[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 229 (Tuesday, November 30, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 74056-74059]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-29976]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Administration for Children and Families
Request for Public Comment on the Proposed Adoption of
Administration for Native Americans (ANA) Program Policies and
Procedures
AGENCY: Administration for Native Americans, ACF, HHS.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: Pursuant to Section 814 of the Native American Programs Act of
1974 (NAPA), as amended, the Administration for Native Americans (ANA)
is required to provide members of the public an opportunity to comment
on proposed changes in interpretive rules, general statements of
policy, and rules of agency procedure or practice, and to give notice
of the final adoption of such changes at least 30 days before the
changes become effective. In accordance with notice requirements of
NAPA, ANA herein describes its proposed interpretive rules, general
statements of policy, and rules of agency procedure or practice as they
relate to the Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 Funding Opportunity Announcements
(FOA) for the following programs: Social and Economic Development
Strategies (SEDS), Social and Economic Development Strategies--Tribal
Governance (SEDS--TG), Social and Economic Development Strategies--
Assets for Independence (SEDS--AFI), Native Language Preservation and
Maintenance (Language P&M), Native Language Preservation and
Maintenance--Esther Martinez Initiative (Language--EMI), and
Environmental Regulatory Enhancement (ERE). This notice also provides
additional information about ANA's plan for administering the programs.
DATES: The deadline for receipt of comments is 30 days from the date of
publication in the Federal Register.
ADDRESSES: Comments in response to this notice should be addressed to
Lillian Sparks, Commissioner, Administration for Native Americans, 370
L'Enfant Promenade, SW., Mail Stop: Aerospace 2--West, Washington, DC
20447. Delays may occur in mail delivery to Federal offices; therefore,
a copy of comments should be faxed to (202) 690-7441. Comments will be
available for inspection by members of the public at the Administration
for Native Americans, 901 D Street, SW., Washington, DC 20447.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kathy Killian, Program Specialist,
(877) 922-9262.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 814 of NAPA, as amended, requires
ANA to provide notice of its proposed interpretive rules, general
statements of policy, and rules of agency organization, procedure, or
practice. The proposed clarifications, modifications, and new text will
appear in the FY 2011 FOAs: SEDS, SEDS--TG, SEDS--AFI, Language P&M,
Language--EMI, and ERE. This notice serves to fulfill this requirement.
A. Funding Opportunity Announcements
1. Social and Economic Development Strategies (SEDS)
In FY 2011, ANA will combine the SEDS and SEDS--Special Initiative
(SEDS--SI) FOAs from FY 2010 into one SEDS FOA. The SEDS FOA will
include all program areas of interest from the previous FOAs which
address Social Development, Economic Development, and Strengthening
Families. Governance projects will be addressed in a separate FOA (see
SEDS--TG, below). The SEDS FOA will include two funding ranges with the
higher funding amount being the disqualification factor for
applications (see Section C of this Notice for more information on
funding ranges). Furthermore, through the SEDS FOA, ANA will fund
project proposals from Tribes to prepare applications for Federal
recognition. Tribes will only be allowed to receive funding for this
priority area once, as per the funding restriction which states, ``ANA
does not fund projects that are essentially identical or similar in
whole or in part to previously funded projects proposed by the same
applicant or activities or projects proposed by a consortium that
duplicate activities for which any consortium member also receives
funding from ANA.'' This is a return to the ANA priority of the 1990s.
(Legal authority: Section 803(a) of NAPA, as amended.)
2. SEDS--Tribal Governance (TG)
In FY 2011 ANA will introduce SEDS--TG to fund tribal governance
projects. These types of projects were formerly funded under SEDS. ANA
will expand the governance priority to emphasize projects that
strengthen the internal capacity and infrastructure of tribal
governments to increase services provided to children and families. The
FOA will also emphasize increasing the tribal government's ability to
exercise local control and decision making over their resources. ANA is
particularly interested in projects designed to develop strong linkages
between social services, health programs, and schools serving Native
children. Program areas of interest will be expanded to include:
(1) Interoperability: Promote program coordination among human and
social service programs for tribal communities to strengthen the
programs they provide to their children, youth, and families.
