Implementation Webinar Script:

SLIDE 1

Hello and welcome to the pre-application webinar for funding opportunity number (FON): HHS-2008-ACF-ACYF-C0-0058: Cooperative Agreements for Child Welfare Technical Assistance Implementation Centers.

This webinar is being webcast at both 11:00am and 4:00pm Eastern on Wednesday, May 28th, 2008.

SLIDE 2

This webinar is intended to provide prospective applicants with an overview of the program announcement that became public on                       and is currently available on both the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) Grants Opportunities webpage at www.acf.hhs.gov/grants and on www.Grants.gov.  The webinar will attempt to clarify common applicant questions by highlighting information in the announcement.  All prospective applicants are encouraged to refer back to the program announcement for more detailed information when preparing their applications.  Program announcement page numbers have been included on the webinar slides for your reference.

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Federal staff will not be responding directly to the questions of listeners during this webinar.  All participant lines will be muted.  Listening participants will, however, have the opportunity to send written questions to the Children’s Bureau by email during and after the webinar.  Potential applicants may submit questions in response to the webinar until 5:00pm Eastern on Thursday, May 29th.  Questions should be sent to:                                   Please include the words “Applicant Question 0058” in the subject heading of the email, and please include your name, the name of your organization, and your telephone number in the text of the message.

All questions received prior to 5:00pm Eastern on May 29th will be reviewed by Children’s Bureau staff. A transcript of the webinar and a summary of the questions submitted by the deadline and the Children’s Bureau’s responses will be posted on the ACYF grant review webpage at http://www.acf.hhs.gov/grants/grants_cb.html as soon as they become available.  Webinar slides will also be posted on this webpage for applicants’ future reference.

Any questions that a potential applicant chooses to submit to the Children’s Bureau prior to the first webinar or after the pre-application conference question period closes at 5pm on May 29th should be directed to the applicable program or grant contact person in the program announcement.

Again, this is the pre-application webinar regarding funding for Cooperative Agreements for Child Welfare Technical Assistance Implementation Centers.  These cooperative agreements will be referred to as “Implementation Centers” throughout the webinar.

SLIDE 4

Legislative Authority for the Implementation Centers comes from two sources:

• Sections 105(b)(5) of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act, as amended, and
• Section 203 of Subchapter II - Adoption Opportunities of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment and Adoption Reform Act.

Information about these and other pieces of legislation that authorize and support the Implementation Centers and other training and technical assistance supported by the Children’s Bureau can be found in the “Background” and “Legislation” subsections of the program announcement.
 
All of the awards under this funding opportunity will be cooperative agreements.  A cooperative agreement is a specific method of awarding Federal assistance where substantial Federal involvement is anticipated.  As described under Section II “Award Information,” Federal involvement and collaboration includes:

• The Children’s Bureau review and approval of planning stages of the project activities before implementation begins;

• The Children’s Bureau involvement in the establishment of policies and procedures that maximize open competition, if applicable;

• Joint collaboration between the Children’s Bureau and the award recipient in the performance of key programmatic activities;

• Close monitoring by the Children’s Bureau of the requirements stated in this announcement; and

• Close monitoring by the Children’s Bureau during the project to ensure compliance with the intent of this funding.

Expectations for collaboration with Federal staff to successfully complete the goals and objectives of these projects are described throughout the program announcement.

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Eligible Applicants for Implementation Centers include:

• State governments
• County governments
• Local governments
• Public and State-controlled institutions of higher education
• Non-profits with 501(c)(3) IRS status (other than institutions of higher education)
• Non-profits without 501(c)(3) IRS status (other than institutions of higher education)
• Private institutions of higher education
• For-profit organizations (other than small businesses)
• Small businesses

If an application proposes that two or more entities serve as an Implementation Center collaboratively, the application must identify a primary applicant responsible for administering the cooperative agreement.

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Cooperative agreements will be awarded for a project period of five years or 60 months. The initial award will be for a 12-month budget period. Continuation of awards for subsequent 12-month budget periods will be subject to satisfactory progress on the part of the awardee and a determination that continued funding would be in the best interest of the Federal Government.

Eligible applicants may apply for a maximum of $1,410,000 in year one and a maximum of $1,850,000 per budget period in years two through five.

No less than 35% of the Federal funds requested in year one must be devoted to implementation projects (that will be discussed shortly), and 75% of the Federal funds requested in years two through five must support implementation projects.

