Trauma-Interventions for Children and Youth in Foster Care with Complex Mental, Behavioral, and Physical Health Needs

Trauma-Interventions for Children and Youth in Foster Care with Complex Mental, Behavioral, and Physical Health Needs is sponsored by Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Children's Bureau (CB). This opportunity supports mission-aligned projects and measurable outcomes.

# Trauma Interventions for Children # and Youth in Foster Care with # Complex Mental, Behavioral, and Funding Opportunity Number HHS-2023-ACF-ACYF-CA-0078 Application Due Date July 31, 2023 This may look different than We’re testing a new design for this funding opportunity and we’d love your feedback! Email us at: CB@grantreview. com Contents Step 1: Review the Opportunity 2 Opportunity Overview .

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4 Step 2: Get Ready to Apply 10 Step 3: Prepare Your Application 12 Format . . .

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. 13 Application Components . .

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. . 14 Step 4: Understand Review, Selection, and Award 29 Reviews .

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. . 30 Selection Process .

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. . 33 Award Process .

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. 33 Step 5: Review Post-Award Requirements 34 Step 6: Submit the Application 36 Application Checklist . .

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. 37 Disqualifying Factors . .

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. 38 Factors that May Limit Competitiveness . .

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. 38 Submitting the Application . .

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. 38 Acknowledgments . .

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40 Other Information 41 Administration for Children and Families — Children’s Bureau 2 Opportunity Overview pg. 3 Program Description pg. 4 Other Information Administration for Children and Families — Children’s Bureau 3 Trauma Interventions for Children and Youth in Foster Care with Complex Mental, Behavioral, and Physical Health Needs Help children and youth who have experienced trauma build resilience and improve their well-being.

• Evidence-based clinical services • Foster parent training and curricula • Volunteer support services for • Positive biological and birth • Enrichment activities for children • Trauma-informed systems work The Children’s Bureau seeks trauma-informed interventions to address trauma in children and youth with complex mental, behavioral, Funding supports projects to implement interventions that are culturally and developmentally responsive, achieve demonstrable improvements in well-being for children and youth, and share lessons learned.

Non-profit organizations with demonstrated experience working with youth in foster care who have experienced severe trauma $750K to $1M per budget period Estimated project start: 9/30/2023 Deadline for optional letter of intent: Deadline for applications: HHS-2023-ACF-ACYF-CA-0078 Have questions? 888-203-6161 or CB@grantreview.

org Step 1: Review the Opportunity > Administration for Children and Families — Children’s Bureau 4 The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Children’s Bureau (CB) will make up to two awards for up to 36 months each. These demonstration projects (from this point on referred to as “a project”) will implement and evaluate innovative trauma-informed programming.

The focus is services for children and youth with complex needs who are in The program’s goals are to find new or improved solutions to help children and youth (from this point on referred to as children) in the foster care system with complex needs in culturally and developmentally responsive ways. These services or interventions may help to: • Treat the effects trauma has on the developing brain.

This includes: – helping children to learn self-regulation skills; – increasing their tolerance for stress and triggers; and – improving their decision-making skills.

• Provide clinical support to children that help them to: – improve their mental health outcomes; – process traumatic memories; – work through and understand their own specific effects to their – manage any sensory issues; and • Build their ability to trust safe adults through: – relationship building with their foster parents, kinship caregivers, prospective adoptive parents, and biological families, where – learning how to set safe boundaries.

• Provide a trauma-informed, safe environment by: – teaching caregivers how to understand the effects of trauma; – providing methods to care for children through trusting relationships and culturally and developmentally appropriate behavioral – providing support for foster parents through respite care and enrichment activities for children.

Bureau Step 1: Review the Opportunity > Administration for Children and Families — Children’s Bureau 5 • Improve the capacity of child welfare and related systems that come into contact with children to: – understand, identify, and respond to trauma; – build systems and networks that provide sensitive and informed ways to work with children with complex needs who have experienced The program’s objectives are to develop projects that use and build upon the evidence of effectiveness in existing trauma-informed interventions.

