FY27 TLS Get Real: Financial Decisions in the Real-World

This grant award will have an initial period of performance starting in FY27 (07/01/2026 (or upon execution of the agreement) through 06/30/2029). A budget should be submitted for FY27 only. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ PROGRAM DESCRIPTION The selected provider will provide the Get Real: Financial Decisions in the Real World curriculum including all program materials for 500- 1000 youth within the DCFS system between ages 19-21. In total, 1000 copies of the following materials will be made available: Get Real workbooks, access to College Budget Builder tool and bookmark, receipt boxes, savings goal cards, On the Money magazine, access to online youth financial management tools and digital learning badges related to banking, savings plans and certificates. The selected provider will provide support for 1-2 training sessions each quarter as needed to train new instructors. The selected provider will also provide one refresher training meeting for DCFS trainers as well as one refresher training call for DCFS instructors as needed. In total, it is estimated that 60-120 service providers will be trained. The selected provider will provide all training materials including training binders with lesson guides, Get Real workbook answer keys and sample student materials, master copies of the financial literacy and financial capability assessments and related answer keys, master copies of review worksheets and evaluation forms, training evaluation forms, DVDs or USBs (as desired), copies of the Money Matters simulation game for their student groups, credit crunch game cards, training assessments and evaluations will all be included. Action plans identifying target training dates and outreach numbers and certificates of completion for all staff successfully trained will also be included. Access to online assessment tools and training in these tools will also be provided as needed. Training will include both instruction and also, time for practice and application of the Get Real training modules with other staff. The selected provider will provide support at least one training per quarter with service personnel in person. All of the training materials noted above will be provided for these personnel as well. A total of 100-250 training sets or training materials update sets will be provided. The selected provider will also hold a total of up to 4 calls throughout the training period with the training staff to ensure smooth progress in ongoing trainings as needed. In addition to the training provided, the selected provider will continue to update both the student and instructor training materials and will be available to provide ongoing consultation to sites in the initiation and delivery of their Get Real services. The selected provider and the Young Illinois Saves coalition will be available to help connect sites to both financial institutions offering high quality, community outreach and youth bank accounts that benefit youth with no fee and low minimum banking options to avoid check cashing fees. Through the Young Illinois Saves network, volunteers from the financial community, in particular credit counseling, VITA, financial planning advisors and legal assistance organizations that provide serves on a pro-bono basis can be secured as available throughout the state to assist sites as needed both when questions arise or when special presentations of educational information on a specific topics such as credit, tax, banking or saving/ investing might be needed. (Up to 1 hour of consultation for up 50 sites has been provided in the attached budget.) Additionally, as part of this consultation, the selected provider will hold two monthly conference calls for service personnel and trainers. In total, at least 20 calls will be provided each year. On these calls, the selected provider will review progress in implementing the financial education programming as well as answer any questions or address issues with implementation of this initiative. All of the youth in this program will have an opportunity to set a savings goal and receive ongoing financial education information through Young Illinois Saves. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CLIENTS DCFS Clients Client Capacity Under DCFS Agreement: 900 Capacity at Any Given Time: N/A Agency Clients Client Capacity Under Program: 900 Capacity at Any Given Time: N/A Students will receive 8-12 hours of financial education covering managing your first paycheck, saving, budgeting, banking, credit and investing. This will ideally occur over several instruction sessions. Financial education will focus on knowledge gain as well as increasing financial management skills and developing an effective financial management plan. Direct services staff will receive 12 hours of training over two days. One training for direct services staff typically occurs in central, southern, or northern Illinois and one in the Chicago metropolitan area each year for new instructors. At least one training for new instructors will be held each quarter. The technology trainings are 1 hour in length. The provider agrees to obtain prior authorization from DCFS to serve clients outside of the program plan parameters. Client: The “Client” for this contract will be all youth served by DCFS as they reach age 19 and/or within two years prior to emancipation. All clients will be required to complete the financial education programming for Count to 21 before their 21st birthday (or transition to independence date) in order to receive their stipend upon emancipation. The selected provider will also be serving the clients indirectly by training both the DCFS training staff who will then train the contract staff. The program staff will also provide ongoing support to both the training staff and the direct services contract staff. Unit of Service: A “Unit of Service” would be the refresher training of DCFS training staff, support for ongoing quarterly trainings, provision of coalition calls and individual consultations, establishment of saving programs, all program materials, data analysis consultation and reporting assistance and ongoing consultation with program sites. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ TARGET POPULATION Inclusions: Financial literacy is required for youth starting at age 19 per the Procedure 302, Appendix M. All agencies that serve youth ages 18-21 must have at least 1 certified financial literacy instructor on staff. Exclusions: Cases for youth in care who are diagnosed with a developmental disability and have an IQ of 65 will be discussed with a C21 Meeting Facilitator and any exemptions will be made on a case-by-case basis. A modified version of financial literacy may be required and, in these cases, a CFS 418-L will be required per Procedure 302, Appendix M. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ REFERRAL AND ADMISSION PROCEDURES Referral Decision-Making Criteria: All youth in the DCFS system served by either DCFS staff or contracting agencies would be required to complete the Get Real program between ages 19-21 to apply for their transition fund through Countdown to 21. Clients would be identified by their case managers at the DCFS contract agencies based upon age. There are no prequalification assessments required for admittance, but clients should complete a pre-test for assessment purposes only upon admission to the program. Admission Notification Procedures: Clients will receive a schedule of Get Real financial education classes offered from the contracting agency within one month prior to their eligibility. This notification will inform the students of the benefits of the program such as the stipend, certification and any financial product offerings or savings incentives. The notification will also inform students of the required time frame. Agencies will receive notification from DCFS of the training requirements for their new staff and new staff will be asked to complete the training at one of several statewide locations at the next quarterly offering. Department Responsibility: Department training staff will be responsible for tracking the completion of the training by DCFS contractor agencies that are required to have a specific number of staff trained determined by the number of eligible youth that they serve. Department staff will also be responsible for providing and tracking certification. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ OUTCOMES AND METRICS Program level outcomes: New DCFS Training Staff Members will be trained in the Get Real program and certified to provide training to direct service personnel as needed. Training staff will provide quarterly trainings statewide. Each of the 60 contract sites are required to have a certified instructor with larger agencies required to have additional certified instructors to be able to meet demand for this program. Training staff and provider staff will provide quarterly trainings statewide to new instructors. Client level outcomes: It is the objective for this program to have youth successfully completing the Get Real program with an average of over 75% correct responses on their final assessment. The final assessment covers topics including knowledge of banking, budgeting, saving, investing and credit. All youth receiving Get Real certification will have completed a financial plan including a saving, banking, budgeting, and credit management plan. Youth behaviors will also be assessed, and it is our objective that a majority of youth will increase positive financial management behaviors in at least some areas of financial behavior including possible areas such as budget, banking, saving, investing and credit. Process level outcomes: Per the Countdown to 21 Policy Guide, Section IV.H., all youth are required to complete a department approved financial literacy course and all CWCA, Residential Program and ILO/TLP Program agencies are required to have a certified instructor.