SLIDE 7

Grantees are required to meet a non-Federal share of the project costs. Each grantee must provide at least 10% of the total approved cost for the project.

The total approved cost of the project can be calculated by dividing the requested Federal share (a maximum of $1,410,000 in year 1) by the divisor .90. The result will be the total project cost, including the applicant’s minimum 10% match. 

The non-Federal share may be met by cash or in-kind contributions, although applicants are encouraged to meet their match requirements through cash contributions.

SLIDE 8

The purpose of this program announcement is to establish, by awarding cooperative agreements, five regional Child Welfare Technical Assistance Implementation Centers (Implementation Centers).  Implementation Centers will partner with States and Tribes in their respective geographic service areas to execute projects that will focus on the implementation of strategies that child welfare systems have identified to improve the quality and effectiveness of their services for children, youth, and families.

Implementation Centers will fill a gap in the Children’s Bureau's existing Training and Technical Assistance Network (T/TA Network).  They will pilot a new, complementary approach to technical assistance by expanding the existing T/TA Network and enhancing its ability to provide in-depth and long-term consultation and support to States and Tribes.

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The Children’s Bureau’s Child Welfare Training and Technical Assistance Network (or T/TA Network) is a group of Children’s Bureau-supported training and technical assistance providers, designed to provide State and Tribes with the necessary information, training, and consultation to build capacity within their child welfare systems. T/TA Network members have developed into a community of resources and centers of expertise that are flexible and able to respond to changing Federal priorities and challenges in the field.

Members hold expertise in multiple aspects of child welfare practice, and they are expected to provide resources and assistance to child welfare systems that will support and facilitate positive change, and in some cases comprehensive cross-system reforms, that will result in more effective and promising practice.

The Children’s Bureau uses several monitoring tools including the Child and Family Services Review (CFSR), Title IV-E Foster Care Eligibility Review, the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) Assessment Review, and the Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System (SACWIS) Assessment Review to ensure conformity with Federal child welfare requirements and to help States achieve safety, permanency, and well-being for children. While a major function of several T/TA Network members is to prepare States for Federal child welfare monitoring and to help them apply the knowledge gained from these reviews, the ultimate purpose of the network is to improve child welfare systems and to support States and Tribes in achieving sustainable, systemic change that yields better outcomes for children, youth, and families.

SLIDE 10

Because Implementation Centers will become important collaborative members of the T/TA Network, the Children’s Bureau encourages applicants to learn more about the T/TA Network and its members by investigating the information, resources, and links at http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/tta/index.htm#technical.

SLIDE 11

While the T/TA Network provides critical services that help State and Tribal child welfare systems assess and improve their performance, a variety of barriers can prevent systemic change from occurring. Some child welfare systems require an enhanced level of T/TA to successfully implement complex and extensive systems reforms. Despite their efforts to adopt and institutionalize new principles and evidence-based practices, States and Tribes are often without the resources necessary to implement comprehensive strategic plans, and the current T/TA Network has been limited in its ability to provide intensive, long-term technical assistance.  Implementation Centers will fill a gap in the Children’s Bureau's existing T/TA Network. The Implementation Centers described in this announcement are intended to complement the existing T/TA Network and to carry out a new approach that will address barriers to the utilization of training and technical assistance.

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Implementation Centers will have a clearly defined role in the Children’s Bureau's T/TA Network. While other members of the T/TA Network develop knowledge, manage resources, transfer knowledge of effective and promising practices, and provide technical assistance to support systemic change, Implementation Centers will be primarily responsible for the coordination and maintenance of regional peer networks, forming partnerships, and executing projects that support the implementation of knowledge. Implementation Centers are not expected to function as entities that provide technical assistance nationwide. Instead, Implementation Centers will promote peer-to-peer consultation between child welfare systems and provide intensive and long-term technical assistance and support to those States and Tribes with whom they have entered into formal mutually binding partnerships. Rather than serve as national experts in a topical area of child welfare, Implementation Centers will possess expertise in strategic implementation, organizational change, and systemic intervention and be grounded in a thorough understanding of child welfare systems.

The principal goal of each Implementation Center is to facilitate the institutionalization of principles, policies, and proven or promising practices that a State or Tribe has adopted. Implementation Centers are most concerned with how a system can move from vision and values to changes in organizational culture and practice that are likely to result in sustainable improvements in outcomes for children and families.

