FY27 CAR Parents Care and Share

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 purpose of the program is to prevent child abuse and neglect by empowering parents in the six protective factors proven to prevent child abuse and neglect, resulting in the promotion of child safety, permanency, and well-being. The services available include the following: • Facilitation of mutual, self-help support groups that follow the Circle of Parents Model • Community education, training and networking to establish new support groups • Facilitator and children's program specialist training • Annual Child Abuse Prevention awareness activities • Promotion of the Protective Factors & evaluation of program outcomes • Companion children's groups for the children The Provider will develop and support Circle of Parents peer to peer led groups in partnership with local community social service providers. Provider’s regional coordinators will build these partnerships through community education and networking efforts and execute an operating agreement for each group that clearly outlines the partner’s responsibilities. Support group session length and location will be determined by group members and will vary based on needs of individual attendees. Each group will be led by a trained facilitator from a community-based social service agency working in collaboration with the Provider. The Provider will provide Circle of Parents model orientation & Parent Leadership Ladder Tool training to the group facilitator. This training will equip group facilitators with specific instruction on how to effectively lead group activities related to family service delivery, domestic violence protocols, parent leadership development, and strategies for parent retention. Using the Circle of Parents model, all groups will: • Be Parent-led with support from a trained facilitator • Maintain a confidential and nonjudgmental environment • Be offered at no cost • Provide concurrent, developmentally appropriate children’s programs or childcare • Operate as open ended and ongoing groups • Offer weekly support opportunities Meals Snacks: The Provider will offer, a nutritious meal/snack to parents and children. Special Speakers: The Provider will facilitate appropriate speakers to address topics of urgency and concern for parents, while maintaining the goal of providing education on the Protective Factors. Children’s Groups: The Children’s support groups will be established based upon need and active groups will be maintained with existing companion children’s programs for groups whose parents need the childcare component. Provider will employ trained children's program specialists to achieve program goals by leading developmentally appropriate activities and consistently following all program policies and procedures. The regional coordinators will provide Children’s Program Specialist with materials that support the introduction of social-emotional learning activities within each group. Through these guided experiences, children will engage in activities that promote their social-emotional development in alignment with the Circle of Parents Model. Facilitator Supports: Provider staff will provide monthly coaching calls to group facilitators as a means of support to ensure each group stays aligned with the program goals. Monthly coaching contacts will cover topics such as successes, challenges, progress on goals and objectives, parent leadership development, children's program update, training needs, data collection, good news stories, parent retention, managing to the outcomes and father friendliness. Provider program staff will conduct quarterly coaching calls with children’s program workers. These coaching calls with group facilitators will address successes, challenges, progress toward goals, will center on these issues: successes, challenges, progress toward goals, parent leadership development, updates on the children’s program, training needs, data collection, parent retention, outcome management, and father‑friendliness. In additions, Provider will conduct an annual site visit for groups operating for at least one year to assess model fidelity, the welcoming environment, and overall program quality. Each Quarter, Provider program staff will provide group facilitators with protective factor material to share with participants. The provider will track and maintain records of service delivery and facilitation to verify services provided through attendance records, while maintaining confidentiality. Growth, Development & Maintenance of Supportive Networks: The Provider shall maintain a minimum of 36 existing parent support groups distributed within the geographical areas and work to establish four new support groups annually, within the defined areas. Provider’s Regional Coordinators will oversee quarterly administration of a client/family outcome survey parents who have completed at least 12 group hours. Survey administration will be staggered to ensure ongoing data availability, and results will be used to measure changes in protective factors. Community Outreach: During Child Abuse Prevention month, the Provider will conduct Blue Bow Child Abuse and Awareness Prevention Month activities. Regional coordinators will be involved in the planning and execution of four Blue Bow Events in April to educate and bring awareness to the public about the preventing child abuse and neglect, the availability of existing resources in communities for parents and children, and the protective factors which serve as a solution to the issue of child abuse and neglect. A client is defined as any parent or caregiver of children (prenatal – 17), both male and female including DCFS and non-DCFS individuals. Referred may come through DCFS, community or social service