number of an individual from the previous grantor entity or agency who has oversight for the program. This attachment impacts the scoring of the application.

5. A poverty and crime rate table that shows the overall population and population below the poverty level of each Census Tract in each sub-grantee target area and all Census Tracts combined for each sub-grantee community; if a sub-grantee target area is an entire county applicants, only need to show the overall population and the population below the poverty level of the county. Applicants must also include in the table the most recently available violent crime rate of the police precinct, sheriff’s office, county police department, or other relevant jurisdiction that most closely overlaps with the target community to the violent crime rate of the overall city or of non-metropolitan counties in the state for each sub-grantee target community. This attachment impacts the scoring of the application.

6. Signed and dated Letters of Commitment or Memoranda of Understanding between the applicant and each identified sub-grantee for each site. These attachments impact the scoring of the application.

7. A logic model that graphically illustrates the applicant’s work plan, as described in Section IV.B.3.(c). This attachment impacts the scoring of the application.

3. Submission Date, Times, Process and Addresses

We will accept applications under this Announcement until [insert date XX days after the date of publication on Grants.gov]. You must submit your application either electronically on http://www.grants.gov or in hard copy by mail or in hard copy by hand delivery (including overnight delivery) no later than 4:00:00 p.m. Eastern Time on the closing date.

Applicants are encouraged to submit their application before the closing date to ensure that the risk of late receipt of the application is minimized. We will not accept applications sent by e-mail, telegram, or facsimile (FAX).

Applicants submitting applications in hard copy by mail or overnight delivery must submit a ‘‘copy-ready’’ version free of bindings, staples or protruding tabs to ease in the reproduction of the application by DOL. Applicants submitting applications in hard copy must also include in the hard copy submission an identical electronic copy of the application on compact disc (CD). If we identify discrepancies between the hard copy submission and CD copy, we will consider the application on the CD as the official submission for evaluation purposes. Failure to provide identical applications in hardcopy and CD format may have an impact on the overall evaluation.

If an application is physically submitted by both hard copy and through http://www.grants.gov, a letter must accompany the hard-copy application stating which application to review. If no letter accompanies the hard copy, we will review the copy submitted through http://www.grants.gov.

We will grant no exceptions to the mailing and delivery requirements set forth in this notice. Further, we will not accept documents submitted separately from the application, before or after the deadline, as part of the application.

Address mailed applications to the

U.S. Department of Labor

Employment and Training Administration

Office of Grants Management

Attention: Eric Luetkenhaus, Grant Officer

Reference FOA-ETA-16-06

200 Constitution Avenue, NW, Room N4716

Washington, DC 20210

Please note that mail decontamination procedures may delay mail delivery in the Washington DC area. We will receive hand-delivered applications at the above address. All overnight delivery submissions will be considered to be hand-delivered and must be received at the designated place by the specified closing date and time.

Applicants submitting applications through Grants.gov must ensure successful submission at http://www.grants.gov no later than 4:00:00 p.m. Eastern Time on the closing date. Grants.gov will subsequently validate the application.

We describe the submission and validation process in more detail below. The process can be complicated and time-consuming. You are strongly advised to initiate the process as soon as possible and to plan for time to resolve technical problems. Note that validation does not mean that your application has been accepted as complete or has been accepted for review. Rather, grants.gov only verifies the submission of certain parts of an application.

• We strongly recommend that before you begin to write the application, you immediately initiate and complete the “Get Registered” registration steps at http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/register.html.

You should read through the registration process carefully before registering. These steps may take as much as four weeks to complete, and this time should be factored into plans for timely electronic submission in order to avoid unexpected delays that could result in the rejection of an application. The site also contains the Step-By-Step Guide to Organization Registration to help applicants walk through the process.

• We strongly recommend that you download the Guide at http://www.grants.gov/documents/19/18243/GrantsgovOrganizationRegistrationGuide.pdf/be70525d-59aa-45ee-b196-5e8951faca0a and prepare the information requested before beginning the registration process. Reviewing and assembling required information before beginning the registration process will alleviate last minute searches for required information and save time.

As described earlier in Section IV.B.1., you must have a DUNS Number and you must register with SAM.gov before submitting an application.

The next step in the registration process is creating a username and password with Grants.gov to become an Authorized Organizational Representative (AOR). AORs will need to know the DUNS Number of the organization for which they will be submitting applications to complete this process.

• To read more detailed instructions for creating a profile on Grants.gov visit: http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/organization-registration/step-3-username-password.html

After creating a profile on Grants.gov, the E-Biz point of Contact (E-Biz POC) - a representative from your organization who is the contact listed for SAM – will receive an email to grant the AOR permission to submit applications on behalf of their organization. The E-Biz POC will then log in to Grants.gov and approve an individual as the AOR, thereby giving him or her permission to submit applications.

To learn more about AOR Authorization visit: http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/organization-registration/step-4-aor-authorization.html,

or to track AOR status visit: http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/organization-registration/step-5-track-aor-status.html

An application submitted through Grants.gov constitutes a submission as an electronically signed application. The registration and account creation with Grants.gov, with E-Biz POC approval, establishes an AOR. When an application is submitted through Grants.gov, the name of the AOR on file will be inserted into the signature line of the application. You must register the individual who is able to make legally binding commitments for your organization as the AOR; this step is often missed and it is crucial for valid submissions.

When a registered applicant submits an application with Grants.gov, an electronic time stamp is generated within the system when the application is successfully received by Grants.gov. Within two business days of application submission, Grants.gov will send the applicant two email messages to provide the status of the application’s progress through the system.

• The first email, sent almost immediately, will contain a tracking number and will confirm receipt of the application by Grants.gov.

• The second email will indicate the application has either been successfully validated or has been rejected due to errors.

Grants.gov will reject applications if the applicant’s registration in SAM is expired. Only applications that have been successfully submitted by the deadline and later successfully validated will be considered. It is your sole responsibility to ensure a timely submission. While it is not required that an application be successfully validated before the deadline for submission, it is prudent to reserve time before the deadline in case it is necessary to resubmit an application that has not been successfully validated. Therefore, enough time should be allotted for submission (two business days) and, if applicable, additional time to address errors and receive validation upon resubmission (an additional two business days for each ensuing submission). It is important to note that if enough time is not allotted and a rejection notice is received after the due date and time, DOL will not consider the application.

To ensure consideration, the components of the application must be saved as .doc, .docx, .xls, .xlsx, .rtf or .pdf files. If submitted in any other format, the applicant bears the risk that compatibility or other issues will prevent DOL from considering the application. We will attempt to open the document, but will not take any additional measures in the event of problems with opening.

We strongly advise applicants to use the various tools and documents, including FAQs, which are available on the “Applicant Resources” page at http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/applicant-faqs.html.

We encourage new prospective applicants to view the online tutorial, “Grant Applications 101: A Plain English Guide to ETA Competitive Grants,” available through Workforce3One at: http://www.workforce3one.org/page/grants_toolkit.

To receive updated information about critical issues, new tips for users and other time sensitive updates as information is available, you may subscribe to “Grants.gov Updates” at http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/manage-subscriptions.html.

If you encounter a problem with Grants.gov and do not find an answer in any of the other resources,

• call 1-800-518-4726 or 606-545-5035 to speak to a Customer Support Representative or

• email [email protected].

The Grants.gov Contact Center is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. However, it is closed on Federal holidays.

Late Applications

For applications submitted on Grants.gov, we will consider only applications successfully submitted no later than 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time on the closing date and then successfully validated. You take a significant risk by waiting to the last day to submit through Grants.gov.

