North Carolina Post-Adoption Support (PAS) Grants

North Carolina Post-Adoption Support (PAS) Grants is sponsored by NC Division of Social Services. The NC Division of Social Services awards three-year grants to private agencies to provide post-adoption support (PAS). The grant program's overall goal is to reduce the number of adoption dissolutions.

# REQUEST FOR APPLICATIONS # Post Adoption Support Services- # 9001-20 # RFA Posted January 23, 2017 # Questions Due February 6, 2017 at 5:00 p. m. # Applications Due February 20, 2017 at 5:00 p.

m. # Anticipated Notice of Award March 13, 2017 # Anticipated Performance # Period July 1, 2017 - June 30, 2020 # Service Post Adoption Support Services # Issuing Agency North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Division of Social Services # E-mail Questions to Kimberly R. Best Email Kimberly.

best@dhhs. nc.

gov THIS REQUEST FOR APPLICATIONS (RFA) advertises the Division’s need for the services described herein THE UNDERSIGNED HEREBY SUBMITS THE FOLLOWING APPLICATION AND CERTIFIES THAT: (1) he or she is authorized to bind the named Contractor to the terms of this RFA and Application; (2) the Contractor hereby offers and agrees to provide services in the manner and at the costs described in this RFA and Application; (3) this Application shall be valid for 60 days after the end of the application period in which it is submitted.

# To Be Completed By Contractor: > Contractor Name: Region to be served: > Contractor’s Street Address: E-Mail Address: > City, State & Street Address Zip: Telephone Number: > Name & Title ofAuthorized Representative :DUNS Number: > Signature of Authorized Representative :Date: # Unsigned or Incomplete Applications Shall Be Returned Without Being Reviewed NOTICE OF AWARD/FOR NC DHHS USE ONLY : Application accepted and C ontract # __________ awarded on ___________ _.

The Contract shall begin on ______________ , and shall terminate on ___________. By: ___________________________________________________________________________ _ > Signature of Authorized Representative Printed Name of Authorized Representative Title of Authorized Representative Table of Contents # 1. 3 Letter of Intent and Questions 2 # 1.

4 Technical Assistance Webinar 2 # 3. 0 Award Information 3 # 3. 1 Source of Funds and Pass Through Requirements 3-4 # 3.

2 Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act # 3. 3 Governing Legislation and Funding Sources 4-5 # 4. 0 Definitions, Acronyms and Abbreviations 5 # 5.

1 Programmatic Requirements and Priorities 5-9 # 5. 2 Performance Standards and Expectations 9 # 5. 3 Reporting Requirements 10 # 5.

4 Contractor Responsibilities 10 # 5. 5 Contractor Qualifications and Capacity 10 # 6. 0 Division Responsibilities 10 # 6.

1 Performance Oversight 10-11 # 7. 0 Term of Contract, Options to Extend 11 # 8. 0 Invoicing and Reimbursement 11 # 9.

0 The Solicitation Process 11 -12 # 10. 0 General Information on Submitting Applications 12 -13 # 11. 0 State Contract Provisions and Certifications 13 -14 # 12.

0 Federal Contract Provisions and Certifications 14 -15 # 13. 0 Application Content and Instructions 15 -20 # 14.

0 Evaluation Criteria and Scoring 21 -24 # Appendix A Terms and Conditions 25 # Appendix B Certifications , Required Documents and Reference Links 26 -44 # Appendix C Applicant Checklist 45 # Appendix D Regional Map and Funding Amounts 46 -47 # Appendix E Logic Model Form 48 Page 2 The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NC DHHS), through the Division of Social Services (NC DSS), is seeking proposals from qualified applicants to develop, operate, and/or expand Post Adoption Support Services (PASS) to ensure the pe rmanency and well -being of adopted children and their families.

Applicants will demonstrate the capacity to achieve positive outcomes for adoptive families, regardless of the child(ren)’s age or the type of adoption.