• Deeply understand the developmental, mental, and behavioral health needs of children who have experienced trauma and use this knowledge and experience to build innovative, responsive methods for helping children to meet these challenges. • Lead to improved outcomes for children in foster care, which may include: – Improvements in children’s assessments. – Decreases in mental health crises needing to involve emergency care.

– Decreases in behavioral issues associated with an increase in self- regulation skills or better management of sensory or other issues. – An increase in trauma-informed services available in the community. • Carry out continuous quality improvement activities and outcomes or impact evaluations to build knowledge and evidence about ways to help children in foster care with complex needs who have experienced trauma.

• Provide others who want to help children with replicable models that Chronic exposure to trauma from Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) can interfere with early development. It can cause short- and long-term harm to physical, social, and emotional well-being ( Child Welfare Information Research shows that more ACEs increase a child’s risk of negative outcomes.

These outcomes include poor physical and mental health, substance use, and risky behaviors. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , children may face further exposure to stress from systemic racism or the impacts of poverty resulting from limited educational and economic opportunities.

Step 1: Review the Opportunity > Administration for Children and Families — Children’s Bureau 6 All children in foster care can benefit from trauma-informed interventions. But many children with complex mental, behavioral, and physical issues have unique, profound, and compounding needs. These needs are often greater than those the available expertise and resources can meet.

Because exposure to trauma can have lifelong effects, early screening and intervention is essential. ii While the evidence of effectiveness is still emerging, implementing trauma-informed interventions may help to prevent, identify, and address trauma ( Child Welfare Information Gateway, 2020 ).

• Providing targeted, innovative, trauma-informed interventions that benefit children in foster care with complex mental, behavioral, and • Conducting continuous quality improvement and evaluation of trauma- • Regular reporting to ACF on findings, outcomes, and recommendations about sustainable funding and replicable program models. Recipients must provide trauma-informed services for children in the foster care system.

Services must focus on children with complex needs who have Projects may include any or all of the six eligible services described below. Within each, CB encourages innovation. The examples below show types of services that recipients could provide.

You may propose other services within ## Evidence-Based Clinical Services iii These services help to meet children’s mental, behavioral, and physical health needs. Examples include: • Assessment and diagnosis of mental health conditions. • Individual, group, and family therapy, including cognitive behavior therapy, dialectical behavior therapy, and play therapy.

• Occupational therapy to help children with sensory issues. • Emergency mental health services for children in crisis. ## Foster Parent Training and Curricula These services help foster and potential adoptive families to understand the needs of children who have experienced trauma.

Examples include: Step 1: Review the Opportunity > Administration for Children and Families — Children’s Bureau 7 • The changes in children’s bodies, brains, behaviors, and belief systems that come with experiencing trauma. • The need to build nurturing, trusting relationships with safe boundaries • The need to address the whole child and their unique needs. • The need to correct behavior by focusing on the behavior, not the child.

## Volunteer Support Services for Foster Parents These services provide direct support for foster parents and caregivers. • Respite care to give foster parents time to meet their own needs and • Matching foster parents with mentors or support groups with experience caring for children with complex needs.

• Organizing volunteers to help with transportation for children to appointments, meals for the family, or collecting donations of clothing, toys, and other supplies. • Resilience-building programs that help foster parents manage the ## Positive Biological and Birth Family These services help support biological family reunification, where possible.

• Building supportive relationships between the child, foster family, and • Connecting biological families to concrete, economic, and other available supports within the community. • Managing regular communication. These might include phone calls, emails, and visits.

These can also include coordinating family therapy or other supports, case planning and decision making, and co-parenting. ## Enrichment Activities for Children These services provide opportunities for creative expression and building social skills. Examples include: Step 1: Review the Opportunity > Administration for Children and Families — Children’s Bureau 8 • Art or music therapy to allow children to express themselves.

This can help them to reduce stress and process their emotions and experiences in a safe, supportive environment. • Outdoor activities like hiking, gardening, and nature walks. These help children connect with nature and find a sense of peace and calm.