We will not consider any hard copy application received after the exact date and time specified for receipt at the office designated in this notice, unless we receive it before awards are made, it was properly addressed, and it was: (a) sent by U.S. Postal Service mail, postmarked not later than the fifth calendar day before the date specified for receipt of applications (e.g., an application required to be received by the 20th of the month must be postmarked by the 15th of that month); or (b) sent by professional overnight delivery service to the addressee not later than one working day before the date specified for receipt of applications. ‘‘Postmarked’’ means a printed, stamped or otherwise placed impression (exclusive of a postage meter machine impression) that is readily identifiable, without further action, as having been supplied or affixed on the date of mailing by an employee of the U.S. Postal Service. Therefore, you should request the postal clerk to place a legible hand cancellation ‘‘bull’s eye’’ postmark on both the receipt and the package. Failure to adhere to these instructions will be a basis for a determination that the application was not filed timely and will not be considered. Evidence of timely submission by a professional overnight delivery service must be demonstrated by equally reliable evidence created by the delivery service provider indicating the time and place of receipt.

4. Intergovernmental Review

This funding opportunity is not subject to Executive Order 12372, “Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs.”

5. Funding Restrictions

All proposed project costs must be necessary and reasonable and in accordance with Federal guidelines. Determinations of allowable costs will be made in accordance with the Cost Principles, now found in the Office of Management and Budget’s Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (Uniform Guidance), codified at 2 CFR Part 200 and at 2 CFR Part 2900 (Uniform Guidance-DOL specific). Disallowed costs are those charges to a grant that the grantor agency or its representative determines not to be allowed in accordance with the Cost Principles or other conditions contained in the grant. Applicants, whether successful or not, will not be entitled to reimbursement of pre-award costs.

1. Indirect Costs

As specified in the Uniform Guidance Cost Principles, indirect costs are those that have been incurred for common or joint objectives and cannot be readily identified with a particular final cost objective. An indirect cost rate is required when an organization operates under more than one grant or other activity, whether Federally-assisted or not. You have two options to claim reimbursement of indirect costs.

Option 1: You may use a NICRA or Cost Allocation Plan (CAP) supplied by the Federal Cognizant Agency. If you do not have a NICRA/CAP or have a pending NICRA/CAP, and in either case choose to include estimated indirect costs in your budget, at the time of award the Grant Officer will release funds in the amount of 10% of salaries and wages to support indirect costs. Within 90 days of award, you are required to submit an acceptable indirect cost proposal or CAP to your Federal Cognizant Agency to obtain a provisional indirect cost rate. (See Section IV.B.4. for more information on NICRA submission requirements.)

Option 2: Any organization that has never received a negotiated indirect cost rate, with the exceptions noted at 2 CFR 200.414(f) in the Cost Principles, may elect to charge a de minimis rate of 10% of modified total direct costs (see 2 CFR 200.68 for definition) which may be used indefinitely. If you choose this option, this methodology must be used consistently for all Federal awards until such time as you choose to negotiate for an indirect cost rate, which you may apply to do at any time. (See 2 CFR 200.414(f) for more information on use of the de minimis rate.)

2. Salary and Bonus Limitations

None of the funds appropriated under the heading “Employment and Training” in the appropriation statute(s) may be used by a recipient or subrecipient of such funds to pay the salary and bonuses of an individual, either as direct costs or indirect costs, at a rate in excess of Executive Level II. This limitation does not apply to contractors providing goods and services as defined in the Audit Requirements of the OMB Uniform Guidance (see 2 CFR 200 Subpart F). Where States are recipients of such funds, States may establish a lower limit for salaries and bonuses of those receiving salaries and bonuses from subrecipients of such funds, taking into account factors including the relative cost-of-living in the State, the compensation levels for comparable State or local government employees, and the size of the organizations that administer Federal programs involved including Employment and Training Administration programs. See Public Law 113-235, Division G, Title I, section 105, and Training and Employment Guidance Letter number 05-06 for further clarification: http://wdr.doleta.gov/directives/corr_doc.cfm?DOCN=2262.

3. Intellectual Property Rights

Pursuant to 2 CFR 2900.13, to ensure that the Federal investment of DOL funds has as broad an impact as possible and to encourage innovation in the development of new learning materials, the grantee will be required to license to the public all work created with the support of the grant under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY) license. Work that must be licensed under the CC BY includes both new content created with the grant funds and modifications made to pre-existing, grantee-owned content using grant funds.

This license allows subsequent users to copy, distribute, transmit and adapt the copyrighted Work and requires such users to attribute the Work in the manner specified by the grantee. Notice of the license shall be affixed to the Work. For general information on CC BY, please visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0. Instructions for marking your work with CC BY can be found at http://wiki.creativecommons.org/Marking_your_work_with_a_CC_license.

Questions about CC BY as it applies to this specific funding opportunity should be submitted to the ETA Grants Management Specialist specified in Section VII.

Only work that is developed by the recipient in whole or in part with grants funds is required to be licensed under the CC BY license. Pre-existing copyrighted materials licensed to or purchased by the grantee from third parties, including modifications of such materials, remain subject to the intellectual property rights the grantee receives under the terms of the particular license or purchase. In addition, works created by the grantee without grant funds do not fall under the CC BY license requirement.

The purpose of the CC BY licensing requirement is to ensure that materials developed with funds provided by these grants result in work that can be freely reused and improved by others. When purchasing or licensing consumable or reusable materials, the grantee is expected to respect all applicable Federal laws and regulations, including those pertaining to the copyright and accessibility provisions of the Federal Rehabilitation Act.

Separate from the CC BY license to the public, the Federal Government reserves a paid-up, nonexclusive and irrevocable license to reproduce, publish, or otherwise use, and to authorize others to use for Federal purposes: i) the copyright in all products developed under the grant, including a subaward or contract under the grant or subaward; and ii) any rights of copyright to which the recipient, subrecipient or a contractor purchases ownership under an award (including, but not limited to, curricula, training models, technical assistance products, and any related materials). Such uses include, but are not limited to, the right to modify and distribute such products worldwide by any means, electronically or otherwise. The grantee may not use Federal funds to pay any royalty or license fee for use of a copyrighted work, or the cost of acquiring by purchase a copyright in a work, where the Department has a license or rights of free use in such work. If revenues are generated through selling products developed with grant funds, including intellectual property, DOL treats such revenues as program income. Such program income is added to the grant and must be expended for allowable grant activities.

If applicable, the following needs to be on all products developed in whole or in part with grant funds:

“This workforce product was funded by a grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration. The product was created by the grantee and does not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Labor. The U.S. Department of Labor makes no guarantees, warranties, or assurances of any kind, express or implied, with respect to such information, including any information on linked sites and including, but not limited to, accuracy of the information or its completeness, timeliness, usefulness, adequacy, continued availability, or ownership. This product is copyrighted by the institution that created it.”

4. Use of Grant Funds for Participant Wages, Incentive Payments, and Needs-Related Payments

Organizations that receive grants through this FOA may use grant funds to pay for the wages of participants where the objective assessment and Individual Career Plan indicate that work experiences are appropriate. Further, the provision of stipends to training enrollees for the purposes of wage replacement is an allowable cost under this FOA. Payment may take the form of wages or stipends. Generally, participants may receive stipends for participating in classes and training. Wages are compensation for services performed for an employer. Grantees must comply with WIOA Section 181 and forthcoming WIOA regulations detailing the applicable wage and labor standards. When paying participant stipends, grantees must maintain documentation of the process for determining the amount of the stipend and the distribution. Grantees providing wages or stipends to participants should be aware of the implications under IRS provisions. Please consult www.irs.gov for more information.