North Carolina’s PASS program helps to advance NC DHHS’ vision that All North Carolinians will enjoy optimal health and The mission of NC DSS is to provide family-centered services to children and families to achieve well-being through ensuring self-sufficiency, support, safety and permanency. NC DSS is guided by both federal and state legislation designed to protect children and strengthen safe, stable, nurturing families.

Adoption Support Services (PASS) exist to ensure the permanency and well-being of adopted children and their families. The PASS programs in this RFA will be offered in every county/region of the state.

The outcomes to be measured include families reporting an increased knowledge of childhood trauma on children, families will show measured improvement of protective factors and families will report placement with adoptive family has been maintained for 12 months after services end. # 1. 3 Letter of Intent and Questions All applicants must submit a signed letter of intent on applicant’s letterhead via email to Kimberly Best at kimberly.

best@dhhs. nc. gov by January 30, 2017 .

In addition, the letter must include the following information:  Legal name of the agency or organization;  Mailing address, phone number, and fax number of the agency or organization;  Intent to respond to this RFA;  Region or regions to be served; and  Name, title, and email address of the person who will coordinate application submission.

Applicants will be able to submit questions regarding the RFA by February 6, 2017 at 5:00 p. m. to Kimberly Best at kimberly.

best@dhhs. nc. gov .

Questions shall only be accepted via email for tracking purposes. Please send questions as soon as possible for due consideration. Answers to all questions received will be posted on February 10, 2017 on the NC DSS public notice site: http://www2.

ncdhhs. gov/dss/pubnotice/ . # 1.

4 Technical Assistance Webinar NC DSS has recorded a technical assistance webinar to explain the application requirements in greater detail. The webinar can be accessed through the following link: https://attendee. gototraining.

com/r/5570635360320577025 . Any tribal government, community –based, public or private nonprofit, tax-exempt organization (including faith-based), school system or local government agency that is duly incorporated and registered under North Carolina Statutes is eligible to apply provided they meet the following requirements:  Applicants have completed registration with the Secretary of State. For more information, visit: https://www.

secretary. state. nc.

us/corporations/feenpc. aspx .  Applicants and subcontractors must follow E-Verify requirements found in HB786 (http://www.

ncga. state. nc.

us/gascripts/BillLookUp/BillLookUp. pl? Session=2013&BillID=hb+786 ).

This requires Page 3 contractors and their subcontractors to comply with the requirements of Article 2 of Chapter 64 of the General Statutes ( http://www. ncleg. net/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/ByArticle/Chapter_64/Article_2.

html ).  Applicants’ Internal Revenue Service (IRS) exemption letter must be current within five years.  Applicants’ Employer Identification Number (EIN), IRS tax exemption status documents, and registration with the Secretary of State must be consistent with both the name of agency and the EIN provided.

Applicants that receive this award will also be subject to a pre-award risk assessment, per CFR Title 2 200. 205: http://www. ecfr.

gov/cgi-bin/text-idx? SID=9488ab373262441562fad70c1c91ddfc&node=se2. 1.

200_1205&rgn=div8 . NC DSS is a covered entity under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) and, therefore, must ensure that all contractors are in compliance with HIPAA. Applicants that receive this award must provide verification that they have and are implementing policies and procedures which address HIPAA requirements, specifically protected health information and breach of confidentiality.

It is important that the proposed project does not overlap with existing programs in the county. Factors to take into account when considering program overlap are populations served, type of service, site locations, program curriculum, etc. All applications received by the deadline will be forwarded to the award review committee which will review, score and rank the applications with the requirements listed in Section 5.

1 to be used as factors in the award process. Nothing may be added to or removed from any application after it has been submitted. Although a primary factor, score alone will not be the sole determinant for awards.

