EFSP Phase 33 RFA Questions and Answers QUESTIONS 1. Is the funding it emergency food for both? It is emergency food for both; hot or cold food or distribution of food. 2. If a client is already receiving assistance with food (i.e.: food Yes they are eligible if it is an emergency and if they have used all stamps) are they still eligible to receive assistance with other resources. emergency food. 3. When referring to vouchers what is considered a food voucher? 4. Could a client receive shelter assistance and rental assistance from the same agency within the 12 month period? 5. Who are the big organizations that can be partnered with Food vouchers include purchasing a gift card for food and diapers only, or if one has a relationship with a store, food vouchers can be given to the store and they can bill the agency at the agency at a later time. Yes, as long as the Rental Assistance is not more than once during a 12-month period. Catholic Charities, Department of Mental Health, Housing Authority. the smaller organizations? 6. What is the responsibility of those collaborating? The larger organization is responsible for all of the paperwork, reporting and administering the grant money out to the smaller organization. 7. How many applications will be turned in for those collaborating? 8. Will collaborating reduce the funding for the larger organization? 9. If an organization begins spending on July 1 st, can they later supply the documentation and be reimbursed? One application will be turned in for both of the agencies. It will not reduce the amounts for the larger organization as long as the organization does not go over the 50,000 within the district. The LRO must report on the application that they are collaborating with another organization, and acting as their fiscal agent. It is possible to begin spending on July 1st if the organization has the funds to do so, although the organization should wait to receive their letter that states that they have been funded. 10. If an LRO has compliance issues can they re-apply? The LRO with compliance issues can re-apply if they have resolved their compliance issues with National. 1
11. There was a problem with email during the last phase, how will the organization be able to send in their documents through email? 12. For an already existing Organization who submitted all of their documents in Phase 32, do they need to resubmit all of their documents again? The only document that will be submitted through email on a PDF file will be the narrative portion since it is easier to email it to the reviewers. If an organization submitted all of their documents for phase 32 and there have been no changes (i.e. board roster), they do not need to resubmit all of their documents again. However, the most recent financial documents need to be submitted. The size of the binder does not matter. The binder should be able to fit the documents you are submitting. Yes, it could come from other grants. 13. Is there a particular style that is requested of an agency when submitting the 3 ring binder? 14. Could the 55 percent that is to be supplied by the organization, come from other grants? 15. If your award is less than $50,000 when you applied but due The recommended one would be the independent audit because to reallocation you receive more than 50,000, should the even if you were awarded less than $50,000 in the beginning but organization do an independent audit or an independent with reallocation you receive more than $50,000, you need to review? submit an independent audit. 16. How will the LRO number be picked? If the agency has more than one LRO, the agency should pick one LRO number from its already existing LRO numbers. 17. What does other food consist of? Other food consists of food distribution, food certificates and food vouchers. Served meals are hot or cold meals served at congregate feeding sites. 18. Does the 55 percent match up have to be done for all categories or is it done as a whole? 19. For the allocations that are done on a formula base, how will it affect the amount asked for in the award? 20. What does the resources of current program funding consist of? If you are receiving food, then you must do the 55 percent for the food, if you are receiving shelter as well, then the 55 percent must be done for shelter separately. For example: You cannot use food donation as match for shelter. The formula is based on poverty level and unemployment in the district. The priority is shelter over food. 70% of the total allocation is for shelter and the 30% will be for food. It consist of donations from the community, groceries, fundraising, annual fundraising event, grants and other awards (HUD, ESG, CDBG, city/county funds, etc). 2