In addition, grantees may provide incentive payments to young adults for recognition and achievement tied to training activities and work experiences. Incentive payments must be in alignment with the goals of the grant. The grantee must have policies and procedures in place governing the award of incentives; any incentives provided under the grant must be in alignment with these organizational policies. Generally, incentive payments are considered miscellaneous compensation and are taxable. Please consult www.irs.gov for more information. Under this FOA, grantees can use no more than 1.5 percent of the grant award for incentive payments.

Needs-related payments are a form of supportive services paid directly to participants or to other entities to cover specific items of cost incurred by the participant for allowable services that enable the individual to participate in the activity or program. Up to 1.5 percent of grant funds awarded under this FOA may be used to provide needs-related payments such as those authorized under WIOA to assist participants with costs related to transportation, child care, food, or other household items, such as paying a utility bill to prevent shut off. Needs-related payments should be tied directly to the cost identified and must be documented to support both the participant’s need for the service as well as the actual transaction. Grantees must have a consistent policy in place on the provision of needs-related payments.

6. Other Submission Requirements

Withdrawal of Applications: You may withdraw an application by written notice to the Grant Officer at any time before an award is made.

5. Application Review Information

   1. Criteria

We have instituted procedures for assessing the technical merit of applications to provide for an objective review of applications and to assist you in understanding the standards against which your application will be judged. The evaluation criteria are based on the information required in the application as described in Sections IV.B.2. (Project Budget) and IV.B.3. (Project Narrative). Reviewers will award points based on the evaluation criteria described below:

Criterion	Points (maximum)
Statement of Need (See Section IV.B.3.a. Statement of Need)	10
Expected Outcomes (See Section IV.B.3.b. Expected Outcomes)	15
Project Design (See Section IV.B.3.c. Project Design)	45
Organizational, Administrative, and Fiscal Capacity (See Section IV.B.3.d. Organizational, Administrative, and Fiscal Capacity)	10
Past Performance – Programmatic Capability (See Section IV.B.3.e. Past Performance – Programmatic Capability)	15
Budget and Budget Justification (See Section IV.B.2. Project Budget)	5
TOTAL	100
Priority Consideration: Promise Zone Designation (See Section IV.B.3.a. Statement of Need)	2

1. Statement of Need (up to 10 points)

Geographic Areas Served: The extent to which the applicant identifies at least three target geographic areas, located in at least two states, with each target area to be served representing a contiguous area. (Up to 2 points)

High Poverty, High Crime: The extent to which the applicant demonstrates, by using relevant and reliable data sources, that the target geographic areas to be served by the sub-grantees are high-poverty, high-crime communities (as defined in Section III.A.). (Up to 2 points)

• Applicants that demonstrate that all sub-grantee target areas are high-poverty, high-crime communities will receive 2 points for this subsection.

• Applicants that demonstrate that at least one but not all sub-grantee target areas are high-poverty, high crime communities will receive 1 point for this subsection.

• Applicants that do not demonstrate that any sub-grantee target areas are high-poverty, high-crime communities will receive 0 points for this subsection.

Justice Involved Young Adults Served: The extent to which the applicant demonstrates that there is a sufficient pool of potential participants between the ages 18 to 24 that have been involved in the juvenile or adult justice system in the geographic coverage area of their organization and the extent to which the applicant describes a viable strategy to ensure that sub-grantees justify the proposed number of eligible participants they plan to serve. (Up to 2 points)

Need for Selected Training Programs: The extent to which the applicant identifies selected training programs in the areas to be served, and justifies the in-demand need for participants who have been served by such programs. (Up to 4 points)

2. Expected Outcomes (up to 15 points)

Outcomes: The extent to which the applicant’s expected outcomes are realistic, clear, and consistent with increasing employment outcomes for justice-involved young adults between the ages of 18 to 24. (Up to 5 points)

Project Objectives: The extent to which the applicant proposes specific, quantifiable project objectives and reasonably justifies how and why its proposed project design will lead to these outcomes. (Up to 5 points)

Support Strategies: The extent to which the applicant justifies how its proposed support strategies will assist sub-grantees in meeting identified outcomes. (Up to 5 points)

3. Project Design (up to 45 points)

Evidence Based and Informed Interventions and Promising Practices: The extent to which the applicant describes and justifies the use of the identified evidence-based and informed interventions and promising practices that it proposes to implement through sub-grantees in its project design to increase the employment outcomes for this population. (Up to 10 points)

Strategies, Approaches, and Methods: The extent to which the applicant describes the strategies, approaches, and methods used to implement this program through sub-grantees as well as the strength of those strategies, approaches, and methods; their integration into the program model, including the milestones associated with achieving major tasks and ability to achieve outcomes; and the explanation for why these strategies, approaches, and methods are superior to alternative strategies, approaches, and methods. (Up to 5 points)

Project Timelines: The extent to which the application reflects coherent and feasible timelines for completion of work. The extent to which the proposed support and assistance for sub-grantees will lead to the achievement of the overarching work plan. (Up to 10 points)

Planning Phase Milestones: The extent to which the applicant describes and justifies a feasible plan for meeting the milestones during the planning phase and assisting sub-grantees to meet these milestones. (Up to 5 points)

Work Plan and Logic Model: The extent to which the applicant’s work plan and logic model clearly demonstrate the relationship between the performance measures and the project’s problem, goals, objectives, and design and persuasively identify potential barriers and means for overcoming them, including indicating the major tasks and assigning responsibilities for those major tasks. (Up to 10 points)

Case Management: The strength of the applicant’s plan to ensure that sub-grantees provide the case management component, including:

• Identifying and providing justification for the ratio of case managers to participants and how the case managers will act as advocates for program participants, including the frequency of their interactions;

• Identifying, justifying, and describing the evidence-informed types of case management services and/or activities provided; and

• Identifying and justifying how the services will be provided.

(Up to 5 points)

4. Organizational, Administrative, and Fiscal Capacity (up to 10 points)

Staff and Multi-site Management and Organizational Structure: The extent to which the applicant has the capacity to carry out this proposed project as a multi-site project implemented through sub-grantees. The extent to which the applicant detailed and connected management and staffing patterns to this project design. The strength of the experiences and capability of the applicant’s organization to effectively implement and conduct this project and its requirements and meet program expectations, including the applicability of any previous experience implementing projects of similar design or magnitude or which were implemented through sub-grantees. The strength of the organization’s fiscal and administrative controls needed to manage federal funds. The capability of the organization to sustain project activities, including supporting and sustaining sub-grantee projects, after Federal financial assistance ends. The strength of the experiences and capability of each sub-grantee to effectively implement this project. (Up to 5 points)

Sub-Grantee Commitments: The strength of the collaboration between the applicant and its sub-grantees as exemplified through the Letters of Commitment or Memoranda of Understanding between the applicant and each sub-grantee. (Up to 3 points)

Sub-Grantee Partnerships: The strength of the applicant’s strategy ensuring sub-grantees will partner and collaborate with additional organizations to support the program model and lead to the identified outcomes. (Up to 2 points)

5. Past Performance – Programmatic Capability (up to 15 points)

PREVIOUSLY-FUNDED REO APPLICANTS

a) Performance Goals:

i] Placement in Education or Employment (Maximum 4 points):

• Previously-funded REO applicants with weighted placement rates of 60.00 percent or higher will receive 4 points for this subsection.

