All participants are in listen-only mode
until the question and answer session of today's conference.
At that time, please press star 1
to ask a question over the phone.
Today's conference is being recorded.
If you have any objections, you may disconnect at this time.
And now I will turn the meeting over to Diane Foley.
Thank you. You may begin.
Diane Foley: Thank you. Good afternoon.
I am Diane Foley,
the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Population Affairs.
I want to welcome you to the fiscal year 2019
technical assistance conference call
for the Title X0 Family Planning Competitive Service Grants.
During the call today,
we want to provide an overview of the funding announcement.
The main purpose is to really familiarize potential applicants
with the Title X Program, the application,
and the funding process.
As part of this,
we will not be answering questions
about specific applications
nor will we entertain any questions from the media
during this webinar.
We have a limited time to address questions
during this afternoon's webinar.
For those of you joining us on the computer,
please enter your questions
using the Q&A function on your screen.
The Operator will assist you by joining
if you want to ask them over the phone
when we get to our question and answer portion
a little bit later in this presentation.
I want to also introduce to you those
who are going to be joining me on the webinar this afternoon.
We have Susan Moskosky, who is the Deputy Director
here in the Office of Population Affairs.
David Johnson is the Operations and Administrative Officer
for our office here at the Office of Population Affairs.
And we also have Roscoe Brunson
who is in the Office of Grants Management.
He will be speaking about mainly the administrative
and the budgetary requirements for the funding announcement
and what you need to know from grants management.
Again, I want to reiterate that this call will be recorded
and we will be placing this webinar material on our website
within the next week or so.
Initially, it will be the slides that will be there
and then eventually it will actually be the recording
of the entire proceedings here.
I want to remind you that applications are due
on January the 14th by 6:00 pm Eastern Time.
Again, this will be discussed a little bit later,
but these will all need to be submitted electronically.
And later on in this call,
we will go over that process with you.
But again, the deadline is January 14th of 2019.
I want to discuss with you a bit about policy issues
that hopefully will assist you
as you are completing your application for this grant.
It would be helpful I think for you to have a copy
of the funding announcement available to you
to refer to during our call,
We will be using some page numbers
to help you refer to those.
And you can use that as you are making notations
to help with this application process.
You can locate the document
by searching the CFDA number 93.217.
You also can actually access this directly on our website,
the OPA website.
Just to familiarize you if you are not familiar with
the Health and Human Services organizational structure,
the Title X Family Planning Program
is located in the US Department of Health and Human Services.
Our Secretary of Health and Human Services is Alex Azar.
Within Health and Human Services,
is the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health...
also referred to as OASH...
oversees a number of public health offices.
Admiral Brett Giroir is the Assistant Secretary for Health.
Our office, the Office of Population Affairs,
is found within OASH,
and we are the ones who are responsible
for administering the Title X program.
In addition to the Office of Population Affairs,
OASH also oversees other offices
that are noted here on this slide.
These offices really are the cornerstones
for delivery of public health services to our nation.
You can see the wide variety
that is represented underneath OASH.
The Office of Population Affairs
and the Office of Grants Management work together
to implement the Title X Family Planning Services Program.
OPA is responsible for the programmatic and policy issues
along with oversight of our projects with national scope
such as our training centers
that we will be discussing a little bit later.
We also provide policy guidance
to help effectively manage this program.
Roscoe is now going to provide a quick overview
of the Office of Grants Management.
Roscoe Brunson: Thank you, Diane and good afternoon everyone.
The Office of Grants Management
maintains responsibility for the administrative, business,
and budgetary elements
of Title X Family Service Planning Grants.
We implement the grant policy,
including the grant policy statement,
federal rules that are applicable to all grants.
We also provide direct management and oversight
throughout the life of the grant.
Diane Foley: Thank you, Roscoe.
Now, the Title X Services Grant, we get the authorization
to do this grant through the Public Health Service Act,
a major provision within the law.
And if you look at it, that has five parts to it --
1001 is the authorizing legislation
that allows us to provide services under Title X.
And these services must be provided by public
and nonprofit entities that receive funds.
Section 1003 authorizes us to provide training
for the personnel who work within our Title X Program.
So, our national training centers
are funded under this section
and we have two --
Family Planning National Training Center
as well as the Clinical Training Center for Family Planning.
You will also hear more about those as we move along.
Section 1004 is the authorization that allows us
to provide grants to entities that will conduct research
about family planning topics.
Section 1005 authorizes us to develop and provide
for the public information and educational activities.
Those activities right now include our website,
other publications as well as
the clinic directory that we have.
And then section 1008 is part of the statute or law
that is the prohibition of abortion.
None of the funds appropriated under Title X
can be used in programs where
abortion is a method of family planning.
The mission of Title X is to assist individuals and couples
in planning and spacing births,
contributing to positive birth outcomes
and improved health for women and infants.
We like to describe what we do as a program
and what we try to do
is to help either prevent pregnancy
or help to achieve pregnancy.
Susan Moskosky: This is Sue Moskosky.
I'm going to talk a little bit further
about the Title X Program specifically.
The purpose of the Title X Program is to ensure that
family planning services are available to individuals
who want and need them.
And by law, priority is given to individuals
from low-income families.
Title X Programs provide
a variety of different educational,
medical, and social services
that assist individuals in planning their families.
Services include preventive health care
like cervical cancer screening,
clinical breast exams,
HIV and STD prevention counseling and testing,
and other services closely related to family planning
or closely related to preventing or achieving pregnancy.
The Title X Services Program has many different requirements
that are specific and outlined in the Title X regulations.
These include a broad range of acceptable
and effective family planning methods.
We will talk about each of these a little bit later
on in the presentation in terms of what we expect
and what these mean.
Education and counseling related to family planning,
physical exam, and related preventive health services,
pregnancy diagnosis and counseling,
services for adolescents,
clinical procedures that are indicated
for providing contraceptive methods safely.
Also laboratory tests that are indicated
for providing methods of birth control safely,
basic infertility services,
and STD and HIV prevention education, counseling,
and testing either onsite or by referral
although we would much prefer
that all these services are provided onsite.
Other key points to note are that Title X services
must be voluntary, they must be confidential,
and must also be provided
under the direction of a physician who has training
or experience in family planning.
This means that the medical director at the project level
or at the grantee level does have to be a physician.
It doesn't mean that that physician necessarily
has to be an OB/GYN physician.
Also, physicians that are primary care trained
or pediatricians all have been trained
and have experience in family planning.
Also, Title X services must be available to any person
who requests them regardless of their ability to pay.
And that means for both males and females.
And as mentioned previously, priority for services
is to individuals from low- income families.
Title X services grant requirements also include
that clients whose documented income is at or below
100% of the federal poverty level
which is established annually -- must not be charged,
although projects do have to bill third parties
that are authorized or legally obligated to pay for services.
And this would including billing third parties
like Medicaid or private insurance.
For individuals who have family incomes between 101
and 250% of the federal poverty level,
they must be charged based on a fee schedule,
which is developed to provide for low
or reduced fees for those individuals
that have lower incomes.
And for persons whose family incomes exceed 250%
of the federal poverty level,
charges must be made in accordance with
a schedule of fees that are designed to recover
the reasonable cost of providing services.
