Yes. Project services can be delivered before, during, and after regular school hours, as well as during the summer and holiday breaks.

Services can be provided at the school site, off the school site or a combination of both. However, it is important to note that the intent of the FSCS is to serve as a conduit for coordinating and/or providing services. The closing date notice, in providing background on the FSCS program, stated:

The specific location of the services, while important, is not as critical as the delivery of the services in a well coordinated and collaborative manner.

Grant funds could be used to pay such personnel if those personnel are providing services that were related to carrying out an allowable activity, and those personnel are not being compensated for providing this service by their primary employer. Grant funds could only be used to compensate such staff for the amount of time that they were providing services described in and necessary to the implementation of grant activities.

Yes. Funds may be used to purchase equipment, provided the costs are reasonable and necessary to carrying out the project's scope of work.

The Department has not specifically defined planning and encourages applicants to define planning in the context of their proposals. Interagency collaborative efforts are highly complex undertakings and, as such, require extensive planning and communication among partners and key stakeholders. Therefore, applicants may devote funds received during the first year of the project period to program planning. However, planning should be for the purpose of fine tuning the details of the scope of work described in the application submittal, not creating a new or significantly altered scope of work or MOU. Examples of planning activities include planning meetings; developing/refining/clarifying administrative procedures and protocols; staff recruitment and training; development of outreach materials; and curriculum development.

Target population, project objectives, activities, and performance indicators need to be addressed in the original proposal. If an organization proposes a planning year, objectives, activities and performance measures will need to be developed for both the planning year and the remaining years of the project. Under these circumstances, the objectives, activities and performance measures for the first year of the project may be different from those for subsequent years of the project. While a grantee can propose changes to a project after it has been funded on the basis of conclusions reached during their planning year, the Department cannot approve any change that alters the scope and objectives of a project.

Notification and commencement of funding will begin no later than September 30, 2008. If the Department is able to make awards earlier, we will make every effort to do so. Continuation funding in subsequent years will be based on the year 1 budget start and end dates.

Yes. The ED 524 (budget information worksheet contained in the application package) should show a summary budget for the project, for each year and each of the budget categories. The budget narrative should break out those costs for the lead applicant and each of the partners for each year of the project.

An applicant can request up to $500,000 per year for each of five years for total maximum funding of $2,500,000 over the five-year period. The applicant should specify the amount of funding needed for each of the five years in the original application submittal. The amount of money requested per year can vary, depending on the costs associated with the work proposed in a given year. For instance, costs for program planning may be less than the cost of program implementation. Hence, it is reasonable for an applicant to request less money in year 1 if the grantee is opting to use year 1 for program planning and more funding to cover costs for program implementation in years 2-5. In no event, however, can an applicant request more than $500,000 of funding for any particular year.

Yes. Applicants should budget for a two-day meeting in Washington, D.C.

No. There is not a matching funds or cost share requirement.

If consortium partners will be providing in-kind services vital to the successful execution of the proposed scope of work, information about these services should be provided in the application narrative, MOU, or budget so that reviewers can thoroughly evaluate the adequacy of resources. A grantee will be held accountable for any in-kind or other contributions by the lead applicant or a consortium partner that are necessary to the project achieving its scope of work and objectives.

Yes. Indirect costs can be charged to the grant using a federally approved indirect cost rate. If an applicant does not have a federally approved indirect cost rate at the time of the application submittal, the applicant should include the proposed rate in their proposed budget. Should the applicant receive a grant award, the applicant must apply for a federally approved rate from its cognizant federal agency within 90 days of receiving the award.