• Sports and exercise to help children release energy, relieve stress, and • Mindfulness practices like meditation, breathing exercises, and yoga to develop self-awareness and self-regulation skills. ## Trauma-informed Systems Work This work coordinates community services to prevent, identify, and address trauma. Examples include: • Building networks of local child-serving systems.

These include healthcare, education, social services, juvenile justice, and community organizations. Collaborations develop systems that are more responsive, compassionate, and effective. – Specific focus areas might include standardized screening and assessments, measurement-driven case planning, treatment referral processes, changes to data systems, and more.

• Training to better understand, recognize, and intervene with the impacts All funded projects must include an evaluation. You must spend at least 15 percent of the total project costs on evaluating your project. • Build on the existing base of knowledge about trauma-informed • Conduct an outcome or impact evaluation of your project.

• Continuously improve quality using informative assessments, metrics, and other useful data arising from the project’s everyday operations.

• Disseminate learnings from the project so others in the field benefit from Projects should use Institutional Review Board (IRB)-approved research Step 1: Review the Opportunity > Administration for Children and Families — Children’s Bureau 9 Recipients may transfer part of the work to other organizations through subawards. The prime recipient must: • Keep a substantive role in the project.

A substantive role means conducting activities or providing services integral to the project. Conducting subrecipient monitoring activities alone is not a • Make sure that all subrecipients: – not individuals, including sole proprietorships, or foreign organizations; – have demonstrated experience working with children in foster care who have experienced trauma.

• Make sure that subrecipients have a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) and an active System for Award Management (SAM. gov) registration.

Title I, Section 105(b)(5) of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act # About the Children’s Bureau The Children’s Bureau (CB) partners with federal, state, Tribal, and local agencies to improve the overall health and well-being of children and CB provides support and guidance to programs that focus on: • Strengthening families and preventing child abuse and neglect. • Protecting children when abuse or neglect has occurred.

• Ensuring that every child and youth has a permanent family or See CB’s Fact Sheet to learn more about CB’s history, mission, and program areas. Administration for Children and Families — Children’s Bureau 10 Applying for an award takes time. Start as early as possible both to meet the pre- application requirements and to make sure that you can complete the application before the deadline.

Other Information Administration for Children and Families — Children’s Bureau 11 ## There are a few things you need to do before you can apply: F Make sure your organization is eligible. – Only non-profits may apply.

(See more information on faith-based – Only those with demonstrated experience working with children in foster care who have experienced – Individuals, including sole proprietorship, or foreign organizations are not eligible. – ACF will determine your eligibility by reviewing your proof of non- profit status, the project narrative’s Experience section, and the letter of support from your child welfare F Register in SAM.

gov or make sure your registration is up to date. Begin as soon as possible. It can take 2 weeks or more F Get a UEI.

You get your UEI when you register in SAM. gov. (This is different from a DUNs number. See DUNS to UEI F Register in Grants.

gov. See how to register in Grants. gov . F Begin working on gaining the required letter of support from the relevant child welfare agency in your jurisdiction.

See F Read over this NOFO before beginning. F Make sure that you understand the F Submit an optional letter of intent. You do not need to do this to apply but it helps us.

Send an email with the NOFO number, title, and your organization name F Review the post-award requirements to make sure you can meet them. F Find the application package. Go to Grants.

gov FIND, search opportunity number HHS-2023-ACF-ACYF-CA-0078, and click the Package tab. F Consider how you will collaborate with your team. You can use your own software and systems to prepare your application, or you can use Workspace.

Workspace is a shared, online environment where your team can access and edit at the same time. For instructions, go to Get Started on Your For more information on applying for grants, see How to Apply for a Grant on the ACF Grants & Funding Page. You can contact ACF if you have questions.

