FY 2012 Grant Request for Applications (RFA)

Drug Free Communities Support Program

MODIFIED ANNOUNCEMENT

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Request for Applications (RFA) No.: SP-12-001
Posting on Grants.gov: January 25, 2012
Original Receipt date: March 22, 2012

Catalogue of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) No.: 93.276

Key Dates

Application Deadline Applications are due by March 22, 2012
Intergovernmental Review (E.O. 12372) Applicants must comply with E.O. 12372 if their State(s) participates. Review process recommendations from the State Single Point of Contact (SPOC) are due no later than 60 days after application deadline.
Public Health System Impact Statement (PHSIS) / Single State Agency Coordination Applicants must send the PHSIS to appropriate State and local health agencies by application deadline. Comments from Single State Agency are due no later than 60 days after application deadline.

The Executive Office of the President, Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), and the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) are accepting applications for Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 Drug Free Communities Support Program (DFC) grants. The purpose of the DFC Program is to establish and strengthen collaboration to support the efforts of community coalitions working to prevent and reduce substance use among youth.

DFC is a collaborative initiative, sponsored by ONDCP, in partnership with SAMHSA, which works to achieve two goals:

  • Establish and strengthen collaboration among communities, public and private non-profit agencies, and Federal, State, local, and tribal governments to support the efforts of community coalitions working to prevent and reduce substance use among youth. For the purposes of this RFA, “youth” is defined as individuals 18 years of age and younger.
  • Reduce substance use among youth and, over time, reduce substance abuse among adults by addressing the factors in a community that increase the risk of substance abuse and promoting the factors that minimize the risk of substance abuse.

DFC grantees are required to work toward these two goals as the primary focus of their Federally-funded effort.

The DFC Program was created by the Drug Free Communities Act of 1997 (Public Law 105-20), reauthorized through the Drug Free Communities Reauthorization Act of 2001 (Public Law 107-82), and reauthorized again through the Office of National Drug Control Policy Reauthorization Act of 2006 (Public Law 109-469). The latest reauthorization extended the program for an additional five years until 2012. This announcement addresses Healthy People 2020 Substance Abuse Topic Area HP 2020-SA.

Since 1998, ONDCP has awarded approximately 2,000 DFC grants, with up to 30 new awards expected in FY 2012. Grants have been awarded to communities from every region in the nation including rural, urban, suburban, and tribal communities. Additional grantee information is available on the DFC website at www.whitehouse.gov/ondcp/Drug-Free-Communities-Support-Program.

Eligibility

Statutory Eligibility Requirements, written into the DFC Act, are inherent in the DFC Program. (See Table 2 of this RFA: Statutory Eligibility Requirements). Please read the Statutory Eligibility Requirements carefully and provide the information necessary to meet the requirements in Attachments 1-8 of your application. Failure to meet any single eligibility requirement will cause the application to be deemed ineligible, and the application will not move forward to Peer Review. Should your application fail to meet the eligibility requirements, the person listed as the contact person on the Application for Federal Assistance will receive a letter stating why the application was deemed ineligible. No new materials or information may be added to the original application after it has been submitted. Final authority lies with the DFC Administrator to determine the eligibility of an application.

All DFC applications will be jointly screened by ONDCP and SAMHSA to determine whether each applicant meets all the DFC Program eligibility requirements contained in Table 2 of this RFA. In addition, the non-profit status of the grantee/legal applicant (if applicable) will be verified along with its ability to fiscally manage Federal funds. Applications submitted by eligible coalitions that demonstrate they meet all requirements will then be scored through a Peer Review process according to the evaluation criteria described in Part V of this RFA, Application Review Information.

Table 2 of this RFA contains a summary of the Statutory Eligibility Requirements and the minimum documentation applicants must provide to meet the eligibility criteria. The “Where to Document” section in the following table shows applicants where to include the required information in their applications (e.g., as an attachment, in the Project Narrative, in the Budget Narrative). Each year, DFC grantees must demonstrate compliance with all of the Statutory Eligibility Requirements to be considered for continued funding.