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Implementation Centers are expected to drive necessary systemic change while subscribing to a Systems of Care framework and the Child and Family Services Review (CFSR) guiding principles.

As members of a service delivery network, Implementation Centers will subscribe to Systems of Care and CFSR principles in their approach to delivering technical assistance to States and Tribes. Implementation Centers are expected to partner with all T/TA Network members and the Children Bureau and to collectively offer proactive, integrated, culturally competent, individualized, client-centered, strengths-based services.

SLIDE 14

Systems of Care is characterized by shared, cross-cutting principles and a continuum of integrated services from prevention to the support of permanency that span programs, agencies, and institutions. A Systems of Care approach is community-based, child-centered, family-focused, strengths-based, culturally competent, and comprehensive. It addresses the physical, mental, emotional, social, educational, and developmental needs of children, youth and their families while taking into account the individual, family, community, and broader systemic risk and protective factors that contribute to a child's safety and well-being.

More information about Systems of Care can be found at http://www.childwelfare.gov/systemwide/service/soc/

SLIDE 15

The guiding principles of the Child and Family Services Review are consistent with the Systems of Care framework. As described under Section 1355.25 of Title 45 of the Code of Federal Regulations, child safety, permanency, and well-being are closely tied to principles of service delivery for effective practice.

SLIDE 16

The Child and Family Service Review guiding principles are commonly referred to as:

• Family-Centered Practice
• Community-Based Practice
• Individualizing Services
• Strengthening Parental Capacity

Applicants are encouraged to learn more about the guiding principles of the CFSR by going to http://www.gpoaccess.gov/cfr/index.html and looking up 45 CFR 1355.25, and reading about changing the culture of the workplace to be consistent with the principles of the Child and Family Service Review at http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/cwmonitoring/changing_culture.htm.)

SLIDE 17

Each Implementation Center's technical assistance must be aligned with the Systems of Care framework, CFSR principles, and current knowledge of sound practice in child welfare.  Implementation Centers are expected to partner with all T/TA Network members and the Children’s Bureau and to collectively offer proactive, integrated, culturally competent, individualized, client-centered, and strengths-based services. 

The Children’s Bureau recognizes that States and Tribes can differ significantly in their strengths and challenges, organizational cultures, guiding principles, visions for the future, and strategies for change. Therefore, while Implementation Centers are expected to be guided by CFSR and Systems of Care principles, the States and Tribes being served by Implementation Centers are not expected to adopt the Systems of Care framework or to articulate their principles in the same way.

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An Implementation Center is primarily responsible for serving a geographic service area covering two ACF Regions; closely collaborating with the Children’s Bureau, including its Regional Office and other members of the T/TA Network;

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promoting and strengthening formal peer-to-peer networking between States and Tribes; and conducting projects for systemic change in partnership with States and Tribes.

SLIDE 20

GEOGRAPHIC SERVICE AREAS

This map illustrates the ACF Regional Pairings that the Implementation Centers will serve.

• Regions 1 and 2 will be paired to cover the northeast and Atlantic;
• Regions 3 and 4 will be paired, generally covering the mid-Atlantic and the south;
• Regions 5 and 8 will cover the Great Lakes and Rocky Mountain regions -- Mid-west, and West;
• Regions 6 and 7 will be paired in the central, south and southwest; and
• Regions 9 and 10 will cover the southwest, northwest, and Pacific.

SLIDE 21

Each Implementation Center is expected:

• To be knowledgeable about the child welfare systems in its geographic area;
• To be readily accessible to States and Tribes in its ACF regions and be prepared for frequent onsite consultation;
• To be available to its formal State and/or Tribal partners for technical assistance related to implementation of strategies for organizational and systemic change; and
• To partner with each other across regional boundaries on critical interstate and Tribal child welfare issues when necessary.

An Implementation Center is not required to be physically located in its geographic service area.

SLIDE 22

COLLABORATION

Implementation Centers are expected to become important, active members of the T/TA Network. They will be immediately responsible for initiating strong collaborative partnerships with members of the T/TA Network.

