FY27 TLS Educational & Training Voucher (ETV) Payments Program

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 Education and Training Voucher (ETV) Program provides financial support services to eligible youth that are enrolled in an accredited college, university, or vocational program. The Provider will collaborate with the Office of Education and Transition Services (OETS) on the ETV Program. The Provider will issue ETV payments to Payees as approved by the OETS ETV Coordinator and submitted in the weekly payment request. The ETV payments will include payments directly to ETV eligible students for reimbursement of eligible post-secondary expenses, including books, supplies, technology, and room/board expenses. Payments will also go directly to post-secondary education colleges, universities, and programs for eligible expenses included within the student’s cost of attendance. The Provider will collaborate with the OETS to issue the start-up payments to the DCFS Scholarship recipients. The amount of the start-up payment is determined by the DCFS Budget and Finance Office and is a benefit of the DCFS Scholarship. The Youth in College / Vocational Training (YIC) Program is a placement available to youth in care. A start-up payment is benefit of the program. The Provider will issue YIC start-up payments to Payees as directed on the weekly payment request. Upon request and approval by the Provider and the Deputy Director, additional payments will also be allowed. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ PROVIDER RESPONSIBILITIES The Provider shall issue payments as approved by the DCFS/OETS. The Provider must have these procedures in writing and available to all staff. All payments approved by the DCFS/OETS shall be accepted and issued on a no decline basis unless the funds provided by DCFS have been exhausted. The Provider shall issue the payments electronically when possible and shall only mail the payments to the payee as a last option. If the payment is being made to a payee on behalf of an eligible youth, the payment shall include the youth’s name, DCFS ID number, and if applicable, youth’s student ID number. All payments shall be processed and issued within 5 business days of receipt of the request. If the Department requests an emergency response, the payment shall be processed and issued within 1 business day. If the Provider learns the check was not received by the payee within a reasonable amount of time, the Provider shall void the check. The Provider shall document such action as part of this Program’s record keeping. The Provider will be reimbursed for any bank fees incurred to stop payment on an issued check. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CLIENT CONTACTS The Provider will have direct contact with the Client to establish direct deposit for electronic payments. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ MINIMUM STAFFING EXPECTATIONS Provider must maintain staffing levels sufficient to process checks in a timely manner Monday through Friday excepting state holidays. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ TARGET POPULATION A Client is defined as: • a youth that is referred by the ETV Coordinator and meets the criteria. The ETV Coordinator or designee must confirm that the client is appropriate for ETV funding. • a youth in care approved for the YIC placement. • a recipient of the DCFS Scholarship. Inclusions: Youth eligible for ETV funding include the following: • Youth for whom the Department has court-ordered legal responsibility for; or • Youth who have aged out of DCFS care at age 18 or older; or Youth who have achieved permanency through guardianship or adoption at age 16 or older. In addition, the youth must meet the following requirements: The youth must be enrolled, attending and making satisfactory academic progress as a student in an accredited college, university or vocational program prior to age 21;The youth must complete a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) within the required deadlines set by the school and state each year; and the youth must successfully complete all paperwork requested by the school for the admission and financial aid process. Youth eligible for YIC start-up payments include the following: • Youth in care approved for the YIC placement. Youth eligible for DCFS Scholarship start-up payments include the following: • Recipients of the DCFS Scholarship. Exclusions: Youth are ineligible if they do not meet the above inclusion criteria. Client Capacity Under DCFS Agreement: N/A Capacity at Any Given Time: N/A Client Capacity Under Program: N/A Capacity at Any Given Time: N/A Average Length of Services: 5 business days The length of service under this Agreement shall be based from the time the Provider receives the request to issue payments to the time the check is issued to the approved recipient. The provider must obtain prior authorization from DCFS to serve clients outside of the program plan parameters. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ BILLING SUBMITTAL The Provider must submit monthly invoices. All invoices except the first must be accompanied by a written summary of the status of each project reporting the activities conducted and deliverables accomplished during the time period for the prior invoice. The Provider must submit financial/cost reports on a monthly basis reflecting the actual reimbursable costs to document an invoice already paid. All invoices except the first will be accompanied by monthly financial reports and quarterly program reports as outlined in the Program Plan. Estimated Payments: Payment will be made at the beginning of each month in an amount equal to 1/12 of the annual budgeted Agreement amount provided this is supported by monthly reconciliation reports submitted by the Provider. Monthly Reconciliation: The Provider will submit reconciliation reports each month. A separate Payment Spreadsheet is necessary for each service month. The Provider must submit the Payment Spreadsheet within 30 days after the month the Payments were made. The Provider may issue one Payment for more than one purpose for the same Payee. However, when billing, the payment must be split to match the Payment requests approved and submitted to the Provider by the DCFS/OETS. If the Payee is a school and the payment is on behalf of multiple youth, documentation must be submitted to the Payee documenting how the payment is to be applied to youth’s student accounts, including the youth’s student ID numbers. The Provider will submit a DCFS Scholarship start-up payments spreadsheet documenting payments. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ PAYMENT The terms and conditions of this award comply with the requirements of a Fixed Amount Award. A Fixed Amount Award is defined as a type of grant or cooperative agreement pursuant to which the Federal agency or pass-through entity provides a specific amount of funding without regard to actual costs incurred under the Federal award consistent with the terms of this addendum. The recipient or subrecipient must not earn or keep any profit resulting from Federal financial assistance unless explicitly authorized by the terms and conditions of the Federal award. See also § 200.307. When the required activities of a fixed amount award were completed in accordance with the terms and conditions of the award, the unexpended funds retained by the recipient or subrecipient are not considered profit. The Provider will receive the funds they will disburse and a direct administrative fee of 10% based on the actual amount of Payments disbursed to provide support and stability for youth in care. As a Fixed Amount Award, administrative costs are restricted to the direct administrative fee of 10% and no indirect administrative costs are allowed on these Direct Client Assistance payments. The Department will make payments to the Provider based on the projected amount needed up to Agreement capacity. The Department will review program utilization based on authorizations made by the DCFS/OETS designee and on monthly reconciliation process described above, when determining appropriate payment amounts. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ PROGRAM OUTCOMES AND METRICS • The Provider will process 100% of the Payment requests when they have available funds. • The Provider will process 100% of the Payment requests within 5 business days. If the Department requests an emergency response, the payment will be processed within 1 business day. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ GEOGRAPHIC/SERVICE PROVISION AREA(S) Services must be provided throughout the State of Illinois.

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