Primary Menu CLOSE

Posted 2/19/15: Notice of Funds Available

HOME » About the Board » Grant Opportunities » Posted 2/19/15: Notice of Funds Available

Introduction

On July 1, 2013, Government Code section 13963.1 became law stipulating that the Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board (Board) administer a program to evaluate applications and award grants to trauma recovery centers in California to provide services to victims of crime. The California Victim Compensation Program (CalVCP) within the Board provides compensation for victims of crime. CalVCP provides eligible victims with reimbursement for many crime-related expenses. CalVCP funding comes from restitution paid by criminal offenders through fines, orders, penalty assessments and federal matching funds.

Purpose of the Grant Program

This grant program will award funding for trauma recovery centers to provide services to victims of crime.

Key Application Dates

  • Notice of Funds Available Release Date: Thursday, February 19, 2015
  • Final Date to Submit Questions: Monday, March 9, 2015 by 5:00 p.m. PT
  • Response to Questions Posted: Friday, March 13, 2015
  • Final Application Submission Date: Monday, March 30, 2015 by 2:00 p.m. PT
  • Tentative Board Award Approval Date: Thursday, May 21, 2015

Eligibility Criteria

The Board, when considering grant applications, shall give preference to eligible applicants that can show the potential for long-term sustained funding from other sources. Applicants awarded funding are not guaranteed continued funding and may apply for a consecutive grant to prevent a lapse in funding.

An eligible applicant must meet all of the following criteria:

Provide, including, but not limited to, all of the following resources, treatments, and recovery services to crime victims:

  • Mental health treatment services
  • Assertive community-based outreach and clinical case management
  • Coordination of care among medical and mental health care providers, law enforcement agencies, crime victim service providers and other social service agencies
  • Services to family members and loved ones of homicide victims
  • A multidisciplinary staff of clinicians that includes licensed psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers. These clinicians can be either salaried or contract positions. Additional types of clinicians are permitted as long as they are licensed by the appropriate licensing board.

Engage in the following activities:

  • Assist victims with applying for crime victim compensation
  • Collaborate with other community services, including, but not limited to, local crime victim service providers such as:
    • County victim assistance centers
    • Domestic violence shelters
    • Sexual assault crisis centers
  • Facilitate cooperation of victims with law enforcement
  • Provide training to law enforcement, community-based agencies, and other health care providers on the identification and effects of crime and the treatment of trauma caused by crime

The Board, when considering grant applications, shall give preference to a trauma recovery center that conducts outreach to, and serves, the following:

  • Victims of crime who typically are unable to access traditional services, including, but not limited to victims who are:
    • homeless
    • chronically mentally ill
    • of diverse ethnicity
    • members of immigrant and refugee groups
    • disabled
    • having severe trauma-related symptoms or complex psychological issues
    • juvenile victims, including minors who have had contact with the juvenile dependency court system or the justice system
  • Victims of a wide range of crimes, including, but not limited to:
    • sexual assault
    • human trafficking
    • domestic violence
    • physical assault
    • shooting
    • stabbing
    • vehicular assault
    • family members and loved ones of homicide victims
  • Applicants whose services are located in an area where the rate of crime and geographic distribution serve the greatest number of victims

Available Funds

Upon appropriation by the Legislature, the Board shall award grants totaling up to two million dollars ($2,000,000.00) per year. The total grant award of $2,000,000.00 will be divided amongst the selected grant recipients. The number of grants awarded will be determined by a variety of factors including the number of qualified applicants and the amount of funds requested.

Eligible Costs

Direct Costs:

  • Salary and benefits for personnel providing direct treatment, including:
    • Activities such as mental health treatment, clinical supervision, social work, victim advocacy and case management
    • Administrative salaries related to the support of direct treatment and other eligible activities
  • Other services provided to clients, such as transportation costs for clients (Including bus passes and taxi vouchers for treatment visits)
  • Outreach activities as described in the Eligibility Criteria (Section 4) of this NOFA
  • Operating expenses related to direct services such as rent, utilities, postage, telephone, office supplies, etc.
  • In-state travel costs for staff to perform eligible activities. Travel will be paid according to PML2013-022, or the state policy in effect at the time the cost is incurred.
  • Evaluation costs

Indirect Costs:

  • Limited to a maximum of five percent (5%) of the total grant award
    • A copy of the indirect cost allocation plan demonstrating how the indirect cost rate was established must be included with the application for funding
    • All costs included in the plan shall be supported by formal accounting records which substantiate the propriety of such charges

If an applicant already has an approved indirect cost rate agreement with the State or Federal government that exceeds the maximum 5% of the grant award, the applicant can submit the existing approved indirect cost rate agreement with the understanding that the Board will only allow a maximum allocation of 5%.