21. If you have previously submitted all of the documents in the Phase 32 and are not required to resubmit (excluding financials or any changes), what could be written in the application to determine that they have been previously submitted. 22. If the ten pages that are needed to be reporting on are not enough, what could we do? If you submitted all of the documents in Phase 32, please indicate this in the list of attachment Submitted in Phase 32. The threshold review will be done by the DPSS internal staff, which will check all of the requirements, attachments, and the completed questions. If anything is missing from the application in the threshold review, the application will not be scored. The ten pages will still be there, but you can place attachments if more space is needed. Attachments to the narrative will not be counted as part of the 10 pages. 23. Where will the awarded funds be posted? The awarded funds will be posted on the EFSP Website. 24. If an organization wants to only be a distributor and not the fiscal agent, what would be the agreement? 25. Under attachment 6 and 13, POLM can only attach 2013 independent audit and 990 because both items are being processed this summer with our independent auditor. How should I report this on the application? The 2014 audit and 990 should be completed by September 2015. 26. I don t see a place to attach an MOU if POLM does a collaborative application, nor do I see a place to attach an extra sheet for narrative question D1.1 as agreed upon yesterday. Where do I put these items because they are not part of the 10 page narrative limit? 27. Does FAP answer how much it was awarded 2014-2015, what amount do we use awarded amount or a new amount after reallocation? No financial reporting is needed from the distributor; there will be a memorandum of understanding between organizations. Attached the 2013 audit and include a note saying the 2014 will be completed on September 2015 and you will submit to DPSS once complete. We do not need a copy of the MOU for your collaboration. It is internal to you and your partnering agency. You just need to include in your narrative either under D.1 when you discuss the needs in the community or on D. 5. For additional sheets on your narrative, just do an attachment. It will not count against the required 10 pages. We do not want to keep adding to the attachment sheet since only a few organizations will be applying to all 5 Districts. It would be acceptable to attach more pages in your narrative, just say see attached continuation of narrative. Please use the total award your organization received after reallocation. 3
FAP will be requesting hotel/motel for the next phase. Hotel/motels in Riverside charge $55-$65 dollars per night bringing the total to around $1800-$2000. Is the EFSP hotel/motel cap at $1000? 28. According to the RFA the narrative is limited to 10 pages; please clarify if the 211 and CoC designation are not included in those ten pages. Only rental assistance has a cap of $1,000/month. The 211 Program Information Form and CoC designation letter will not be counted as part of the required 10-pages narrative. 29. Agencies now can qualify for up to $50,000 per district. What if you were already granted 50k. But you want to help a smaller agency during Phase 33. Is the larger organization going to get the $50,000 in addition to what the smaller agency is applying for? 30. What is considered a reasonable motel fee per night if there is a difference in the community of low income motels versus higher end hotels, e.g. like in the desert. 31. Does more than one Primary Target Population (RFA-8B) have to be designated? If you already reach the $50,000 maximum for the district, you can be a Fiscal Agent/Fiscal Conduit to an LRO. This means the organization will apply as an LRO will have an agreement with you (also need to complete the Fiscal Agency/Fiscal conduit Agency Relationship Certification) as their fiscal agent. As Fiscal Agent, you will be responsible for the receipt of funds, disbursement to vendors and documentation, on behalf of the LRO. Agencies typically figure this out themselves, since they know the community. An agency in Palm Springs might have a higher per night than one in Indio. The average room rate is about $65. Check the top three primary target populations that will be served by your agency 32. What kind of matching funds can we use? See Question 20. 33. How do we submit the SAMS federal exclusion document Please include as part of Attachment and label - EPLS with the application? 34. How can we document food items donated to our organization/lro so that it can be a match? 35. Do we need to submit all tabs for attachments in Part C even if we do not have to submit a document in one or several of the tabs? 36. When will we receive award notification so that it is not too late in the Phase? You can include the list/inventory of items you provide to the donor, donation letter from food vendors/supermarkets, companies, etc.; acknowledgement or thank you letter sent to the donor. No. Just submit the tabs with attachments and skip the numbers if you are not attaching anything. For example: Attachment 1; Attachment 5; Attachment 7, etc. The EFSP Local Board is scheduled to meet in October to review and approve funding allocations for Phase 33. Notification will be 4
37. How does the multi-organization /agency work, who would submit the application? 38. Do we need to have an agreement with the hotel/motel with the application? released after the approval. Multi-region organization is an organization that is applying in more than one district. One application is submitted including the districts to be served. Yes. The agreement is required to be submitted in the application. Failure to include a copy will result in the application being declared as incomplete and will not be scored. 5