TA Conference Date: Wednesday, March 9, 2022 - 1:00 - 2:00 PM*
Register in advance for this meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMvcuuuqzsqHd3q3GXJL9Cto5N0OJB0ceYI
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. Please note*, the correction made above to the time of the TA Conference.
030122: Revision to the stated "Award Range":
These ranges account for the variance in required Salary Floor
- For Cook and Collar Counties: $130,000 Minimum - $180,000 Maximum award
- For Downstate Communities: $100,000 Minimum - $150,000 Maximum award
Questions and Answers
As of February 25, 2022
1. If a program does not currently use one of the approved models, is it possible for us to write for the grant if we indicate that we are willing to switch to one of the approved models?
Answer: Funding allocated under this grant is intended to support an AOK Network that is guided by the AOK Conceptual Framework, for more information visit our website at aoknetworks.org
2. Does the targeted area include South Suburban Cook?
Answer: Communities eligible to apply for the Notice of Grant Opportunity (NOFO) must be:
- Communities with an established AOK Network
- At-Risk Communities in the 2020 MIECHV Needs Assessment with current MIECHV funding.
- At-Risk Communities in the 2020 MIECHV Needs Assessment with a current PDG B-5 IRIS Project.
- See list of eligible communities in the NOFO under section B.1 Community Eligibility and Funding Requirements
3. I would like to know how we can apply for All Our Kids Networks Funding Opportunity? We are a community day care center in Morton Grove and had an opportunity to be a partner with CEDA head start program for 4 years before CEDA was closed. We really want to be part of the AOK network and continue as a community day care center to provide quality care for our children, parents and our community.
Answer: Morton Grove is not listed in the NOFO, Section B.1 as a Community Eligible to apply for this funding opportunity.
4. Is the AOK Coordinator the supervisor of the Family Engagement Specialist?
Answer: The Family Engagement Specialist should work hand in hand with the AOK Coordinator. The AOK Coordinator should guide the role and responsibilities of the Family Engagement Specialist. Depending on the organization's structure, the AOK Coordinator may assume a supervisory role over the newly hired family engagement specialist but this is not a requirement of the grant.
5. Should the AOK Coordinator in current AOK communities take part in interviewing and hiring the Family Engagement Specialist?
Answer: This would be best practice, but not a requirement of this grant.
6. Is there a qualifications requirement for the full time Family Engagement Specialist or any particular requirements? The NOFO only states the AOK Coordinator Qualifications.
Answer: The NOFO states a Grantee must hire one (1.0/FTE) full time, highly-qualified local Family Engagement Specialist. A bachelor's degree in Social Work, Psychology, Early Childhood Development, Early Childhood Education, or Public Health Administration is preferred.
7. Please provide clarification about what types of organizations are eligible to apply for the recently posted AOK Early Childhood Networks grant. Are these the types of organizations that can apply? Are there others? I understand the prequalification expectations & focus on specific communities.
- Institutions of higher education (public & private)
- School districts
- Community-based organizations
- Faith-based organizations
- Nonprofit organizations
- For profit organizations
- Local municipalities
- Government agencies
Answer: Yes, these are the kinds of organizations that may apply, not-for-profit community-based agencies, public or private organizations, government organizations, others.
8. In the budget, should travel be included for 3 trips to Bloomington, or will there be any ZOOM meetings as in the past?
Answer: Prospective Grantees should budget for three trips to Bloomington. If due to COVID-19 restrictions these meetings are held virtually, you may request for a budget amendment to use these funds for other approved programmatic needs.
As of March 1, 2022
9. If a county/community was identified as an At-Risk Communities in the 2020 MIECHV Needs Assessment and has a current MIECHV and/or PDG B-5 IRIS Project but is not specifically listed as an eligible community in Section B1 of the NOFO, was this an oversight of the NOFO?
Answer: Yes this may be an oversight on our part. To clarify, current MIECHV and/or PDG B-5 IRIS Project funded communities that are not identified as at-risk in the 2020 MIECHV Needs Assessment would not be eligible to apply. Please notify us of any oversights so that we can make corrections.