Ineligible Costs

Ineligible costs include:

  • Any expenses incurred before the grant agreement is executed
  • Travel costs for TRC staff to attend conferences and training
  • Remodeling or refurbishing costs
  • The purchase or lease of office furniture or electronic equipment
  • Reimbursement for appointments missed by clients

The cost for services provided with grant funds must not be charged to or paid for by any other sources of reimbursement including private insurance, federal, state, local funds, or victim compensation funds.

Reporting Requirements

A trauma recovery center(s) awarded a grant shall provide quarterly progress reports by the last business day of the month following the end of a fiscal quarter that include the following data:

  • Staffing allocation
  • Staff productivity, including hours worked and services provided
  • In compliance with federal statutes and rules governing federal matching funds for victims’ services, the report shall include the following client data, as well as any additional forms and data requested by the Board, to allow the Board to receive the 60 percent federal matching funds for eligible victim services and allowable expenses:
    • Units and types of service delivered, (i.e., mental health treatment, training, outreach, collaborative activities, etc.)
    • Number of clients served (counting an individual client who receives multiple services only once)
    • Type of crime by penal code for each client served
    • Demographic information for each client served
  • Documentation of other sources of reimbursement for clients served
  • Evaluation protocol to assess the effectiveness of the clinical intervention program across a spectrum of outcome domains, including decreased psychological symptoms, medical symptoms, disability and improved overall quality of life
    • Evaluation does not need to be performed by an independent evaluator
  • Client flow throughout both the clinical and evaluation components of service
  • Number of victims referred to local county victim assistance centers, domestic violence programs, sexual assault crisis centers and other victim services
  • Partnership and/or collaboration activities with other agencies, including county victim assistance centers
  • Evaluation of the clinical effectiveness of services
  • Evaluation of the cost effectiveness of services
  • An invoice for payment detailing eligible costs incurred for provision of grant activities and including certification by person named as having signature authority that funds were expended in accordance with eligible costs

The following mental health assessments must be utilized in addition to any other mental health assessments used:

  • Child Behavioral Checklist (CBCL) for Ages 1½ to 5
  • Child Behavioral Checklist (CBCL) for Ages 6 to 18
  • Youth Self Report (YSR)
  • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist — Civilian (PCL-C)
  • World Health Organization Quality of Life Instrument (WHOQOL-BREF)

Software Requirements:

  • Microsoft Excel
  • Microsoft Access

The Board will provide links to the CBCL and YSR assessments; therefore, the applicant is not required to purchase these assessments.

The Board shall provide detailed instruction regarding the collection and reporting of client demographic data, services delivered and required evaluation protocols for the trauma recovery center(s) to which grants are awarded. Use of the forms and protocols selected by the Board for data collection is required, but the grantees may also collect additional data and perform additional evaluation. All data collection and evaluation efforts must be included in the quarterly and annual reports.

Application Instructions

The application packet must be in the form of a pdf file emailed to Grants@VCGCB.ca.gov.

Formatting:

  • Use 11-point Arial font
  • Double-Spaced
  • One inch margins on all sides
  • Number all pages of the application packet

The pdf file must contain a:

  • Cover letter including the applicant name (legal name of the organization that will be responsible for grant administration, if awarded) and complete contact information for a primary contact (person authorized to manage and oversee the grant), a secondary contact, the person with signature authority, the total amount of funds requested, and an estimate of the number of clients expected to receive services annually. The cover letter should be no more than one (1) page in length.
  • Program narrative that is no more than fifteen (15) pages in length. The narrative should describe:
    • How the applicant will accomplish the activities enumerated in the Eligibility Criteria (Section 4) of this NOFA
    • The scope of work for the licensed clinicians involved with the project
    • How the clinicians will collaborate with other service providers in the community in the implementation of services
    • What services will be provided by salaried and/or contracted TRC staff and what services will be referred to other service providers
    • A detailed time task plan including dates depicting when eligible activities will be accomplished
    • The geographic area the applicant will serve (including information such as population demographics, economic indicators and crime rate)
  • Client Flow Chart encompassing the systematic process of attending to clients, from intake to discharge.
  • Budget (see Attachment 1) for each fiscal year of the grant period, depicted by each fiscal quarter. The maximum funding available in the annual grant cycle is two million dollars ($2,000,000.00), which will be expended over a period of two (2) years. Because the award covers two (2) fiscal years, an applicant seeking funding from this NOFA will not be eligible to apply for additional grant money in 2016/17. July 1, 2015 marks the beginning of the State fiscal year and that is the date funds are authorized for expenditure. If subcontractors will be utilized, a detailed cost breakdown for each subcontractor must be included.
  • Budget narrative describing each portion of the budget, including, but not limited to each position to be funded, types of operating expenses requested and other sources of funding allocated to this project. The budget narrative should be no more than four (4) pages in length.
  • Letters of support from medical and mental health care providers, law enforcement agencies, county crime victim assistance centers as designated by California Penal Code 13835.2, sexual assault crisis centers, domestic violence programs, other crime victim service providers, and/or other social service agencies within the applicant’s designated service area. The letters of support should pertain specifically to this project.

