Executive Summary:

I. FUNDING OPPORTUNITY DESCRIPTION

Legislative Authority

The Child Care Research Scholars program is funded under the authority of the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990, as amended, and is authorized by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-161).

Funding Opportunity Description

A. Background

The Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) has five primary goals: (1) to allow States flexibility to develop child care programs and policies that best suit the needs of children and parents within the State; (2) to promote parental choice to empower working parents to make their own decisions on the child care that best suits their family's needs; (3) to encourage States to provide consumer education information to help parents make informed choices about child care; (4) to provide child care to parents trying to achieve economic self-sufficiency; and (5) to assist States in implementing health, safety, licensing, and registration standards. Among the expected long-term outcomes of the CCDF are (1) improved employment and self-sufficiency outcomes for parents; and (2) increased availability of high quality child care for low-income working families.

Since 2000, Congress has appropriated about $10 million per year of CCDF discretionary funds to be used for child care research and evaluation. These funds have supported projects that add to our knowledge about the efficacy of child care subsidy policies and programs in supporting employment and self-sufficiency outcomes for parents, and providing positive learning and school readiness outcomes for children. Previously funded Child Care Research Scholars have made significant contributions to the child care policy research field. To learn about previously funded Child Care Research Scholars projects, please visit http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ccb/research/index.htm#scholars.

To ensure that research is responsive to the changing needs of low-income families, partnerships between the graduate student, his/her mentor and the CCDF lead agency are essential. This partnership ensures the research will be policy-relevant and is the foundation that fosters skills necessary to build the graduate student's career trajectory of successful partnership-building and contributions to the policy and scientific communities. For the purposes of this year's grants, low-income working families include families receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), families who have transitioned off the TANF program, or low-income working parents at risk of needing TANF benefits.

The specific goals of the Child Care Research Scholar grants are:

1. To directly support graduate students as a way of encouraging the conduct of child care policy research. Along with supporting the students' training and professional development as researchers, these grants contribute to the knowledge base about best approaches to delivering services to diverse, low-income families and their children. Students are expected to become autonomous researchers who are connected to other professionals from diverse backgrounds across a variety of child care roles (e.g., child care subsidy administrators, child care resource and referral staff, child care program directors and staff). The proposed research project may include independent studies conducted by the student or a well-defined portion of a larger study being conducted by the Principal Investigator holding a faculty position or senior research position. The graduate student must have primary responsibility for the proposed study described in the application, which should clearly distinguish between the student's portion of the research activities and those of the larger project. Research projects must use sound quantitative or qualitative research methodologies or some combination of the two.
   
   
2. To foster mentoring relationships between faculty members and graduate students who are pursuing doctoral-level research in the child care field. Each student will work in partnership with a faculty mentor in order to foster the skills necessary to build a graduate student's career trajectory. Within this mentoring relationship, scholars are expected to become independent researchers with the skills necessary to address critical child care issues with a high level of technical quality.
   
   
3. To encourage active communication, networking, and collaboration among graduate students, their mentors, and other senior child care researchers. Students whose work involves secondary analysis of large data sets are encouraged to work closely with one or more senior investigators on the original project.
   
   
4. To encourage active communication, networking, and collaboration among graduate students, their mentors, and policymakers. Students whose projects involve community-level or administrative data research, including projects that directly respond to an immediate concern of a child care subsidy administrator, are encouraged to work with an additional mentor from the field in order to gain a more comprehensive understanding of child care policies and practices.

Research topics that are of particular interest for this year's Child Care Research Scholar grants include (but are not limited to):

• the effects of alternative State/Territory/Tribal- and local-level child care subsidy policies and practices on children and families served (e.g., access to subsidies, the accessibility and quality of care, parental employment and self-sufficiency, children's school readiness)
  
  
• factors that play a role in parents' decisions about work, child care, and subsidy access
  
  
• cost-effective investments (e.g., professional development interventions, child care environment improvement strategies, service coordination models) to improve child care quality in all settings, including the issues and outcomes related to caregiver professional development and training
  
  
• qualities of child care that are most critical to support children's development and family well-being, including family factors that moderate the relations between child care and child development
  
  
• impact of changes in the early child care sector (e.g., unionization of workforce, expansion of universal preK) on the delivery and quality of child care
  
  
• issues related to Tribal child care

Applicants are encouraged to consider how the research topic relates to understanding the child care needs of diverse families and/or improving child care programs and policies for various subpopulations, including:

• families receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) benefits, families who have transitioned off the TANF program, low-income working families at risk of needing TANF benefits
  
  
• language, ethnic, and racial minority families and children, including English language learners and American Indian / Alaska Native families and children
  
  
• immigrant families and children, including refugees and victims of trafficking
  
  
• families with children with special needs
  
  
• families with infants, toddlers and school-age children

We encourage applicants to go beyond simply recording linguistic, ethnic and racial categories to providing more thorough examination of how these groupings intersect with important cultural dynamics such as social position, immigration status, family practices, or parental goals for socialization.

