APPLICATION CHANGES FOR VOCA AND VAWA

NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS COUNCIL OF GOVERNMENTS GENERAL VICTIM ASSISTANCE DIRECT SERVICES GRANT APPLICATION WORKSHOP FY 2010 APPLICATION CHANGES FOR VOCA AND VAWA The Criminal Justice Division (CJD) has developed two targeted, but non-fund specific Request for Applications (RFA) for programs addressing victim services in Texas. RFA 1: Solicit applications from nonprofit and other agencies providing direct services to victims. RFA 2: Solicit applications for Law Enforcement, Prosecution, Court, and Training programs targeting victims of Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, and Stalking programs to combat violent crimes against women (age 18 and up). MORE INFO ON THE CHANGES After applications are submitted and final funding decisions are made, CJD will move the application into the appropriate fund source (VOCA or VAWA). Match and usage of volunteer requirements are addressed in each application (and will be discussed in more detail during the workshop). CJD will work out any other necessary changes regarding match and volunteers. 1

CJD FUNDING SOURCES COGs shall review and receive local and regional grant applications from CJD under the following fund sources: Victims of Crime Act VOCA Violence Against Women Act - VAWA Safe and Drug Free Schools and Communities Act - SDFS Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act - JJDP 421 State Planning Fund - 421 ACRONYM DEFINITIONS CJD Governor s Office Criminal Justice Division NCTCOG North Central Texas Council of Governments egrants online application and grant management system for CJD VAWA Violence Against Women Act VOCA Victims of Crime Act PPRI Texas A&M s Public Policy Research Institute DEFINITIONS CONTINUED TAC Texas Administrative Code UGMS Uniform Grant Management Standards CJPDC Criminal Justice Policy Development Committee 2

GRANT GUIDELINES Texas Administrative Code 10/18/08 Version http://www.nctcog.org/cs/cj/tac.asp Uniform Grant Management Standards June 2004 Version http://governor.state.tx.us/files/state-grants/ugms062004.doc Office of Justice Programs Financial Guide http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/financialguide/index.htm Federal VAWA Program Guidelines http://www.ovw.usdoj.gov/docs/stop_violence.pdf Federal VOCA Program Guidelines http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ovc/welcovc/scad/guides/vaguide.htm CJD Guide to Grants https://cjdonline.governor.state.tx.us/filedirectory/cjd_guide_to_gran ts_v3.pdf NCTCOG S POLICIES & PROCEDURES HIGHLIGHTS Applicants applying to CJD to serve the 16-county NCTCOG region may only request funding for the NCTCOG 16-county region. Applicants desiring to serve counties in other COG regions must submit a separate application to that COG and follow the policies and procedures set forth by that respective council of governments/regional planning commission. For FY10, new applications being scored and prioritized in ALL funding sources (VOCA, VAWA, 421, SDFSC, JJDP) can request no more than $80,000. MINIMUM SCORE REQUIRED - A minimum score of seventy (70) is required for a project to be recommended for funding regardless of funding source. After scoring by CJPDC members, NCTCOG staff will place each grant in rank order according to its fund type and score from high score to low score. COG FUNDING PROCESS Grant Year Starts 09/01/09 CJD sends Award Letters to Funded projects Applications posted Grant Workshops COG sends out Funding Recommendation Letter to applicants scoring above 70 points We are here! COG Technical Assistance Available Victim Services Applications due to CJD January 9, 2009 COG sends Priority List to CJD April - May 2008 COG CJPDC scores applications CJD sends applications to COG 3

All Victim Services Applications Submission Deadline to CJD JANUARY 9, 2009 ORGANIZATIONS ELIGIBLE FOR GENERAL VICTIM ASSISTANCE DIRECT SERVICES State Agencies Units of Local Governments Non-profit agencies Native American Tribes Universities & Colleges Community Supervision & Corrections Depts. Hospital Districts Crime Control & Prevention Districts Faith-Based Agencies COG s Mission and Vision for GENERAL VICTIM ASSISTANCE DIRECT SERVICES Purpose: The purpose of this program is to provide services and assistance directly to victims of crime to speed their recovery and aid them through the criminal justice process. Services may include the following: responding to the emotional and physical needs of crime victims; assisting victims in stabilizing their lives after a victimization; assisting victims to understand and participate in the criminal justice system; and providing victims with safety and security. 4