Implementation Centers are expected:

• To partner and collaborate with the Children’s Bureau's Central and Regional Offices; the T/TA Network, other Implementation Centers, and national, regional, and community stakeholders;
• To share information, coordinate networking and technical assistance, complete evaluation activities, and provide mutual consultation;
• To participate to the extent feasible in the development of products regarding best and promising practices for capacity-building, implementation, and other topics related to systemic change and to assist with the strategic dissemination of such products to the child welfare field; and 
• To collaborate in the promotion, planning, organization, and facilitation of Children’s Bureau-sponsored national meetings.

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OUTREACH

Implementation Centers are expected to educate States and Tribes in their geographic service areas about the function that they serve in the larger T/TA Network, provide information about the specific services and resources available from the T/TA Network, build relationships, successfully engage targeted systems in networking opportunities, and encourage the submission of proposals for implementation projects.

Each Implementation Center is expected to consult regularly with the Children’s Bureau’s Regional Offices in its geographic service area. Implementation Centers are strongly encouraged to utilize the Regional Offices' knowledge of States and Tribes when crafting an outreach approach.

SLIDE 24

Implementation Centers will perform outreach activities to engage State and Tribal child welfare systems in T/TA Network services and regional peer networking activities and to recruit formal partners for implementation projects.

The Children’s Bureau expects Implementation Centers to consider issues of accessibility and need when planning and performing their outreach to States and Tribes. An Implementation Center may decide to target its outreach to particular child welfare systems that are likely to benefit from technical assistance but have experienced internal or external barriers to engagement with the T/TA Network in the past. Implementation Centers have the flexibility to tailor outreach activities to systems in their respective service areas, and the Children’s Bureau expects each Implementation Center to design deliberate and culturally competent plans for outreach to both Tribal and State child welfare systems, where applicable.

SLIDE 25

During the first year of the project period, each Implementation Center will plan, organize, facilitate, and fund one regional forum for States and Tribes in its geographic service area. The meeting's principal objective will be to increase knowledge about the process of systems change and to promote solution-focused dialogue about the challenges that can prevent interventions from achieving intended reforms and sustainable improvement.

Each Implementation Center will work closely with the Children’s Bureau’s Central Office and Regional Staff to plan its forum. The forum will "kick-off" the Implementation Center's activities and will build support and momentum for strategic planning and systemic improvement efforts across the region. Attendance at regional forums should be accessible to representatives of both States and Tribes in the Implementation Center's geographic service area. The Children’s Bureau expects that each forum will be held in a city where an ACF Regional Office is located. 

In some cases, Implementation Centers may choose to hold more than one forum if, for example, separate events are expected to be more effective for securing participation from Tribal systems.

SLIDE 26

NETWORKING

Each Implementation Center will provide regular opportunities for State and Tribal child welfare systems to share information, experiences, and lessons with each other. Networking should promote cross-system learning and communication between numerous State and Tribal jurisdictions and involve as many child welfare systems as reasonable and feasible.

Implementation Centers must collaborate with one another, the Children’s Bureau, the T/TA Network, and State and Tribal systems to integrate networking approaches that are well-coordinated, practical, appropriate, and likely to increase cross-system consultation.

Implementation Centers will be challenged to successfully engage both Tribes and States on topics that are relevant, meaningful, and sensitive to their sometimes differing needs and capacities. While some networking activities will be open to State and Tribal participants across a geographic service area, Implementation Centers may choose to target other peer-to-peer activities specifically to systems that share common models of practice, cultures, organizational characteristics, objectives, and/or challenges. 

SLIDE 27

IMPLEMENTATION PROJECTS

Implementation projects will be the primary means by which Implementation Centers facilitate sustainable systems change.  Each Implementation Center will enter into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), contract, or other mutually binding agreement with multiple State and/or Tribal child welfare agencies for intensive, multi-year planning and implementation activities.

SLIDE 28

Based on Federal monitoring reviews, internal evaluation, external analyses, consumer and stakeholder reports, or other sources of information, each State or Tribe will develop a project proposal and identify the specific problems, needs, and/or areas of performance that it intends to address systemically. Local child welfare agencies, governance bodies, courts, health and education departments, social service systems, mental health and substance abuse agencies, law enforcement and justice systems, community-based service providers, and a variety of other entities may be essential to the reform and improvement efforts that are proposed.

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Implementation Centers will collectively develop common proposal expectations and processes with one another and the Children’s Bureau prior to soliciting proposals, and the Children’s Bureau's Regional Offices will participate in the review of proposals and/or be consulted regarding the design of the review process.