Applicants for Child Care Policy Research grants will be most likely to succeed if they address issues of significance related to CCDF services and programs; inform policy decisions and solutions, particularly for underserved / understudied populations; and utilize the most rigorous research methodology for the selected research question. Applicants must consult with a CCDF administrator (for CCDF program office contact list, please visit http://nccic.acf.hhs.gov/statedata/dirs/display.cfm?title=ccdf) in the development of the proposal. In addition, the link between the research topic and the CCDF program goals should be clearly stated in the application. We intend to support projects that improve our capacity to respond to questions of immediate concern to policymakers, particularly those of CCDF administrators.

Because of the small size of these grants and their value to institutions of higher education, as well as to the student scholars, applicants are strongly encouraged to waive any allowable indirect costs. An authorized representative of the institution must submit a written acknowledgement that the indirect costs are being waived. In the event that waiving the indirect costs is not possible, the applicant is strongly encouraged to apply the University's or non-profit institution's off-campus research rates for indirect costs.

In order to facilitate networking with researchers and policymakers, students are required to participate in the Annual Meeting of the Child Care Policy Research Consortium and the State Child Care Administrators' Meeting.

In accordance with section 4 of Executive Order Number 13230 entitled "President's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans," grantees should provide data resulting from this project if so requested by the Commission or the staff of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans (66 F.R. 52841, October 17, 2001).

B. Definitions

Applicant: Institutions of higher education, as defined in Section III.1, acting on behalf of doctoral-level graduate students.

Budget Period: The 12-month period of time for which funds are made available to a particular grantee (i.e., the first budget period would begin September 30, 2008, and end September 29, 2009).

Principal Investigator: The faculty mentor of the doctoral-level graduate student serves as the Principal Investigator of the grant.

Project Period: The total length of the proposed project, which is up to 24 months. For a one-year proposed project, the project period would start September 30, 2008, and end September 29, 2009. For a two-year proposed project, the project period would start September 30, 2008, and end September 29, 2010.

Project Requirements

Conference Attendance. The student must attend and present a poster at the Annual Meeting of the Child Care Policy Research Consortium each year of the grant. In addition, the student may be asked to attend the State Administrators' Meeting. Both meetings typically are held in the Washington, DC metropolitan area and last approximately two days. The budget should reflect travel funds for both conferences. Faculty mentors are strongly encouraged to attend these meetings as well. 

Archiving and Publishing. The student must agree to archive his/her approved dissertation, final datasets, reports, and other research products with Research Connections. For more information on Research Connections, please visit http://childcareresearch.org.

II. AWARD INFORMATION

Applicants may apply for project periods up to 24 months with two 12-month budget periods. Applicants proposing 24-month project periods will be awarded up to $30,000 for the first 12-month budget period and up to $20,000 for the second 12-month budget period, for a total not exceeding $50,000 for the entire 24-month project period.

Initial awards will be made for the first 12-month budget period. For 24-month projects, continuation awards for the second 12-month budget period will be subject to the availability of funds, satisfactory progress by the grantee, and a determination that continued funding would be in the best interest of the Federal Government.

The need for a 24-month project period should be identified in Item 17 on the Standard Form (SF) 424, in the project narrative, and in the budget. Applicants proposing 24-month projects will receive instructions on how to submit non-competing continuation applications during the first budget period to request funds for the second budget period.

If the student expects to receive a doctorate by the end of the first 12-month budget period, the application should request funding for only a 12-month project period. Second year awards for continuation of the project will not be approved if the student has completed his/her dissertation by the end of the first budget period.

Awards under this announcement are subject to the availability of funds.

III. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

1. Eligible Applicants:

• Public and State-controlled institutions of higher education
• Private institutions of higher education
• Hispanic-Serving Institutions
• Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)
• Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs)
• Others (See below)

Accredited public, State-controlled, and private institutions of higher education acting on behalf of doctoral-level graduate students are eligible applicants including:

(a) Faith-based institutions of higher education; 

(b) Tribally Controlled Land Grant Colleges and Universities (TCUs) as cited in Section 532 of the Equity in Educational Land Grant Status Act of 1994 (7 United States Code (U.S.C.) § 301 note), any other institutions that qualify for funding under the Tribally Controlled Community College Assistance Act of 1978, (25 U.S.C. § 1801 et seq.), and Navajo Community College, authorized in the Navajo Community College Assistance Act of 1978, Public Law (P.L.) 95-471, Title II (25 U.S.C. § 640a);

(c) Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) as defined in the amended version of the Higher Education Act of 1965, codified at 20 U.S.C. § 1061(2), and that are institutions established prior to 1964 whose principal mission was, and is, the education of Black Americans, and must meet the definition of "Part B institution" in Section 322 of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended; and

(d) Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) as defined in the amended version of the Higher Education Act of 1965, codified at 20 U.S.C. § 1101a(a)(5), and that are institutions who satisfy Section 502(a)(5) of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended.

To be eligible to administer the grant on behalf of the student, the institution must be fully accredited by one of the regional accrediting commissions recognized by the Department of Education and the Council of Post-Secondary Accreditation.

Foreign entities are not eligible under this announcement.

2. Cost Sharing or Matching: None

3. Other:

1. Although the faculty mentor is listed as the Principal Investigator and must be committed to taking a central role in supporting the proposed dissertation research, this grant is intended for dissertation research for an individual student. Contact information for both the graduate student and the student's faculty mentor is required as part of the application.
   
   
2. As Principal Investigator, the graduate student's faculty mentor must submit a letter of support stating that he/she approves the application and describing how he/she will regularly monitor the student's work. In addition, the letter must verify (a) the student's status in the doctoral program, (b) that the grant will be used to fund the student's dissertation research and (c) that the student is within two years or less of completing his/her dissertation. This letter of support should be included in the Appendix.
   
   
3. The student must include an official transcript reflecting his/her completed graduate course work in the Appendix.
   
   
4. As the author of the grant proposal, the graduate student is expected to have an approved dissertation proposal before the beginning of the project period, September 30, 2008.

Disqualification Factors

IV. APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION

1. Address to Request Application Package:

2. Content and Form of Application Submission:

Letters of Intent

Applicants are strongly encouraged to notify the OPRE Child Care Research (CCR) Grant Review Team (opre-ccr@xtria.com) of their intention to submit an application under this announcement. Please submit the letter of intent by the deadline date listed in Section IV.3.

This information will be used to determine the number of expert reviewers needed to review applications. Failure to submit a letter of intent will not impact eligibility to submit an application and will not disqualify an application from competitive review.

The letter of intent should include the following information:

• the number and title of this announcement
• the names, addresses, telephone and fax numbers, email and addresses for the Principal Investigator (faculty mentor) and the graduate student
• the name of the university, or institution of higher education

Do not include a description of your proposed project in your letter of intent.

Format and Organization of Application

The original and two copies of your application must be submitted. Applicants must limit their application package to 100 pages, double-spaced, with standard one-inch margins and 12-point fonts. This page limit applies to both narrative text and supporting materials, not including the Standard Federal Forms (listed below). In addition, applicants must number the pages of their application beginning with the Table of Contents. Pages in excess of the page limitation will be removed and not reviewed.

Applicants are advised to include all required forms and materials and to organize these materials according to the format for their application package, and in the order, presented below:

1. Cover Letter. Applicants should include a Cover Letter using official letterhead of the institution or university, and including the Funding Opportunity Number, the title of the application and contact information for the applicant (authorized representative from the institution of higher education as defined in Section III).

2. Contact Information Sheet. The contact information sheet should include addresses, phone and fax numbers and email addresses for the graduate student, the Principal Investigator (faculty mentor) and the institution's fiscal representative (person who signs the SF-424).

3. Required Standard Federal Forms and Certifications signed by the applicant's authorizing official to acknowledge responsibility for the obligations imposed by the terms and conditions of the grant award.

   NOTE: All standard forms and certifications must be signed by the authorizing official for the institution of higher education (the applicant, as defined in Section III).

• Application for Federal Assistance (SF-424). Follow the instructions on the back of the form. In Item 5 on SF-424, enter the name of the applicant (Institution of Higher Education, acting on behalf of doctoral-level graduate student). In Item 8 on SF-424, check "New". SF-424 must be signed by an individual authorized to act for the applicant (e.g., authorized representative of office of sponsored research at the institution of higher education).
  