COG Priorities for this Application CJD has a number of eligible activities in this application: Crisis Services Forensic Interviews Legal Advocacy Multi-Disciplinary Teams and Case Coordination Peer Support Groups Professional Therapy and Counseling Protective Order Assistance Public Presentations (Outreach efforts aimed at informing victims about services available. This activity has been highly scrutinized in past application cycles.) Shelter Victim-Offender Meetings Specific questions on your proposed project? Visit with COG staff outside the workshops. EXAMPLES OF PROGRAMS Child Abuse Assessment & Treatment Assistance to Immigrant Victims of Crime Domestic Violence Shelter & Outreach programs Protective Order Case Manager Victim Advocacy & Counseling Law Enforcement Victim Services Minority Outreach/ Bilingual Services SANE Program Crisis Response Team GENERAL VICTIM ASSISTANCE DIRECT SERVICES Grant Period 09/01/09 through 08/31/10 Minimum $5,000 Maximum $80,000 for new projects and current projects receiving less than $80,000 Continuation projects funded at above $80,000 will remain at the current amount until they are scored again. FY08 consolidated VOCA s that are competing in FY10 may ask for $80,000 per original project Match 20% (cash and/or in-kind) Three-year priority cycle Must use volunteers Specific questions on your continuation project? Visit with COG staff outside the workshop. 5

THREE YEAR PRIORITIZATION CYCLE Highest Priority Third Year Funded Grants 100% Middle Priority Second Year Funded Grants 100% Lowest Priority New Applications 100% CONTINUATION PROJECT INFORMATION VAWA and VOCA eligible continuation amounts will be posted on NCTCOG s website in the Workshop Handout section. Read CJPDC Policies and Procedures related to Three Year Prioritization Cycle on the COG Criminal Justice Program website. http://www.nctcog.org/cs/cj/cjpdc.asp NOTE: Special 6-month VAWA projects funded in FY09 are not considered continuation projects and must be scored for FY10. APPLICATION SUBMISSION PROCESS 1. Go to CJD s egrants website at: https://cjdonline.governor.state.tx.us 2. All Projects: Submit grant application to CJD via egrants system. 3. Projects to be Scored: Submit Addendum, Organizational Chart, and signed Cooperative Working Agreements (CWA) documents by January 9, 2009 to COG via email at: cjapplications@nctcog.org 6

MINIMUM TECHNOLOGY REQUIRED FOR SUBMITTING A GRANT APPLICATION (and managing a funded project) Computer (NOTE: Apple Macintosh operating system and software are not supported) Microsoft Word, Version 1997 or greater Microsoft Excel, Version 1997 or greater Internet Access, Internet Explorer 6.0 or greater Email Accounts (must be able to receive and send attachments) Adobe Reader, Version 7.0 or greater Fax machine Scanner (in order to upload documents that are in.doc,.pdf,.xls,.bmp, or.jpg format) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE CJD Provides technical assistance for all questions related to the operation of the egrants website. egrants@governor.state.tx.us COG Provides technical assistance for questions related to the actual content used to fill in the grant application and the Addendum. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE CONTACTS Kelly Schmidt 817-608-2383 Kschmidt@nctcog.org Duane Johnson 817-608-2364 Djohnson@nctcog.org 7

TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE COG will provide technical assistance to interested applicants. Use the Printer Friendly option in egrants and save this file to your computer. Attach and email this file, along with the Addendum, to the appropriate COG staff for feedback. Technical Assistance - Cont d. COG will read your draft to check that there are responses to the scoring criteria. COG technical assistance is advisory in nature and is not intended to address all possible outcomes of the grant application process. Technical assistance is provided by COG as an additional service to our regional grant applicants. GRANT WRITING DILEMMA - SERVING TWO MASTERS CJD has one set of expectations spelled out in the grant application, which determine your eligibility for consideration for funding. All applicable screens/cells in egrants must be completed, regardless of whether it s is a continuation project or a new project being scored by COG. NCTCOG has another set of expectations/priorities described in COG s scoring factors and the Addendum, which determines the application's score. 8

HOW GRANTS ARE SCORED We follow a system that is consistent with many government and other funding organizations that deal with a large volume of applications. The Criminal Justice Policy Development Committee is divided into teams based on number of applications to be scored. Each team is given a batch of applications to score. MULTIPLE PROJECTS/ MULTIPLE FUNDING SOURCES The same project cannot be submitted in more than one funding source. An agency may submit distinctly different projects in more than one funding source. Applicants must use the egrants User s Guide to Creating an Application document to start the application process https://cjdonline.governor.state.tx.us 9