CB Operations Center, c/o LCG, Inc. ATTN: HHS-2023-ACF-ACYF-CA-0078 6000 Executive Boulevard, Suite 410 ## Can’t Access Grants. gov? If you cannot use Grants.

gov to get the application package or to apply, see Paper Requests and Submissions . Administration for Children and Families — Children’s Bureau 12 Application Components pg.

14 Other Information Step 3: Prepare Your Application > Administration for Children and Families — Children’s Bureau 13 Includes alI attachments : • proof of non-profit status • licenses and accreditations Font: Times New Roman (File One only) Size: 12-point font (File One only. Footnotes and text in graphics may be 10-point.) Attachments: Text must be legible.

Spacing for project summary: Single-spaced Spacing for rest of file: Double-spaced Page Numbers: Must be included Page Limits: Files One and Two can be no longer than 75 pages combined. Each file must be in a PDF format and should be searchable. Do not encrypt or password protect the files.

Creating Files: If you do not have software needed to combine files, you can combine PDFs into a single file using Adobe’s online Naming Files: When naming files, use fewer than 50 characters. See “Are there restrictions on file names for any attachment I include with my application? ” in Grants.

gov FAQs . • Provide examples, as needed, to support • Be clear and concise. We evaluate your response based on substance and clarity, • Include potential obstacles and challenges and how you will address them.

• Where relevant, provide information for • Write in the order, and using the headings, as outlined below. Step 3: Prepare Your Application Administration for Children and Families — Children’s Bureau 14 At the beginning of File One, insert a table of contents that guides a reader through the contents of both files in your application. If possible, include links to the relevant content in File One.

Provide a one-page summary of the project description. Do not cross- reference to other parts of the application. The summary must include: • At the top, the project title, applicant name, address, phone numbers, email addresses, and website URL.

• A brief description of the project, including the needs and population you will address and your proposed services. • The physical locations of your project. Include boundaries of the area The project narrative describes your approach, experience, staffing plans, Use the following headings in your narrative.

Include information for any 3. Staffing and Management Must be included Step 3: Prepare Your Application > Administration for Children and Families — Children’s Bureau 15 Describe your approach to the program’s focus areas and services. It must reflect up-to-date knowledge from research on evidence-based or evidence-informed practices on trauma-informed intervention programs.

Include each of the topics below. Describe the specific issues your application proposes to address. F Show a clear understanding of the focus areas Describe the expected outcomes your project plans to achieve.

F Outcomes should be tied to the program Describe the services you plan F Your detailed approach to each service area you’re proposing to provide and how they work together to meet the project’s goals. F How your project is trauma informed. Describe the evidence base relevant to the programs or methods you will use.

F How your project is culturally responsive and developmentally appropriate . F How your project will ensure equitable access to services. Include underserved communities iv as defined by Executive Order F List potential obstacles and challenges.

Explain strategies you will use to address Cultural responsiveness requires individuals and organizations to understand cultural differences, recognize potential biases, and look beyond those differences to effectively work with children, families, and communities whose cultural contexts are different Developmentally appropriate services are ones that are suitable for a child’s cognitive, emotional, and developmental level and capacity.

Step 3: Prepare Your Application > Administration for Children and Families — Children’s Bureau 16 PROJECT NARRATIVE – APPROACH (CONTINUED) Include a logic model for the design and management of your project. You will be evaluated based on how clear, meaningful, reasonable, and realistic your outputs and outcomes are.

A logic model is a diagram that presents the conceptual framework and explains the links For more information on logic • Change and Implementation in Practice: Monitoring, Evaluating, and Applying Findings Brief While there are many versions of logic models, for this purpose, it may include connections between F Inputs such as resources, organizational profile, collaborative partners, key staff, and budget.

F Target population such as the people you will F Activities, mechanisms, processes. These could include evidence-based practices, approach, key intervention and evaluation components, and continuous quality improvement efforts. F Outputs such as the immediate and direct results of program activities.

F Outcomes such as the expected short- and long-term results including changes in people or F Goals of the project including overarching objectives and reasons for proposing the project. ## Timeline and Milestones Provide monthly or quarterly projections for the period of performance. Show the milestones in chronological order along with quantitative targets.