The current Title X network includes 96 service grantees
providing Title X family planning services in every state
and in the US territories and six Pacific jurisdictions
and the District of Columbia.
So, this includes at least one grantee in every state
Some of states have up to five or six grantees.
In some states, we have one grantee
that covers an entire state.
And these grantees include states, territorial, tribal,
county or local health agencies, universities, faith based
and community nonprofit agencies.
We gather data every year in what is called
the Family Planning Annual Report.
In 2017, Title X sites provided family planning
and related preventive health services
to more than 4 million patients.
And we hope to increase the number of people
who have access to services
within this current funding announcement.
So, core family planning services are actually listed
on Page 9 of the funding announcement.
And the funding announcement defines
the core set of family planning services
that are expected to be provided by each project
references the Providing Quality Family Services Recommendations
that were jointly produced by CDC
and OPA and published in 2014
and have been updated regularly through MMWRs in 2015 and 2017.
And these should be used as a guideline
for the delivery of services.
Core family planning services,
as identified in the funding announcement,
should be addressed in your application including
1) discussion with the client
about their reproductive life plan, and
2) a broad range of acceptable and effective
family planning methods and services for delaying
or preventing pregnancy.
The FOA clarifies that the broad range should include
hormonal contraception offered by each project,
although not necessarily
by every subrecipient within each project.
Guidance is also provided within the FOA for applicants
that are planning to provide
only limited family planning services
and must have either subrecipients
who offer additional family planning services
so that the project as a whole provides
the broad range of family planning services,
or they can act as a subrecipient
as part of another applicant's project.
Also, the broad range of family planning services
does not include abortion as a method of family planning.
And core family planning services do need
to include pregnancy testing and counseling.
Core planning family services also include basic services
that are centered around preconception and services
for achieving pregnancy such as basic infertility services,
STD prevention, education, and screening... including testing
and treatment where appropriate and then HIV testing
and referral treatment when appropriate.
Also, screening for substance use disorders and referral
where appropriate should be provided
within core family planning services.
If you look at Page 10 of the funding announcement,
program priorities are defined.
And these are defined as including all of the legal
requirements covered within the Title X statute,
the regulations, and the legislative mandates.
And I am going to go through each of those though
not all of the regulations and the entire statute.
So the legislative mandates are in the FOA on Page 13.
And they've been part of the Title X appropriations language
for many years now.
And this funding opportunity announcement carries forward
these legislative mandates.
And we would expect that you would include administrative,
clinical, counseling, and referral services as well as
train the staff necessary to ensure
adherence to these requirements.
So, the first one is stated as "none of the funds appropriated
in this act may be made available to any entity under
Title X of the Public Health Service Act
unless the applicant for the award
certifies to the Secretary of Health and Human Services
that it encourages family participation
in the decision of minors to seek family planning services
and that it provides counseling to minors on
how to resist attempts
to coerce minors into engaging in sexual activities."
And that "notwithstanding any other provision of law,
no provider of services under Title X of
the Public Health Service Act
shall be exempt from any state law requiring notification
or the reporting of child abuse, child molestation,
sexual abuse, rape, or incest."
And OPA expects that every project will comply
with applicable state laws in the proposed service area
and will have project wide monitoring
and reporting policies in place related to all of these
child abuse, child molestation, sexual abuse,
rape, incest, intimate partner violence,
and human trafficking.
These policies need to include details related to
annual staff training on policy and protocols.
So if we come to monitor you,
we want to know not just that you have policies in place,
but whether your staff have been trained
and know where these policies are
and how they're to be implemented.
And also as a grantee, your responsibility
would be to make sure
that these policies are implemented and monitored
and that there's clear understanding of your staff
on the reporting process and maintenance of documentation.
In addition, as specified in the FOA,
any teen who presents with an STD, a pregnancy,
or a suspicion of abuse will be subject
to preliminary screening to rule out victimization of a minor.
And such screening is required for any individual
who is under the age of consent
in the state of the proposed service area.
So copies of the Title X statute, regulations,
and legislative mandates are all available to be downloaded
from the OPA website.
And all activities that are funded to grantees under this
announcement have to be in compliance
with the Title X statute as well as program regulations,
legislative mandates, and other requirements.
Key issues are found on Pages 14 through 16
of the funding announcement and the funding announcement
identifies ten key issues.
As you are applying for these grants,
you should address each key issue within your application,
including identifying specific strategies
for addressing each of the key issues.
So, the first key issue is assuring innovative,
quality family planning
and related preventive health services
that lead to improved reproductive health outcomes
and overall optimal health,
which is defined as a state of complete physical,
mental, and social well-being
and not merely the absence of disease.
The guidance regarding the delivery of
quality family planning services is spelled out in the
"Providing Quality Family Planning Services"
document that I mentioned previously,
which is also available on the OPA website.
The next key issue is providing the tools necessary
for the inclusion of substance abuse disorder screening
into family planning services offered by Title X applicants.
The third one is following a model
that promotes optimal health outcomes for the client,
including physical, mental,
and social health by emphasizing comprehensive
primary health care services
along with family planning services
preferably in the same location
or through nearby referral providers.
The next key issue is providing resources
that prioritize optimal health outcomes for individuals
and couples with the goal of healthy relationships
and stable marriages as they make decisions
about preventing or achieving pregnancy.
The fifth key issue is providing counseling for adolescents
that encourages sexual risk avoidance by delaying
the onset of sexual activity as the healthiest choice
and developing tools to communicate
the public health benefit
and protective factors for the sexual health
of adolescents found by delaying the onset of sexual activity,
thereby reducing
the overall number of lifetime sexual partners.
The next key issue... or number six...
is communicating the growing body of information
for a variety of fertility awareness based methods
of family planning and providing tools
for applicants to use in patient education about these methods.
The seventh one is fostering interaction with community
and faith-based organizations to develop a network
for client referrals when needs outside the scope
of family planning are identified.
The eighth key issue is accurately collecting
and reporting data such as through
the Family Planning Annual report.
The ninth one is promoting the use of a standardized instrument
such as the OPA Program Review Tool
to regularly perform quality assurance
and quality improvement activities
with clearly defined administrative, clinical,
and financial accountability for applicants and subrecipients.
And then the final one is increasing attention
to CDC's screening recommendations for chlamydia
and other STDs as well as HIV testing
that have long-term impact on fertility and pregnancies.
So hopefully that communicates to you
what we're expecting to see
in terms of the narrative in your application and
we hope that you'll address each of these individually
and in a clear fashion so that
when people are reviewing your application,
they don't have to look for things.
I'm going to hand off to David Johnson at this point
who is going to talk more about the project narrative
and what we'd like to see in your application.
David Johnson: Thanks, Sue.
So, the project narrative
is the most important part of the application.
It will be used as the primary basis
to determine whether or not
your proposal meets the minimum requirements
for award under this announcement.
Please be sure to carefully read the FOA
for the full text of all 17 project narrative components.
The 17 components address critical program elements
as just previously discussed
and demonstrates the applicant's capability
to administer the required clinical, financial,
and operational components
necessary to successfully carry out
the Title X Family Planning Service Project.
