Questions and Answers from 8/19 call

We received a number of good questions during the August 19 Community of Practice call about the Pathways Out of Poverty grants and wanted to share our responses with you on the discussion forum. The answers provided here are based on our understanding of the Solicitation for Grant Applications and should not be taken as the advice of the Department of Labor itself. For the final word on all questions related to this grant please contact:

Melissa Abdullah
Grants Management Specialist
Division of Federal Assistance
Phone: (202) 693-3346
E-mail: Abdullah.Melissa@dol.gov

(reference SGA/DFA PY 08-19 and include question, contact name, fax, and phone number)

Our nonprofit serves a multi-county area in Central Texas. Are we restricted to focusing only on one Public Use Microdata Area (PUMA)  or can we apply to focus across multiple PUMAs? Any clarification on geographic restrictions would be much appreciated.

There are different requirements for geographic focus depending on the type of applicant:

"National entities, along with their partners, are expected to implement projects in  multiple communities across the country. In order to apply as a national entity, an applicant must propose a project that serves communities located in at least 2 states, with a minimum of 1 community located in each state, and a range of 3–7 total communities served.

Local entities must propose a project that serves one single community."

Definition of "community":

"For the purposes of this SGA, a community is defined as a geographic area located within one or more contiguous Public Use Microdata Areas (PUMAs), which are geographic statistical areas designated by the U.S. Census Bureau (see Section VIII.A for detailed information and links to Census poverty data)."

asked in a related question: Does it make a difference how many PUMAs you propose to serve?  Is it better less or more?

PUMA those neighborhoods encompass).

"The Department expects that applicants will focus their projects on a geographic portion of a PUMA in order to most effectively serve the specific populations targeted by the project. For urban applications, the Department expects that designated communities will be neighborhoods within cities rather than entire cities. For rural applications, the Department expects that designated communities will be 1–3 entire counties, or American Indian Areas, Alaska Native Areas, or Hawaiian Homelands.

There is no requirement for the minimum or maximum size of populations in the designated communities, but the Department anticipates that the communities will have populations that range from 10,000 to 100,000 people. In order to ensure that high poverty areas receive priority for grant awards, points will be awarded in the technical review process"

1.Is it recommended that a national entity be the lead on any application that is nationally based?  Can the roles be shared?  Can a national organization not be the lead organization for a national grant?

Green For All: Our reading of the solicitation is that to apply for a national grant, the lead applicant must be a national nonprofit that delivers services through networks of local affiliates, coalition members, or other established partners and that has the ability to deliver services in four or more states.

 2. What are salary limits for a position directly written into the grant?

See p. 30145 of the solicitation.  None of the funds shall be used by a recipient or sub-recipient 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. See Training and Employment Guidance Letter number 5–06 for further clarification:
http://wdr.doleta.gov/directives/corr_doc.cfm?DOCN=2262.

1. Are the 5 mandated partners in each site also to be funded partners?

BlueGreen Research: Not necessarily.  The required partners will develop a budget together and decide on funding distribution.

2. Unions are one of the mandated partners.  Please give examples of the role that unions can best play in the project.

BlueGreen Research: Unions can play a number of roles: they can be trainers, provide information on what's needed in the industry, serve on your advisory board, connect you with employers who may want to hire your trainees.

Green For All: It may help to see this section of the solicitation:

“By including all of these types of organizations in a comprehensive partnership, applicants can ensure that they are maximizing available resources and organizational expertise for each project, and that individual participants within the project have all of the support that they need to successfully complete training, overcome barriers to employment, and obtain jobs and advance along career ladders...Education and training providers should partner with labor organizations and industry-related organizations to ensure that education and training programs address the skills required for the targeted industries, lead to industry-recognized certificates or credentials if appropriate, and ensure that the training strategies reflect the needs of both workers and employers.”

When do you expect funding to be awarded?

Green For All: Generally speaking, awards will follow approvals, which follow review.  The time frame for review depends on the number of applications ETA receives.

Tom from The Workplace, Inc. estimates that awards will be made around January 2010.

1. We are a nonprofit and the lead on this proposal. Do we have to have another nonprofit as a partner, in addition to the workforce system, education/training community, employers, and labor organizations?

Green For All: The answer to this question may depend on what type of nonprofit you are.  Strategic partnerships must include nonprofit organizations, such as community or faith-based organizations, that have direct access to the targeted populations.  If this does not describe your organization, it appears that you would need to find a nonprofit partner that fits the description.

2. We are a national organization and are applying as the lead in two states. In a third state, a workforce system has asked our people to be part of its proposal. Are we allowed to be part of two separate proposals?

Green For All: The SGA says that "an organization may not submit multiple applications in response to any one SGA."  While "[a]n organization that submits an application for one SGA is not precluded from participating as a suggested or required partner in applications submitted in response to the other SGA," – referring to the Pathways Out of Poverty solicitation and the Energy Training Partnerships solicitation – ETA will not fund any organization as a grantee more than once through these two solicitations. (p. 30140 of the solicitation). http://www.doleta.gov/grants/find_grants.cfm

3. We are a national organization and required to submit plans for projects in two states. Because the situations are so different in each state—including partners, poverty levels, etc.—the projects will be completely different. The page count for the technical narrative is teeny for the information that is being requested, especially in the Project Management and Organizational Capacity part. I divided up the page count to reflect points, so for example, Experience of Applicant is worth 5 points and thus gets 1.25 pages. How, in 1.25 double-spaced pages, am I supposed to demonstrate specific examples of our experience in leading or participating in partnerships, our track record, and that of 10 partners (5 partners in 2 separate projects)? That is about 23 lines of copy. Is it best to focus on us as the lead and provide a few words about the other organizations. Same thing goes for other questions about Fiscal, Admin, and Performance Management Capacity and Staff Capacity. Any ideas?