SCORING FACTORS NCTCOG ADDENDUM: SCORING CRITERIA ONLY FOR PROJECTS BEING SCORED This is a separate Word document that applicants will be required to email to COG in addition to submitting the application via egrants. Addendum form can be downloaded from COG website s Workshop Handouts section. Email completed Addendum to cjapplications@nctcog.org on or before January 9, 2009. Make sure you download the correct Addendum! Do not send the Addendum to CJD. COG ADDENDUM: PROBLEM STATEMENT AND SUPPORTING DATA (up to 15 points) Problem Statement and Supporting Data: Describes situations outside of your organization that are directly related to your target population Does not describe your lack of services as the problem Should relate to the mission of the organization Is of reasonable dimensions (i.e., not trying to save the world ) Data should support the importance of the problem Provide at least two years of data Data should be relevant to the target area served Private organizations should not rely only on internal data Data source(s) must be cited and verifiable 10

FREQUENT WEAKNESSES IDENTIFIED BY SCORERS ON PROBLEM STATEMENT AND SUPPORTING DATA Problem statement doesn t describe context for the problem where is the problem occurring? Most of problem statement revolves around the internal needs of the agency. A narrative description in the supporting data section would have helped the scorers analysis the stats. Much of supporting data is outdated and does not apply to target area. Supporting data appears to be a copy and paste from the other applications submitted by this agency. NCTCOG ADDENDUM: GOAL STATEMENT (up to 5 points) 40 words or less Describe the goal of the project as it relates to the identified problem(s). Proposed project goals are clearly defined and reflect anticipated outcomes of the project. The goal is all about the target group and how they will be changed/improved/ impacted. Goals should be attainable within the grant period and client-focused. DO NOT include statistical data or activities in the goal statement. FREQUENT WEAKNESSES IDENTIFIED BY SCORERS ON GOAL STATEMENT Much of goal statement focuses on providing the services should focus on the impact on the project clients. Focus of goal statement is what the project will provide rather than benefit for the target population. Part of goal statement focuses on increasing # of services to be provided. Would have been better if the impact for victims were discussed. Problem statement does not match with the goal statement. Goal statement in this application does not follow the elements described in the problem statement. 11

NCTCOG ADDENDUM: ACTIVITIES/STRATEGIES TO RESPOND TO PROBLEM (up to 10 points) Activities specific to this application include: Crisis Services Forensic Interviews Legal Advocacy Multi-Disciplinary Teams and Case Coordination Peer Support Groups Professional Therapy and Counseling Protective Order Assistance Public Presentations (Outreach efforts aimed at informing victims about services available. This activity has been highly scrutinized in past application cycles.) Shelter Victim-Offender Meetings Based on these Activities selected in egrants, completely describe those activities and the strategies to be used to respond to the needs of victims of crime. It should be clear that the activities/strategies are in direct response to the problem. FREQUENT WEAKNESSES IDENTIFIED BY SCORERS ON ACTIVITIES/STRATEGIES Information in this application is identical to info in the other two applications submitted by this agency. Description of services to be provided each does not indicate how long services will last, how many participants at each session; no idea of how program really works. NCTCOG Addendum: Target Population Benefit and Program Evaluation (up to 10 points) Describe the anticipated benefits for victims of crime. Do not include project outputs or total # to be served. Describe how you will evaluate this project, including: (1) what data will be gathered, (2) how data will be gathered, (3) how outcomes will be measured, (4) the process of data analysis, and (5) how the evaluation will be used for program improvements. It should be clear how the anticipated benefits fit with the activities/strategies. 12

FREQUENT WEAKNESSES IDENTIFIED BY SCORERS ON TARGET POPULATION BENEFIT AND PROGRAM EVALUATION Evaluation information describes how data is collected; unclear how data will be used for program improvement. More detail in the Target Population section would have been helpful. Just describes who is eligible rather than who is targeted for the project. How are you going to measure decrease or increase in outcomes selected? Will you have access to information to measure these objectives? REVIEWER ASSESSMENT PART 1 (up to 10 points) The reviewer will assign up to 10 points based on how well the program components and flow of services fit together. Does each section logically fit with the other sections or is it disjointed and fragmented? ADDENDUM: AGENCY COLLABORATION COG SCORING CRITERIA (up to 10 points) List up to five of the most important collaborations that your agency has with other entities in order to carry out this project. Describe nature of relationship and results the relationship is expected to achieve in carrying out this project. 13