Indirect Costs are allowed. To charge indirect costs to a grant, the applicant organization must have an annually negotiated indirect cost rate agreement (NICRA). There are three types of NICRAs: 1. Federally Negotiated Rate. Organizations that receive direct federal funding, may have an indirect cost rate that was negotiated with the Federal Cognizant Agency. Illinois will accept the federally negotiated rate. The organization must provide a copy of the federal NICRA. 2. State Negotiated Rate. The organization may negotiate an indirect cost rate with the State of Illinois if they do not have a Federally Negotiated Rate. If an organization has not previously established an indirect cost rate, an indirect cost rate proposal may be submitted to the State of Illinois through the indirect cost rate system no later than three months after the effective date of the award. If an organization previously established an indirect cost rate, the organization must continue to use that rate until its expiration. Upon expiration, the organization may re-submit a new indirect cost proposal through the system annually, within six months after the close of the grantee’s fiscal year, OR an organization may elect to use the de minimis rate instead of their State Negotiated Rate. 3. De Minimis Rate. An organization may elect a de minimis rate of 15% of modified total direct cost (MTDC). Once established, the de minimis rate may be used indefinitely. The State of Illinois must verify the calculation of the MTDC annually in order to accept the de minimis rate. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ NOTE • All grantees must complete an indirect cost rate negotiation or elect the De Minimis Rate in the indirect cost rate system to claim indirect costs. Indirect costs claimed without an established negotiated rate or a De Minimis Rate election in the system may be subject to disallowance. • Grantees have discretion not to claim payment for indirect costs. Grantees that elect not to claim indirect costs cannot be reimbursed for indirect costs. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The Department of Children and Family Services must receive a full application by the date and time listed. Applications received past the due date and time will not be reviewed or considered.