NC DSS staff will consider overall factors, including program history, when determining final award decisions. NC DSS anticipates posting award notices on the NC DSS public notice site by March 13, 2017 at http://www2. ncdhhs.

gov/dss/pubnotice/ . Awards will be deemed final. There are no protest rights from an RFA as the NC DHHS Procurement and Contract manual states: “The funding agency reserves the unqualified right to reject any or all offers if determined to be in its best interest”.

North Carolina’s PASS annual statewide allocation for awards resulting from this RFA is $1,818,818. NC DSS has allocated a dollar amount for 10 regions in the state . Please see Appendix D for the state map with the delineated 10 regions and the funding allocated for each region.

An award for region 3 will not be provided from this RFA. Applicants are required to serve all counties in each region, not a portion of a region. If applicants propose to serve more than one region, they must submit separate applications for each region.

The term of any resulting award is anticipated to be for three years, from July 1, 2017 until June 30, 2020. The initial contract period will be for one year, from July 1, 2017 until June 30, 2018. Contract renewal will be required for state fiscal years 2018/2019 and 2019/2020 and will be based on availability of funding, grantee performance and contractual compliance.

# 3.

1 Source of Funds and Pass Through Requirements Federal Award Identification Number: 2016G996470 Federal Award Date: 01 Jul 2016 Subaward Period of Performance: July 1, 2017- June 30, 2020 Amount of Federal Funds Obligated by this Action: $1,818,818 Total Amount of the Federal Award: $10,089,781 Federal Award Project Description: Promoting Safe and Stable Families Page 4 Federal Awarding Agency: Administration for Children and Families Pass-through Entity: NC Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Social Services CFDA Name: Promoting Safe and Stable Families # 3.

2 Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (FFATA) As a subrecipient of federal funds, each selected grant recipient will be required to provide certain information required by the Federal Funding Accountability and Transpare ncy Act (FFATA), including the organization’s DUNS number. Please see https://fedgov. dnb.

com/webform for free registration. Additional information about FFATA is available at # 3. 3 Governing Legislation and Funding Sources The mission of NC DSS is to provide family-centered services to children and families to achieve well-being through ensuring self-sufficiency, support, safety and permanency.

NC DSS is guided by both federal and state legislation designed to protect children and strengthen safe, stable, nurturing families. As such, the following federal and state requirements govern the administration of PASS: Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) of 1997 On November 19, 1997, the President signed into law (P. L.

105-89) the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997, to improve the safety of children, to promote adoption and other permanent homes for children who need them, and to support families. ASFA recognized that innovative approaches are needed to achieve the goals of safety, permanency, and well-being and provided a funding mechanism allowing greater flexibility to develop community-based strategies to achieve positive results for families.

Promoting Safe and Stable Families Amendments (PSSF) of 2001 and The Child and Family Services Improvement and Innovation Act (P. L.

112-34) The purpose of this program is to enable States to develop and establish, or expand, and to operate coordinated programs of community-based family support services, family preservation services, time-limited family reunification services, and adoption promotion and support services to accomplish the following objectives:  To prevent child maltreatment among families at risk through the provision of supportive family services.

 To assure children's safety within the home and preserve intact families in which children have been maltreated, when the family's problems can be addressed effectively.  To address the problems of families whose children have been placed in foster care so that reunification may occur in a safe and stable manner in accordance with the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997.

 To support adoptive families by providing support services as necessary so that they can make a lifetime commitment to their children. Act to Prohibit the Unlawful Transfer of Custody of a Minor Child and to Make Conforming Statutory Changes (NC S. L.

2016-115, H. B. 424) This state law establishes that it shall be unlawful for:  A parent to effect or attempt to effect an unlawful transfer of custody of that parent's minor child.

"Unlawful transfer of custody” means the transfer of physical custody of a minor child, in willful violation of applicable adoption law or by grossly negligent omission in the care of the child, by the child's parent without a court order or other authorization under law, to a person other than a relative or another individual having a substantial relationship with the child.