10. How does the AOK Network align with the broader regional / local strategy (B25)?
Answer: Historically, at the local level AOK Networks initiative grantees establish and maintain a collaborative (the AOK Network) representing early childhood service sectors and individuals with interests and services for families with young children to work on improving system access, coordination, and equity, as well as engaging parents /caregivers as partners in making the system work for them. As part of their Information and Referral initiative, AOK Networks have launched and maintain a Centralized Referral System (CRS) using IRIS, a web-based referral platform to connect and reconnect families to services they need and want. The CRS supports warm handoffs for families and improves communication among partners by streamlining the referral process, closing the communication loop for referring organizations, and giving communities a clear data driven picture of partner capacity. Among other deliverables, every five years AOK Networks conduct an early childhood community assessment utilizing primary and secondary data sources to determine community strengths and identify priority child and family outcome issues. Based on the information provided to date on the intent of the 39 Birth to Five Action & Family Councils, AOK Networks are positioned to support regional efforts and look forward to the additional advocacy to bring awareness of local needs to the state and at the regional level.
11. How will the local Family Engagement position align and support the Family Councils regionally?
Answer: Locally, the AOK Networks' Family Engagement Specialist will be tasked with assisting and or leading implementation of the AOK Networks' deliverables, engaging parents/caregivers as partners to make the early childhood system work for them and connecting families to services they need and want.
12. Is there a formal job descriptions and qualifications for the 2 full-time positions required for the upcoming AOK Networks grant cycle.
Answer: There is no formal job description other than what is written in the NOFO. The job descriptions should cover what's written in the NOFO related to the AOK Coordinator's qualifications and the initiative's deliverables. The Family Engagement Specialist's (FES) job description should include but is not limited to assisting and or leading implementation of the AOK Networks' deliverables, leading the engagement of parents/caregivers as partners to make the early childhood system work for them by obtaining family input to create the AOK Networks' initiative plan and support its implementation and lead efforts to connect families to services they need and want. If you are planning to add stipends for Parent Ambassadors to your budget, the FES would lead and or assist in developing and implementing this approach.
13. Can applicants expand their geographical service boundaries as long as the boundaries include an eligible community as listed in the NOFO?
Answer: Yes, an application may request to expand their serve area as long as the applicant agency resides within a named eligible community and houses the AOK Network staff within the eligible community.
14. Can an AOK Networks grantee request Parent Ambassador stipend funding if not already providing the Parent Ambassador program, but plans to establish a program?
Answer: Yes, absolutely. Funding for this approach will be an approved expenditure in FY23.
15. Is there a specific Parent Ambassador model that must be followed or can the local AOK Network decide what model to use?
Answer: The State will provide training and support to develop a Parent Ambassador approach and communities may decide what model to use.
16. If an AOK grantee is not able to engage as many Parent Ambassadors as requested by the application, can a modification be made to the plan?
Answer: Yes, applicants may request funding to support up to 8 Parent Ambassadors through an annual stipend of $2000 per ambassador.
As of March 3, 2022
17. All AOK FY23 strategic plan templates have approach completion dates of June 2024. Are we writing a two-year plan or were those dates provided as a guideline? Currently, we are writing our AOK plans for 1 year. Please clarify.
Answer: This is an error on the plan templates. These are annual plans. All FY23 plan approaches should have a completion date no later than June 30, 2023. Thank you for catching that error. Plans have been revised and links in the NOFO have been updated.
18. Can applicants expand their geographic service boundaries, as long as the boundaries include an eligible community as listed in the NOFO?
Answer: Yes, an applicant may request to expand their service area as long as the AOK Network staff is located within an eligible community.
19. What happens in communities that have both AOK Networks and MIECHV Coordinated Intake? How will the positions work together?
Answer: In communities that are eligible to apply for the AOK Networks' NOFO and have a current MIECHV Coordinated Intake worker, these two initiatives would work closely together to connect families to home visiting services and other early childhood development services.
20. If I partner with another organization to apply for AOK Networks funding, who will house and supervise the grant?
Answer: You will need to decide which entity would be the fiscal agent for the grant. The entity that submits the proposal would become the fiscal agent and be responsible to supervise staff and report on the AOK Network grant requirements. The AOK Network staff must be located within an eligible community.
21. Will IRIS be funded as part of the AOK Networks initiative?
Answer: Communities funded through an AOK Network grant will be offered access to IRIS training and implementation, free of charge to the community.
22. Is the NOFO for 3 years and will a budget need to be submitted yearly?
Answer: When submitting your application through this NOFO, you will need to submit a budget only for FY23. Successful applicants under this NOFO may be eligible to receive two subsequent one-year grant renewals. Each year you will need to submit an annual budget.
23. Communities and county are used interchangeably in the RFP. Is the AOK intended to serve the entire county or targeted communities within the county? Or in communities where other local community collaborations do not exist.
Answer: Applicants for the AOK Networks Initiative grant should be serving the entire eligible community that they are applying to serve.