Thomas Sobocinski, BlueGreen Research Institute. Yes, you should limit the # of pages to what if appropriate based on the # of points it is worth.  The proposal should focus on the applicant – since the applicant will also be the fiduciary and administrator.  Give the other partners a line or so in this section.  Their role and commitment must also be explained in section 3.ii – maybe that section can include some description.

If you go to 4 or 5 pages you're going to steal from a section that has more points or not.  You have to find a good person to help you cut pages to the page limit.

: Under supportive services -- what is your understanding as it relates to substance abuse support and/or counseling services? Can these be included in supportive services?

BlueGreen Research Institute: Yes, we think so. 

Green For All: Also, many thanks to Natalie Peretsman for alerting us that the support services cap was changed from 5% to 10%. You can find this modification at: http://www.doleta.gov/grants/find_grants.cfm

Do wage supplements for trainees count as Supportive Services?

BlueGreen Research Institute: Typically that's not allowed on a DOL grant. We would not encourage that approach. You could try leveraging another program that allows wage supplements - that would strengthen your program. Faith & community-based organizations sometimes support the individuals, sometimes through a stipend, transportation, etc - something that helps the individual stay in the program

Ragini asked:


1. Budget narrative: Do you have models or examples of previous budget narratives? Any formatting suggestions?

MIchael from BlueGreen: Attached are some samples we have for previous grant applications. Budget narratives are typically brief. See the Excel file and the tabs. (email ladan(at)greenforall.org for a copy of these attachments.

2. Letters of Commitment: Do you have a model letter of commitment?  Must the letter be signed by all of the required and encouraged partners at the time of the application?

MIchael from BlueGreen: I would get separate letters form each of the partners. I can also help customize something should you require specific Technical Assistance. We are available for a reasonable fee to provide guidance in this sort of thing.

3. Do you have any suggestions for the Abstract?  Suggested format and layout? Suggested content? Any examples or models to draw from?

MIchael from BlueGreen: I would keep it to one page and hit all their required questions. Per the SGA: “The applicant must provide an Abstract, not to exceed one page, summarizing the proposed project including applicant name; applicant category (national entity or local entity); project title; identification of the community or communities to be served, including whether the community(ies) are located in urban, suburban, or rural areas; and the funding level requested.”

Frances: What is the average amount an organization charges per unit for training?

BlueGreen Research Institute: There’s no good answer for that….it really depends on the part of the country you're in, the length & complexity of the training; a lot of factors that would go into that and there are no parameters set in this solicitation. Look at prices of training in your area and base it on that.

When you're doing your budget, you don't want to be heavy on the administration & the salaries. Don't have high expenses like purchasing buildings or other things that would raise red flags.

Dave from NJ: Can a non-profit be a partner on a national pathways out of poverty grant and also be a partner on a local pathways out of poverty grant?  If no, what if one grant application was for solar and the other was for home weatherization?

BlueGreen Research Institute: I think you could be a partner on both. There is language in the SGA that says if a national application is funded the local effort won't be funded

Hilary Ward from Chicago: If a local non-profit is a part of a national org can the local affiliate apply for the grant? Or does the national org have to apply in order for the local affiliate to receive $$?

BlueGreen Research Institute: The national doesn't have to apply, but if it does, then it has to apply for a multi-state application. the local affiliate can apply as the local, and the national can apply also, but they're not going to award to both.

Lisa Eisenbud: Can you clarify or define labor management organizations?  If labor unions or labor management organizations are all applying, how can others collaborate and apply?

Green For All: Here is how the solicitation defines labor management organizations (See p. 30151 of the solicitation: http://www.doleta.gov/grants/find_grants.cfm):

"National labor-management organization: A national labor management organization is a nonprofit entity, such as a training fund, training trust fund, or an education trust fund, with joint participation of employers and labor organizations on its executive board or comparable governing body. This entity must have a formalized agreement between the employer(s) and labor organization(s) to operate a joint labor management training program(s) in multiple sites across the country through the state, local, or regional networks affiliated with the nonprofit entity.

: We work in some rural areas that don't have organized labor. Do you know if the definition of "labor organzations" is only unions or is it defined some other way?

BlueGreen Research Institute: Labor organizations can also be a home builder's association or other business people that band together. If there are no unions in your area, we recommend finding a state or national affiliate to connect with.

Melissa Abdullah from the Department of Labor responded to a couple of questions I asked about the grants:

From: Ladan Sobhani
Sent: Thursday, August 20, 2009 6:28 PM
To: Abdullah, Melissa - ETA
Subject: Re: can DOL answer these questions in advance of our call today?
 
1. Does "expects" means "requires" in the following sentence, or can an applicant be city-wide, or possibly even include more than one city?  "For urban applications, the Department expects that designated communities will be neighborhoods within cities rather than entire cities."
 
I know of at least one region where the lead applicants in two cities have combined their applications, in part because many of the partners are regional and would be included in both applications. Which leads me to my second question:
 
2. Are partners permitted to be on two separate applications if they are listed as paid partners? Would they be permitted on two separate applications if they are listed as unpaid partners? 
 
Thank you!
Ladan

From: "Abdullah, Melissa - ETA" <Abdullah.Melissa (at) dol.gov>
Date: August 24, 2009 8:14:36 AM PDT

Expects does not mean requires.
The SGA does not prohibit an organization being included as a paid or unpaid partner on two applications. As long as if both application were to be funded the partner could be committed to both projects it would be allowable.
 
Thank you,
 
Melissa Abdullah
Grants Management Specialist
U.S. Department of Labor/ETA
Phone: (202) 693-3346
Fax: (202) 693-2705