Wounded Warrior Service Dog Program (WWSDP)

Wounded Warrior Service Dog Program (WWSDP) is sponsored by Department of Defense. Provides grants to nonprofit organizations for training and providing service dogs to service members and veterans with disabilities.

# Wounded Warrior Service Dog Program (WWSDP) # FY2018 Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) This FOA establishes eligibility, procedures, and requirements for the FY2018 WWSDP. Applicants must be nonprofit organizations who are in the business of training and providing service dogs. Pass-through entities will not be considered.

Organizations should be able to tailor a comprehensive plan to establish and operate a program to provide assistance dogs to Service Members and/or Veterans with disabilities.

A prime tenant of the WWSDP is to support Service Members and/or Veterans across diverse geographic regions and population demographics through nonprofit organizations committed to advancing the Service Dog industry through continued learning, innovative training programs, and superior industry standards. Beginning in FY2015, Congress appropriated $1,000,000 for the WWSDP to fund a competitive grants program.

This program continues in FY2018 under the authority of the Defense Health Program, Operations & Maintenance, therapeutic service dog training program. The Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) is authorized by 10 U.S.C. 2113(g)(1)(A) to make grants to any nonprofit entity.

Historically, USU has solicited grant applications from nonprofit institutions committed to connecting service dogs with service members and veterans. USU obligated $1,000,000 in FY2015, $5,000,000 in FY2016, and $5,000,000 in FY2017 to carry out this program. USU intends to award multiple, 12-month grants (subject to availability of funding) to eligible nonprofit organizations to continue this program in FY2018.

# B. F EDERAL A WARD INFORMATION USU plans to obligate approximately $10,000,000 in grants to successful applicants for the WWSDP in FY2018. The number of grants to be awarded and the amount of funding per grant is to be determined based upon the quality of the applications.

On average, USU awarded grants to 17 Recipients each year since FY2015 with an average funding amount of approximately $215,000 per award with awards ranging from $45,000 to $586,800. Funding provided through this program is not intended to finance new programs or initiatives, but to support the operation and maintenance of existing programs.

The planned period of performance for the FY2018 WWSDP is September 2018 through September 2019. Past Recipients of WWSDP grants are eligible to apply and compete for FY2018 WWSDP grants; however, applications for renewal or supplementation of existing awards will not be considered. # C.

E LIGIBILITY I NFORMATION Applicants must be nonprofit organizations who are in the business of training and providing service dogs. Pass-through entities will not be considered. Organizations should be able to tailor a comprehensive plan to establish and operate a program to provide assistance dogs to Service Members and/or Veterans with disabilities.

An applicant's failure to meet eligibility criteria by the application deadline will preclude USU from making an award to the applicant. Page 2 of 7 1. Eligible Applicants.

To be eligible to receive a grant, an organization must— a. Provide evidence the applicant is a nonprofit organization as described in 26 U.S.C. 501(c)(3) of the tax code (IRS approval letter); b.

Train and provide assistance dogs, free-of-charge, to Service Members and/or Veterans with disabilities; c. Not outsource essential training or animal husbandry services to other organizations; d. Have an active registration with the System for Award Management (SAM), https://www.

sam. gov ; and e. Submit a responsive application packet by the stated deadline.

2. Cost Sharing or Matching. There is no cost sharing, cost matching, or cost participation by the Government for this opportunity.

3. Other. Organizations that have been found to be in violation of a Federal statute are ineligible.

Assistance dog organizations that have affiliated or related organizations serving service members and veterans may submit only one application under this grant program. Service Members and/or Veterans with disabilities must have their disability documented by their physician and provide that to the applicant/recipient organization before participating in the program. # D.

A PPLICATION AND S UBMISSION INFORMATION 1. Address to Request Application Package . The application package may be retrieved from the Grants.

gov website ( https://www. grants. gov/ ).

Everything needed to apply is available on this website. If there are difficulties downloading the attachment, please contact Grants. gov Applicant Support at 1-800-518-4726 or via email at support@grants.

gov . 2. Content and Form of Application Submission .

Organizations shall submit an application to USU at such time, in such manner, as outlined in this FOA. Applications must be clearly divided into, and address the following elements: a. Program Narrative: The program narrative may not exceed 10 pages.

Keep narrative concise and emphasize details over anecdotal or general statements. The narrative must be in English and pages numbered sequentially. All budgets must be in whole US Dollars; all MS Word documents must be single-spaced, 12-point Calibri (or similar) font, with a minimum of 1-inch margins.