Page 5  A person to accept or attempt to accept custody pursuant to an unlawful transfer of custody of a minor child; except that it shall not be unlawful for a person to receive custody of a child from a parent who intends to effect an unlawful transfer of custody of that parent's minor child if the person promptly notifies law enforcement or child protective services in the county where the child resides or is found and promptly makes the child available to law enforcement or child protective services.

 A person to advertise, recruit, or solicit, or to aid, abet, conspire, or seek the assistance of another to advertise, recruit, or solicit the unlawful transfer of custody of a minor child.  Any person who commits an offense under this section is guilty of a Class A1 misdemeanor. Any person who commits an offense under this section that results in serious physical injury to the child is guilty of a Class G felony.

 No one other than a county department of social services, an adoption facilitator, or an agency licensed by the Department in this State may advertise in any periodical or newspaper, or by radio, television, or other public medium, that any person or entity will place or accept a child for adoption.

 When a report to a department of social services alleges abandonment of a juvenile or unlawful transfer of custody, the director shall immediately initiate an assessment. When the report alleges abandonment, the director shall also take appropriate steps to assume temporary custody of the juvenile, and take appropriate steps to secure an order for non-secure custody of the juvenile.

 NC DHHS shall develop a program to provide needed supports to families at risk of adoption dissolutions in order to keep families together. # 4.

0 DEFINITIONS, ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS RFA Request for Application DUNS # Data Universal Number System number SAM System for Award Management PASS Post Adoption Support Services DHHS Department of Health and Human Services DSS Division of Social Services HIPAA Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act CFDA Catalogue of Federal Domestic Assistance FFATA Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act CSSP Center for the Study of Social Policy OMB Office of Management and Budget # 5.

1 Programmatic Requirements and Priorities PASS programs must offer a broad continuum of programming from prevention to intensive mental health interventions, which may include but is are not limited to:  Screening and assessment  Case management and service planning  Information and referral  Support groups for adoptive parents and adoptees Page 6 Applications must include: 1.

Screening and Functional Assessment The Administration for Children and Families in ACYF-CB-IM-12-04 explained its priority to promote social and emotional well-being for children and youth receiving services on the child welfare continuum.

As a part of this information memorandum, screening and functional assessment are emphasized as a key component of promoting social and emotional well-being for children and youth who have experienced abuse or neglect. These tools can be used to inform the design of case plans which are outcomes-oriented or determine what services are appropriate. Improvements in social and emotional well-being can also be measured over time.

Applicants are required to utilize a functional assessment for case planning with families. Tools that can measure improvement in skills and competencies that effect well-being are preferable. A variety of tools, both screening and functional assessment, are discussed in the information memorandum: http://www.

acf. hhs. gov/programs/cb/laws_policies/policy/im/2012/im1204.

pdf . 2. Promoting Protective Factors: NC DSS is committed to achieving safety, permanency and well-being for North Carolina’s children and their families.

Research and initiatives suggest that the Strengthening Families Framework that identifies protective factors can significantly reduce incidences of childhood maltreatment and trauma. The Strengthening Families Framework is an intentional focus on family development and optimal child development that identifies five protective factors that are relevant for the continuum of child welfare services.

PASS contractors shall incorporate the following 5 protective factors into their programming : A parent’s ability to effectively cope with the various challenges of parenting and everyday life and their ability to overco me li fe’s challenges.

Examples include program activities that help caregivers establish relationships with friends, family, and professionals that provide on-going encouragement and knowledge of accessible community resources. Positive relationships with friends, family members, neighbors, and others who can provide concrete and emotional support to parents and caregivers.

Examples of programming would strengthen informal and formal support mechanisms for families.  Knowledge of Parenting and Child Development Accurate information about raising children and appropriate expectations for their behavior. Examples would be parenting education through parent support groups, facility based education classes or home visitation.

 Concrete Support in Times of Need* Support and services within the community which can include financial, transportation, and food assistance, job training, and/or mental health services. An example of programming would be providing immediate and accessible resources or support to families in crisis.  Children’s Social and Emotional Development A child’s ability to effectively interact with others and to articulate their feelings.