• Previously-funded REO applicants with weighted placement rates of 55.00 percent - 59.99 percent will receive 3 points for this subsection.

• Previously-funded REO applicants with weighted placement rates of 45.00 percent - 54.99 percent will receive 2 points for this subsection.

• Previously-funded REO applicants with weighted placement rates of 35.00 percent - 44.99 percent will receive 1 point for this subsection.

• Previously-funded REO applicants with weighted placement rates of 34.99 percent or below will receive 0 points for this subsection.

ii] Certificate/Degree Attainment (Maximum 4 points):

• Previously-funded REO applicants with weighted certificate/degree attainment rates of 60.00 percent or higher will receive 4 points for this subsection.

• Previously-funded REO applicants with weighted certificate/degree attainment rates of 55.00 percent – 59.99 percent will receive 3 points for this subsection.

• Previously-funded REO applicants with weighted certificate/degree attainment rates of 45.00 percent - 54.99 percent will receive 2 points for this subsection.

• Previously-funded REO applicants with weighted certificate/degree attainment rates of 35.00 percent - 44.99 percent will receive 1 point for this subsection.

• Previously-funded REO applicants with weighted certificate/degree attainment rates of 34.99 percent or below will receive 0 points for this subsection.

b) Spending Rate Analysis (Maximum 3 points):

During the original period of performance:

• Previously-funded REO applicants that expended at least 98 percent of the grant funds for their most recently completed grant will receive 3 points.

• Previously-funded REO applicants that expended at least 90 percent but less than 98 percent of the grant funds for their most recently completed grant will receive 2 points.

• Previously-funded REO applicants that expended at least 80 percent but less than 90 percent of the grant funds for their most recently completed grant will receive 1 points.

• Previously-funded REO applicants that expended less than 80 percent of their grant funds for their most recently completed grant will receive 0 points.

All previously-funded REO applicants must provide an Auditor’s Report as specified in Section IV.B.3.e (Past Performance – Programmatic Capability). Applicants that do not provide the Auditor’s Report will receive 0 points for subsection c below.

c) Fiscal Viability (Maximum 4 points):

• Previously-funded REO applicants that provide an Auditor’s Report with an Unqualified Opinion will receive 4 points.

• Previously-funded REO applicants that provide an Auditor’s Report with a Qualified Opinion will receive 2 point.

• Previously-funded REO applicants that provide an Auditor’s Report with an Adverse Opinion, with a Disclaimer of Opinion, or with no Opinion will receive 0 points for this sub-criterion.

NEW APPLICANTS

All new applicants must provide a performance chart as specified in Section IV.B.3.e (Past Performance – Programmatic Capability). Applicants that do not provide this performance chart will receive 0 points for subsections a-b below.

a) Performance Goals (Maximum 8 points)

• New applicants that met or exceeded both performance goals for their most recently completed grant will receive 8 points for this subsection.

• New applicants that met or exceeded one performance goal but did not meet the other performance goal will receive 4 points for this subsection.

• New applicants that did not meet either performance goal will receive 0 points for this subsection.

b) Spending Rate Analysis (Maximum 3 points)

During the original period of performance:

• New applicants that expended at least 98 percent of the grant funds for their most recently completed grant will receive 3 points.

• New applicants that expended at least 90 percent but less than 98 percent of the grant funds for their most recently completed grant will receive 2 points.

• New applicants that expended at least 80 percent but less than 90 percent of the grant funds for their most recently completed grant will receive 1 points.

• New applicants that expended less than 80 percent of the grant funds for their most recently completed grant will receive 0 points.

All new applicants must provide an Auditor’s Report as specified in Section IV.B.3.e (Past Performance – Programmatic Capability). Applicants that do not provide the Auditor’s Report will receive 0 points for subsection c below.

c) Fiscal Viability (Maximum 4 points):

• New applicants that provide an Auditor’s Report with an Unqualified Opinion will receive 4 points.

• New applicants that provide an Auditor’s Report with a Qualified Opinion will receive 2 point.

• New applicants that provide an Auditor’s Report with an Adverse Opinion, a Disclaimer of Opinion, or no Opinion will receive 0 points for this sub-criterion.

6. Budget and Budget Justification (up to 5 points)

The extent to which the budget is reasonable based on the activities outlined in the project narrative. (Up to 3 points)

The extent to which the time allocated to the project by key personnel in the budget narrative is sufficient to meet project goals. (Up to 2 points)

2. Review and Selection Process

   1. Merit Review and Selection Process

A technical merit review panel will carefully evaluate applications against the selection criteria to determine the merit of applications. These criteria are based on the policy goals, priorities, and emphases set forth in this FOA. Up to 102 points may be awarded to an applicant, depending on the quality of the responses provided. The final scores (which may include the mathematical normalization of review panels) will serve as the primary basis for selection of applications for funding. The panel results are advisory in nature and not binding on the Grant Officer. The Grant Officer reserves the right to make selections based solely on the final scores or to take into consideration other relevant factors when applicable. Such factors may include the geographic distribution of funds for areas served, including rural representation; whether the areas to be served are high-poverty, high-crime, as defined above; and/or other relevant factors. The Grant Officer may consider any information that comes to his/her attention.

The government may elect to award the grant(s) with or without discussions with the applicant. Should a grant be awarded without discussions, the award will be based on the applicant’s signature on the SF-424, including electronic signature via E-Authentication on http://www.grants.gov, which constitutes a binding offer by the applicant.

2. Risk Review Process

Prior to making an award, ETA will review information available through any OMB-designated repository of government-wide eligibility qualification or financial integrity information, such as Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System (FAPIIS), Dun and Bradstreet, and “Do Not Pay.” Additionally, ETA will comply with the requirements of 2 CFR Part 180 codified by DOL at 29 CFR Part 98 [Government-wide Debarment and Suspension (Non-procurement)]. This risk evaluation may incorporate results of the evaluation of the applicant’s eligibility (application screening) or the quality of its application (merit review). If ETA determines that an award will be made, special conditions that correspond to the degree of risk assessed may be applied to the award. Criteria to be evaluated include:

(1) Financial stability;

(2) Quality of management systems and ability to meet the management standards prescribed in the Uniform Grant Guidance;

(3) History of performance. The applicant’s record in managing awards, cooperative agreements, or procurement awards, if it is a prior recipient of such Federal awards, including timeliness of compliance with applicable reporting requirements and, if applicable, the extent to which any previously awarded amounts will be expended prior to future awards;

(4) Reports and findings from audits performed under Subpart F – Audit Requirements of the Uniform Grant Guidance or the reports and findings of any other available audits and monitoring reports containing findings, issues of non-compliance or questioned costs;

(5) The applicant’s ability to effectively implement statutory, regulatory, or other requirements imposed on recipients.

6. Award Administration Information

   1. Award Notices

All award notifications will be posted on the ETA Homepage (http://www.doleta.gov). Applicants selected for award will be contacted directly before the grant’s execution. Non-selected applicants will be notified by mail or email and may request a written debriefing on the significant weaknesses of their application.

Selection of an organization as a recipient does not constitute approval of the grant application as submitted. Before the actual grant is awarded, we may enter into negotiations about such items as program components, staffing and funding levels, and administrative systems in place to support grant implementation. If the negotiations do not result in a mutually acceptable submission, the Grant Officer reserves the right to terminate the negotiations and decline to fund the application. We reserve the right to not fund any application related to this FOA.