AGENCY COLLABORATION SECTION: COMMUNICATION EXAMPLES Share general information Telephone contact about services provided Informal meetings to share general information Refer clients AGENCY COLLABORATION SECTION: COORDINATION EXAMPLES Help on as-needed basis for specific cases by sharing information Facilitate referrals to coordinate services for specific victims Provides training to other agencies Provides community awareness/education Receives training from other agencies Schedule meetings to discuss specific cases AGENCY COLLABORATION SECTION: COLLABORATION EXAMPLES Participate on task force together Strategize with others how to reach victims Influence one another s agency protocols Routinely provide integrated services to victims Feedback mechanism between agencies Participate together on a first response team Share funding Share a joint mission statement 14

FREQUENT WEAKNESSES IDENTIFIED BY SCORERS ON AGENCY COLLABORATION Score would have been higher if nature of agency collaborations had been more thoroughly described. Contact persons listed were unable to verify the collaboration exists. There are agencies that would have been expected to have been collaborators with you on this project why aren t they listed? ADDENDUM: PERSONNEL QUALIFICATIONS COG SCORING CRITERIA (up to 5 points) Describe each of the grant staff positions in the same order as they are in egrants. Provide title, indicate new or existing position, name of staff, qualifications of position. FREQUENT WEAKNESSES IDENTIFIED BY SCORERS ON PERSONNEL QUALIFICATIONS Staffing section needed more info on the position s expected knowledge, experience, skills, education, not on the individual currently in this position. Staffing section doesn t indicate any specific background required in working with target population. 15

MEASURES TAB IN EGRANTS: COG SCORING FACTORS (up to 5 points) Target levels of outputs/outcomes are realistic given the requested budget and goal of the project. Target levels should cover the 12- month grant period. FREQUENT WEAKNESSES IDENTIFIED BY SCORERS ON PROJECT MEASURES Hard to justify budget request based on # s to be served. The amount of services provided to each client doesn t seem to be sufficient to attain the goals of the project. In the Outputs section, 15 volunteers will serve 550 clients. That equates to around 36 clients assigned to each volunteer. Question whether this is feasible seems unrealistic. Measures seem unrealistic. Unlikely that everyone who completes the program will exhibit a decrease in the outcomes selected. Outputs for clients served appear to be identical to the FY09 continuation project. Are these the same people getting different services? It appears these are the same people getting the same services. BUDGET TAB IN EGRANTS: COG SCORING CRITERIA (UP TO 20 POINTS) Up to 10 points: Is total amount requested justified by the problem statement and supporting data? Up to 10 points: Does budget focus on direct service costs? Budget line items must provide a detailed justification that will clarify how they contribute to the project measures. 16

BUDGET SECTION: EXPECTATIONS Budget details must be provided for each of the approved budget categories. Provide a description and justification of the line items contained in the budget and the amounts requested for each of the budget categories. BUDGET in egrants Refer to the egrants User s Guide for Creating an Application document when creating your budget. Refer to the CJD Guide to Grants for specific information on budgetary line items. Both of these documents can be found on NCTCOG s website as well as on the egrants website. egrant Budget - PERSONNEL LINE ITEM: If fringe benefits are included in the dollar amount, the description MUST have the fringe amount listed separately. For example: $25,000 annual salary plus $5,000 for fringe benefits. Do not include fringe benefits as a separate line item. If volunteers will be used to meet your match requirement, list the value of volunteer time, the tasks/activities to be performed by the volunteers and state the number of volunteer hours. 17

Personnel Line Item Continued: Supervising, Coordinating, Managing, Administering, Office Support, Executive Support, to name a few, are job positions in egrants and are allowable costs. BUT, requesting funding for these purposes will result in a lower score on your budget. As noted before in the budget scoring criteria slide, budget MUST focus on service delivery. Do not describe grant personnel job duties as and other duties as assigned or as needed. egrants BUDGET LINE ITEM: PROFESSIONAL AND CONTRACTUAL SERVICES List each contractual service, rate, number of hours if applicable, and a brief explanation and purpose for the contract. Vendors should not be identified by name in the description because at this point you have not been awarded a grant. Should a grant be awarded, you must follow your agency s procurement policies when entering into a contract with another entity. NOTE: Professional Fees associated with Accounting, Bookkeeping, Audits, IT services, printing, to name a few, are contractual items in egrants and are allowable costs. As noted before in the budget scoring criteria slide, budget MUST focus on service delivery. BUDGET LINE ITEM: TRAVEL AND TRAINING Each travel and training line item must include the purpose and description of the travel, including the applicant agency's travel guidelines along with the mileage, per diem, and lodging rates. Note: applicable federal regulations may limit mileage reimbursement rates. If the applicant agency does not have established mileage, per diem, and lodging policies, then the applicant must use the state travel rate. 18