An example of programming would be providing children and caregivers a safe and nurturing place to “practice” normal roles and behaviors, strengthening a positive parent-child relationship. *In order to provide concrete support in times of need, all contractors must ensure that respite care is available for PASS families. Respite is a short term service provided in the temporary absence of the regular caregiver.

This service is provided within or outside the child’s home and is intended to enable the family to stay together and to keep the child(ren) living at home and in the community.

Planned respite models include, but are not limited to:  In-home respite with trained professionals or volunteer providers;  Out-of-home (child care centers, schools, family care home, hospitals, or specific respite facility) also using trained or volunteer providers;  Periodic respite (churches, community centers or other community-based organizations that support periodic respite events); Page 7  Summer camps, recreational or after-school services Crisis respite is temporary emergency care for children, available anytime of the day or night, when families are facing a crisis and no other safe child care options are available.

The Strengthening Families Framework identifies 7 key strategies that exemplary programs use in their work to build protective factors with families. While the strategies themselves are consistent across many different kinds of programs, the way in which a program implements the strategies may vary. PASS contractors shall incorporate these 7 key strategies into their programming .

To find out more information on the 7 strategies please utilize the following link: http://www. cssp. org/reform/strengthening-families/basic-one-pagers/Strengthening-Families-for-Practitioners.

pdf In addition, PASS contractors shall begin to incorporate the concepts of Youth Thrive™ into their programming for older youth . While the Strengthening Families Framework is a continuum of protective factors for families with young children through adolescents, Youth Thrive™ is also based on protective factors and provides continuity for older youth.

Youth Thrive™ is both a rese arch -informed framework based on a synthesis of research on positive youth development, resilience, neuroscience, stress and impact of trauma on brain development and the name of Center for the Study of Social Policy's (CSSP) national initiative to improve the well -being outcomes of all youth (ages 9 -26), with a particular focus on youth in, or transitioning from, foster care.

The Youth Thrive™ Framework functions as a 'lens' for assessing current efforts and for making changes to the policies, programs, tr aining, services, partnerships and systems that impact young people. New research suggests brain development may play more of a role than previously understood in causing negative outcomes for youth.

Established research on how to promote positive youth development and help youth grow into mature, successful adults; combined with insights from emerging research in neuroscience and brain development, provide an opportunity for fresh thinking on improved adult outcomes for at-risk youth.

CSSP's research synthesis identified five protective and promotive factors that increase the likelihood that adolescents can develop into healthy, thriving adults. The protective and promotive factors are: 1. Youth Resilience : Managing stress and functioning well when faced with stressors, challenges or adversity.

The outcome is personal growth and positive change. 2. Social Connections : Having healthy, sustained relationships with people, institutions, the community and a force greater than oneself that promote a sense of trust, belonging and feeling that s/he matters.

3. Knowledge of Adolescent Development : Understanding one's behavior and stage of maturation in the context of the unique aspects of adolescent development (e.g., brain development, the impact of trauma); services that are developmentally and contextually appropriate (e.g., positive youth development strategies). 4.

Concrete Support in Times of Need : Understanding the importance of asking for help and advocating for oneself; receiving quality services designed to preserve youth's dignity, providing opportunities for skill development and promoting healthy development (e.g., strengths-based, trauma informed practice). 5.

Cognitive and Social-Emotional Competence : Acquiring skills and attitudes that are essential for forming an independent identity and having a productive, responsible and satisfying adulthood (e.g., self-regulation, executive functioning and character strengths).

Youth Thrive™ is not a specific program or intervention, rather it is an approach that is relevant to everyone who works with young people including: public child welfare system administrators, supervisors and caseworkers, teachers, staff at private agencies and nonprofits, judges and legal advocates, parents, caregivers and others who are concerned about teenagers and young adults. For more information: http://www. cssp.

org/reform/child-welfare/youththrive 3. Evidence-Based Trauma-Informed Practice Research confirms child abuse has a long-term negative impact on a child’s life and the entire community, harming both quality of life and prosperity. Children who experience abuse and/or severe neglect often develop toxic levels of stress.