NOTE: This application is for Year 1 of a multi-year award. Successful applicants may be eligible to receive two subsequent one-year renewals (i.e., a multi-year grant of up to three fiscal years total). Renewals are at the discretion of the Department and are based on the meeting of performance expectations and compliance requirements. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 1) UNIFORM APPLICATION FOR STATE GRANT ASSISTANCE 2) PROGRAM NARRATIVE AND BUDGET • Please answer all narrative questions in full—being as descriptive and specific as possible. While there is not a set min/max number of characters/words, adequate responses are typically between 250 and 1,000 words (between 1/2 page and 2 pages single-spaced) depending on the question. Applications will be evaluated on answers to questions related to: 1. Organizational Capacity and Experience (15%) 2. Program Design and Implementation Plan (25%) 3. Alignment with Funding Priorities (20%) 4. Outcomes and Performance Measurement (20%) 5. Budget and Cost Effectiveness (10%) 6. Risk and Compliance (10%) For grant award incumbents, satisfactory performance in meeting program plan objectives and requirements will be considered during scoring. As part of the section of the application related to Budget and Cost Effectiveness, an uploaded budget on the provided GATA Budget Template is required in addition to the narrative responses. For the attachment: • The budget is REQUIRED to include clear narrative descriptions. The narrative should explain how costs were estimated AND justify the need for the cost. The budget should be as concrete and specific as possible in its estimates. Make every effort to be realistic and to estimate costs accurately. Each section of the budget should be in outline form, listing line items under major headings and subheadings. If needed, each of the major components should be subtotaled with a grand total at the end. A well-prepared budget should be reasonable and demonstrate that the funds being asked for will be used wisely. • The grant award will be subject to state statutory requirements that limit the direct administrative costs to 20%. Fringe Benefits cannot exceed 25% of total salaries. • If applying for a multi-year award, listed award amounts are for the single fiscal year. For application submission, only one budget is reviewed for expenses incurred for that single fiscal year (i.e. year 1 of the multi-year award). • Please be sure to fill out the FFATA Data Collection Form (page 5) of the Uniform Grant Budget template. If you answer “no” to Q1, you do not need to proceed to Q2 on the form. 3) SUPPLEMENTAL QUESTIONS • If assistance is needed to complete the supplemental questions (i.e., to clarify or confirm applicability of a specific question), please direct those questions to DCFS.GATA@Illinois.gov. 4) BOARD OF DIRECTORS LIST • Please either type the information requested for your Board of Directors or upload a file. Files should include contact information including address, email, and phone numbers (including fax). If not applicable, put N/A. Please note the address provided for each board member cannot be the same as the organization/applicant

Questions from applicants within the application date range can only be directed to and answered by DCFS.GATA@Illinois.gov.