Again, please refer to the FOA for the full description
of the project narrative components.
It's on Pages 22 through 26 of the FOA.
The budget narrative -- which we'll discuss more in depth
over the next few sections
when the Office of Grants Management speaks
but we still want to make sure that we address
is from the programmatic standpoint.
It is important to point out that the budget
and the budget narrative
are not distinctly separate from the project narrative.
The budget and budget narrative
are additional building blocks of your application
and ultimately of your overall project.
What you have proposed in your project narrative
must be reflected in your budget
not simply identifying a dollar amount to an activity,
but it really provides context of why,
how, and/or where that figure came from.
Just as with your project narrative,
the clearer that you present your proposal,
the easier it is for an objective
review panel to understand.
Please provide reasoning for your application.
This is part of that building block of
the total project narrative.
Please note also that these parts of the application...
the budget and budget narrative
do not actually have a page limit.
To continue along this, as discussed earlier monitoring
and oversight has also been a significant part of OPA
and Title X since its beginning.
However, as we continually strive to ensure that projects,
grantees, and their subrecipients are operating
in accordance with the statute regulations
and supporting guidance.
We want to make sure that
this is also very explicit and addressed.
We also want to be clear that
while a significant element of oversight
is to ensure that federal funds are being used as intended
and according to law and regulations,
it is of equal if not more importance
that services provided through the
Title X planning projects are of the highest quality.
Oversight of the award must include
adherence to all requirements
policy, financial, and programmatic.
It might tie these requirements to outcomes,
which also means quality.
Simply following all financial
and policy related elements while not observing,
assessing, or improving the quality
of the services is not acceptable.
Provided this, there are many ways
that you can accomplish this.
And this is your opportunity to indicate how you will do this.
This slide indicates the elements
that must be part of your plan
but you must indicate how these will be accomplished,
including but not limited to what you will be measuring
that is, when do you know when something is met
and/or needs improvement or is it the best possible -
could it be the best possible best practice?
How will you measure it?
These are systems, processes, documentation.
When you will measure it, frequency, and the overarching
why have you decided on your plan,
including these elements of the plan, your justification.
If you choose to do something a certain way at that time
at a certain level, it should be clear as to what this was
and why you chose to do this.
This is part of the overall plan
and again it provides some justification
and context to your project.
The clarity of a plan is absolutely key.
There's a list.
It's listed on Page 35 and 36 of the FOA info.
Also, I want to be clear that when we say "subrecipient"
during this technical assistance webinar
and also in the future we define subrecipients
as any entity receiving funds
outside of the grantee.
There's no hierarchy.
So, any part of your project, which receives Title X funds
and provides either administrative
and/or clinical services are considered subrecipients.
All items in the application's appendices will count toward
your total page limit of the application.
You must submit them as a single,
electronic file uploaded to attachment sections
of your grants.gov application.
Again, this is a change that happened
over the past couple years but it is very clear.
You must submit them as a single electronic file uploaded.
so independent of how many attachments do you have or
excuse me, how many pieces of your appendices you have,
it should be uploaded and it must be uploaded
as one single upload.
As you see on the slide,
there are a few things here that are part of that.
It's your work plan, your schedule of discount,
your coverage map
so where you're actually going to be providing
these services as we see in the geographic area...
CVs and resumes for your key project personnel.
We recommend that CVs and/or bios or resumes
do not exceed two pages.
Letters of commitment from referral entities
is also an option that you can provide in the appendices.
A program note
HHS intends to fund services in all areas listed.
Those are the 59 different areas that are located in Table 1.
However, that does not mean that unqualified applicants
will be funded.
Awards will be based on
the quality of the application received
and the eligibility of the applicants.
So please refer to Table one on Page 6 and 7
of the funding opportunity announcement
for a full listing of the service areas.
The amounts in there are estimated amounts.
And they're listed to revise - I'm sorry.
They have been revised and they reflect the number of clients
in need of publicly funded family planning services
within each state as well as the District of Columbia.
Direction is given to help applicants determine
the amount of estimated funding
available to them to provide services
in portions of the state or region
based on the number of women
in need of publicly funded contraceptive services.
Applicants and applications
are not required to cover an entire state
or any specific region Applications may cover
specific parts of a state, a region, or geographic area.
Applications may cover multiple states, multiple regions,
and multiple geographic areas or a combination of all of these.
It is up to the applicant,
and it is their responsibility to define the areas covered
and the population it intends to provide
Title X services as a part of their project.
While we'll come back to some other elements
a little bit later,
I am going to hand it over to Roscoe Brunson
from the Office of Grants Management to discuss
some of the other elements of the application.
Roscoe Brunson: Thanks, David.
Let's start with submission dates and times.
As previously mentioned, the application is due by 6:00pm
Eastern Time on January 14, 2019.
Your submission time will be determined by
the date and time stamp provided by Grants.gov
when you complete your submission.
We strongly encourage you to submit your application
a minimum of three to five days
prior to the application closing date.
Grants.gov may take up to 48 hours to notify you
of a successful submission.
If you fail to submit your application
by the due date and time,
we will not review it
and will receive no further consideration.
Let's look at the eligible applicants,
which are listed on Page 17 of the FOA.
Any public or private nonprofit entity located in a state
which includes one of the 50 United States,
District of Columbia,
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands,
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands,
American Samoa, Guam, Republic of Palau,
Federated States of Micronesia,
and the Republic of the Marshall Islands.
Also faith-based organizations and American Indian,
Alaskan Native American organizations.
Some examples of eligible applicants are state governments
as well as county governments, city or township governments,
Native American tribal governments,
federally or state recognized
community and faith-based nonprofit organizations,
nonprofits having 501(c)(3) status with the IRS,
public state controlled and
private nonprofit institutions of higher education,
and other nonprofit school districts or entities.
Cost sharing or matching... program regulations stipulate
that projects must identify additional sources of funds
and not rely solely upon Title X grant funds.
While there is not a fixed cost sharing percentage or amount,
projects must include financial support
from sources other than Title X.
A proposed project's budget should reflect
financial support in addition to Title X funds.
The funding announcement role -- the funding announcement (FOA)
provides information and guidance
related to applications.
As previously mentioned, read the entire funding announcement.
Follow the FOA carefully.
The information provided in the FOA takes precedence over
any conflicting information in the other documents.
The address to request an application package...
it may be obtained (an application package)
electronically by accessing Grants.gov
at the website shown on this slide.
Find it by searching the CFDA number
provided on Page 1 of the FOA.
The CFDA number is 93.217.
Be sure to subscribe to the announcement in Grants.gov
so you receive notifications of any updates to the FOA
or supporting documents.
Let's go over application submission.
OASH requires that all applications be submitted
electronically via Grants.gov
unless an exception has been granted.
If you submit an application
via any other electronic communication,
it will not be accepted for review.
You must access Grants.gov website portal.
All funding opportunities and grant application packages
are made available on www.grants.gov.
An application will not be considered valid until
all application components are entered into Grants.gov
and received by the Office of Grants Management
according to the deadline
specified in the date section on Page 1 of the FOA.
Contact Grants.gov with any questions or concerns
regarding the electronic application process
at the number provided on this slide.
Applications must be submitted as three files.