If prolonged, this high level of stress can damage the developing architecture of a child’s brain. These changes to a child’s brain caused by exposure to toxic stress can lead to signific ant behavioral changes. In 1998, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Kaiser Permanente released the most comprehensive research to date on the impact of child abuse and neglect.

This study, called the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study, surveyed 17,000 adults about their childhood experiences and compared them with the health histories. The research found that children Page 8 who suffered severe adversity in childhood-violence, abject poverty, substance abuse in the home, child abuse and neglect- were far more likely to suffer long-term intellectual, behavioral, and physical and mental health problems.

Child traumatic stress refers to the physical and emotional responses of a child to events that threaten the life or physical integrity of the child or someone critically important to the child (e.g., a parent or sibling). Chronic trauma refers to repeated assaults on the child’s body and mind (e.g., chronic sexual or physical abuse, exposure to ongoing domestic violence, emotional or physical neglect).

Complex trauma is a term used by some trauma experts to describe both exposure to chronic trauma, often inflicted by parents or others who are supposed to care for and protect the child, and the immediate and long-term impact of such exposure on the child (Cook et al. , 2005). Quality family support programs that strive to strengthen family protective factors offer great promise for improving a child’s overall well -being.

By integrating evidence-based and trauma-informed practices in the community service array, we can increase the capacity of caregivers to care for their children, help children develop healthy coping mechanisms, improve caregiver-child relationships, and provide an opportunity to impact the whole family positively.

Given that healthy development of children occurs in the context of safe, stable, and nurturing relationships, NC DSS seeks to build the capacity of its community-based contractors to deliver evidence-based trauma-informed practices for the children and families served.

These practices would include, but not be limited to, evidence-based trauma-informed mental health treatment for adopted children and trauma-informed parenting skills building programs for adoptive parents. Selection of program services should be based on many factors, such as appropriateness for the population served, community needs, and agency capacity to implement services with fidelity.

Resources for identifying evidence-based and trauma informed practices can be found at the following websites: http://www. nctsn. org/topics/treatments-that-work/promising-practices Research on the implementation of evidence-based, trauma-informed practice stresses the importance of implementation support for community-based agencies as critical to program success and achievement of stated program outcomes.

Implementation support can include assistance with agency and community planning for the program, staff training and ongoing peer support opportunities, coaching/clinical supervision, and program evaluation/quality assurance methods.

If delivering an evidence-based trauma-informed program/practice, applicants must demonstrate in the application that there has been careful thought around the selection, implementation, and evaluation of this program/practice.

Additionally, it requires that during planning, applicants seek out support for pre-implementation assessment, training, in-service and peer support opportunities, coaching/clinical supervision, and evaluation in order to ensure continued model fidelity. Applicants must demonstrate that these supports are in place and are able to be sustained throughout the grant award period.

This support is considered an allowable cost and should be budgeted accordingly. 4. Collaborative Community Partnership: Effective PASS programs require strong mutually respectful relationships, communications and partnerships.

Applicants must demonstrate that they are actively developing and participating in on-going collaborative relationships with community partners to link families with appropriate and timely resources and identify gaps and/or barriers to a family’s ability to access services.

Examples of such partners are:  Private and foreign adoption agencies  Juvenile justice system  Local Head Start /Early Head Start  Partnership for Children  Hospitals/pediatricians/nurses  Schools/education system  Faith and civic organizations)  Parents/caregivers Page 9 Applicants must also demonstrate that they will address illegal custody transfers in their region , including raising awareness of this issue, working with families to prevent illegal custody transfers, and supporting families who are reuniting after an illegal custody transfer.