  
• Budget Information-Non-Construction Programs (SF-424A). When completing the 424A, first year budget period information should be reflected in Section A as new Federal funds. Second year budget period information should be reflected in Section E as the first future funding period.
  
  
• Assurance Regarding Non-Construction Programs (SF-424B)
  
  
• Certifications Regarding Lobbying (if necessary)
  
  
• Certification Regarding Environmental Tobacco Smoke
  
  
• Assurance Regarding Protection of Human Subjects

4. Table of Contents

5. Project Abstract (one page maximum)

6. Project Description. The project description should be carefully developed in accordance with the research goals as described in the Purpose, Background and Priorities sections of this announcement, and the structure requirements listed in Section V. Applicants are strongly encouraged to use the detailed Evaluation Criteria found in Section V to organize the project summary/abstract and full project description.
   
   

7. Budget and Budget Justification. For 24-month projects, please include a budget and budget justification in the application reflecting each budget period in separate columns. This budget should match the appropriate budget categories reflected in 424-A, Section B. Because of the small size of these grants and their value to institutions of higher education, as well as to the student scholars, applicants are strongly encouraged to waive any allowable indirect costs. An authorized representative of the institution must submit a written acknowledgement that the indirect costs are being waived. In the event that waiving the indirect costs is not possible, the applicant is strongly encouraged to apply the University's or non-profit institution's off-campus research rates for indirect costs. In order to facilitate networking with researchers and policymakers, students are required to include in the budget attendance of CCB's Annual Meeting of the Child Care Policy Research Consortium and the State Child Care Administrators' Meeting held annually in the Washington, DC metropolitan area.

8. Appendices

   • Letter of Support from Faculty Mentor (see details below)
   • Curriculum Vitae for Student and Faculty Mentor
   • Official Transcript of Student Reflecting Graduate Courses

Letter of Support from Faculty Mentor. The letter of support from the faculty mentor should state approval of the application and describe how the the student's work will be regularly monitored. In addition, the letter must verify (a) the student's status in the doctoral program, (b) the grant will be used to fund the student's dissertation research and (c) the student is within two years or less of completing his/her dissertation.

For electronic submissions via Grants.gov, application sections 1 through 8 above are considered part of the mandatory project narrative section. In addition, signed letters of support and the transcript may be scanned and attached to the electronic application via Grants.gov.

D-U-N-S Requirement

Forms, Assurances, and Certifications

3. Submission Dates and Times:

Due Date For Letter of Intent: 04/14/2008

Due Date for Applications: 05/13/2008

Explanation of Due Dates

Receipt acknowledgement for application packages will be provided to applicants who submit their package via mail, courier services, or by hand delivery.   Applicants will receive an electronic acknowledgement for applications that are submitted via http://www.Grants.gov.

Checklist

You may use the checklist below as a guide when preparing your application package.

4. Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs:

5. Funding Restrictions:

No individual educational institution will be funded for more than one candidate unless applications from different universities or colleges do not qualify for support.

Transferability: Grants awarded as a result of this competition are not transferable to another student or to another institution.

Sharing of Awards. Awards cannot be divided among two or more students.

Only expenses directly related to the student's dissertation research, including required personnel costs (salary), travel and other directly related expenses, are allowable under this grant.

In order to facilitate networking with researchers and policymakers, students are required to budget attendance for the Annual Meeting of the Child Care Policy Research Consortium and the State Child Care Administrators' Meeting, each held annually in the Washington, DC metropolitan area.

6. Other Submission Requirements:

Submission by Mail

Hand Delivery

V. APPLICATION REVIEW INFORMATION

The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (P.L. 104-13)

Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 40 hours per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining the data needed and reviewing the collection information.

The project description is approved under OMB control number 0970-0139, which expires 4/30/2010.

An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.

1. Criteria:

Part I   THE PROJECT DESCRIPTION OVERVIEW

PURPOSE

GENERAL EXPECTATIONS AND INSTRUCTIONS

Part II   GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR PREPARING A FULL PROJECT DESCRIPTION

INTRODUCTION

EVALUATION CRITERIA:

APPROACH - 40 points

The extent to which the applicant's:

• Proposed research is a discrete research project designed by the graduate student. If the proposed project is part of a larger study designed by others, the approach section should clearly delineate the research component to be carried out by the student and how it is distinguished from the larger research project.
  
  
• Research design is clearly described, appropriate, and sufficient for addressing the goals, objectives, hypotheses and/or questions of the study.
  
  
• Planned research specifies the measures to be used and their psychometric properties. The extent to which the planned measures are shown to be appropriate and sufficient for the questions of the study and the population to be studied.
  