2. Administrative and National Policy Requirements

   1. Administrative Program Requirements

All grantees will be subject to all applicable Federal laws, regulations—including the OMB Uniform Guidance, and the terms and conditions of the award. The grant(s) awarded under this FOA will be subject to the following administrative standards and provisions:

a. Non-Profit Organizations, Educational Institutions, For-profit entities and State, Local and Indian Tribal Governments – 2 CFR Part 200 (Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards) and 2 CFR 2900 (DOL’s Supplement to 2 CFR Part 200)

b. All recipients must comply with the applicable provisions of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), Public Law No. 113-328, 128 Stat. 1425 (codified as amended at 29 U.S.C. 3101 et seq.)². Note that section 186(a) of WIOA allows unsuccessful applicants to file administrative appeals.

c. All entities must comply with 29 CFR Part 93 (New Restrictions on Lobbying), 29 CFR Part 94 (Governmentwide Requirements for Drug-Free Workplace (Financial Assistance)), 29 CFR Part 98 (Governmentwide Debarment and Suspension, and drug-free workplace requirements), and, where applicable, 2 CFR Part 200 (Audit Requirements).

d. 29 CFR Part 2, subpart D—Equal Treatment in Department of Labor Programs for Religious Organizations; Protection of Religious Liberty of Department of Labor Social Service Providers and Beneficiaries.

e. 29 CFR Part 31—Nondiscrimination in Federally Assisted Programs of the Department of Labor—Effectuation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

f. 29 CFR Part 32—Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Handicap in Programs or Activities Receiving Federal Financial Assistance.

g. 29 CFR Part 35— Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Age in Programs or Activities Receiving Federal Financial Assistance from the Department of Labor.

h. 29 CFR Part 36—Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Sex in Education Programs or Activities Receiving Federal Financial Assistance.

i. 29 CFR Part 38 – Implementation of the Nondiscrimination and Equal Opportunity Provisions of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act.

j. 29 CFR Parts 29 and 30—Labor Standards for the Registration of Apprenticeship Programs, and Equal Employment Opportunity in Apprenticeship and Training, as applicable.

k. General Terms and Conditions of Award—See the following link: http://www.doleta.gov/grants/pdf/2015template.pdf.

2. Other Legal Requirements:

   1. Religious Activities

The Department notes that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), 42 U.S.C. Section 2000bb, applies to all Federal law and its implementation. If an applicant organization is a faith-based organization that makes hiring decisions on the basis of religious belief, it may be entitled to receive Federal financial assistance under Title I of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act and maintain that hiring practice even though Section 188 of the Act contains a general ban on religious discrimination in employment. If a faith-based organization is awarded a grant, the agency will provide the organization with information on how to request such an exemption.

2. Lobbying or Fundraising the U.S. Government with Federal Funds

In accordance with Section 18 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (Public Law 104-65) (2 U.S.C. 1611), non-profit entities incorporated under Internal Revenue Service Code Section 501(c)(4) that engage in lobbying activities are not eligible to receive Federal funds and grants. No activity, including awareness-raising and advocacy activities, may include fundraising for, or lobbying of, U.S. Federal, State or Local Governments (see 2 CFR 200.450 for more information).

3. Transparency Act Requirements

You must ensure that you have the necessary processes and systems in place to comply with the reporting requirements of the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (Pub. Law 109-282, as amended by section 6202 of Pub. Law 110-252) (Transparency Act), as follows:

• Except for those excepted from the Transparency Act under sub-paragraphs 1, 2, and 3 below, you must ensure that you have the necessary processes and systems in place to comply with the subaward and executive total compensation reporting requirements of the Transparency Act, should they receive funding.

• Upon award, you will receive detailed information on the reporting requirements of the Transparency Act, as described in 2 CFR Part 170, Appendix A, which can be found at the following website: http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/pdf/2010-22705.pdf

The following types of awards are not subject to the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act:

(1) Federal awards to individuals who apply for or receive Federal awards as natural persons (i.e., unrelated to any business or non-profit organization he or she may own or operate in his or her name);

(2) Federal awards to entities that had a gross income, from all sources, of less than $300,000 in the entities' previous tax year; and

(3) Federal awards, if the required reporting would disclose classified information.

4. Safeguarding Data Including Personally Identifiable Information (PII)

Applicants submitting applications in response to this FOA must recognize that confidentiality of PII and other sensitive data is of paramount importance to the Department of Labor and must be observed except where disclosure is allowed by the prior written approval of the Grant Officer or by court order. By submitting an application, you are assuring that all data exchanges conducted through or during the course of performance of this grant will be conducted in a manner consistent with applicable Federal law and TEGL NO. 39-11 (issued June 28, 2012). All such activity conducted by ETA and/or recipient/s will be performed in a manner consistent with applicable state and Federal laws.

By submitting a grant application, you agree to take all necessary steps to protect such confidentiality by complying with the following provisions that are applicable in governing their handling of confidential information:

1. You must ensure that PII and sensitive data developed, obtained, or otherwise associated with DOL/ETA funded grants is securely transmitted.

2. To ensure that such PII is not transmitted to unauthorized users, all PII and other sensitive data transmitted via e-mail or stored on CDs, DVDs, thumb drives, etc., must be encrypted using a Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) 140-2 compliant and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) validated cryptographic module. You must not e-mail unencrypted sensitive PII to any entity, including ETA or contractors.

3. You must take the steps necessary to ensure the privacy of all PII obtained from participants and/or other individuals and to protect such information from unauthorized disclosure. You must maintain such PII in accordance with the ETA standards for information security described in TEGL NO. 39-11 and any updates to such standards we provide to you. Grantees who wish to obtain more information on data security should contact their Federal Project Officer.

4. You must ensure that any PII used during the performance of your grant has been obtained in conformity with applicable Federal and state laws governing the confidentiality of information.

5. You further acknowledge that all PII data obtained through your ETA grant must be stored in an area that is physically safe from access by unauthorized persons at all times and the data will be processed using recipient issued equipment, managed information technology (IT) services, and designated locations approved by ETA. Accessing, processing, and storing of ETA grant PII data on personally owned equipment, at off-site locations e.g., employee’s home, and non-recipient managed IT services, e.g., Yahoo mail, is strictly prohibited unless approved by ETA.

6. Your employees and other personnel who will have access to sensitive/confidential/proprietary/private data must be advised of the confidential nature of the information, the safeguards required to protect the information, and that there are civil and criminal sanctions for noncompliance with such safeguards that are contained in Federal and state laws.

7. You must have policies and procedures in place under which your employees and other personnel, before being granted access to PII, acknowledge their understanding of the confidential nature of the data and the safeguards with which they must comply in their handling of such data as well as the fact that they may be liable to civil and criminal sanctions for improper disclosure.

8. You must not extract information from data supplied by ETA for any purpose not stated in the grant agreement.

9. Access to any PII created by the ETA grant must be restricted to only those employees of the grant recipient who need it in their official capacity to perform duties in connection with the scope of work in the grant agreement.

10. All PII data must be processed in a manner that will protect the confidentiality of the records/documents and is designed to prevent unauthorized persons from retrieving such records by computer, remote terminal or any other means. Data may be downloaded to, or maintained on, mobile or portable devices only if the data are encrypted using NIST validated software products based on FIPS 140-2 encryption. In addition, wage data may only be accessed from secure locations.

11. PII data obtained by the recipient through a request from ETA must not be disclosed to anyone but the individual requestor except as permitted by the Grant Officer or by court order.