BUDGET LINE ITEM EQUIPMENT: In the equipment description, be specific on how the equipment will be used to accomplish the activities. Equipment should be calculated based on a pro-rated amount. For example, if a person is 25% on the grant, and he/she needs a laptop for their job, the grant can only pay for 25% of the total cost of the laptop. NOTE: A grant application should not be top heavy with equipment items. BUDGET LINE ITEM: SUPPLIES AND DIRECT OPERATING EXPENSES Costs that are directly related to the delivery of services and do not fall under one of the other budget categories should be itemized under supplies with a brief description and justification. When calculating cost for space and utilities, ensure that costs are based on percent of square footage. You must indicate amount of square footage and rate per square foot in the budget description. For example: total office space is 1,000 square feet; staff office is 100 square feet. The percent of costs for space that could be claimed is no more than 10%. Cost for space can be charged to the grant only if it s rented/lease. You cannot charge a mortgage payment to these funding sources. All shared costs must be prorated. BUDGET HINTS Budget expenses should be focused on service delivery. While many costs are allowable, project budgets that concentrate on service delivery costs will score better. Provide enough detailed information so that the reader understands what the project is funding if the reader has to guess what something is to be used for, then you don t have enough detail. The description should answer: Is the line item reasonable? necessary? and allocable (does it fit in this project)? Understand what costs are eligible and what are ineligible refer to the list of prohibited items in the applications guideline document. Explain what you ll be buying (equipment, supplies) - quantity and what it s used for, who uses it. 19

MATCH Match 20% (cash and/or in-kind) Will need to provide source(s) of in-kind and cash match. NOTE: egrants does not calculate the match amount for you. The errors section when you submit the application will alert you if the match is not met. CALCULATING MATCH Formula for Match: Applicants can determine the minimum match requirement using the following methods: Method 1: Determine the Total Project Cost by multiplying the Amount of CJD Funds Requested by 1.25.(e.g., $80,000 x 1.25 = $100,000) Method 2: Determine the Minimum Match Required by multiplying the Amount of CJD Funds Requested by 0.25(e.g., $80,000 x.25 = $20,000) FREQUENT WEAKNESSES IDENTIFIED BY SCORERS ON BUDGET Appears that Executive Director s salary is being requested on at least 2 of 3 applications submitted. Concern that agency is requesting administrative infrastructure to be funded through these applications. Serving 10 people in the program at one time does not appear to justify personnel costs. Four hours per week for Executive Director to manage a program that operates 3 hours a day does not appear to be efficient. Amount of time requested for a coordinator and counselor seems disproportionate to the number of hours the program operates. On all three new applications scored and in one of the agency s continuation applications, audit costs are $1,000 for each application. Scorers question how audit costs were calculated across all grants with varying budget amounts, audit costs should vary on a pro-rated basis based on the agency s budget. Also question insurance/fidelity bond costs in the three new applications - $1,050 in two applications; $750 in the other. How were these allocated? Cost allocation for space in this application is 1.8%, yet on another application 10% of rent is requested based for approximately the same budget amount. No explanation as to how the computers help to attain the goals. The expenditure of funds for this request is not justified by the size of the jurisdiction/ community and the availability of regional assets. More than half of budget appears to relate to non-direct service related items (i.e., Audit, Program Director, insurance, etc.). 20

REVIEWER ASSESSMENT -Part 2(up to 10 points) The reviewer will assign up to 10 points based on their OVERALL assessment of how well the application demonstrates potential for success. COMMUNITY PLAN SECTION IN EGRANTS: COG SCORING CRITERIA (up to -5 points) Identify the corresponding Community Plan(s) for the projects service area(s) and must include a quote of the problem(s) and specific page number(s) identified in the Community Plan(s). If your project covers more than one county, each county s Community Plan MUST be referenced in this section. COG staff will verify compliance with this scoring criteria item. NOTE: If problem is not addressed in service area s Community Plan, document your agency s participation in the community planning process. http://www.nctcog.org/cs/cj/cjplans/info.asp FREQUENT WEAKNESSES IDENTIFIED BY SCORERS ON COMMUNITY PLAN Target area indicates multiple counties to be served; however, only one community plan is cited. Didn t follow instructions on what was required in this section. 21