Award Information

Funding Mechanism: Grant
Anticipated Total Available Funding: $3,750,000
Anticipated Number of Awards: Up to 30
Anticipated Award Amount: Up to $125,000 per year
Length of Project Period: Up to 5 years

Applicants may not ask for more than $125,000 in total costs (direct and indirect) in any year of the proposed project. Approximately $3,750,000 for up to 30 FY 2012 DFC grants will be awarded through this RFA. As of the release of this RFA, the FY2012 Federal Budget is still pending before Congress.

DFC grants will be available to eligible applicants in amounts of up to $125,000 per year over a five-year period, known as a “funding cycle.” To apply for a DFC grant under this RFA, a coalition must fall into one of the following three categories:

  1. A coalition that has never received a DFC grant;
  2. A coalition that previously received a DFC grant, but experienced a lapse in funding; or
  3. A coalition that has concluded the first five-year funding cycle and is applying for a second five-year funding cycle.

If selected to receive a DFC grant, coalitions will be awarded funds for one year (covering the 12-month period from September 30, 2012–September 29, 2013). Funds for subsequent years within a grant cycle are distributed on an annual basis as non-competing Continuation awards. Annual Continuation awards are contingent upon the availability of DFC funds, the continued ability of the coalition to demonstrate eligibility, grantee progress in meeting grant requirements, timely submission of the Continuation application and all required data and reports, and compliance with all Terms and Conditions of the award.

Coalitions that have previously received DFC funding, but experienced a lapse in their five-year funding cycle, may re-apply for funding to complete their five-year funding cycle. For example, if Coalition X received DFC funding for Years 1 and 2, but did not receive funding for Year 3, Coalition X may apply for funding for Years 3, 4, and 5 under this RFA. Coalition X may not, however, reapply for Year 1 or Year 2 funding.

NOTE: All applicants must clearly state the program award year for which they are applying (e.g., Year 1, Year 2). Please indicate the status of the coalition and for which specific years the coalition received DFC support in the past in Attachment 15 of your application. If your coalition had a break in funding, indicate each year you did not receive funding from the DFC Program.

Coalitions that have received 10 years of DFC funding are not eligible for this grant. If a coalition believes that they have already received 10 years of DFC funding, they should refer to the End of Grant Policy (Congressional 10-Year Funding Limit Policy) outlined in Appendix H of this RFA.

Contact Information

If you have questions related to this RFA, use the following contacts for resolution. Your questions will be answered within 24-48 business hours. Please allow appropriate time for your question to be answered. Once the application deadline is reached, these numbers are no longer in use.

For questions about program issues contact:

DFC RFA Hotline Team
Division of Community Programs
(240) 276-1270
dfcnew2012@samhsa.hhs.gov

For Federal forms and budget questions contact:

Virginia Simmons
Division of Grants Management
(240) 276-1422
virginia.simmons@samhsa.hhs.gov

After the application is submitted and the application deadline has passed, applicants can contact Cynthia Riddick at 240-276-1199 or by e-mail at Cynthia.Riddick@samhsa.hhs.gov for questions related to whether or not the application was received and/or went to Peer Review and for copies of score summary sheets completed through the Peer Review process.

Documents Needed to Complete a Grant Application

1. REQUEST FOR APPLICATIONS (RFA)

YOU MUST RESPOND TO THE REQUIREMENTS IN THE RFA IN PREPARING YOUR APPLICATION.

2. GRANT APPLICATION PACKAGE

YOU MUST USE THE FORMS IN THE APPLICATION PACKAGE TO COMPLETE YOUR APPLICATION.

Additional Materials

For further information on the forms and the application process, see Useful Information for Applicants.

Additional materials available on this website include:

Last updated: 1/30/2012