22. Can CI be a portion of the Family Engagement Specialist roles and responsibilities?
Answer: The requirements of the Family Engagement Specialist position is that this is a full time funded staff. If a community also has a grant for a Coordinated Intakes position through a MIECHV funded grant both should be working hand in hand toward enrolling families with young children into services they need and want. These two position may not be combined into one position.
23. The three cross sector initiatives (Network Capacity, Information & Referral and Child & Family Outcomes) are these initiatives locally defined and driven?
Answer: Yes, and no. Each community identifies the needs in their community and addresses those needs through the construct of these three initiatives and each initiative is guided by the AOK Networks' framework. An example, the Network Capacity initiative is guided by the AOK Networks' conceptual framework of four core areas and communities decide based on their own needs which core areas they will focus on. In addition, as a community is initiating the establishment of an AOK Network, the AOK Networks' framework guides this process, such as the recommended approaches to initiate the Information and Referral initiative. This guide is based on best practice and past experience from current AOK Networks.
24. If CI already exists within a community/county through MIECHV would the AOK collaborate or partner with them for the CI functions.
Answer: Yes, that is the intention. Currently, in the communities with existing AOK Networks and Coordinated Intake staff they are working hand in hand toward enrolling families with young children to services they need and want.
25. If an AOK uses IRIS for CI, how much should an applicant budget for the IRIS license and training. Will all MIEHV sites be funded for IRIS?
Answer: If a community is awarded an AOK Networks' initiative grant, they will receive access to and training for IRIS without cost to the community. In other words, they would not need to add the cost of using IRIS to their application's budget. As far as your second question, you would need to reach out to the MIECHV State Administrator for an answer.
26. If an AOK chooses to expand their service area beyond the priority county would additional funding be available? or is the budget max firm at $180,000 (personnel + taxes and benefits consume a huge portion of the funding)
Answer: There was a clarification to the Funding Award range posted on March 1st. Due to the variance in salary floors for the two regions identified, Cook and collar counties versus the Downstate counties each region has a minimum and maximum range. Regardless of a request to expand into additional communities, an applicant may only request up to the maximum funding range related to the region they are in.
27. Must an agency submit 1 grant application per AOK county? Or can 1 agency apply for multiple AOK counties in their response?
Per the NOFO, an applicant can only apply for one eligible community within an application.
28. Is the federally negotiated rate 14.1%?
Answer: Federally negotiated rates vary by organization.
29. How will the AOK align with the Birth to 5 IL Councils, local CCR&R's, and LIC's?
Answer: Currently, AOK Networks work hand in hand with their perspective CCR&R and LIC partners and are members of the AOK Network. In some communities, the AOK Coordinator has been the chair, co-chair or lead member of their regional LIC. Please see response to Q.10 related to the Birth o 5 IL Councils.
30. After June 30th 2023 must all AOK grantees reapply through a NOFO? Or is it a renewal - "Successful applicants under this NOFO may be eligible to receive two subsequent one-year grant renewals" ?
Answer: If an organization is awarded the AOK Network grant through this NOFO process, yes, they will be eligible to receive two subsequent one-year grant renewals. Per Section B. Funding Information of the NOFO:
Successful applicants under this NOFO may be eligible to receive two subsequent one-year grant renewals for this program. Renewals are at the discretion of the Department and are based on sufficient appropriation and performance meeting various criteria including, but not limited to, the following considerations:
- Grantee has performed satisfactorily during the previous reporting period of the previous grant period;
- All required reports have been submitted on time, unless a written exception has been provided by the Division/Department;
- No outstanding issues are present (i.e. in good standing with all pre-qualification requirements and no outstanding corrective action, etc.)
31. Prospective Grantees should budget for three trips to Bloomington. Budget mileage and hotel?
Answer: Yes.
32. Yes, an application may request to expand their serve area as long as the applicant agency resides within a named eligible community and houses the AOK Network staff within the eligible community. Can the staff positions work remote to reduce costs (rent) but have a presence in the community?
Answer: No. The applicant must have a physical location in the eligible community they are applying to serve.
As of March 11, 2022
33. Cook and Collar Counties have a listed "Salary Minimum" (lower amount) and a "Target Starting Salary" (higher amount). Downstate have listed "Salary" (lower amount) and "Minimum Salary" (higher amount). For Downstate organizations, are these titled correctly? Please clarify what the "Salary Floor" is for both Cook/Collar and Downstate.
Answer: No, it was not titled correctly, that was a typo and it has been corrected on the NOFO. Thank you for pointing this error out. For Cook/Collar Counties the minimum (floor) salary for an AOK Coordinator is $60,000; for the Family Engagement Specialist the minimum (floor) salary is $46,800. For all the other Counties (Downstate) the minimum (floor) salary for an AOK Coordinator is $50,000; for the Family Engagement Specialist the minimum (floor) salary is $37,800.
