Home / Potential Grantees / Coalition Eligibility Requirements

Coalition Eligibility Requirements

The coalition must have the goal of reducing substance abuse among youth as part of its principal mission.

The coalition must target multiple drugs and address the two major DFC goals.

The coalition must demonstrate that coalition members have worked together on substance abuse prevention for a period of at least six months prior to the date of submission of this application.

The coalition must demonstrate that it has substantial participation from volunteer leaders in the community. The coalition must have representation from its targeted community and include a minimum of one member from each of the following 12 sectors:

• youth (an individual 18 or under);
• parents;
• business community;
• media;
• school;
• youth-serving organization;
• law enforcement agencies;
• religious or fraternal organizations;
• civic and volunteer groups;
• healthcare professionals;
• State, local, or tribal governmental agencies with expertise in the field of substance abuse (if applicable, the State authority with primary authority for substance abuse); and
• other organizations involved in reducing substance abuse.

The coalition must demonstrate that it addresses substance abuse prevention in the community in a comprehensive and long-term fashion and works to develop consensus regarding the priorities of the community to combat substance abuse among youth.

Year 11 Policy

Under the DFC Act, grantees may not receive DFC funding for more than ten years. ONDCP believes that the funding limitation is intended to apply to DFC coalitions and not to fiscal agents. Specific restrictions on coalitions and fiscal agents are outlined below. Receipt of DFC Mentoring Grant funds does not apply toward your ten years of DFC grant funding for the purposes of this policy.

Coalitions:

1. A coalition that has received ten years of direct DFC funding is not eligible to receive additional funds through the DFC program.

2. A coalition that has received 10 years of DFC funds through a fiscal/legal agent(s) is no longer eligible to receive funds through the DFC program, regardless of how long they have been served by that fiscal agent.

   For example, if Coalition X has received DFC funding through Fiscal Agent Y for six years, and Fiscal Agent Z for four years, Coalition X is no longer eligible to receive DFC funds.

3. A coalition that has received ten years of DFC funding may not receive additional DFC through a new or different fiscal agent.

4. A coalition that proposes to serve a target community that has already been served for 10 years by another DFC-funded coalition must demonstrate to the satisfaction of the DFC Administrator that it is unique and distinct from the coalition that has already served the same community.

   To be considered "unique and distinct," the new coalition must be made up of different representatives from, where possible, different organizations in the community. Additionally, the coalition should have different leadership and have a different strategic plan from any previously funded organization serving the same area. Personnel and plans from the original coalition may not be repurposed, redressed, and/or renamed in order to receive funds through DFC as a "new" coalition.

   Applicants are asked to demonstrate compliance with this requirement in Section V-G of the RFA, "Documentation of Eligibility Requirements." Issuing false or misleading statements in response to these requirements is unlawful and subject to criminal penalties, 18 USC1001.

Fiscal Agents:

1. A fiscal agent may not receive DFC funds on behalf of the same coalition for more than 10 years.

   For example, if Fiscal Agent W has received DFC funds on behalf of coalition A for 10 years, Fiscal Agent W may no longer receive funds on behalf on Coalition A. Additionally, Coalition A may no longer receive funds directly or through a different Fiscal Agent.

2. A fiscal agent may receive DFC funds only on behalf of one coalition at a time.

3. A fiscal agent may receive a DFC grant on behalf of a 'new' coalition that meets the criteria above for involving different individuals or serving a different geographic area (one that has never before received DFC funding) even if that fiscal agent has received DFC funds on behalf of another coalition for 10 years. However, a fiscal agent may receive DFC funds on behalf of only one coalition at a time.

   For example, if Fiscal Agent W received DFC funds on behalf of Coalition A for 10 years, it may now receive DFC funds on behalf of Coalition B (a coalition which has never before received a DFC grant and meets the criteria above).

4. A Fiscal Agent may receive a DFC grant on behalf of a coalition which has been funded through DFC in the past, as long as that coalition has not already received DFC funding for 10 years.

   For example, if Coalition C previously received four years of DFC funding and is eligible to receive six more, then Fiscal Agent W may receive funds on behalf of Coalition C for up to six years.

5. A fiscal agent that is also its own coalition may receive only 10 years of DFC funding. This applies to coalitions that are their own 501(c) (3)s and serve as their own fiscal agents.