12. You must permit ETA to make onsite inspections during regular business hours for the purpose of conducting audits and/or conducting other investigations to assure that you are complying with the confidentiality requirements described above. In accordance with this responsibility, you must make records applicable to this Agreement available to authorized persons for the purpose of inspection, review, and/or audit.

13. You must retain data received from ETA only for the period of time required to use it for assessment and other purposes, or to satisfy applicable Federal records retention requirements, if any. Thereafter, you agree that all data will be destroyed, including the degaussing of magnetic tape files and deletion of electronic data.

5. Record Retention

You must follow Federal guidelines on record retention, which require you to maintain all records pertaining to grant activities for a period of at least three years from the date of submission of the final expenditure report. See 2 CFR 200.333-.337 for more specific information, including information about the start of the record retention period for awards that are renewed quarterly or annually, and when the records must be retained for more than three years.

6. Use of Contracts and Subawards

You must abide by the following definitions of contract, contractor, subaward, and subrecipient:

Contract: Contract means a legal instrument by which a non-Federal entity (defined as a state, local government, Indian tribe, institution of higher education (IHE), nonprofit organization, for-profit entity, foreign public entity, or a foreign organization that carries out a Federal award as a recipient or subrecipient) purchases property or services needed to carry out the project or program under a Federal award. The term as used in this FOA does not include a legal instrument, even if the non-Federal entity considers it a contract, when the substance of the transaction meets the definition of a Federal award or subaward (see definition of Subaward below).

Contractor: Contractor means an entity that receives a contract as defined above in Contract.

Subaward: Subaward means an award provided by a pass-through entity (defined as a non-Federal entity that provides a subaward to a subrecipient to carry out part of a Federal program) to a subrecipient for the subrecipient to carry out part of a Federal award received by the pass-through entity. It does not include payments to a contractor or payments to an individual that is a beneficiary of a Federal program. A subaward may be provided through any form of legal agreement, including an agreement that the pass-through entity considers a contract.

Subrecipient: Subrecipient means a non-Federal entity that receives a subaward from a pass-through entity to carry out part of a Federal program; but does not include an individual that is a beneficiary of such program. A subrecipient may also be a recipient of other Federal awards directly from a Federal awarding agency.

You must follow the provisions at 2 CFR 200.330-.332 regarding subrecipient monitoring and management. Also see 2 CFR 200.308(c)(6) regarding prior approval requirements for subawards. When awarding subawards, you are required to comply with provisions on governmentwide suspension and debarment found at 2 CFR Part 180 and codified by DOL at 29 CFR Part 98.

7. Closeout of Grant Award

Any entity that receives an award under this Announcement must close its grant with ETA at the end of the final year of the grant. Information about this process may be found in ETA’s Grant Closeout FAQ located at http://www.doleta.gov/grants/docs/GCFAQ.pdf.

3. Other Administrative Standards and Provisions

Except as specifically provided in this FOA, our acceptance of an application and an award of Federal funds to sponsor any programs(s) does not provide a waiver of any grant requirements and/or procedures. For example, the OMB Uniform Guidance requires that an entity’s procurement procedures ensure that all procurement transactions are conducted, as much as practical, to provide full and open competition. If an application identifies a specific entity to provide goods or services, the award does not provide the justification or basis to sole source the procurement, i.e., avoid competition.

4. Special Program Requirements

   1. ETA Evaluation

As a condition of award, grantees are required to participate in a national evaluation. The evaluation will be conducted by a third party research contractor, selected by, and on behalf of the Department to inform workforce development policy and advance the Department’s mission to help the nation’s workers and employers. The national evaluation may include an implementation assessment and an impact and/or outcomes analysis within or across grantees. Conducting an impact analysis could involve random assignment of eligible participants into a treatment group (which would receive program services or enhanced program services) or control group(s) (that would receive no program services or un-enhanced program services). As a part of the national evaluation, grantees must agree to: (1) make records on participants, employers, and funding available to the research contractor; (2) provide the research contractor access to program operating personnel and participants; and (3) follow evaluation procedures as specified by the national evaluator under the direction of DOL including after the grant period of performance.

Random assignment is a sample selection technique in which individuals are assigned to a treatment or to a control group by lottery, similar to conducting a lottery for class assignments when there is a waiting list. The two groups are compared to detect the difference in post-service outcomes (if any) made by the product and/or service. This type of experimental design provides the most rigorous and widely accepted evidence of effectiveness.  More information on experimental design and random assignment can be found here:

http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/desexper.php

http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/random.htm

2. Performance Goals

Please note that applicants will be held to outcomes provided and failure to meet those outcomes may result in technical assistance or other intervention by ETA, and may also have a significant impact on decisions about future grants with ETA.

3. Reporting

You must meet DOL reporting requirements. Specifically, you must submit the reports and documents listed below to DOL electronically:

1. Quarterly Financial Reports

A Quarterly Financial Status Report (ETA 9130) is required until such time as all funds have been expended or the grant period has expired. Quarterly reports are due 45 days after the end of each calendar year quarter. On the final Financial Status Report, you must include any subaward amounts so we can calculate final indirect costs, if applicable. You must use DOL’s Online Electronic Reporting System and information and instructions will be provided to grantees.

2. Quarterly Performance Reports

You must submit a quarterly progress report within 45 days after the end of each calendar year quarter. The report must include quarterly information on grant activities, performance goals, and milestones. The last quarterly progress report will serve as the grant’s Final Performance Report. This report must provide both quarterly and cumulative information on the grant activities. It must summarize project activities, employment outcomes and other deliverables, and related results of the project, and must thoroughly document the training or labor market information approaches that you used. We will provide you with formal guidance about the data and other information that is required to be collected and reported on either a regular basis or special request basis.

7. Agency Contacts

For further information about this FOA, please contact Ariam Ferro, Grants Management Specialist, Office of Grants Management, at (202) 693-3968. Applicants should e-mail all technical questions to [email protected] and must specifically reference FOA-ETA-16-06, and along with question(s), include a contact name, fax and phone number. This Announcement is available on the ETA Web site at http://www.doleta.gov/grants and at http://www.grants.gov.

8. Other Information

   1. Transparency

DOL is committed to conducting a transparent grant award process and publicizing information about program outcomes. Posting grant applications on public websites is a means of promoting and sharing innovative ideas. For all applications in this grant competition, we will publish the Abstracts required by Section IV.B.4., and selected information from the SF-424 for all applications on the Department’s public website or similar publicly accessible location. Additionally, we will publish a version of the Project Narrative required by Section IV.B.3. for all those applications that are awarded grants, on the Department’s website or a similar location. We will publish no other attachments to the application. We will not publish the Project Narratives and Abstracts until after we have announced the grant recipients. In addition, information about grant progress and results may also be made publicly available.

DOL recognizes that grant applications sometimes contain information that an applicant may consider proprietary or business confidential information, or may contain personally identifiable information (PII). Proprietary or business confidential information is information that is not usually disclosed outside your organization and disclosing this information is likely to cause you substantial competitive harm.

PII is any information that can be used to distinguish or trace an individual’s identity, such as name, social security number, date and place of birth, mother’s maiden name, or biometric records, and any other information that is linked or linkable to an individual, such as medical, educational, financial, and employment information³.