Questions

Applicants shall submit any questions regarding this NOFA via email to Grants@VCGCB.ca.gov no later than 5:00 p.m. PT on Monday, March 9, 2015. Responses to all inquiries will be posted weekly on the Board website at http://www.vcgcb.ca.gov/board/grants.aspx with the final responses posting no later than 5:00 p.m. PT on Friday, March 13, 2015.

Application Due Dates

Applications must be submitted by email and be received no later than 2:00 p.m. PT on Monday, March 30, 2015. Applications must be emailed to Grants@VCGCB.ca.gov. Any applications received after 2:00 p.m. PT, Monday, March 30, 2015, will be rejected.

Grant Review and Award Process

Applicants should anticipate that applications determined to be nonresponsive to the scope of the solicitation, or that do not include all application elements, will not proceed to peer review or receive further consideration. Applicants should anticipate that failure to submit an application that contains all elements specified in the Application Instructions (Section 9) of this NOFA, may negatively affect the review of their application.

Applications that do not include the following minimum qualifications will not be scored. The project must:

  • Provide mental health services
  • Focus on provision of services to crime victims and their family members
  • Provide community outreach
  • Provide training on victim issues for law enforcement
  • Include a budget for the project and a budget narrative
  • Include a detailed time task plan including dates depicting when eligible activities will be accomplished

The Board reserves the right to reject any or all applications received in response to this NOFA.
Complete applications will then be scored according to the following scale:

  • Program narrative: Up to 70 points
  • Budget: Up to 10 points
  • Budget narrative: Up to 10 points
  • Letters of support: Up to 10 points

Applicants must score a minimum of 70 points to be considered for funding.

Board staff will review submitted applications and develop funding recommendations for the consideration and approval of the Board. The approval to fund grant awards to selected applicants will most likely occur at the Board meeting scheduled for Thursday, May 21, 2015.

All applicants awarded funding will be required to enter into a standardized Grant Agreement with the Board. Applicants awarded funding are not guaranteed continued funding and may reapply at the end of the 24-month grant award cycle.

General Terms and Conditions

The Board reserves the right to retain all submitted applications and the applications shall become the property of the Board. Applications may be required to be disclosed under the Public Records Act at a later date.

The Board reserves the right to withdraw this NOFA at any time without prior notice. Further, the Board makes no representation that any funding will be awarded to any applicant responding to this NOFA.

Acceptance of an application does not constitute a grant award and does not obligate the Board to award funds. The Board reserves the right to partially fund selected applications. The applicant may request a specific dollar amount to be used for their trauma recovery center; however, the Board will make the final determination of the dollar amounts awarded.

Notice to Proceed

The Notice to Proceed is a formal notification from the Board that authorizes the grantee to begin the project and incur costs. It is issued after the grantee and the Board have both signed the grant agreement. Applicants are not permitted to incur any grant-related costs prior to the issuance of the Notice to Proceed.

Process for Payment

Funds will be released retrospectively on a quarterly basis upon receipt of invoices detailing program expenditures and the required reports as set forth in the Reporting Requirements of this NOFA (Section 8). All reports must include a certification page (Attachment 2), signed by the person named as having signature authority, stating that all information reported is correct and grant expenditures are in accordance with Eligible Costs as set forth in this NOFA. All invoices for payment and quarterly reports must be submitted directly to:

Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board
Attn: Accounting Office
P.O. Box 1348
Sacramento, CA 95812-1348

Appeals Process

Applicants who are not selected to receive an award have five (5) business days from the Board award approval date to submit an appeal. If an appeal is submitted during this period, the affected grants will not be awarded until the appeal is resolved. Appeals must be submitted in the form of a pdf file containing a written document, signed by an individual who is authorized to contractually bind the applicant, specifying the grounds of the appeal, and citing the law, rule, process or procedure used as the basis of the appeal. Appellants must provide facts and evidence to support their claim. All appeals will be heard and resolved by the Executive Officer of the Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board.

Appeals must be emailed to Grants@VCGCB.ca.gov.

Exit site