Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence Instructions for Continuation Materials FY14

Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence Instructions for Continuation Materials – FY14 VOCA Child Services #213001

CONTINUATION MATERIAL DUE DATE AND TIME:

4:00PM, Monday, April 22, 2013

Email one copy of the completed application to .

GENERAL INFORMATION…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………2

Eligible Programs………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…2

Funded Services – VOCA Child ………………………………………………………………………………………………….…….3

Funded Services – VOCA Child Therapy…………..…………………………………………………………………….………..3

Limitations on Funded Services………….…………………………………………………………………………………………..4

Allowable Costs………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………5

Donor Match Requirements……………………………………………………………………………………………………….…..5

Reporting Requirements…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..…….5

Other Requirements…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…6

COVER PAGE/CHECKLIST AND INSTRUCTIONS………………………………………………………………………….……..7

GENERAL INFORMATION

Applications for continuation funding must be submitted via e-mail and received no later than 4:00pm, Monday, April 22, 2013. ICADV Policies and Procedures for Grant Administration state that, “Programs submitting applications up to 48 hours late will be fined $500. Applications received in the ICADV office 48 hours after the deadline will not be accepted”. Proposals that do not meet the assurances or do not follow the directions will not be read.

Since FY86, the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority (the Authority) has entered into contractual agreements with ICADV to administer funds for services to domestic violence victims under the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) grant program. These grants have been awarded to agencies which target services to victims of domestic violence.

These funds are a portion of a federal grant awarded by the Office for Victims of Crime of the U.S. Department of Justice to the Authority for direct client services to crime victims. Contracts resulting from this application are subject to laws, regulations and guidelines applicable to the VOCA program.

Your agency’s TOTAL VOCA FY14 request for funds should not exceed your FY13 TOTAL VOCA funds awarded to your program. The FY13 total includes funds awarded to you for any of the following: adult and child services. Adult services may be requested under a separate continuation application. With one exception, you may proportion Adult and Child services requests for funds at any ratio that best suits the service needs in your area, as long as the combined amount you request for total services does not exceed your agency’s total FY13 VOCA award from ICADV. However, if you received VOCA Child Therapy Reimbursement funding in FY13 and are seeking that funding again, you must allocate the same amount for VOCA Child Therapy services in FY14.

Grant awards for FY14 are contingent upon ICADV receiving VOCA funds from the Authority, the amount of VOCA money available, and the number of requests that are funded. The FY14 grant is a twelve-month grant, beginning July 1, 2013 and ending June 30, 2014. This grant is for the second of a two year grant cycle. Future funding depends upon satisfactory program performance, the availability of funds, and timely submission of grant application materials.

Eligible Programs

Programs in good standing that are currently receiving funds from ICADV are eligible for funding. Funded programs are considered in good standing if they meet the deadline for proposal submission, they submit reports on time, they accomplish their goals, objectives, and service projections, and they fulfill all other contractual obligations and assurances.

Funded Services – VOCA Child

The purpose of VOCA Child funds is to help children heal from the effects of domestic violence by providing a safe and supportive environment; initial intake and assessment; and ongoing services such as group, individual and family counseling; case management and advocacy. Services should include providing initial orientation and helping children develop normalized routines and activities at the shelter or walk-in program. In most instances, these services will also include working with the mother to implement or maintain a child’s participation. In addition, services in this project are intended to address the needs of a special subset of the general population of children who come to domestic violence programs for services. Children with emotional, physical, learning and social behavioral problems, or those at risk for problems related to the severity of violence experienced by their mother, are also served under VOCA Child projects. Services to this group are provided in order to strengthen the bond between mother and child, promote the child’s well-being, enhance the parenting skills of mothers and link children to appropriate community resources.