Upload number one... the entire project narrative
should be uploaded as one single upload.
Upload two... the entire budget narrative including supportive
documentation describing the budget narrative
context section of the FOA.
Upload three -- as previously mentioned, all documents
and appendices uploaded in the attachment section of your
Grants.gov application as one single file.
Exceptions and required standard forms do not apply
to the submission requirements
as stated in the disqualification criteria.
Any files uploaded or attached to Grants.gov
must be in the following formats
as shown on this slide: Microsoft Word, Excel,
PowerPoint, Adobe PDF, or image formats as shown here.
HHS OASH strongly recommends that electronic applications
be uploaded as an Adobe PDF file.
If you convert to a PDF document prior to submission,
you may prevent any unintentional formatting
that may occur with submission as an editable document.
Be complete.
Do not leave blanks on the form
unless the application information is not applicable.
The individual submitting the application form
must have the legal authority
to act on behalf of the organization.
To ensure successful submission of your application,
carefully follow the step-by-step instruction
provided at this web link as shown on the slide.
These instructions are kept up to date and also provide links
to frequently asked questions
and other troubleshooting information.
Here are the elements of the application,
which should be included with your application submission.
Your application for federal assistance, the form SF424,
the budget information for non-constructive programs
form SF424A, assurances for non-construction programs,
the form SF424B,
the disclosure of lobbying activities form SF LLL,
and the project abstract summary.
The project narrative -- submit all project narrative content
as previously mentioned as a single acceptable file.
The budget narrative, means all budget narrative content
as a single acceptable file
And the appendices... submit all appendices content
as a single acceptable file
in the attachment instruction of your Grants.gov application.
Application format... be sure to follow
the project narrative format instructions in FOA.
The application will be disqualified
if it does not conform to the format requirements.
You must double-space the project narrative pages.
You must use 12-point font.
You should use an easily readable typeface
such as Times New Roman or Arial.
You may single-space tables or use alternate fonts
but you must ensure the tables are easy to read.
For appendices and budget narrative,
you should use the same formatting
specified for the project narrative.
Appendices document such as
resumes may use an alternative font,
which is common to such documents.
System for Award Management, known as SAM -- Grants.gov
will reject submission from applicants with non-existent
or expired SAM registration.
This is a recent change requirement
so please make note of this.
If you are registering a new entity in SAM.gov,
you must mail an Entity Administrator
notarization letter to the federal service desk
attention SAM.gov registration processing.
Your notarization letter with the details
required must be mailed.
Your registration will not be activated
until the letter is submitted and reviewed.
Minimum timeframe to complete an initial SAM registration
approximately 30 minutes.
Timeframe for application registration to become active
may take up to ten days.
A SAM registration must be renewed each year.
The average timeframe for updates to take effect in
Grants.gov is approximately 72 hours.
We recommend that emphasis be placed on failure
to have an active SAM registration
prior to the application due date
which may be grounds for receiving an exemption
to the electronic submission requirement.
You should apply now for SAM even if you are not sure.
We recommend applicants check their active registration
in SAM well before the application deadline.
If successful and receive award, you must maintain
an active SAM registration
with current info at all times during the active award period.
If you have not complied with these requirements,
we may determine that you are not qualified
to receive an award
and may use that determination as a basis
for making an award to another applicant.
Should you successfully compete and receive an award,
all first tier subaward recipients
must have a DUNS number at the time you,
the recipient make a subaward.
I will briefly go over funding restrictions.
Allowable, allocability, reasonableness,
and necessity of direct expenses,
indirect costs may be charged
on OASH grants in accordance with department regulations
in current policy in effect at the time of the award.
Current requirements can be found online via 45CFR part 75
uniform administrative requirements cost principles
and audit requirements for HHS awards.
Indirect costs may be included for 45CFR part 75.414.
Applicants should indicate which method
or rate is used for this application.
The current salary limitation is now $189,600
effective January 2018.
Let's go over the budget narrative and forms.
The budget information the SF- 424 budget form,
the budget narrative, detailed budget justification...
it must be consistent with the requirements of the FOA.
Budgeted costs must reflect proposed activities.
The forms, narratives,
and detailed justification do not count toward page limit.
Budget line items, descriptions, and justification requirements
are explained in FOA.
The following suggested table formats in the FOA.
Funding restrictions...
now we cover the application disqualification criteria.
Should the application be submitted electronically via
Grants.gov by the due date and time unless an exception
was granted two business days prior to the deadline.
If you successfully submit multiple applications
for the same project, we will only review
the last application received by the due date and deadline.
HHS OASH OGM deems your application eligible.
The project narrative must be double-spaced
on the equivalent of eight and a half by eleven page size,
one inch margins on all sides
and font not less than twelve points.
Your federal funding including direct costs does not exceed
the maximum indicated in the award ceiling of $22 million.
Your federal funds requested including indirect costs
is not below the minimum indicated
in the award floor amount of $100,000.
The project narrative must not exceed 65 pages.
The total application including project narrative
plus appendices must not exceed 150 pages.
And the application meets the application response criteria.
And now I will hand it back over to David.
David Johnson: Thanks, Roscoe.
So, the next slide is going to look at
the application review criteria.
And so, this is the information that begins on
the very bottom of slide 47 and - excuse me, on the Page 47
and continues over the next couple of pages.
These elements are exactly what your project
is going to be reviewed against.
We review each project against itself.
We do not compare against applications.
So please note it is not simply providing a response
to these elements but it is the substance
and quality of the content of your application,
which will determine how well
your application meets these criteria.
So factor A... it's the number of patients
and particularly the number of low- income patients
proposed to be served under your project
and the extent to which the family planning services
are needed in that proposed area.
Criterion B -- the relative need of the application for requested
federal funds as evidenced by the budget narrative
and justification as we discussed a little bit earlier.
C -- The capacity of the applicant to make rapid
and effective use of federal assistance as documented
by available administrative staff and a detailed plan
for the selection of qualified subrecipients.
Applicants must demonstrate
and/or explain how they will propose
to provide oversight for the use of federal funds
to provide family planning services
to the patient population
or populations proposed to be served in the application.
D -- The adequacy of the applicants
and any subrecipient facilities and staff
and how they demonstrate that they are well trained
to provide clinical family planning services,
including a plan for monitoring
the clinical quality of those services
according to the priorities outlined in this announcement.
E -- The ability of the applicant
to make use of non-federal resources --
that is, non-Title X funds.
And the reference of that is on Page 28 of the FOA.
So to start again,
the ability of the applicant
to make use of non-federal resources
within the community being served
and the degree to which those resources are used
to enhance the range of family planning services
provided throughout the project as evidenced
by the budget objective class, descriptions, and justification.
F -- The degree to which the applicant
describes a detailed plan for ensuring compliance
including by any sub-recipients
with the Title X statute regulations
and legislative mandates
as described in the budget narrative section.
And finally, G --
the degree to which the project plan adequately provides
for the effective and efficient implementation of key issues
outlined in the funding announcement.
So, the application response in these criteria --
the applicant often needs to appear
to have demonstrated evidence that
evidence that there has been both - three things --
evidence that there is a broad range of acceptable
and effective family planning methods or services
including natural family planning methods,
infertility services, and service for adolescents.