(2) Comprehensive Strategies: Develop comprehensive
intergovernmental strategies involving tribal, State and Federal
governments to meet the needs of tribal children and youth.
(3) Self-Governance: Build the capacity and infrastructure of
tribal governments to enter into self-governance compacts.
ANA believes this FOA will encourage Tribes and Native communities
to look at new opportunities and methods for providing services to
their communities. Applicants eligible for this FOA are the same as
those identified for SEDS. (Legal authority: Section 803(a) of NAPA, as
amended.)
3. SEDS--Assets for Independence (AFI)
ANA is partnering with the Office of Community Services' (OCS) AFI
program to support Tribes and Native organizations in planning and
implementing comprehensive asset-building projects. ANA and OCS are
providing this support through funding opportunities, training, and
technical assistance. The AFI program is an assets-based approach for
assisting low-income families out of poverty. The program assists
individuals and families to save earned income in special-purpose,
matched savings accounts called Individual Development Accounts (IDAs).
Every dollar in savings deposited into an IDA by a participant will be
combined with non-participant funds (from $1 to $8 combined Federal
(AFI) and non-Federal funds). The program promotes savings and enables
a participant to acquire a lasting asset. An AFI participant can use
the IDA savings to achieve any of three objectives: acquire a first
home, capitalize a small business, or enroll in postsecondary education
or training.
ANA, through its SEDS program, and OCS, through its AFI program,
are offering Tribes and Native organizations a joint funding
initiative. The purpose of the joint SEDS-AFI funding is to support
Tribes and Native organizations
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implement asset building projects with an AFI-funded IDA component. The
ANA-SEDS portion of the funding will focus on the operational and
staffing costs necessary to implement the project, financial literacy
training, capacity building, and other activities. The OCS-AFI portion
will be used to provide funding for IDAs and limited administrative
costs. This FOA will request one application with two project budgets
to complete the project. The two project budgets will separately
identify the SEDS portion of the funding and corresponding match and
the AFI portion of the funding and corresponding match. These two
project budgets will be the basis for two awards needed to complete the
project. The project will be monitored by a team representing both ANA
and OCS. ANA will provide a funding opportunity for applicants to apply
for a 5-year (five 12-month budget periods) grant to accompany award of
a standard 5-year AFI grant.
Eligible applicants include non-profit organizations that serve
Native American populations, or Tribes, and Alaska Native villages if
they are joint applicants with a non-profit organization serving Native
American populations. The eligibility reflects the overlap between
ANA's target populations and the AFI program's legislative eligibility
requirements. Individual participants who open IDAs under this program
must meet AFI participant guidelines, which are: Members of a household
that is eligible for assistance under Temporary Assistance for Needy
Families (TANF), or whose adjusted gross income is either equal to or
less than 200 percent of the Federal poverty line, or is eligible for
Federal Earned Income Tax Credit and has less than $10,000 in assets
(excluding the value of a primary dwelling unit and one motor vehicle).
The partnership includes a training and technical assistance (T/TA)
component, through which ANA's T/TA providers will conduct pre-
application trainings and provide one-on-one technical assistance to
potential SEDS--AFI applicants.
This partnership between OCS and ANA will allow these two programs
to provide enhanced funding opportunities to our common target
communities and maximize the impact of grant dollars. Interoperability
between programs within ACF is an ACF priority. (Legal authority:
Section 803(a) of NAPA, as amended.)
4. Native Language Preservation and Maintenance (Language P&M) and
Esther Martinez Initiative (Language--EMI)
All Language P&M and Language--EMI projects funded in FY2011 will
have a start date of August 1, 2011. The revision to the start date
will allow projects to better align with most school schedules
throughout ANA's target communities. To accommodate this revision, the
Language FOAs will be published and application due dates will be
earlier in the year than all other FOAs. (Legal authority: Section
803(a) and 803C of NAPA, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 2991b and Sec. 2991b-3
and Pub. L. 109-394.)