Funded Services – VOCA Child Therapy

Clients eligible for these services include children who, through interviews with parent/child and staff observation/assessment, have been identified as having emotional, physical, social, educational or behavioral problems. Children who are otherwise identified as “high risk” because their mothers have experienced moderate to severe physical violence are also eligible. Adults are eligible for two allowable services for the parent: family therapy with the child(ren) and participation in a specialized parenting group. Any person served under this project must first be a client of your dv agency. Services provided under this project are to be provided either 1) on a contractual, reimbursement basis by a therapist outside of your agency or by a qualified staff person (see Services Guidelines Manual for qualifications, p. 210); or 2) through supporting the salary of a qualified staff person. Programs must keep on file copies of the therapist’s credentials. In addition, if a program uses a contractual therapist, the program must keep on file the rate of pay certification and also complete a subcontract with that person. Fundable services under this project are:

  1. Evaluation/Assessment: Social, psychological, psychiatric evaluations of children exhibiting emotional and behavioral disturbances. Evaluations are estimated at 1-2 hours in length.
  2. Individual Therapy: Individual child therapy. Family therapy for mother and child(ren).
  3. Specialized Groups: Children’s or mother/child groups of program clients. Groups are structured and may be up to 12 weeks in duration. Groups may be organized around a behavior problem, e.g., ADD. Groups may be organized around a therapeutic activity, e.g., art or music therapy. Parenting groups are allowable. When planning specialized groups, please note that these project funds are intended for specialized services for the subset of children who are exhibiting mental health problems, rather than the general child population at your program.
  4. Collaborative Case Management/Case Consultations*: The therapist’s case consultations with program staff regarding progress, evaluation, therapy. Case consultations should include parent and child, when appropriate. There is a limit on the percentage of dollars to be used for this purpose.
  5. Staff Consultations*: The therapist’s general consultations with program staff to provide expertise and guidance at regularly scheduled staffing. There is a limit on the percentage of dollars to be used for this purpose.
  6. Educational or Therapeutic Materials: such as videos, toys, games or books for use in therapy or special group activities. Art supplies may be purchased for art therapy. Each program may spend up to $500. Funds may not be spent on customary children’s program supplies such as healthy snacks, etc.
  7. No Show/Cancellations: These funds may support “no show” expenses/service hours up to two (2) times/hours per client in the fiscal year. Once a client has cancelled with insufficient notice or not shown for more than two (2) appointments made with the therapist, the program cannot be reimbursed further for the client’s therapy services in that fiscal year.

*Funds spent on Collaborative Case Management/Case Consultation plus funds spent on Staff Consultation, should not exceed 20% of your agency’s total amount expended for Child Therapy Reimbursement Services.

Limitations on Funded Services

VOCA funds are to be used to provide direct services to crime victims. However, some time may be spent on presentations to outside agencies, as long as those presentations clearly fall within these guidelines:

  1. VOCA or match funded staff time, not to exceed an average of 4 hours per month, may be used to provide public presentations to community groups and schools, provided the primary purpose of the presentation is to inform people about the VOCA funded project and available services;
  2. VOCA or match funded staff time, not to exceed an average of 10 hours per month, may be used to provide public presentations to criminal justice personnel and medical service providers, provided the primary purpose of the presentation is to inform people about the VOCA funded project and available services.

2.  The following activities are NOT SUPPORTED AT ANY LEVEL by VOCA funds (DO NOT REFERENCE THESE SERVICES IN YOUR PROPOSAL FOR USE OF VOCA FUNDS):

  1. Coordination of services is NOT allowed (unless on behalf of a specific client)
  2. Networking is NOT allowed
  3. Development of protocols, interagency agreements, and other working agreements is NOT allowed
  4. System (Institutional) advocacy is NOT allowed (advocacy that is not on behalf of a specific client)
  5. Lobbying is NOT allowed

Allowable Costs

VOCA funds may not be used to supplant existing resources. Allowable costs are those that are directly related to providing direct services, such as staff salaries and benefits. Other allowable project costs are those that are necessary and essential to providing direct services, including transportation costs, pro-rated rate and telephone expenses, and a reasonable amount for supervision of the VOCA staff and/or volunteers.

VOCA funds may not be used for administrative expenses, with the exception of audit costs. Up to 2% of the VOCA award may be used for audit costs as provided by federal guidelines. These funds may only support audit costs if your agency receives more than $500,000 in federal funds and is required to complete an A-133 Circular Audit.