And, this also includes
fertility awareness-based methods as well.
In addition, informational, educational, social,
and referral services related to family planning,
which will provide as stipulated in 45 CFR part 59.5.
In addition, there needs to be evidence of cost sharing
as described in this announcement, if applicable.
And then, finally, evidence that in addition
to regarding the cost sharing as described in the announcement,
there is no specific percentage or dollar amount.
However, it is a statement that needs to be stated,
that cost sharing is a part of this application.
And finally, evidence
that if not providing all services directly,
the applicant has documented the process and selection criteria
we use for providing an opportunity to receive subawards
to qualified entities eligible to receive federal funds
in providing services throughout the service area
or service areas
to meet the needs of the project beneficiaries.
With that, I am going to hand it back over to Roscoe
to finish out the OGM slides.
Roscoe Brunson: Okay. Let's go back
to the application review information.
Applicants that lack the required
supportive documentation
or submit additional appendices files
will not be disqualified from competitive review.
However, it may impact the application scoring
under the evaluation criteria.
Be sure to follow submission instructions carefully.
Eligible applicants will be reviewed
and scored by a panel of independent reviewers
with technical expertise in applicable fields
according to the criteria listed in the program announcement.
The Objective Review Committee process
is formal and confidential.
Federal staff is available for questions
and to ensure the process is consistent and fair,
but do not participate in discussion and scoring.
Applications are also reviewed
by the Office of Grants Management staff
for administrative and business compliance.
Our program office staff
will review for programmatic compliance.
Funding decisions --
the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Population Affairs
will provide recommendations for funding
to the Grants Management Office to conduct risk analysis.
Providing these recommendations
will take into consideration the following factors --
the geographic distribution of services
within the identified service area,
the extent to which funds requested for a project
maximize access for the population in need
with the entire service area as announced in table one.
The projects provided
the area to be served with a variety of breadth
and expected family planning methods
that are readily available
and best serve individuals in need
throughout the area to be served.
And the extent to which projects best promote the purposes
of Section 1001 of the Public Health Service Act
within the limits of funds available for each project.
We are not obligated to make any federal awards
as a result of this announcement.
Only a grants officer can bind the federal government
to the expenditures of funds.
If you receive communication to negotiate an award
or request additional or clarifying information,
this does not mean you will receive an award.
It only means that your application
is still under consideration.
All award decisions including the level of funding,
if an award is made, are final and you may not appeal.
HHS will evaluate each application
and the fundable range for risks posed by the applicant
before issuing an award.
In accordance with 45 CFR part 75 205,
OASH will use a risk-based approach
and may consider any items
such as the following as stated in the FOA:
the applicant's financial stability;
the quality of management systems
and ability to meet the management standards
as described in 45 CFR part 75;
the history of performance;
the applicant's record in managing federal awards
including timeliness of compliance
with applicable reporting requirements;
performance of the terms and conditions
of previous federal awards;
the reporting and findings from audits performed;
and the applicant's ability
to effectively implement statutory, regulatory,
or other requirements imposed on non-federal entities.
The Notice of Award notifies the successful applicant
of the selection of an award amount,
the project and budget periods.
It includes any conditions on the award,
the requirements that must be met
as a condition of receiving the grant award.
It includes standard terms, reporting requirements,
and contact information for the Office of Grants Management
and the program office.
If we do not make an award to you
because we determine your organization does not meet
either or both of the minimum qualification standards
as described in 45 CFR part 75,
we will report that determination to FAPIIS
if certain conditions apply.
At a minimum if you are a prior federal award recipient,
information in the system must indicate
that your organization demonstrates
a satisfactory record of executing programs
or activities under federal grants, cooperative agreements,
or procurement awards and integrity and business ethics
according to 45 CFR part 75.
This information will then be available
for other organizations to review
when considering you for an award.
OGM is the official contact for the grantee.
All official communication related to the grant
is between OGM and the successful applicant.
Program offices will notify unsuccessful applicants
via a letter.
Now, I will hand it back over to David.
David Johnson: Great. Thanks, Roscoe.
So, as we kind of come to the end of the webinar
there's a couple of things
that we want to just be able to point out
to help to provide some more assistance.
So, this slide and then the next slide really look at
what are the summaries and some tips that can help out.
So, one is we discussed a little bit earlier,
but please be clear.
Both be clear, complete,
and concise in your project description.
So, in that project narrative, the heart of your application,
that is really where you need to be able to let us know
and let the reviewers know
what it is that you are attempting to do.
This is also the potential contract
that you are going to bind yourself to.
This is your project narrative.
This is what it is we are going to fund
if we are funding you on that.
So, we are going to hold you also to what that is.
It is also helpful not to make the reviewer
or anyone search for the required information.
Also clearly identify the sections of the application
that indicate which component is being addressed.
Again, clarity is key here.
Really, be careful
and pay specific attention to page limits.
The project narrative must include all required information
within that page limit.
Please do not - not just please,
but do not use the appendices to expand that limit.
In addition, all margins must be one-inch margins.
And, it is a good idea to print out a test copy
of your application prior to submitting.
Continuing on here,
we have talked about S.M.A.R.T. objectives.
These are Specific, Measurable, Achievable,
Realistic, and Time-framed.
And, your goals and objectives really should fall within this.
Applications presented in the work plan also
should directly relate to the proposed goals and objectives.
And finally, the work plan, the evaluation plan,
and the budget should provide a complete picture
of how your application will address the service area's needs
as well as address the purpose and expectations
described in the program announcement.
And, then on this next slide we really look at staffing.
So, applicants should ensure that staffing for the project
is appropriate and reasonable for the goals, objectives,
and activities that are proposed.
Please be sure to be complete in your description
regarding the expertise required,
what the staff actually will do,
and what percentage of the time
the staff will be assigned to the project.
Applicants can include position descriptions and bio sketches
for key staff in the appendices if you wish.
Budget --
the budget really is another significant part of this.
Budget should include adequate funds
to carry out the proposed work plan,
the proposed evaluation plan,
and all the administrative responsibilities
within the project.
It also more importantly should be reasonable
and relate directly to the goals and the objectives.
Finally, the operating budget should be complete
and include federal and non- federal funds
as well as projected income from fees
and other third-party players and other contributing funds.
Again just to mention,
non-federal funds for this application
non-federal funds are all funds outside of the amount
requested for the Title X grant award.
Finally, the last slide.
Electronic submission is a requirement.
Please do not wait until the last minute
to begin SAM registration as Roscoe described earlier.
This also includes updating your registration if you need to.
So, if you currently have a SAM registration,
I would recommend today
you look at when that actually is going to expire.
And then, finally, do not wait until the last minute
to begin the electronic submission.
Problems could occur and certainly have in the past.
So, for any of the funding opportunity announcement
inquiries there's two points of contact --
one within the Office of Grants Management
and that's Robin Fuller.
And, her information is indicated below.
And, those are for administrative
or financial questions.
For programmatic questions, I am the contact.
And, my information is there.
What I would recommend,
since Robin and I work very closely together,
is that if you have questions
either programmatic or administrative or financial,
actually just copy us both on a question.