34. Is the idea to increase from the lower amount to the higher amount by the second year? Is there an "Attachment A" template?
Answer: No. The requirement is that the AOK Coordinator and the Family Engagement Specialist's salaries are budgeted in the applicant's application at the minimum (floor) salary. We encourage the applicant to budget the salaries at their target salary, but this is not required. There is no template for Attachment A. A plan on how the applicant will meet the minimum (floor) salary by year two if there is a need for additional time due to current circumstances should be submitted as Attachment A.
35. Does the minimum salary include the amount of fringe benefits paid by the applicant organization?
Answer: No. In the budget, there is a line item for Personnel and a different line item for Fringe Benefits. The minimum (floor) salary should be reflected on the Personnel line item for these two positions. Fringe Benefits vary by organization.
As of March 18, 2022
36. Annual stipends for Parent Ambassadors: Is this paid on an hourly basis, monthly basis, or a lump sum?
Answer: This is our current thinking regarding the Parent Ambassador approach. Grantees that include a Parent Ambassador component in their application must budget for a minimum stipend of $2,000 for each Ambassador that participates in this approach. These should cover expenses that may be acquired over a year long period (state fiscal year). The stipend should be distributed in a quarterly fashion within this time; ambassadors must complete 50 plus hours per quarter to receive the quarterly amount of $500 or must complete a minimum of 25 hours in order to receive half the quarterly amount of $250. If a minimum of 25 hours is not completed during the 3 month period the Parent Ambassador will not receive the quarterly amount of the stipend. The maximum quarterly stipend will remain $500, regardless if over 50 hours are completed.
37. Regarding the responsibilities of the Family Engagement Specialist, may we include leading an initiative that our organization is currently heading in the community? Would it be appropriate to have this FES lead a Coordinated Intake process if our community will no longer have a funded position for that?
Answer: The role of the Family Engagement Specialist is to assist the local AOK Network Coordinator in developing and maintaining the AOK Network with a focus on enhancing the AOK Network's capacity to ensure improvements in authentic family engagement and increasing enrollment in home visiting and other early childhood services. This position was created to assist with the workload presently managed solely by the AOK Coordinators. This position should be focused on the efforts related to accomplishing the AOK Network's approved plan. The Family Engagement Specialist should not be responsible for leading an initiative that an organization is currently heading in the community if it is not an effort that can be recorded as an accomplishment toward the AOK Network's approved plan approaches/strategies.
38. Can we ask for different number of Parent Ambassadors each year?
Answer: Yes. The maximum grant amount an applicant may request per geographical region ($130,000/$180,000) is contingent on budgeting for each of the possible elements indicated in the NOFO, salary equal to or greater than the salary floors for each required position, up to 8 Parent Ambassadors, (PA) or a part time admin. For example, if an applicant is not able to initiate the parent ambassador approach or proposes to initiate with less than 8 parent ambassadors, then the maximum grant amount an applicant may request will be reduced proportionately. If in the second year, the Network has the capacity to initiate a parent ambassador approach their grant could be increased proportionate to the number of PA slots requested. Grantees may request to increase the number of PA slots throughout the 3 year continuing grant until they reach the maximum amount of 8 Parent Ambassador slots or the maximum grant amount indicated for their geographical region.
39. Do we have to ask for at least one Parent Ambassador slot this year to ask for additional slots next year?
Answer: No, this is not a requirement of the grant. A grantee may need to build the capacity of the Network before initiating a Parent Ambassador approach. A grantee may request for additional funding the second year to support Parent Ambassador slots even if they did not budget for Parent Ambassador slots in the first year. But, in the first year the maximum grant amount an applicant may request will be reduced proportionately.
40. Does the 4-page maximum page mean 4 one-sided pages or 4 front and back sided pages?
Answer: The Proposed Narrative Content must be submitted as a PDF, page limits refer to each one-sided page.
As of March 23, 2022
41. Can you please list the requirements needed for the Appendix 2, AOK Networks' Partner Commitment template to submit as Attachment C, AOK Networks' Partner Commitment form. If we choose to attempt to gather these signatures virtually as opposed to getting a "wet" signature from each partner?
Answer: Applicants may create a Google sheet with the same information requested on Appendix 2. Community stakeholders, organizations/agencies and parents/caregivers that are committing to become AOK Network partners should be emailed the link to the Google sheet so they may complete the required information and paste or provide an electronic signature on the sheet. A copy of the Google sheet may be submitted in lieu of submitting Appendix 2 with wet signatures. Another option, would be to submit with your proposal a zipped folder with all your signed Memorandum of Understandings/Partnership Agreements.
