| DATE: | October 25, 2005 |
| MEMO CODE: | SP01-2006 |
| TO: | State Agencies |
The Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004, PL 108-265, authorizes the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) to award $4,000,000 beginning in fiscal year (FY) 2005 and for each of the following fiscal years through FY 2009, to state agencies (SAs) for administrative reviews and training of selected local educational agencies. FNS is soliciting proposals for the second round of funding (FY 2006) from SAs that have identified local educational agencies which have demonstrated a high level of, or a high risk for, administrative error.
The $4,000,000 that is available for Administrative Reviews and Training for FY 2006 will be awarded to SAs on a competitive basis. The enclosed application materials outline the requirements a state must adhere to in order to be considered for funding. When preparing your application for funding, please provide information about the problems identified, a list of activities that would be performed to address these problems, a list of school food authorities (SFAs) affected, the priority in which they will be reviewed or trained, the number of schools within each SFA, and enrollment of the SFA and each school targeted for review or training. FNS staff will evaluate all proposals and select those that provide the most comprehensive approach. Since intensive program oversight can be a key factor in achieving permanent corrective action in SFAs which exhibit ongoing program accountability problems, FNS will give special weight to proposals which emphasize increased review activity in error prone SFAs. Therefore, up to six (6) additional points will be added to SAs which have a greater emphasis on increased review activity in error prone SFAs. These additional points will be added to the panel’s total score, so that the maximum total points a proposal could receive is 106.
Included with this letter is specific information needed to apply for Administrative Reviews and Training funds. Enclosed for your use in preparing your application are the following:
- Request for Application;
- Applicable attachments;
- Form SF-424, Application for Federal Assistance;
- Form SF-424A, Budget Information;
- Form SF-424B, Assurances-Non Construction Programs; and
- Certification/Disclosure Requirements Related to Lobbying.
We encourage you to apply for Administrative Reviews and Training funding in an effort to improve program integrity and administrative accuracy by decreasing administrative errors in those local educational agencies identified by states as having problems or where problems are likely to arise.
To be considered for funding, your completed application must be received by FNS on or before 5:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, Jan. 27, 2006. Applications must be mailed directly to Lisa Johnson, Grant Officer, 3101 Park Center Drive, Room 738, Alexandria, VA 22302 or submitted electronically by accessing www.grants.gov . All applicants that opt to submit their application/proposal via the www.grants.gov website must also send an email to FNS advising that the application was submitted through the grants.gov portal. This email must be received no later than 5:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on the due date as well. If you opt to mail your application, we strongly suggest using a mail delivery service that guarantees delivery and allows you to track delivery to FNS. Applications received after this date and time will not be considered for funding nor will e-mail or faxed applications. Also, additions or revisions to applications already received will not be considered.
Please be aware that in order to use the grants.gov system, the user will need both a Data Universal Number (DUNS) and a Contract Registry Number. Thus, it is very important that users of the grants.gov system familiarize themselves with the requirements for system use. We suggest you visit the site sometime prior to attempting to submit your application electronically to review the instructions on how to obtain a DUNS assignment as well as a Contract Registry Number. While both numbers are required to submit the application electronically via grants.gov, the DUNS number is a requirement even if the application is submitted in hardcopy format.
FNS will notify those SAs approved for funding in March 2006. We look forward to receiving your application for Administrative Reviews and Training funding.
| LAEL J. LUBING Director Grants Management Division |
STANLEY C. GARNETT Director Child Nutrition Division |