Sometimes she will have an answer
that's programmatic related and vice versa.
I might have an answer
or be able to be a little bit more complete
in providing a response depending on what that is.
For additional inquiries related to the electronic submission,
Grants.gov is your point of contact there.
Programmatic, both Robin or myself
will not be able to provide too much information about
any challenges related to your electronic submission.
Now we are going to open it up to questions.
So, I am going to now hand it over to Diane
for a little closing
and to open it back up for questions.
Diane Foley: Thank you so much for joining us.
And, we have received quite a number of questions
through the chat on the computer.
And, so I'm going to start going through these
and answering as many of these as we can get to.
If there are some of you that need to -
don't have access to the computer to ask your question,
I believe this is the time
that you would contact the Operator is that right?
To ask the question.
So, if there are any of you on there
that do not have the ability to type your question in,
please contact your Operator
and then she can get in touch with us. The first question...
Coordinator: If you would like to ask a question,
you can press star 1.
Diane Foley: Okay. The first question that
was listed here, ..."
in the funding announcement we mention the fact
that there was going to be a table
that you could use to list the family planning services
proposed by the subrecipients within your project."
That table is going to be available
under Grant Opportunities on our website
following this presentation.
We are just finishing up that development,
and it will be available for you there.
The other question is about funding.
"Is it flat for the duration of the project period
or can they budget 2% inflationary
increases each year without penalty?"
Also, in addition,
"May they apply for a funding amount in the table
or is it available to request for more?"
Yes, it is appropriate for subsequent year budgets
to increase your budget by 2% amount.
There will not be a penalty for that.
In addition, the funding table has been mentioned before
is an estimate.
There is not -
it is okay for you to request more than
what is listed there as long as you don't go over the ceiling,
which is $22 million.
Okay?
But again, you are able to ask for more
if you are able to justify
that within your application of the need for more funding.
Again, this revision was put in place based on the fact
that it had been a number of years before
since we had made any revisions to these numbers
based on actually the amount of women in need
of publicly funded services within your state or area.
So, that is the basis of where these numbers came from.
Question is "Where on the OPA website
can we find site and services template?"
I already answered that question.
That is the one that will be there
under the Grant Opportunities section.
It will be there when we are finished with this webinar
probably in the next day or two.
David Johnson: I can grab the next one.
So, there is a question about
"If work plan activities
are repeated in two and three years?"
So, we are going to be looking at a couple things.
So your primary application is going to address year one.
We are funding you for technically only year one.
However, those work plan activities
if you are applying for
or want to be considered for a two or three year work plan,
you should be providing that.
You know, the idea is that you should be providing us
with a plan of the project that you are proposing.
So certainly in year one that is
what we are going to be looking for.
But if you're planning on providing things
in year two and year three,
you should make the effort
and enter that and either change
or keep them consistent of what you're planning on doing.
But that would be something that
is up to you to determine whether or not
and how you want to provide your out years of your work plan.
Another question is,
"Will applicants be kicked out or deemed not reviewable
if the application goes over the estimated amount?"
I think Dr. Foley has addressed that.
So as long as it does not exceed $22 million,
then all applications will be considered with the exception of
as long as the application does not request
less than $100,000 as being the floor.
Diane Foley: I will let you take that one.
David Johnson: Okay.
Diane Foley: My understanding - a question came in:
"Understanding that the previous Title X cycle
ended significantly earlier than expected
because President Trump wanted some changes.
What changes were made between the funding year 18 cycle
and this funding 2019 cycle?"
I am not sure where that information came from
but that is not that case.
That was not the reason
there was a seven-month project period.
There are a number of changes
between the two different applications.
One of the things that
we did I am going to address in a few minutes.
So hang on because there is specific questions
about some differences that I will address
that should answer your question
and give you what the differences are.
David Johnson: Great. So, another question came in.
"So if an applicant is applying for only part of a state
or part of a jurisdiction
but the amount requested exceeds the estimated amount
using women in need data,
will applications be kicked out or deemed not reviewable?"
So, this is a little bit of a twist on the previous questions
but the answer is "no."
For any application that is being submitted,
the amount requested should be commensurate
with the activities the individual is being provided
and the types of services that you are providing.
So the answer is no,
it will not be kicked out
but all applications should be relevant
and related back to the activities being proposed.
So the other question actually asked about
family participation written statement.
There is no necessary place that this can be indicated.
I think on Page 67 of the FOA
it relates that anything related to some of the mandates
should be put in the budget narrative.
The reason why that was recommended is because,
as a requirement,
the program feels that you should not necessarily be hit
with an additional page for something
that we are requiring you provide.
However, you are more than welcome to put it anywhere
within the application, including the appendices.
That is up to you.
But it is acceptable
to be put into the project narrative as well.
Susan Moskosky: I can take the next one about
"What is a reasonable cost of providing services?"
So, in terms of when you are a service provider,
you have to have a method
for estimating the total cost of providing services.
And, that's specific to where you are providing services,
what types of services are being provided.
So, it is actually up to the grantee or recipient
once they receive a federal award to determine
what the actual cost of providing services is.
So, it would be the full cost of providing services.
So, I don't know whether that is as clear
but that is about as clear as it is in the regulation.
It has to do with
recovering the full cost of providing the services
for those individuals who have family incomes
that exceed 250% of the federal poverty level.
Diane Foley: Next question has to do with the slides
for the PowerPoint so you can print them.
Those will be available by December 17 on our website.
David Johnson: And so there is another question
that is related to one of the evaluation criterion --
the criteria, excuse me.
So criterion asked the degree to which the applicant
describes the detailed plan for ensuring compliance
including by any subrecipients specifically
that the Title X statute regulations
and legislative mandates are described in budget narrative.
So again, they should be placed -
including them in one location or another
it's really about telling the story.
So yes, you can include it in the budget narrative.
You can also refer to it
and often it might seem like a legitimate place
to put it also in the project narrative as well.
That is up to you.
Part of this again is being clear,
telling your story clearly to us and to an objective reviewer --
excuse me -- who doesn't know anything about your project.
So again, expect it to be mentioned
and referred to appropriately.
There is no specific location that you have to put it
and if it is not there, it would be disqualified.
However, if it is not included then there would be a concern
about you being able to meet that.
So include it somewhere.
Diane Foley: I think what we are trying to say is that
the clearer you are about meeting these criteria,
the easier it is going to be for the objective review committee
to score your application.
So the reason we're trying to clarify this particular one
to help you understand that there is a requirement
in the budget narrative that you show
how that you are going to reasonably use federal funds.
And, the way that you are going to show
that they are being used in the appropriate way
throughout your subrecipients,
we are helping you to see that
is what we want to hear about here.
You can write that out of the budget narrative
and then somewhere within your project narrative
can say please so budget narrative for this discussion
if you would like to do it that way.
But basically the more places that you can again document
what it is that you are doing,
the easier it is going to be to score that.
David Johnson: So the other thing just to be clear
for everyone - this is a competitive process.
I know many of you are incumbents.
Some of you are for 40 plus years.
But every time that a competition goes live,
everyone is competing again.
So previous allocations and previous awards
are not referred to when new awards are being made to.
So again, everything is competitive.
We want to make sure that the qualified applicants
are successful applicants are being funded.
