Technical Assistance and Evaluation of the Next Generation Child Support Employment Services Demonstration

Description

This Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) has been modified in response to recent policy guidance in ACF-OCSS-AT-24-02, Final Rule: Elimination of Tribal Non-Federal Share Requirement. The changes can be found in the Executive Summary, Section I. Program Description, Program Design; Section II. Federal Award Information; Section III. Eligibility Information; III.1. Eligible Applicants; and Section V.1. Criteria.This NOFO has been modified to include a definition of tribal organization. The change can be found under I. Program Description, Program Design, bullet 2, sub-bullet 1.The Office of Child Support Services (OCSS) invites eligible candidates to submit applications for the Technical Assistance and Evaluation of the Next Generation Child Support Employment Services Demonstration (NextGen TA/Eval). This will be a cooperative agreement awarded to a single state child support agency. Under this cooperative agreement, the selected recipient will procure and manage an independent third-party organization(s) to provide technical assistance and evaluate demonstration projects funded under the forecasted companion NOFO HHS-2024-ACF-OCSE-FD-0015, Next Generation Child Support Employment Services Demonstration, or through section 1115 waivers to tribal child support agencies. This cooperative agreement will have a 60-month project period with five 12-month budget periods. Required activities will include:Implementation tracking and evaluationOutcome tracking and evaluationProviding programmatic and evaluation technical assistance to demonstration grant recipients, including leading regularly scheduled virtual learning community webinars and annual in-person meetings throughout the 5-year project periodImplementing and overseeing a Management Information System for grant recipients under the companion NOFO that systematically collects program services and short-term outcomes for participants in the demonstration projects funded under the companion NOFO or developing some other method to collect this informationDisseminating technical assistance materials, completed evaluation reports, and other lessons learned to a national audience, including presenting at national or state conferences. This may include offering technical assistance and support to non-grant recipient child support programs that want to start or strengthen their own child support-led employment services programs. It may also include providing technical assistance and support to tribal child support agencies with section 1115 waivers to provide NextGen-type services to tribal noncustodial parents.Applicants for this grant may also apply under the companion NOFO, but it is not a requirement for application or selection under this announcement. A successful applicant under this NOFO may also be selected as a successful applicant under the companion NOFO, but one award is not related to the other. The recipient of this award will select a third-party organization to conduct the evaluation and will maintain impartiality regarding the evaluation of all project sites.OCSS forecasts the awardee may receive up to $8,057,059 over the 5-year project period. The annual award ceiling for years 1-2 is $3,587,353. The annual award ceiling for years 3-5 is $294,118. The award floor is the same as the ceiling and average cost.

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