REQUIREMENTS Each applicant (unless the applicant is an individual or Federal or State awarding agency that is exempt from those requirements under 2 CFR §25.110(b) or (c), or has an exception approved by the Federal or State awarding agency under 2 CFR § 25.110(d)) is required to: • Be registered in SAM before submitting its application. To establish a SAM registration, go to www.SAM.gov and/or utilize the instructional link from the https://www2.illinois.gov/sites/GATA/Pages/default.aspx Resource Links tab; • Provide a valid Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) in its application; and • Always maintain an active SAM registration with current information during which it has an active Federal, Federal pass-through or State award or an application or plan under consideration by a Federal or State awarding agency. The State awarding agency may not make a Federal pass through or State award to an applicant until the applicant has complied with all applicable UEI and SAM requirements and, if an applicant has not fully complied with the requirements by the time the State awarding agency is ready to make a Federal pass-through or State award, the State awarding agency may determine that the applicant is not qualified to receive a Federal pass-through or State award and use that determination as a basis for making a Federal pass-through or State award to another applicant. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ GATA PRE-QUALIFICATION An entity may not apply for a grant until the entity has registered and pre-qualified through the Grant Accountability and Transparency Act (GATA) Grantee Portal, https://grants.illinois.gov/portal/. Registration and pre-qualification are required annually. During prequalification, verifications are performed including a check of Federal Debarred and Suspended and status on the Illinois Stop Payment List. An automated email notification to the entity alerts them of “qualified” status or informs how to remediate a negative verification (e.g., inactive UEI, not in good standing with the Secretary of State). A Federal Debarred and Suspended status cannot be remediated. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ELIGIBILITY All potential applicants are eligible that meet the qualifications above. The funding opportunity is not limited to nonprofit organizations subject to 26 U.S.C. 501(c)(3) of the tax code (26 U.S.C. 501(c)(3)) but is preferred and will be first consideration of choice. You may be requested to submit proof of 501(c)(3) status as determined by the Internal Revenue Service. The applicant must comply with all applicable provisions of state and federal laws and regulations pertaining to nondiscrimination, sexual harassment and equal employment opportunity including, but not limited to: • The Illinois Human Rights Act (775 ILCS 5/1-101 et seq.), • The Public Works Employment Discrimination Act (775 ILCS 10/1 et seq.), • The United States Civil Rights Act of 1964 (as amended) (42 USC 2000a and 2000H-6), • Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 USC 794), • The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 USC 12101 et seq.), and • The Age Discrimination Act (42 USC 6101 et seq.). ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ NOTE: Failure to meet an eligibility criterion by the application deadline will result in the Department of Children and Family Services returning the application without review or, even though an application may be reviewed, will preclude the Department of Children and Family Services from making a State award.

REVIEW AND SELECTION PROCESS All applications must be submitted by the posted deadline. IDCFS staff conducts an initial review of all applications received for eligibility and GATA compliance. Reviewers may consist of DCFS GATA staff, division leadership, and other internal DCFS staff. Each proposal will be reviewed by a minimum of three reviewers. The review and selection of grant award recipients is conducted in a fair and equitable manner that evaluates and selects grantees most likely to be successful in delivering results based on program objectives, and with limited disruption to the continuity of services. Proposals will be approved based on funding available. While recommendations from the review team will be a key factor in funding decisions, the Department maintains final authority over funding decisions and considers the scores of the review team to be non-binding recommendations. The Department reserves the right to evaluate applications in the larger context of the overall portfolio by considering geographic distribution of awards (e.g., ensuring coverage of certain counties or service areas), client needs, and overall programmatic/ financial risk assessments in its pre-award decisions. Any internal documentation used in scoring or awarding of grants shall not be considered public information. Final award decisions will be made by the Director (or their designee). The Department reserves the right to negotiate with successful applicants to adjust award amounts, locations, etc. Funds are disbursed based on the schedule agreed upon and included within the Uniform Grant Agreement. The release of this Notice of Funding Opportunity does not obligate the Department to make an award. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ AWARD NOTIFICATIONS An award status notification (approval or denial) will be delivered via an automated email from Euna Grants. This email will serve as notification that an award has been made. However, this email is not an authorization to begin performance or incur costs. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ APPEALS Competitive grant (and in some cases non-competitive) appeals are limited to an appeal related to the evaluation process. Evaluation scores may not be protested. An appeal must be submitted in writing in accordance with the grant application document. An appeal must be received within 14 calendar days of Award denial. The written appeal shall include at a minimum the following: i. the name and address of the appealing party ii. identification of the grant for which you are appealing the evaluation/review process iii. a statement of reasons for the appeal Response to Appeal a. DCFS will acknowledge receipt of an appeal within fourteen (14) calendar days from the date the appeal was received. b. DCFS will respond to the appeal within 60 days or supply a written explanation to the appealing party as to why additional time is required. c. The appealing party must supply any additional information requested by DCFS within the time period set in the request.

Grantees will be expected to submit both (monthly or quarterly) periodic performance reports and monthly financial reports. The exact reporting requirements of this award will be defined in the program plan of the Uniform Grant Agreement.

Questions regarding this Notice of Funding Opportunity should be addressed to: ILDCFS Accountability Unit Email: DCFS.GATA@Illinois.gov