PROJECT SUMMARY SECTION OF egrants COG will not directly score the Summary, BUT the scoring committee will be given the Summaries of all continuation projects to assess the need of services in any new applications from that geographic area/target population that may be submitted. Briefly summarize the entire application, including the project's problem statement, supporting data, goal, target group, activities, and objectives. Be sure that the summary is easy to understand by a person not familiar with your project and that you are confident and comfortable with the information if it were to be released under a public information request. NOW THAT YOU RE DONE WITH THE APPLICATION, WHAT DO YOU SEND TO COG? FOR NEW PROJECTS: The following items should be sent as three separate attachments in one email to cjapplications@nctcog.org by the due date of January 9, 2009. If you submit more than one application, you will therefore send one email per application: Addendum specific to the application type (Word format) One-page Organizational Chart (Word has an organizational chart template). If you re a city/county entity, submit organizational chart for the division that will be receiving the grant (i.e., police department, DA s office, sheriff s office). Cooperative Working Agreements (CWA) - if you require CWA s and fill that section out in egrants, submit signed CWA s. Sample CWA document is located in egrants. NOTE - Identify your agency name in the subject line of the email(s). NCTCOG FUNDING RECOMMENDATION LETTER This letter, signed by NCTCOG s Executive Director, follows TAC language and states COG is/is not recommending your organization for funding to CJD What it really means is that you scored 70 or higher in the CJDPC prioritization This does not guarantee funding CJD will determine if your ranking is high enough to be funded 22

VENDOR HOLD POLICY EXPLANATION At the time of scoring, if your organization is on Vendor Hold with CJD, points will be deducted from your score. In addition, CJD has the option to disqualify your application from the grant process. GAO REPORT - SUPPLANTING In a GAO report following an audit of over 500 agencies found that about 70 percent were involved in supplanting. After grants are submitted, CJD may request an organization to provide additional information to justify that supplanting is not occurring. HINTS FOR egrants egrants has no spell checking; therefore, spell check your narrative in Word and cut and paste the text into egrants. Use the Save/Continue button, Diskette icon, and Update prompts frequently to make sure you don t lose information. You have to completely fill out a tab before egrants will allow you to Save/Continue. There is a 2 hour time-out feature on each tab. Copy and paste from Word to egrants to prevent loss of work. If you cut and paste text into egrants, make sure you use the Printer Friendly feature to see that all of the text is showing. Use the question mark icon to gain more information. Use the pencil icon to enter information in the activities/measures/ budget sections of egrants. When printed, the text boxes will not show any paragraph breaks. After the grantwriter hits submit, the Authorized Official must log in and Certify the application before CJD accepts it. The certification MUST be done prior by the due date. Read through ALL instructions on every tab. 23

HINTS FOR COMPLETING THE ADDENDUM Do not change the font size Do not remove instructional information Do not change the margins/orientation of the page HINTS FOR WRITING APPLICATION Only include information relevant to the project. Read through ALL instructions. If you can t be trusted to follow directions on how to get the money, how can you be trusted to manage the money? Respond directly to the scoring factors. Be clear and concise. Avoid jargon reviewers may not speak your language. Reviewers shouldn t need to get out their mental calculators to read your data. Do not use the word ETC in any of your grant application narrative or budget. If you are contracting with a grantwriter, you must stay on top of your communication with him/her. COMMON NON-COMPLIANCE ISSUES Know the Rules Nepotism in terms of staff and board when applying for state/federal funds for example, husband and wife can t be authorized official and financial officer. Also can t contract with your brother-in-law. Your board of directors should not be your family. Charging mortgage payments off to cost for space. Using grant-funded equipment for other projects remember to pro-rate the cost! Contracting services out without going through a procurement process. Indicating you have a CWA or collaboration with an entity and they don t know your agency exists. 24

COG APPLICATION MELTDOWN PREVENTION EFFORTS We will continue to keep you updated via email with information from CJD as we receive it We will send email Hints, Tips, Tricks, & Reminders throughout the grant application process Call your COG contact person early and often! That s all folks any questions? 25