F Planned accomplishments for each function F The number of people you will serve. F The number of activities you will accomplish. Describe your plan to disseminate reports, products, outputs, and outcomes F Dissemination goals and objectives.

F Strategies to identify and engage with target F How you will provide enough staff time and budget for dissemination purposes. F A preliminary plan to evaluate the extent to which target audiences have received and used project F The dissemination timeline.

Step 3: Prepare Your Application > Administration for Children and Families — Children’s Bureau 17 PROJECT NARRATIVE – APPROACH (CONTINUED) ## Project Sustainability Plan You must propose a plan for project sustainability after federal funding ends. ACF expects recipients to sustain key elements of their funded projects.

These include strategies, services, and interventions effective in improving F The approach to project sustainability that will be most effective and workable. F The key people or organizations who will need to support the continued project.

F The types of alternative support needed to F If the project involves key project partners, describe how you will continue their ACF will use the contents of this section as part of the eligibility review. Merit reviewers will then score this section based on the depth of your experience. Describe your organization’s experience in providing similar services to children in foster care who have experienced severe trauma.

See Eligibility and Merit Review Cite specific projects and their outcomes. F Your organization and any partners have relevant experience and expertise with developing, implementing, managing, and evaluating similar projects. F Each partner and subrecipient have the organizational capability to fulfill their roles and functions.

Step 3: Prepare Your Application > Administration for Children and Families — Children’s Bureau 18 # Staffing and Management Describe the staffing and management plans to support the project.

You will be evaluated based on how realistic and reasonable your proposed methods are for meeting the expected levels of service, that the job descriptions match the skills needed, and that the plan to protect personally identifiable and sensitive information is realistic. See Merit Review Criteria .

Describe your approach to staffing, including for any partners or F A full picture of how staff will work together to meet project goals and deliver services. F For key personnel, short biographical sketches for filled positions or brief descriptions of duties and qualifications for unfilled positions. Include resumes and position descriptions in the Attachments in File Two.

F An organization chart with narrative descriptions. Include any partners or F A brief description of the role of your oversight body. Attach a list of the members.

Provide the following information and any partners or subrecipients. F A sound management plan to achieve the proposed objectives on time and ensuring F If known, disclose your intent to enter into subaward arrangements. For each proposed subaward, include a description of the work they will perform.

Step 3: Prepare Your Application > Administration for Children and Families — Children’s Bureau 19 PROJECT NARRATIVE – STAFFING AND MANAGEMENT (CONTINUED) Describe how you will ensure proper financial oversight under 45 CFR part Describe governance, policies and procedures, risk management, and systems that ensure this oversight. The description must include: F A plan for monitoring the project.

F Systems for record-keeping and financial F Procedures to identify and mitigate risks and issues. This includes information from audits, continuous program performance assessments, and program monitoring. F Key staff responsible for oversight of program activities, staff, partners, and subrecipients.

Provide a list or chart that shows all current and pending funding support requiring a time commitment from this application’s key personnel. F All sources including federal, state, and local governments; public or private foundations; for- profit organizations; and others. F The total award amount, awarding entity, and amount of time staff will devote to each project.

Describe your evaluation approach. Evaluation and Merit Review Your evaluation plan will describe how you plan to use and develop evidence over the life of your project. It needs to align with the logic model and connect research issues, questions, variables, data sources, and analyses.

Your evaluation plan should state clearly: F How you plan to build on existing knowledge. You should review the research, identify gaps, and explain how your project would help fill those gaps. Include your evaluation priorities F Evidence of your evaluation readiness.

Administration for Children and Families — Children’s Bureau 20 > PROJECT NARRATIVE – EVALUATION (CONTINUED) ## Evaluation Plan (cont) This could include describing formative evaluations that have already been completed or a literature review of trauma-informed interventions. F How you will use evidence and evaluation to support continuous quality improvement while your project is operating.