42. Is there a minimum amount of hours that someone can be considered full time or FTE?
Answer: This is a matter generally to be determined by the employer. It should align with the employer's typical work day for those employees receiving a salary versus getting paid by the number of hours they work. Ex. 8:00 AM - 4:30, Monday - Friday.
43. Can staff be hired as contractual?
Answer: Yes. Any contractual staff should also receive the minimum salary per 1.0 FTE as described in for question 42.
As of March 24, 2022
44. Regarding Question #22: If there is not a funded Coordinated Intake program in the AOK Network's community, may the AOK Network begin to offer some type of a coordinated intake or similar process using IRIS as part of the Network's Initiatives as FES requirements? From the NOFO: … FES "to assist the local AOK Network Coordinator in developing and maintaining the network with a focus on enhancing … and increasing enrollment in home visiting and other early childhood services."
Answer: Yes.
45. We noticed that in the "Appendix_5_Child_Family_Outcome_Initiative_Plan_Template_Existing_AOK_ Networks", there is a field in the table titled: "Evidence of Accomplishment: Indicate the evidence you will record in AOK Connect by noting it in parenthesis after the relevant outputs and outcomes above."; however, there is not a blank field under it to add the evidence, which we typically have. Was this an oversight or should we add the evidence in the same box?
Answer: We eliminated the need to add Evidence of Success into its own cell on the program plan, instead we are asking the you indicate the evidence you will upload and/or record in AOK Connect by noting it in parenthesis after the relevant outputs and outcomes in the measurable change outputs and outcomes fields.
46. For the optional Parent Ambassador funds. Can some of the funds be utilized for materials Parent Ambassadors will need, as the Parent Ambassador program will be developed the first year and a recruitment and implementation plan will be put in place? Parent ambassadors will need materials and or professional development opportunities in order to implement their work.
Answer: Yes.
As of April 1, 2022
47. If a community is submitting the Partner Commitment list without signatures and in addition will be sending copies of linkage agreements. Can you clarify how the linkage agreements should be sent? If separately, what email address should these be sent to?
Answer: Attach a zipped file with the linkage agreements in the same email you are submitting the PDF copy of your proposal to dhs.aok@illinois.gov . The proposals are due no later then noon, on April 15th.
48. Can an individual agency ask for an award amount higher than the maximum listed as the ceiling on the NOFO?
Answer: No. In addition, see response to questions number 38 and 39. If one of the elements in the NOFO, such as the parent ambassador approach will not be implemented in the first year the maximum amount will be reduced proportionately.
As of April 5, 2022
49. The Catalog of State Financial Assistance (CSFA) number for this NOFO is 444-84-1251. However, in the CSA tracking system, I see this number: 444-80-1251. Should I select 444-80-1251?
Answer: Yes. In the CSA tracking system, applicants will see the old CSFA number, 444-80-1251, instead of the new one. Please use 444-80-1251 for the budget for this application. (This issue is due to changes related to the new IDHS Division of Early Childhood.)
50. Clarification for funding of parent ambassadors. If we are awarded the $150,000 and we are only able to budget 1 or 2 parent ambassadors for the first year, will there be additional funding for year 2 and 3 if the Network wishes to increase the parent ambassadors up to 8?
Answer: If you are budgeting to provide stipends to two parent ambassadors in the first year, the maximum you may apply for will be $138,000, for Downstate applicants, and $168,000 for Cook and Collar County applicants. In year two, if you increase the number of parent ambassadors supported by stipends you may request an increase to your grant award to cover the additional stipends up to the stated maximum grant for your region.
As of April 6, 2022
51. Could you please assist me in understanding the FY23 AOK award amount our organization is permitted to utilize for grant application submission? Specifically, I understood we could request $150,000, but a question exists with respect to whether we may request the full $150K, if we only budget 5 parent ambassadors rather than 8. If we budget for 5 parent ambassadors, must we back the budget down to $144,000, removing $2K for the 3 ambassadors we are not planning, or may we utilize the full $150K, with $10,000 of that amount budgeted for 5 parent ambassadors?
Answer: If you are budgeting to provide stipends to five parent ambassadors in the first year, the maximum you may apply for will be $144,000, for Downstate applicants, and $154,000 for Cook and Collar County applicants. In year two, if you increase the number of parent ambassadors supported by stipends you may request an increase to your grant award to cover the additional stipends up to the stated maximum grant for your region.