But, that's to say that anyone who is applying
that is eligible and responsive
has an equal opportunity to be funded
and because we're in a competitive cycle.
I think that is about as clear as we can get there.
As far as portions of the state,
again it depends on the applications
that are being funded and the -
excuse me, applications that are being proposed.
So, a question came in about
"Will other entities
that have applied for a portion of the state
where another entity has applied for the entire state,
essentially how will awards be made there?"
It really depends on the quality of both applications.
There could be a chance
that one applicant receives funding for the entire state.
It could be where an applicant
actually both are co-funded for different parts of the state.
Or, it even could be that an applicant that applies
for a small part of the state only receives that award.
An applicant was just not deemed a strong enough application
to be awarded for the majority of that state.
So, it is really open.
It depends on the quality of the applications.
Diane Foley: The question that said,
"What happened to the eight program priorities
that we had in the 2018 application?
They're still listed
but they're not listed in the current funding announcement."
They actually are.
What we did this time was those eight program priorities
we returned them into
the requirements that the program priorities involved
all of those things that are part of the statute,
the regulation, and the legislative mandate.
And, those are program priorities
and are required by law are program priorities.
Then what we did was
we took some of those prior program priorities
and included them in what we listed as ten key issues
that were in addition
to what was actually required by statute.
And, those are the key issues that were listed.
So actually if you look,
all of those program priorities are incorporated.
They are just in a different place
and not listed in that way.
Another question is
"Would (PrEP) or (PEP) be covered by this funding?"
OPA does not mandate to grantees
how they are to use their Title X funds.
That is actually up to each grantee and subrecipient
to decide how to use the fund.
And, so again, in looking at your whole project,
in looking at what you're able to provide
and the amount of money that you have,
it is your decision
how you want to use the money.
I would say that there are some states
that are able to fund their (PrEP) projects
through other funds that come in from other sources --
either state funds or other federal sources.
While it's provided within their program,
actual Title X dollars do not cover that cost.
The Title X dollars cover other parts of the program.
So we recognize we do not give you enough money
to provide a comprehensive family planning program
for your state.
We are not appropriated enough money to do that.
We understand that.
With the amount that we are given,
what we are asking is to use the resources you have
around you -- state resources,
other federal funds, other types of donations --
using our funds as a piece of that to be able
to provide a comprehensive family planning program
for those that you're serving in your area
that are low income and are in need of public funding.
Hopefully, that answers that question.
Susan Moskosky: Let me just add a little bit to what
Dr. Foley said, and that would be that
if you define PrEP or PEP services
as part of your Title X project,
it would be expected that you would provide those services
within the same parameters of any Title X service,
meaning that they would have to provide it
for no charge for individuals with family incomes
below 100% of the federal poverty level
and based on the sliding fee schedule
for individuals with family incomes
between 101 and 250% of the federal poverty level.
So, as Dr. Foley said, they are not a prohibited service.
You know, services that you could not provide with Title X
would include primary care services, for instance.
But, because PrEP and PEP services are services
that could be related to safely
either achieving pregnancy basically,
they would be allowable
but whether you would choose to include them
as part of your Title X project is completely up to you.
But, do keep in mind that
there were a list of other core services
that were actually absolutely required
under your Title X funding.
So you need to judge
whether you can afford to include these other services
that we definitely would encourage you to figure out
if you can include them
or if you can find other sources of funds
to be able to provide those additional services.
Diane Foley: Another question that came in is,
"Can an applicant that plans to use subrecipients place
additional requirements on their subrecipients
beyond what is required in the funding announcement,
the statute and regulations
assuming there is not a direct conflict?"
And, yes,
we cannot mandate the requirements
that are placed on subrecipients from the grantees themselves.
It is their decision how they choose their grantees.
What we require is that they let us know
how they are being chosen
and that they make sure
that there is a broad range of family planning methods
that are provided throughout their project.
But, if there are additional requirements
that are placed upon them by the grantee,
as long as it does not conflict with any of the laws,
statute regulations, or mandates,
then we don't have anything to say about that.
There was a question that said,
"What happened to the separate section
dealing with encouraging family participation?
It also disappeared."
It actually is in there.
If you look on Page 47,
there is a specific statement
that talks about family participation,
which is a written statement there.
It also is included in Page 12
where we talk about program requirements
and priorities there.
So, if I am not answering the question
that you are asking with that,
if you could go ahead and submit another one that would be great.
But, it seems to me that that is included there on 47.
Also on Page 12.
A question, "How long will the project period be?"
Our intention at this point is that
if you look in the funding announcement
it says that the anticipated project is three years
although longer or shorter periods may be approved.
And so, again, we don't have that information
to give you at this time.
But, that is our plan
that it would be a three-year project period.
David Johnson: Great. So, there was a
follow-up question about evaluation plans,
kind of where to locate it, where not to locate it.
And it was referring to a slide.
So I don't recall what slide it went to.
But again, there's a lot of different places in here.
So there's not a perfect place to put anything.
So depending on your application,
depending on the story,
the narrative that you are telling us,
the evaluation plan can be included
in the project narrative and/or appendix.
Part of the recommendation is that as we discussed
there is a significant emphasis on monitoring
and review, which includes evaluations.
So it might behoove you to reference your evaluation plan
how you are planning on monitoring
as you tell us your story about
how you're planning on providing Title X family planning services
both accounting for the legislation,
for the regulations, and additional guidance --
specifically the importance that we are talking about
how you are planning on monitoring and evaluating
not only just holding up to those legislative mandates,
the requirements, et cetera,
but again how are you assessing the quality of the services
that you're providing.
Diane Foley: Okay.
There was a question about asking us to expand on
what we meant by the letters of commitment.
And again, these are not meant to be letters
from all your subrecipients.
We recognize that
if you put letters from all your subrecipients,
your application would be 500 pages long.
Nobody wants to read that.
What we're talking about here are specifically any entity
that you have an arrangement with to provide services
that may be outside of family planning
but meet some of the criteria
or key issues we are talking about.
For example,
if you are partnering with a local community organization
that does substance abuse screening
or some type of referral for that,
a letter from them saying they are working with your clients
to do that would be very helpful.
If you are working with a community
that provides further resources,
such as housing or something else within the community
that your clients are able to be referred to,
and you have that kind of organization with them,
the key issue that talked about looking at community
and/or faith-based organizations that provide services
that are outside of the scope of family planning.
That would be the type of letter of commitment
that we are talking about -- not from your subrecipients.
Another question has to do with family planning services
preferably in the same location.
"In scoring the application,
is preference given to those who have collocating services?"
I don't think that specifically that is.
I think that is a benefit,
but based on the rest of the application
that is not a key factor in doing this --
in making a decision or awarding a grant necessarily.
The criteria says that
to include the relative need...
relative need of the applicant.
This seems to be included in the needs assessment.
So what type of information
would you like to see in the budget narrative section?
David Johnson: So in this case I am not quite clear
exactly what the question is asking.
But when we think about relative need,
certainly yes it should be your needs assessment
is again the story that you're telling.
You are telling us what those data are
and how you actually are going to take your project
and address the needs assessment
or the needs for the services that are there.