B. Administrative Policies: In FY 2011, ANA will add five
administrative policies.
1. Grantees can have only one active grant per Catalog of Federal
Domestic Assistance (CFDA) number.
2. ANA will increase the reach of its limited funding. Therefore,
applicants that have received funding from ANA for at least two
projects consecutively and within one CFDA number may not be funded for
a third consecutive project within the same CFDA number if other
applicants who have not received ANA funding in the past 3 years are
within the scoring range to be funded.
3. Applicants are requested to identify a target amount of
leveraged resources (target of zero is acceptable) and a target number
of partnerships. The value of the targets will not be evaluated and
scored; however, the indicators' contribution within the overall
strategy of project implementation and its sustainability is included
in the evaluation criteria. Grantees will be required to track these
indicators quarterly throughout the project period. Leveraged resources
are in addition to the statutory matching requirement of 20 percent and
are not a requirement of this grant.
4. Business plans should be submitted for all SEDS applications
requesting an equity investment on behalf of the Federal government.
The first two administrative policies will allow ANA to maximize
its limited funding to benefit the most communities. The intent of the
first policy, to restrict funding to one grant per entity per CFDA
number, will also be stated in the eligibility and funding restriction
sections of all FOAs. Due to the change in the project period start
date for language projects, ANA will waive this restriction if a
language project is ending within 2 months of a new project start date
(i.e., organizations or Tribes with projects ending 9/29/2011 can
receive new awards with a 8/1/2011 start date). In addition to
maximizing the benefit of ANA's limited funds, the first administrative
policy will encourage current grantees to successfully complete project
objectives within the originally defined project periods and avoid
requests for No Cost Extensions (NCEs). Past experience has shown that
project success is increased when a grantee can complete one project
prior to starting a second project. Overlapping projects, specifically
a new award and an extension, can result in delays or significant
challenges to one or both projects because of limited financial and
personnel resources.
The second administrative policy allows the ANA commissioner to
limit the frequency of the same organizations receiving funding, thus
allowing it to address more communities. (Legal authority: Section
803(a), 803(d), and 803C of NAPA, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 2991b and
2991b-3 and Pub. L. 109-394.)
The third administrative policy allows ANA to continue to measure
leveraged resources and partnerships for all funded projects, but
removes the target numbers for these indicators from being evaluated
and scored by panel reviewers. ANA is required to measure these
important indicators, as per the Government Performance Reporting Act
(GPRA) for all negotiated awards. (Legal authority: Section 803(a),
803(d), and 803C of NAPA, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 2991b and 2991b-3 and
Pub. L. 109-394.)
The last administrative policy is specific to SEDS FOA. The
business plan will not be evaluated for the merit of the plan itself;
however, the business plan will be reviewed to ensure that the project
strategy is in line with the business plan. (Legal authority: Section
803(a) of NAPA, as amended.)
C. Award Information: In all FOAs, ANA identifies funding floors
and funding ceilings, as well as project periods. In FY 2011, the
thresholds and project periods for SEDS, SEDS--TG, and SEDS--AFI are
new or have changed.
The funding ranges and project periods for the combined and new
FOAs (see Section A of this Notice) will be as follows:
SEDS
$50,000 to $149,999 per budget period, and
$150,000 to $400,000 per budget period.
12-month project and budget period, or
24-month project period with two 12-month budget periods, or
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36-month project period with three 12-month budget periods.
The SEDS FOA will identify how many applications will be funded in
each of the two funding ranges. Only the upper limit of the two ranges
($400,000) will be used as a disqualification factor.
SEDS--TG
$50,000 to $375,000 per budget period.
12-month project and budget period, or
24-month project period with two 12-month budget periods, or
36-month project period with three 12-month budget periods.
SEDS--AFI
$50,000 to $250,000 per budget period.