  
• Proposed research design appropriately links research issues, questions, variables, data sources, samples, and analyses.
  
  
• Data analytic plan is adequately described and the proposed data analytic techniques are appropriate for the specific research question(s) under consideration.
  
  
• Proposed sample size is sufficient to answer the range of proposed research questions for the study, especially for longitudinal studies and studies involving a priori subgroups of interest.
  
  
• Literature review is current, comprehensive and supports the need for the study.
  
  
• Proposed design: (a) reflects sensitivity to technical, logistical, and ethical issues that may arise, (b) adequate protection of human subjects, confidentiality of data and consent procedures, as appropriate, and (c) demonstrates how the researcher will gain access to the necessary organizations, participants and data sources needed for the project.

The extent to which the applicant:

• Goes beyond simply recording linguistic, ethnic and racial categories to providing a more thorough examination of how these groupings intersect with important cultural dynamics such as social position, immigration status, family practices and parental goals for socialization.

RESULTS OR BENEFITS EXPECTED - 30 points

The extent to which the applicant's:

• Question of interest and its link to the CCDF program goals and mission are clearly demonstrated in the proposal.
  
  
• Proposal reflects a solid understanding of: (a) critical issues, information needs, and research issues of the child care field, including State/Territory/Tribe child care subsidy administrators and other policymakers, (b) the child care subsidy system, and (c) low-income working families from various cultural, linguistic and ethnic groups. The proposal should describe how consultation with a State/Territory/Tribe CCDF administrator was involved in the selection of the research topic.
  
  
• Conceptual model, research questions, and hypotheses: (a) are clearly defined and appropriately linked, (b) reflect the goals and mission of the CCDF program, and (c) will contribute new knowledge to the field.

The extent to which the applicant:

• Specifies: (a) a sound description of the anticipated results and benefits of the project and (b) how the results will benefit future CCDF child care subsidy program and policy decisions.
  

STAFF AND POSITION DATA - 20 points

The extent to which the student and faculty member:

• Possess the research expertise necessary to conduct the study as demonstrated in the application and information contained in their curriculum vitae, including relevant background, experience, and training on related research or similar projects.
  
  
• Demonstrate an understanding of the child care subsidy system and the child care needs of low-income families and the diverse cultural, linguistic, and ethnic population it serves.
  
  
• Demonstrate an effective plan for the dissemination and utilization of information by researchers, policymakers, and practitioners in the field.
  
  
• Demonstrate a management plan that presents a sound framework for how the mentor and student will maintain quality control over the implementation and ongoing operations for the study.
  

BUDGET AND BUDGET JUSTIFICATION - 10 points

The extent to which the applicant's:

• Proposed project costs: (a) are reasonable, appropriately allocated, and sufficient to accomplish the objectives, research, design, and dissemination plan, (b) include funds for the student, and his/her mentor, if applicable, to participate in the Annual Meeting of the Child Care Policy Research Consortium and the State Administrators' Meeting in Washington, DC, and, (c) are justified according to the needs and time frame for carrying out the proposed project.
  

2. Review and Selection Process:

Applications not screened out will be evaluated on a competitive basis according to the specified evaluation criteria listed in Section V.1.

The competitive review will be conducted in the Washington, DC metropolitan area by panels of Federal and non-Federal expert reviewers knowledgeable in the areas of child care policy research and evaluation. Application review panels will assign a score to each application and identify its strengths and weaknesses in relation to the evaluation criteria.

OPRE will conduct an administrative review of the applications and results of the competitive review panels and make recommendations for funding to the Director of OPRE.

Please reference Section IV.2 for information on non-Federal reviewers in the review process.

3. Anticipated Announcement and Award Dates:

VI. AWARD ADMINISTRATION INFORMATION

1. Award Notices:

2. Administrative and National Policy Requirements:

3. Reporting Requirements:

VII. AGENCY CONTACTS

Program Office Contact:

Dr. Kathleen Dwyer
Administration for Children and Families
Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation
370 L'Enfant Promenade, SW
7th Floor West
Washington, DC 20447
Phone:  202-401-5600
Fax: 202-205-3598
Email: kathleen.dwyer@acf.hhs.gov

Grants Management Office Contact:

Tim Chappelle
Grants Management Officer
Xtria, LLC
Child Care Research Support Technical Assistance
8521 Leesburg Pike
Suite 400
Vienna, VA 22182
Phone:  866-651-6166
Email: opre-ccr@xtria.com

VIII. OTHER INFORMATION