So, when we think about the relative need
and then the budget narrative
and the relative need of resources,
those are again telling that story.
So in the budget side of it,
how are you - one term
that we often use in Title X is leverage.
So, how are you leveraging those resources?
What is that relative need outside there?
How can you best use the request that you are asking for?
Again, it is not quite clear
what the question is actually asking.
But, hopefully,
that will provide a little bit more insight.
Diane Foley: I think part of it
is we are looking in this particular one
for your need of the financial services
to help meet your goal for your area.
And, the needs assessment was what is the need
in your community for providing this service.
So, it's a little bit a needs of service versus a financial need
that your organization or entity needs to be able to meet these.
Is that a question?
Diane Foley: Okay, the question --
I think the thing for clarification
when we talk about non-federal resources,
what we mean is actually non-Title X resources.
Because you can have other federal funds
that meet that criteria
but what we are stating here is that these are all the funds
that you have that go towards your program
that are not specifically Title X funds.
They could be state funds.
They could be other federal program funds.
But, it is not Title X.
David Johnson: And the statement right before that
specifically states federal resources
refers to all of the HHS OASH funds
for which you are applying.
This is a Title X Family Planning Application
so you are applying only for Title X family planning funds.
Diane Foley: The question is,
"Must all subrecipients refer for hormonal contraception
even if they are only providing
sexual risk avoidance (SRA) education
or natural family planning education?"
I think that if you remember what we talked about earlier.
We mentioned the fact that
if there is an applicant that only wants to provide
a particular type of family planning service
that they have two choices in order to be funded by Title X --
they can either find subrecipients under them
that will provide that.
And, we are not talking about referring out to doctors
in the community.
We are talking about actual subrecipients
that they have a relationship with
that they will provide funds
to help to provide that contraception.
So, you can either be an applicant
and have subs that do the rest of the full range,
broad range of family planning
or you can go to an applicant and say I would like to provide
the piece of this broad range of natural family planning
by providing natural fertility awareness based methods
for this area.
And, I will provide this piece of it.
And, then the other subrecipients within that area
under this particular grantee or applicant
would provide the rest of the services.
So, no, it is not adequate to say I am applying for this.
I am only going to apply this
and then I am going to just refer out for everything else.
That does not meet the criteria for which the grant is set up.
The subrecipients,
if you are a subrecipient under a grantee
and all you are providing
is the fertility awareness based methods,
no you do not have to refer out for contraception
because your piece is providing that
as long as it is available within the project.
So no, you don't have a referral need
if that's what you are providing
and you are under an applicant
who recognizes you as their subrecipient.
The grantee has to for the whole project,
but you as a subrecipient do not have to.
If that didn't answer your question,
please contact us either with another question or later.
David Johnson: So there was a question.
Our anticipated start date for the beginning of the grant cycle
will be April 1, 2019 with a budget period of -- again,
these are expectations with a budget period of 12 months
to end the first budget period of the 31st of March 2020.
So, that would be your first budget period.
And, then each budget period would again begin on April 1st
terminating on March 31st for that again with the expectation
that these will have a three-year project period.
There was another question about the statement on Page 35 that,
"applicants will not receive any preference in funding
for voluntarily including non-fed cost sharing.
Seems to contradict statements on Page 17 through 18."
No, that is incorrect.
So, there is no contradiction in there.
This is stating that they will not receive any preference.
The issue is that there is a requirement
to provide a certain level of cost sharing, period.
That is the declarative statement.
Preference will not be given for someone
who provides $2.00 versus $1.00
or as you increase that in of itself.
Again, with all of these statements
we want to be clear you are telling the story.
So the issue is how does your project application,
how does your proposal take all of its components together.
It may be some projects leverage dollars better
because of different access to other resources.
So again, $5 of matching
may be equivalent to $10 of matching in another project.
So again, there won't be preference to the amount.
However, you are required to provide some matching.
Diane Foley: There is a question.
"Is a copy of the agreement with the subrecipient
required to be submitted with the application?"
No.
What the application requires is that you describe the process
by which that you are going to select your subrecipient
and details on that issue.
However, the actual agreement
does not have to be a part of the application.
Let's go ahead and open it up now
to see if there are any questions that came in
that needed that wanted to be asked over the phone.
If our Operator is standing by.
Coordinator: Yes, thank you.
We do have a question from Christi Wilson.
Your line is open.
(Christi Wilson): Hi. Can you hear me?
Diane Foley: Yes, we can.
(Christi Wilson): All right. Hi. This is (Christi Wilson).
I'm with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.
Thank you guys for giving us this information today.
I did have clarification I wanted to ask you.
On Page 14, talking about the legislative mandates
and it's talking about the mandated reporting.
At the end where it talks about reporting on child abuse,
child molestation, sexual abuse, rape, and incest
which is part of that legislative mandate.
In the next paragraph,
it talks a little bit more about that,
about policies and procedures related to that
but it also includes intimate partner violence
and human trafficking,
which is not in the original legislative mandate.
And, then after that it says that the policies will include
annual staff training on policies and procedures.
Now in the past in the program requirements
it says routine training.
So are you saying not that all of this that's listed here
must be annual trainings instead of routine trainings?
Diane Foley: Yes. That is the expectation.
That would be included as part of the annual training.
(Christi Wilson): Okay. So, it's annual now.
Because once again, it used to be routine.
So sometimes we would do project period instead of annually.
But now it needs to be annual
for all of these different subjects.
Diane Foley: Yes. I think we're defining what routine is
because there were lots of questions about
what does routine mean.
Does it mean once a project period?
So, we defined it by purposes within the FOA
to mean we're expecting it once a year.
Diane Foley: And again, part of our concern with that
is that there are a lot of changes in staffing
and if it's done once a project period,
then you're going to -
we were concerned that there would be staff members
that would miss that training.
And so, by requiring once a year,
then your staff members are going to be trained
regardless of when they come in
during your progress during the project period.
(Christi Wilson): Okay. Thank you. That clarifies it.
Thank you.
Coordinator: No other questions
queuing over the phone at this time.
Diane Foley: Do we have any more that have come in on the chat?
There is one more that we just got on our text (chat).
Just a moment.
"Is it allowable to purchase contraceptives
to provide the patients with Title X funds?"
Yes. Actually that is the use
that most of our grantees and recipients -
that's how they actually use their funds
is to purchase these medications,
purchase long acting,
reversible contraception as well.
So many of them use the funding
actually to purchase the medication
to be able to then give to the clients.
And, "the questions and answers,
will they be written up and posted on our website?"
Sure.
David Johnson: Yes. They will be part of the...
-Diane Foley: We'll do that. -David Johnson: transcript...
Diane Foley: December 17 is when we plan to have that uploaded.
Just in time for you
to spend your Christmas break perusing it,
pouring over them.
Okay.
I don't see that there are any other questions
and so I think that we are going to close it off here.
Again, feel free.
We left the contact information with you
for how to get in touch with us with questions that you have.
We are available.
The Grants Management Office personnel are available as well.
And, we want to be able to answer your questions
to make this process as easy as possible.
Thank you again for joining us, and good night.
Coordinator: That concludes today's conference call.
Thank you for participating.
You may disconnect at this time.
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