60-month project period with five 12-month budget periods.
The SEDS--AFI range reflects the ANA portion of the funding only.
OCS will provide up to $1 million for a 5-year budget and project
period. (Legal authority: Section 803(a) of NAPA, as amended.)
Disqualification Factors: ANA will revise for clarification two
factors that are specific to applications submitted for ANA funding.
Applications that are submitted without this documentation will be
considered non-responsive to the FOA and will not be considered for
competition.
The first ANA-specific disqualification factor applies to all
applicants. The documentation required from the Tribe, Alaska Native
village or organization stating approval of the proposed project must
come in the form of a Board Resolution.
The second ANA-specific disqualification factor applies only to
applicants that are not Tribes or Native Alaska villages. Organizations
applying for funding must show that a majority of board members
approving the project proposal are representative of the community to
be served. ANA will revise the categories of representatives of the
community to be served to include: (1) Members of Federally or State
recognized Tribes; (2) persons eligible to be a participant or
beneficiary to the project to be funded; (3) persons who are recognized
by the eligible community to be served as having a cultural
relationship with the community to be served; or (4) persons considered
to be Native American as defined in title 45, part 1336, section 10 of
the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), and Native American Pacific
Islander as defined in the Native American Programs Act.
These disqualification factors will be revised to better establish
board support for a project and to demonstrate a stronger link between
an organization's board and the community to be served. (Legal
authority: Section 803(a) and 814 of NAPA, as amended.)
D. Definitions: ANA will revise and add definitions for terms used
in the FOA.
Leveraged Resources--Any resource, not including the Federal share,
non-Federal contribution, and program income, acquired or utilized
during the project period that supports the project. Leveraged
resources are expressed as a dollar amount and may include natural,
financial, personnel, and physical resources provided to assist in the
successful completion of the project.
Interoperability--Collaborative administration or information
sharing that integrates the efforts of individual programs, projects,
departments, etc. in order to strengthen programs and provide
comprehensive service.
Program Income--Gross income earned by a recipient and/or
subrecipient that was directly generated by the grant-supported
activity or earned as a result of the award. Program income includes
(but is not limited to) fees for services performed, the use or rental
of real or personal property acquired under the grant, the sale of
commodities or items fabricated under an award, license fees and
royalties on patents and copyrights, and payments of interest on loans
made with grant funds. Except as otherwise provided in statute,
regulation, or the terms and conditions of the award, program income
does not include rebates, credits, discounts, or interest earned in
relation to program income; the receipt of principal on loans or
interest the recipient earns on those amounts after receiving them from
the borrower; taxes, special assessments, levies, fines, or similar
revenues raised by a governmental recipient or subrecipient. The term
also does not include interest earned on advances of Federal funds and
proceeds from the sale of equipment or real property acquired under an
award, which have distinct accountability requirements.
The leveraged resources definition will be revised to state that
program income cannot be included. Interoperability is defined because
the evaluation criteria will include a reference to the integration of
the proposed project into other programs, if appropriate for the
proposed project. Interoperability is an ACF priority, both within ACF
and in the entities it funds. Program income is defined to clarify the
definition of leveraged resources. (Legal authority: Section 803(b) and
814 of NAPA, as amended and 42 U.S.C. 2991b-3(b)(7)(C).)
E. Cost Sharing or Matching: The matching requirement waiver for
Insular Areas will no longer be available for nongovernmental entities.
1. All matching is waived for consolidated grants to governments of
the Insular Areas;
2. The first $200,000 of matching is waived for non-consolidated
grants to governments of American Samoa, Guam, the Virgin Islands, or
the Northern Mariana Islands; however, matching over the first $200,000
is not waived;
3. Matching is not waived for grants to nongovernmental entities of
the Insular Areas.
Although there is not an automatic waiver for all applicants from
the Insular Areas, any applicant may request an individual match
requirement waiver, in accordance with NAPA. (Legal authority: 48
U.S.C. 1469(a)(d) and 45 CFR 1336.50(b)(3).)