5. Outcome Accountability and Evaluation All funded programs will be performance and outcome-based. The process of having applicants develop and utilize a logic model guides applicants towards greater outcome accountability.

Outcome accountability is demonstrating that the expenditure of staff time, funding, and other resources result in tangible positive changes for children and families. The logic model should be the applicant’s ‘drawing board’ for planning services and linking those services to outcomes. The logic model is intended to be a working document that is referenced regularly by contractors.

In order to support outcome accountability, and provide a framework for outcome evaluation, NC DSS requires applicants to utilize the FRIENDS National Center for Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention evaluation toolkit in the development of a required logic model: http://friendsnrc. org/evaluation-toolkit The PASS programs in this RFA will be offered in every county/region of the state.

Therefore, it is necessary for all programs to measure the same outcomes, as outlined below. This allows for consistency in analyzing statewide data and in compiling performance reports to be provided to various stakeholders. Specific inputs, outputs, assumptions and trauma knowledge assessment tools are determined by applicants.

The following shared vision and outcomes are required in the logic model: Shared Vision: Adoptive families have enhanced capacity to provide a lifetime commitment to their adopted children and those children have their safety, permanency, education, physical and emotional needs met.  90% of families/children served will report an increase in knowledge of the implication of childhood trauma on children at case closure.

 90% of protective factors measured on families served will indicate some improvement at case closure, as measured by the Protective Factors Survey* (as retrospective post-test).  90% of families/children served will report placement with the adoptive family has been maintained for 12 months after services end. *The Protective Factors Survey may be accessed at http://friendsnrc.

org/protective-factors-survey . The narrative portion of this section shall expand upon the information listed in the Logic Model. In addition, applicants must also describe:  How they will evaluate client and program success informally  Their continuous quality improvement process  Follow-up services provided to clients, if any  Success in past programming and outcomes achieved (not necessarily PASS) # 5.

2 Performance Standards and Expectations In addition to all of the programmatic requirements and priorities, all direct service staff and their supervisors shall complete The National Alliance of Children’s Trust and Prevention Funds (Alliance) online training course to support implementation of the Strengthening Families™ Protective Factors Framework in Multiple Settings: Bringing the Protective Factors Framework to Life in Your Work – A Resource for Action http://ctfalliance.

org/onlinetraining. htm . This training shall be completed by all required staff within 90 days of the beginning of the contract period or their date of hire.

Contractors will also be required to participate in additional training, technical assistance and peer networking opportunities that may be provided through NC DSS if awarded funding. Page 10 # 5. 3 Reporting Requirements If awarded funding, the following are required reporting for all contractors:  DSS-1571 III Administrative Costs Report, by the 10 th of each month.

Contractors with subcontract(s) must include monthly 1571 Report(s) completed by the subcontractor(s). 1571 Report(s) must be submitted monthly even if no costs are incurred.  Completed Performance Status Reports by October 10 th , January 10 th and April 10th.

These reports will include data on program activities, outputs and outcomes.  Completed Performance Status Reports by July 10 th . These reports will include cumulative end-of-year data on program activities, outputs and outcomes.

 NC State Auditors GS 143-6. 22&23 Grant Compliance Report: http://www. ncga.

state. nc. us/gascripts/statutes/statutelookup.

pl? statute=143c  Maintain an active record in the federal government’s System for Award Management (SAM) which now  Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (FFATA) Data Reporting Requirement form due within 10 days upon request by the NC DSS.  NC Grants Compliance Reporting due annually for non-governmental organizations: https://www.

ncgrants. gov/PublicReportsRegulations. jsp # 5.

4 Contractor Responsibilities Contractors shall document for all staff and volunteers having direct contact with children or families on an ongoing basis, completion of a criminal history background check. This check should also include a check of the National Sex Offender Registry. Any prior felony convictions or other abnormalities must have written evidence of supervisory review and acknowledgement, which justifies employment.

This documentation shall be kept within the volunteer or employee