You should include the use of metrics, formative assessments, or other data aligned with your logic model and describe how you will use the results to adjust your program’s operations. F Your design for an outcome or impact evaluation that will generate valid evidence about your program.

You should describe the outcome measures, the methodology, the data sources (which may include administrative data), and the researchers or research partners needed to conduct the analysis effectively.

F How you plan to disseminate learnings from your project to benefit the field of trauma-informed F Potential obstacles to carrying out the program performance evaluation and how you will address Describe your systems and processes to track project input, activities, and outcomes to allow for accurate and timely F How the organization will collect and manage data.

Projects can use primary or existing data, including F The planned staff skills, data management software, and data integrity methods. F A timeline showing when and how often the applicant plans to review and use the evaluation data. F Ability to produce statistical reports to track demographics and performance.

F Your plan to safeguard data and protect participants. – The process for getting IRB approval and tribal – How you will protect personally identifiable and sensitive information that you or your partners and subrecipients collect. – What will happen to the data and information when funding ends.

Step 3: Prepare Your Application > Administration for Children and Families — Children’s Bureau 21 NOTE: Applicants submit the budget form SF-424A separately. Within File One, applicants must include a budget narrative. Provide: • For each budget section, a line-item budget with detailed calculations for budget categories.

See SF-424A : budget categories and object class categories are the same. • Budget calculations that include estimation methods, quantities, unit costs, and other detail needed to duplicate the calculation. • Below each budget section, a narrative justification that explains: – Necessity: Explain why you need these expenses.

– Reasonableness: Explain how you decided that the costs are – Allocability: Explain if these costs are 100 percent allocable for this project or shared with other activities. Answer any expected questions about whether the costs may be allowable. ## Treatment of Certain Costs The costs of preparing proposals may be allowable.

These costs include developing bids, proposals, applications, and needed data. Proposal costs are normally treated as indirect costs and allocated across all recipient activities. Such proposal costs are only allocable to the current accounting period.

See Most fundraising costs are unallowable. These costs include financial campaigns, endowment drives, requesting gifts and bequests, and Fundraising costs to meet the federal program objectives are allowed with prior written approval from ACF. See 45 CFR 75.

442 . At least 15 percent of the total project costs must be for the evaluation component. Clearly identify these costs in your budget narrative.

Expenses before the award start date are Construction or Major Renovation These are not allowable under this program. Purchase of Real Property You may not buy real property under this program. Step 3: Prepare Your Application > Administration for Children and Families — Children’s Bureau 22 Provide the line-item budget and budget justification for each of the following categories.

In addition to the guidance on allowable costs in this NOFO, check the cost principles in 45 CFR part 75, subpart E . Costs of employee salaries and wages. Do not include the personnel costs of consultants, contractors, and For each position, provide name (if known), title, time commitment to the project in months and as a percentage of full time, and both annual and award salary or wage.

The name of the project director, if known. Allowances and services provided by employers to their employees beyond salaries and wages. See 45 CFR 75.

431 . Do not include the fringe benefits of consultants, contractors, and Applicants may treat fringe benefits as direct or indirect using the applicant’s accounting practices. Only include fringe benefits treated as direct costs here.

The calculation for fringe benefits is typically a rate applied to salary and wages. Provide a breakdown of fringe benefit cost Transportation, lodging, and subsistence by the applicant organization’s employees traveling on business. List local travel for employees in non-travel status in the Other category.

See 45 CFR 75. 474 . Use your normal travel policies to For each trip show, the number traveling, destination, duration, per diem, mileage allowances for privately owned vehicles, and any other costs.

Step 3: Prepare Your Application > Administration for Children and Families — Children’s Bureau 23 Nonexpendable, tangible personal property, including information technology systems, that: have a useful life of more than one year and either costs at least $5,000 per unit or that you would normally capitalize. See 45 CFR 75. 439 .

For each type of equipment provide, a description, cost per unit, number of units, the total cost, a plan for use, and use or disposition of the equipment after the project ends. Tangible personal property, other than equipment. This includes office and other consumable supplies with a