agencies, or through self-referrals. Child(ren) of a parents and caregivers may also be considered clients and will receive services, including participation in support groups, as needed ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ STAFFING QUALIFICATIONS Direct Service - Group Facilitator: must have a high school diploma or equivalent with a minimum of two years’ experience in facilitation of groups; completion of program-specific facilitator training within 60 days of hire; bachelor’s degree in a human services field is preferred. Children’s Program Worker: requires a high school diploma or equivalent; a bachelor’s degree in a human services field is preferred. A minimum of one year of experience working directly with children is required. Supervisory - Program Supervisor: Must possess a bachelor’s degree in a human services or related field from an accredited institution, with a minimum of four (4) years of relevant social services or child welfare experience. Program Manager: must possess a master’s degree in social work or a related human services field from an accredited institution, with a minimum of five (5) years of relevant social services or child welfare experience. The individual must demonstrate knowledge of family systems, including issues related to domestic violence, child welfare, and substance abuse. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ MINIMUM STAFFING EXPECTATIONS At a minimum, provider must maintain one coordinator per region served. Full-time coordinators may be assigned a caseload up to 20 groups per region as necessary. Part-time coordinators may be appointed a group caseload of 10 groups per region as needed. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ PROVIDER REQUIRED TRAININGS In compliance with the guidelines of the Circle of Parents Model all program staff must be trained through the National Circle of Parents® Model training by the organization or through a certified Circle of Parents Train the trainer (T3) training prior to working with clients. As part of the development of the new support groups training, the Provider must ensure facilitator and children's program specialist complete training prior to working with clients. As part of the development of the new support groups training, the Provider must ensure facilitator and children's program specialist complete orientation and continuing education on topics such as child welfare, family strengthening, protective factors and child development. Staff must attend webinars hosted by the National Circle of Parents Network and complete all necessary refresher training outlined in the model. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ TARGET POPULATION Inclusions: The Provider will serve all parents and caregivers including, biological parents, stepparents, grandparents raising their grandchildren, adoptive parents, foster parents, other kin parents, single parents, male and female parents/ caregivers, custodial and noncustodial parents who are in need of parenting support and education, especially those with risk factors for child abuse and neglect (isolation, lack of resources, low income, stress, lack of knowledge of parenting and parenting skills, addictions, single parent status, children with special needs, young parents (teen), mental health issues, presence of domestic violence).Groups may include multiple target populations such as teen parents, Spanish speaking parents, trafficked parents, prenatal parents, grandparents raising their grandchildren, parents whose children are truant, and parents who have children with special needs. Exclusions: Individuals may be excluded if they are not able to function safely within a group setting because of mental illness, alcohol, or drug abuse/impairment. Exclusions are determined on a session-by-session basis. Client Capacity Under DCFS Agreement: 130 Capacity at Any Given Time: 50 Client Capacity Under Program: 1500 Capacity at Any Given Time: 37.5 per group x 40 groups Average Length of Services: 12-14 months The provider must obtain prior authorization from DCFS to serve clients outside of the program plan parameters. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ REFERRAL DECISION-MAKING CRITERIA The Provider must accept all referrals meeting inclusion criteria on a no decline basis regardless of the source of the referral. Provider must maintain a published local phone number to receive referrals. Provider will maintain a process to track referrals. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ TREATMENT GOALS/SERVICE PLANS The program must adhere to the Circle of Parents model, a nationally recognized evidence-informed model for the prevention of child abuse and neglect. Circle of Parents® – The California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare This model is heavily rooted in family support principles and philosophy. Parents will be encouraged to set their own personal and family goals and work toward them at a pace that is realistic for them. Provider will encourage support group members to keep each other accountable for the attainment of their personal and family goals. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ PROGRAM OUTCOMES AND METRICS 70% of participants will report improved family functioning/resilience on outcome surveys. 70% of caregivers will report improvement in attachment indicators. 70% of caregivers will report increased social connections. 70% will report improved peer support and shared learning. At least 50 children per quarter will engage in model-aligned activities. At least 25 facilitators and 10 workers coached quarterly. 100% of eligible groups receive site visits. At least 100 parents per quarter receive information.

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