Abstracts will be published in the form originally submitted, without any redactions. Applicants should not include any proprietary or confidential business information or PII in this summary. In the event that an applicant submits proprietary or confidential business information or PII, DOL is not liable for the posting of this information contained in the Abstract. The submission of the grant application constitutes a waiver of the applicant’s objection to the posting of any proprietary or confidential business information contained in the Abstract. Additionally, the applicant is responsible for obtaining all authorizations from relevant parties for publishing all PII contained within the Abstract. In the event the Abstract contains proprietary or confidential business information or PII, the applicant is presumed to have obtained all necessary authorizations to provide this information and may be liable for any improper release of this information.

By submission of this grant application, the applicant agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the United States, the U.S. Department of Labor, its officers, employees, and agents against any liability or for any loss or damages arising from this application. By such submission of this grant application, the applicant further acknowledges having the authority to execute this release of liability.

In order to ensure that proprietary or confidential business information or PII is properly protected from disclosure when DOL posts the winning Project Narratives, applicants whose Project Narratives will be posted will be asked to submit a second redacted version of their Project Narrative, with any proprietary, confidential commercial/business information, and PII redacted. You should remove all non-public information about the applicant’s and consortium members’ staff (if applicable) as well.

The Department will contact the applicants whose Project Narratives will be published by letter or email, and provide further directions about how and when to submit the redacted version of the Project Narrative.

Submission of a redacted version of the Project Narrative will constitute permission by the applicant for DOL to make the redacted version publicly available. We will also assume that by submitting the redacted version of the Project Narrative, the applicant has obtained the agreement to the applicant’s decision about what material to redact of all persons and entities whose proprietary, confidential business information or PII is contained in the Project Narrative. If an applicant fails to provide a redacted version of the Project Narrative within 45 days of DOL’s request, DOL will publish the original Project Narrative in full, after redacting only PII. (Note that the original, unredacted version of the Project Narrative will remain part of the complete application package, including an applicant’s proprietary and confidential business information and any PII.)

We encourage applicants to maximize the grant application information that will be publicly disclosed, and to exercise restraint and redact only information that clearly is proprietary, confidential commercial/business information or PII. The redaction of entire pages or sections of the Project Narrative is not appropriate, and will not be allowed, unless the entire portion merits such protection. Should a dispute arise about whether redactions are appropriate, DOL will follow the procedures outlined in the Department’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) regulations (29 CFR Part 70).

DOL will protect redacted information in grant applications from public disclosure in accordance with Federal law, including the Trade Secrets Act (18 U.S.C. § 1905), FOIA, and the Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. § 552a). If DOL receives a FOIA request for your application, the procedures in DOL’s FOIA regulations for responding to requests for commercial/business information submitted to the government will be followed, as well as all FOIA exemptions and procedures. See 29 CFR § 70.26. Consequently, it is possible that application of FOIA rules may result in release of information in response to a FOIA request that an applicant redacted in its “redacted copy.”

2. Web-Based Resources

DOL maintains a number of web-based resources that may be of assistance to applicants. For example, the CareerOneStop portal (http://www.careeronestop.org), which provides national and state career information on occupations; the Occupational Information Network (O*NET) Online (http://online.onetcenter.org) which provides occupational competency profiles; and America's Service Locator (http://www.servicelocator.org), which provides a directory of our nation's One-Stop Career Centers.

3. Industry Competency Models and Career Clusters

ETA supports an Industry Competency Model Initiative to promote an understanding of the skill sets and competencies that are essential to an educated and skilled workforce. A competency model is a collection of competencies that, taken together, define successful performance in a particular work setting. Competency models serve as a starting point for the design and implementation of workforce and talent development programs. To learn about the industry-validated models visit the Competency Model Clearinghouse (CMC) at http://www.careeronestop.org/CompetencyModel. The CMC site also provides tools to build or customize industry models, as well as tools to build career ladders and career lattices for specific regional economies.

4. Workforce3One Resources

   1. We encourage you to view the information gathered through the conference calls with Federal agency partners, industry stakeholders, educators, and local practitioners. The information on resources identified can be found on Workforce3One.org at: https://www.workforce3one.org/find/?sr=1&ps=20&sort=5.

2. We encourage you to view the online tutorial, “Grant Applications 101: A Plain English Guide to ETA Competitive Grants,” available through Workforce3One at: http://www.workforce3one.org/page/grants_toolkit.

3. We created Workforce System Strategies to make it easier for the public workforce system and its partners to identify effective strategies and support improved customer outcomes. The collection highlights strategies informed by a wide range of evidence such as experimental studies and implementation evaluations, as well as supporting resources such as toolkits. We encourage you to review these resources by visiting http://strategies.workforce3one.org/.

4. We created a technical assistance portal at https://etareporting.workforce3one.org/page/financial that contains online training and resources for fiscal and administrative issues. Online trainings available include, but are not limited to, Introduction to Grant Applications and Forms, Indirect Costs, Cost Principles, and Accrual Accounting.

5. Definitions of Evidence-Based and Evidence-Informed Interventions

For the purpose of this FOA, the Department has developed definitions for “Evidence-Based Interventions” and “Evidence-Informed Interventions.”

Evidence-based interventions are approaches to prevention or treatments that are validated by documented scientific evidence from randomized controlled trials or from quasi-experimental or correlational studies and that show positive employment effects (for randomized controlled trials and quasi-experimental studies) or favorable associations (for correlational studies) on the primary targeted outcomes for populations or settings similar to those of the proposed pilot. The best evidence to support an applicant’s proposed program design is one or more randomized controlled trials. The next best evidence will be studies using a quasi-experimental design. Correlational analysis may also be used as evidence to support an applicant’s proposed program design if the correlational research had strong statistical controls for selection bias and for discerning the influence of internal factors.

Evidence-informed interventions bring together the best available research, professional expertise, and input from the target population to identify and deliver services that have promise to achieve positive outcomes for the target population.

Resources that may be helpful in identifying evidence-based and informed models and components include, but are not limited to:

• http://whatworks.csgjusticecenter.org/focus-area/employment-topic

• http://www.crimesolutions.gov/TopicDetails.aspx?ID=36

• http://clear.dol.gov/

• http://findyouthinfo.gov/

• http://www.ojjdp.gov/mpg/

• http://www.blueprintsprograms.com/

• http://strategies.workforce3one.org/

Models may include, but are not limited to:

• Registered Apprenticeship

• Work-based learning

• Career Pathways

• Cognitive Behavioral Interventions

• Family reunification

• Gang prevention, e.g., cease fire model

• Legal Services including diversion and expungement

• Mentoring

• Pre-Apprenticeship

• Risk Recidivism Models

• Satellite American Job Centers (One-Stop Centers) in Detention or Secure Confinement facilities

• Sector Strategies

6. Directions for using the American Community Survey Data to Identify Poverty Level of Target Area:

1. Begin at the Census Bureau web site at http://www.census.gov. (Note: The American Fact Finder does not support Microsoft Explorer.)

2. Sometimes there is a pop-up advertisement for Census Bureau products. If so, click on <X> to close the advertisement.

3. At the very bottom of the first page in the blue background under “Find Data,” click on <American Factfinder>.

4. On the American Factfinder page near the bottom of the page under “What We Provide,” click on <American Community Survey Get Data>.

5. On the American Community Survey page, under “Refine Your Search Results,” type in “S1701 2014 5-Year” then click on <Go>.

6. The following information will appear: “ID #: S1701” (Column 1); “Table, File or Document Title: POVERTY STATUS IN THE PAST 12 MONTHS” (Column 2); “Dataset: 2014 ACS 5-year estimates” (Column 3). Check the box for this data set.

7. On the left side of page, click on <Geographies>. The “Select Geographies” box will come up with four tabs: List, Name, Address, and Map.