Donor Match Requirements

A matching contribution of 20% (cash or in-kind) of the total cost of the VOCA Adult Services is required and must be derived from non-federal sources. For every $4 in VOCA funds, you must provide $1 in match funds from non-federal sources. (The total cost is the VOCA allocation plus non-federal match, e.g., $50,000 VOCA + $12,500 match = $62,500) Match funds are restricted to the same uses as the VOCA funds, must be related to the funded project and must be expended within the grant period.

Reporting Requirements

Programs will be required to use the ICJIA data collection system for all data reporting. Programs must also submit monthly financial reports. Programs also may be required to meet other reporting requirements as determined by ICADV, the Authority, and/or the Department of Justice Office on Victims of Crime. Please see your VOCA subcontract as well as ICADV’s Policies and Procedures for Grant Administration for reporting requirements.

If turnover in a VOCA-designated position occurs, the program must provide to ICADV, as part of the financial reporting form for the VOCA project, an explanation of how service is being provided. If the position is not filled within 75 days, a written justification for continued funding must be submitted to the ICADV office.

Other Requirements

Grantees must provide assurances that each project component will have a designated position on staff to provide the funded services. It is expected that services will be provided over a 12-month period with funds from this grant. Programs must also agree to participate in any project evaluation sponsored by ICADV or ICJIA.

§1 COVER PAGE/CHECKLIST AND INSTRUCTIONS

To be accepted for consideration, proposals must meet the requirements set forth in these instructions for continuation materials. Applicants must submit one (1) copy of the completed continuation materials via email by the indicated due date and time. Continuation materials format must include the following in the order indicated.

Use the following checklist to outline your application. This will ensure that you are including all required components in your continuation application.

Application Checklist:

§1.  ____ Cover Page/Checklist

§2.  ____ Project Continuity Certification (attached)

§3.  ____ Service Objectives Tables (attached in separate Excel Spreadsheet)

§4.  ____ Outcome Objectives (attached)

§5.  ____ Proposed Budget and Budget Narrative (attached in separate Excel Spreadsheet)

§2 PROJECT CONTINUITY CERTIFICATION

Your FY12 VOCA project is a continuation of the project your program/agency proposed for FY11. Before completing the remainder of your application, please review your FY11 proposal narrative for agency and project focus, scope of services proposed and overall program goals. Then consider the four (4) questions listed to determine if there are any notable changes from the FY11 proposed project and what you envision for your FY12 project. Answer each question in narrative form. If none of the stated changes have occurred, please note “no changes” for that question.

§3 SERVICE OBJECTIVE TABLES

Complete the Service Objectives Tables (Direct Client Services Table, Orders of Protection Table and, if applicable, the Community Presentations Table). These are your annual objectives for adult and child clients served, service hours, OP’s and presentations. We suggest that you complete these tables before writing the narrative of your application. Several service categories are bolded for each project. These bold categories are the primary, targeted services for each project. Most of your service hours should fall within these bolded categories. You may provide hours of service in other, non-bolded categories on a limited, as needed basis, but your focus must remain on the target population and target services for each project component.

§4 OUTCOME OBJECTIVES

Add an outcome objective for the project. An outcome objective describes the impact that the services you provide have on clients. (e.g., 85% of clients attending group sessions will be able to identify three safety strategies and resources for help) Your outcome objective should be measurable in some way and should describe what you will do to achieve the objective. (e.g., The adult services counselor will administer a written survey to all clients attending more than one group session in which they are asked to name three safety strategies they learned in group. The adult services counselor will keep a monthly tally of client progress on this objective.) Please note: Outcome objectives are NOT the number of clients that will receive a type of service or the number of service hours provided. An outcome objective is the desired outcome of your provision of services. For example, you may ask yourself, “What do I hope clients receiving this service (adult group counseling) will get out of it? How do they benefit from it? How do I go about measuring it?”

§5 FY12 BUDGET AND BUDGET NARRATIVE

The Proposed Budget is attached in an Excel spreadsheet. You may also download the budget form from http://www.ilcadv.org/Members_only/GrantInformation/default.html. Complete the budget and budget narrative that identifies the funds needed to implement your project. Instructions are included on the worksheets. Explain in narrative form how costs were calculated. Costs must relate directly to the proposed project. To help you complete this section, instructions have been provided for you at http://www.ilcadv.org/Members_only/GrantInformation/default.html.

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