All materials must be submitted in the following formats: . doc, . docx, .

pdf, . xls, or . xlsx.

No other file types will be accepted.

The narrative must include the following elements and be clearly numbered to correspond to each element: (1) A description of the organization’s dog trainers (include qualifications, requirements, experience, continuing professional development and a discussion of apprentice programs); Page 3 of 7 (2) A description of the application process to include interview, assessment, and selection of Service Members and/or Veterans (include a plan to prioritize placement of assistance dogs); (3) A description of the organization’s assistance dogs (include breed, temperament, training phases, and graduation/certification requirements); (4) A description of the training to Service Members and/or Veterans (include training phases and graduation/certification requirements); (5) A description of the training facility and the organization’s commitment to humane standards for animals.

Include as appropriate: animal housing and husbandry standards, compliance with city/State animal control or public health requirements, and veterinarian care; (6) A description of the organization’s commitment to comparable standards as that of International Guide Dog Federation (IGDF), Assistance Dogs International (ADI), etc. (7) A description of your plan to accommodate Service Members and/or Veterans from outside of the organization’s commuting area and ability to serve the underserved (include as appropriate: accessibility, on-site lodging, average wait time for a dog, and specific underserved community); (8) A description of the aftercare services that the organization will provide for dogs and Service Members/Veterans (include re-certification requirements, plan for follow-up assessments, plan for evaluation and monitoring of dogs, and support services); (9) A description of the organization’s ability to reach Service Members and Veterans in need (include specific nature and scope of relationship with military medical treatment facilities, medical facilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Veteran organizations, or other community organizations supporting Veterans); (10) A description of the organization’s evaluation plan for the selection, training, placement, and aftercare services of assistance dogs and Service Members/Veterans; (11) A Budget Justification.

A narrative of proposed budget that includes direct and indirect costs associated with placing Service Members/Veterans with assistance dogs during the grant period of performance must be provided. A detailed, itemized budget including, but not limited to the following: Labor, percentage of effort for each personnel, number of dogs trained, supplies, travel, trainer training, housing, and training of dogs.

The Government will review the proposed budget to determine grant amounts, if any. Applicants must affirmatively acknowledge the requirement for progress and financial reporting as a condition for receiving a grant award; and (12) Records of past success or notable achievements, if any. Page 4 of 7 b.

Application for Federal Assistance (SF-424); c. Budget Information for Non-Construction Programs (SF-424A); d. Assurances for Non-Construction Programs (SF-424B); e.

Grants. gov Lobbying Form; f. Project/Performance Site Location(s) Form; 3.

Unique entity identifier and System for Award Management (SAM) . Each applicant is required to: (i) be registered in SAM ( https://www. sam.

gov ) before submitting an application; (ii) provide a valid unique entity identifier (e.g. DUNS number) in its application; and (iii) continue to maintain an active SAM registration with current information at all times during which the organization has an active Federal award or application or plan under consideration by a Federal awarding agency.

USU will not make a Federal award to an applicant until the applicant has complied with all applicable unique entity identifier and SAM requirements and, if an applicant has not fully complied with the requirements by the time USU is ready to make a Federal award, USU may determine that the applicant is not qualified to receive a Federal award and use that determination as a basis for making a Federal award to another applicant. 4.

Submission Dates and Times. Applications are due electronically by 12:00pm Noon Eastern Daylight Savings Time on 4 Jun 2018 . This is the date/time applications must be uploaded to Grants.

gov in order to be considered for an award. Late applications will neither be reviewed nor considered. Determination of on-time receipt will be made by reviewing the Date/Time Received stamp generated by Grants.

gov. A system-generated confirmation of receipt for timely applications will be sent via email no later than 24-48 hours after receipt on Grants. gov. Only electronic submissions will be accepted. Hand-carried, US Mail, or other hard-copy submissions will not be accepted.

a. Budgeted costs must be allowable, allocable and reasonable in accordance with Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, And Audit Requirements For Federal Awards 2CFR 200 (See Parts 200. 403, 200.

404 and 200. 405). b.

Budget items not related to support for the operation and maintenance of existing programs will not be approved (e.g. vehicle purchases, construction costs for new facilities). c. Pre-award costs are not authorized and will not be reimbursed.

# E. A PPLICATION R EVIEW INFORMATION 1. Criteria .

USU will evaluate applications against the following criteria.