8. Double click on <Map>. A map of North America will come up.

9. In the upper left corner of the map is a text box with an arrow that says "Find address or place." Type in the name of your city and click <Go>.

10. A list appears with the city you wanted included in the list as well as other places with the same name. Click on your selected city. A map of your city will come up.

11. Along the right side of the map is a series of icons. The third, which resembles three layers of tiles, is called <Boundaries>. Click on it, then select the 7th choice, <Census Tracts>. Make sure to click both boxes, then click on <Update> at the very bottom of the drop-down box.

12. After you click on <Update>, the map of your city will now display Census Tracts. You may need to close the <Boundaries> box to see the entire map.

13. You will probably need to zoom in on the map by clicking on the “+” at the top left of the map to make the Census Tract numbers legible. To pan around the map, click on the map and drag.

14. Click on the first icon on the right, which looks like an arrow pointing to a circle, called <Select Geographies>. Click on the down arrow under “Select” to open the pull-down menu, then select the 6th option, <Census Tracts>.

15. Next, select the first of the four shape boxes under the pull-down menu, labeled <select using a pointer>. Your cursor now becomes a pointer.

16. Move your pointer over the map and click on each desired Census Tract to be included in your targeted service delivery area. To conform to grant requirements, the Census Tracts that you select must be contiguous. At times you may need to zoom in further to see street boundaries.

17. The selected Census Tracts will appear gray on the map and be listed within the <Select Geographies> box, under the four shape boxes. To remove a Census Tract from the list, click on the blue <X>.

18. When you are satisfied with your selections, click on <Add to Your Selections> underneath the Census Tract listings. Your selected Census Tracts will now appear as yellow on the map.

19. Next, click on <Topics> located to the left of the map. A dialogue box will pop up. Just click on the <X> to close the dialogue box.

20. Then click on the title of the data file that you previously selected: “Table, File or Document Title: POVERTY STATUS IN THE PAST 12 MONTHS” (Column 2).

21. A table will display the poverty data for the Census Tracts that you selected. Use only the first row of data showing overall poverty numbers for each Census Tract. Use the first column, the total population of the Census Tract and the third column, the population below poverty. Use the directional arrows on the top of the table to move from Census Tract to Census Tract.

22. Do not look at the poverty rate of each Census Tract. Rather, create your own table using Excel with a column showing the total population of each Census Tract and a column showing the number in poverty in each Census Tract. Add up each column and divide the total number in poverty in all of the Census Tracts by the total population of all of the Census Tracts to compute the poverty rate of the entire target community for each sub-grantee. Include this information in the “Poverty and Crime Rate Table” when you submit your application.

23. To save your work thus far, click on <Bookmark/Save> at the top of the table.  You will be given two choices – to either “Create Bookmark” or to “Save Query.”  You may as well do both. First, copy the URL provided in the dialogue box and create a bookmark using your browser’s “Bookmarks” menu and the URL. Second, select <Save Query>.  Click on <Save> when given the prompt and you will be given the chance to browse your computer’s files to get to the location where you want to save your work just as you would if you were saving any other document. Then hit <Save>.

24. If the overall poverty rates of the Census Tracts you selected for each sub-grantee is above 30 percent, you are done.  You do not need to submit the map with your application, but you may need to use the zoom feature of the map at a later date to identify the streets that serve as the boundaries of the target area.  In almost all cases streets forming the boundaries of Census Tracts will be shown if you zoom in close enough.  In a few cases the map will not show the name of a particular street and you will have to use a street map or actually drive through the target area to identify the boundary street.

25. If the overall poverty rate of the Census Tracts you selected is less than 30 percent, you may choose to go back and add or delete Census Tracts.  At the top right of the page with your table, click on <Back to Advanced Search>.  This will take you back to the page with the “Your Selections” box.  Below the “Your Selections” box, click on <Geographies>.  Then, at the top of the “Geographies” page, click on <Maps>.  This will take you back to the map that you have been working on. Repeat Steps 11 and 14.

26. You can proceed to add Census Tracts by clicking on additional points on the map and clicking on <Add to Your Selections>.  To delete a Census Tract, simply click on the red <X> next to the desired Census Tract in the “Your Selections” box.  As you add and delete Census Tracts, the Census Tracts included in the target area must remain contiguous.

27. Once you have added and deleted any desired Census Tracts, repeat steps 19 through 22 to access the table showing the poverty rates of your new set of Census Tracts.  Again, click on <Bookmark> at the top of the table and select both “Create Bookmark” and “Save Query” to save your work.

28. To retrieve a Bookmark after you have saved it, simply go to your “Favorites” bar and click on the item. To retrieve a Query, go to: www.Census.gov. On the bottom of the Census Bureau home page in the blue background under “Find Data,” click on <American Factfinder>. Then, in the bottom right hand corner of the American Fact Finder home page, click on <Load Query> and then click on the <Browse> prompt to find the work that you saved on your computer.

7. Reentry Resources

The Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center, in collaboration with the Center for Employment Opportunities, the Departments of Labor and Justice, and the Annie E. Casey Foundation recently released a white paper on integrating reentry and employment strategies using a resource allocation and service‐matching tool. The white paper introduces the Resource Allocation and Service‐Matching Tool, which is based on two key dimensions—an individual’s risk of reoffending (criminogenic risk) and job readiness.

There are four groupings that result from assessing individuals under correctional control along these dimensions. Each group can be assigned a combination of employment program components and service delivery strategies that are tailored to individuals’ risk for criminal activity and complemented by corrections interventions. For more information on this tool, the white paper can be found at http://csgjusticecenter.org/wp‐content/uploads/2013/09/Final.Reentry‐and‐Employment.pp_.pdf.

9. OMB Information Collection

OMB Information Collection No 1225-0086, Expires March 31, 2016.

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 20 hours per response, including time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information.

Send comments about the burden estimated or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to the U.S. Department of Labor, to the attention of the Departmental Clearance Officer, 200 Constitution Avenue NW, Room N1301, Washington, DC 20210. Comments may also be emailed to [email protected] .

PLEASE DO NOT RETURN YOUR GRANT APPLICATION TO THIS ADDRESS. ONLY SEND COMMENTS ABOUT THE BURDEN CAUSED BY THE COLLECTION OF INFORMATION TO THIS ADDRESS. SEND YOUR GRANT APPLICATION TO THE SPONSORING AGENCY AS SPECIFIED EARLIER IN THIS ANNOUNCEMENT.

This information is being collected for the purpose of awarding a grant. DOL will use the information collected through this “Funding Opportunity Announcement” to ensure that grants are awarded to the applicants best suited to perform the functions of the grant. This information is required to be considered for this grant.

Signed __________________________, in Washington, D.C. by:

Eric D. Luetkenhaus

Grant Officer, Employment and Training Administration

1 The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (“WIOA”, Public Law 113-128) was signed into law on July 22, 2014. Most provisions of WIOA became effective July 1, 2015. Grants awarded under this FOA are authorized by the WIOA, and the terms of the WIOA will apply to these grants for the life of the grants. Please note that in addition to the provisions of WIOA, grantees will also be subject to WIOA’s implementing regulations when they are finalized and promulgated.

2 Please see footnote 1 regarding the applicability of WIOA and its implementing regulations.

3 OMB Memorandum 07-16 and 06-19. GAO Report 08-536, Privacy: Alternatives Exist for Enhancing Protection of Personally Identifiable Information, May 2008, http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d08536.pdf.

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