F. Funding Restrictions: The restriction that prevents ANA from
funding ``counseling or therapeutic activities that are medically-
based'' will not be included in the following FOAs: Language--P&M,
Language--EMI, SEDS--AFI, SEDS--TG, and ERE. In the SEDS FOA, the
restriction will be revised to state:
ANA does not fund couples or family counseling activities that are
medically based.
ANA will revise this restriction in SEDS in order to fund medically
based activities in projects that address such health issues as
diabetes prevention and care projects, elder health care, or other
similar types of health issues. This funding restriction will not
appear in other FOAs. (Legal authority: Sections 803(a) and 814 of
NAPA, as amended.)
G. ANA Application Evaluation Criteria: ANA will revise the
evaluation criteria throughout the Language--P&M, Language--EMI, SEDS,
SEDS--TG, and ERE FOAs to clarify how reviewers will evaluate and score
applications. The content of evaluation criteria will mirror the
content of the project description section of the FOAs, which instructs
applicants on what to include in an application.
i. Titles and Assigned Weight: In FY 2011, ANA will rename the
criteria and adjust the weighted scores.
For FY 2011, the criteria will be titled and weighted as follows:
--Objectives and Need for Assistance 20 points;
--Outcomes Expected 15 points;
--Approach 50 points;
--Sub-criterion--Project Strategy 30 points;
--Sub-criterion--Objective Work Plan (OWP) 20 points and
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--Budget and Budget Justification 15 points.
For FY 2011, the two criteria for the SEDS-AFI FOA will be titled
and weighted as follows:
--Approach 90 points and
--Budget and Budget Justification 10 points.
The criteria titles will match the titles found in the project
description section of the FOAs. Matching titles will help applicants
to better understand the connection between the two sections of the
FOAs. The assigned weights better reflect what ANA considers to be the
most important elements of the project application. (Legal authority:
Section 803(c) of NAPA, as amended.)
ii. ANA Evaluation Criteria: Included here is a summary of each
criterion. The FOAs will include a more detailed description of the
evaluation criteria and the associated project description.
(a) Objectives and Need for Assistance: Under this criterion,
applications will be evaluated on the applicant's community and
applicant identification, connection to the community, community
participation in the project development, the problem statement, and
the briefly stated objectives.
(b) Outcomes Expected: Under this criterion, applications will be
evaluated on the strength of the project outcomes expected, which
include the project goal, the results and benefits expected, and one
project-specific impact indicator. For language applications that are
designed to teach a Native language, applicants must include an impact
indicator that shows advancement of language fluency. All other
language projects should provide an impact indicator that measures an
increase in community interest to preserve the language.
(c) Approach: Under this criterion, the application will be
evaluated on the strength of the project approach. This criterion
includes two sub-criteria: The project strategy and the OWP. The
project strategy sub-criterion includes a detailed description of the
implementation plan, community involvement and outreach during
implementation, and contingency planning to support project
implementation. In addition, partnerships and leveraged resources will
be evaluated as to their contribution within the overall strategy of
project implementation and its sustainability; however, the target
numbers will not be evaluated or scored. In this section reviewers will
also consider organizational capacity and project sustainability. The
OWP sub-criterion includes a review of the OWP form and its strength as
an effective implementation tool.
(d) Budget: Under this criterion, the application will be evaluated
on the strength of the budget and how well it supports successful
completion of the project objectives. This criterion includes a line-
item budget and budget justification for each line item for each budget
period.
The changes to the content of evaluation criteria, and the
complementary changes to the project description section of the FOA,
will more effectively guide panel reviewers and applicants on what ANA
believes are critical components of a project application. (Legal
authority: Section 803(c) of NAPA, as amended.)
Dated: November 22, 2010.
Lillian Sparks,
Commissioner, Administration for Native Americans.
[FR Doc. 2010-29976 Filed 11-29-10; 8:45 am]
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