Preference will be given to: 1) organizations committed to connecting assistance dogs with Service Members and/or Veterans across population demographics; 2) organizations demonstrating past performance working with military Page 5 of 7 medical treatment facilities and/or medical facilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs; and 3) organizations demonstrating ties with local veteran and social service facilities within their community that support Service Members and/or Veterans.

a. Does the application illustrate that the program will reach disabled service members and disabled veterans with a comprehensive plan to identify, select, and prioritize services to Service Members and/or Veterans? How does it address serving the underserved?

Does the application offer a plan for training and providing assistance dogs for different types of disabilities? Does it focus on quality, outcome-based, training programs for Service Members and/or Veterans and assistance dogs? b.

How strong is the applicant’s history and success training assistance dogs? What is the percentage of dogs still placed? Does the application focus on training and continuing professional development of assistance dog trainers?

How are training standards and public access tests addressed? Is there a comprehensive aftercare program for both assistance dogs and Service Member and/or Veteran? c.

Does the applicant demonstrate that their staff, resources and infrastructure are capable of providing a quality program for disabled service members and disabled veterans? Does the application show evidence of practices that meet or exceed city/State animal control or public health requirements? d.

Is the budget reasonable compared to program narrative? Is the budget balanced against both training and administrative needs? 2.

Review and Selection Process . A USU merit review board will evaluate applications against each criterion listed above. Board members consist of military and civilian experts in the field of research, training, finance, and medical sciences.

Board members will make award recommendations to the selecting official who will make the final determination on the number of grant awards issued and the amounts to be awarded under each grant. 3. Anticipated Announcement and Federal Award Dates .

The Government anticipates making awards no later than 30 September 2018. Unsuccessful applicants will be notified via email after all grant awards have been made. # F.

F EDERAL A WARD A DMINISTRATION INFORMATION 1. Federal Award Notices. Successful applicants will receive an email with a copy of the grant for their signature.

After signing and returning to the USU Grants Officer for countersignature they will receive a final grant award. Work may begin only after the signed grant agreement is received by the Recipient. Applicants shall not seek grant funding reimbursement for dogs placed with disabled service members and veterans prior to receipt of award.

Page 6 of 7 2. Administrative and National Policy Requirements. All grant awards issued as a result of this opportunity will be subject to the Uniformed Services University General Terms and Conditions for Assistance Awards.

Additionally, successful applicants must comply with the following statutes and regulations: a. Civil Rights Act, 42 USC §2000, as implemented at 28 CFR 42; b. Age Discrimination Act, 42 USC §6101, as implemented at 45 CFR 90; c.

Age Discrimination in Employment Act, 29 USC §621, as implemented at 29 CFR 1625; d. Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, 20 USC §1681, as implemented at 45 CFR 86; e. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, 29 USC §791, as implemented at 28 CFR 41; f.

Equal Employment Opportunity Act, 42 USC §2000a and Executive Order 11246; g. Americans with Disabilities Act, 41 USC §12101, et seq ; h. Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 USC §207, as implemented at 29 CFR 500899; i.

Davis-Bacon Act, 40 USC §§3141-3148, as implemented at 29 CFR 1, 3, 5 and 7; j. Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act, 40 USC §327, as implemented at 29 CFR 5, 1926; k. Executive Order 12549, as implemented in 2 CFR 180; and l.

Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988, 41 USC §701, et seq. , as implemented at 2 CFR 182. 3.

Reporting. There is no specified format for progress reports. Applicants must affirmatively acknowledge the requirement for progress and financial reporting as a condition for receiving a grant award.

Organizations selected for funding shall be required to submit two (2) comprehensive progress and financial reports (6-months interim and 12-months final report). Financial reports are to be prepared on the Federal Financial Report (SF-425) which can be downloaded from Grants. gov along with instructions for its use.

Both reports shall be reviewed to ensure grant funds are used for the purposes stated in the grant application. The progress report shall include the status of any plans, processes or general elements found in items 1-10 of the Program Narrative above. # G.

F EDERAL A WARDING A GENCY C ONTACT For questions related to this opportunity, please contact Melissa Beale, Chief, Research Support Division, USU Acquisitions Directorate, via email at melissa. beale@usuhs. edu .

1. This announcement is a one-time initiative for FY18. This initiative may, or may not, be repeated in the future.

Page 7 of 7 2. The Federal Government is not obligated to make any Federal award as a result of the announcement. 3.

Only grant officers can bind the Federal Government to the expenditure of funds. 4. Recipients who do not achieve proposed outcomes (number of dog placements) within Fiscal Year 2018 may not be eligible to complete in any similar future announcements.

5. All participating organizations must agree to Government auditing, 6-months and 12-months progress and expense reports, and site visits by USU officials as needed.