After selecting proposals, the Implementation Center will facilitate and coordinate implementation project activities in collaboration with designated State or Tribal staff, and the Implementation Center will allocate those funds necessary to secure resources, plan systemic interventions, implement the change process, and complete the project.

Implementation projects may pursue systemic change within a child welfare system or across multiple systems that are integral to successful child welfare practice. Implementation projects will be individualized, strengths-based, and highly responsive to the needs of State and Tribal partners. Each partnership’s plan for implementation and systemic change will differ in its vision, objectives, scope, and activities.

SLIDE 30

PROJECT STRUCTURE

Implementation projects are intended to be substantial and capable of supporting implementation activities that will drive sustainable positive change in organizational culture and child welfare practice. 

• Projects must be at least 24 months in duration and may involve a period of assessment and strategic planning prior to implementation activities.

• No fewer than two projects shall be operating by July 1, 2009.

• Each Implementation Center will dedicate funds directly to the execution of implementation projects and track and report expenditures for each project separately in its administrative reporting.

SLIDE 31
 
In Fiscal Year 2009 (FY 2009) or "year one" of its cooperative agreement, an Implementation Center will devote no less that 35 percent of its Federal funds to multiple implementation projects. No fewer than two projects shall be operating by July 1, 2009.

In years two through five (FY 2010 through FY 2013), each Implementation Center is required to devote no less than 75 percent of its annual Federal funds to implementation projects. The budget for each project shall not be less than $100,000 and shall not exceed $700,000 in any budget period. No fewer than two implementation projects shall be operating at any time throughout years two through five.

An Implementation Center may choose to accept proposals and initiate projects once or multiple times during its five-year award, but all implementation projects are expected to conclude by September 28, 2013.

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Implementation Centers will actively consult and collaborate regularly with the Children’s Bureau, the National Resource Centers, and other members of the T/TA Network.  Implementation Centers will rely on the knowledge of the T/TA Network and the Children’s Bureau's Central and Regional Offices for State and Tribal-specific information and topical expertise in child welfare.

In addition to carefully coordinating implementation activities with the T/TA Network's current services, Implementation Centers should not duplicate services or supplant resources that would otherwise be utilized for the same purpose.

Within the first six months of the project period, Implementation Centers are required to develop common protocols for coordinating technical assistance, making referrals to other T/TA Network members, and tracking activities. These protocols will be established in collaboration with the Children’s Bureau and the T/TA Network.

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An Implementation Center’s technical assistance must be tailored to its State and/or Tribal partners. The Children’s Bureau expects that an Implementation Centers will be skilled in multiple implementation and management approaches and capable of recommending the most appropriate models for the States and Tribes they serve.

When a State or Tribe identifies a particular need, barrier, or issue that requires attention, an Implementation Center is expected to partner with its client to comprehensively assess and mutually define the problem in the context of broader systemic conditions.

Implementation Centers must employ a client-centered and client-directed approach to serving States, Tribes, and their respective stakeholders. In addition to being culturally competent and well-informed, each Implementation Center's processes and activities should be responsive to and guided by the State or Tribe being served.

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EVALUATION

The Children’s Bureau expects each Implementation Center to regularly evaluate its own performance and to use this information to improve its processes and services. These evaluation activities should provide practical and immediate feedback to Implementation Centers.

Implementation Centers will evaluate their ability to build capacity, execute effective implementation strategies, and drive systemic change.

Upon award of the cooperative agreements, Implementation Centers may choose to develop common evaluation components. While evaluation plans may have some common components, they will also be site specific and reflect the diversity of the Implementation Centers' approaches.  Evaluation measures should be aligned with the Implementation Centers' guiding principles and should focus on formative evaluation for the purpose of improvement.

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All applications in response to this program announcement are due by 4:30pm, Eastern time on July 7, 2008.  Applications submitted by mail must be received by 4:30pm, and electronic submissions must be submitted via www.Grants.gov no later than 4:30pm. Late applications will not be considered.  Application Submission Information, or Section IV of the announcement, and further details specific to submission due dates and times can be found on page 43 of the announcement.

The application limit is 75 pages. Pages over this page limit will be removed from the application and will not be reviewed. This page limit does not include standard forms 424, 424A, 424B, certifications, assurances, 3rd party agreements, letters of commitment, job descriptions, resumes, and curriculum vitae.

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The Children’s Bureau encourages all applicants to be creative within the guidelines of the program announcement.  Good luck!