Greater IL Reimagine Violence Prevention Services Technical Assistance, Appendices & Frequently Asked Questions

Greater Illinois Reimagine Violence Prevention Services

Technical Assistance Session:  

This technical assistance session will provide participants with an overview of the 23-444-80-2774-03 Greater Illinois Reimagine Violence Prevention Services Notice of Funding Opportunity and information on how providers can apply for FY23.

• Register in advance for this meeting: https://uic.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0vd-GrrDgiH9JRdq4TfEHC2kjCXWrJAlZ7
• Monday, August 22, 2022 from 1:30pm to 3:30pm
• Registration Deadline: Friday, August 19, 2022
• After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting

Greater IL Reimagine Violence Appendices (GI-RVPS):

• Appendix A: CSA Budget Information
• Appendix B: GA-23-444-80-2774-03 Uniform Application for State Grant Assistance (pdf)
• Appendix C: IDHS FY23 GATA Prequalification Assistance
• Appendix D: GI-RVPS Executive Summary
• Appendix E: FY23 GI-RVPS Budget Template
• Appendix F: GI-RVPS FY23 Application Checklist
• Appendix G: GI-RVPS FY23 Program Contact Information
• Appendix H: GI-RVPS FY23 Additional Subrecipient Information

Greater IL Reimagine Violence Prevention Services (GI-RPSA) Question and Answers:

Any questions you have about the NOFO should be sent to DHS.ViolencePreventionServices@illinois.gov.

August 26, 2022:

1. Questions: The City of Madison, IL is not listed. Can we still send in an application? 
   Answer: No. Madison, IL is not identified as RPSA community.
2. Question: In the previous RVPS NOFO, a letter of intent was required prior to receiving the application packet, will the same be true for this NOFO as well? 
   Answer: No, a letter of intent is not required.
3. Question: Do we need to go through, or partner with, our local LUC, or can any group apply in their own and with their own partners/coalition? 
   Answer: Any eligible applicant can apply directly to DHS as explained in Section 6C1 of the NOFO.
4. Question: We have a group applying and we do not want to negatively affect their chances of getting an award; however, they already have their partners and there doesn't appear to be an opportunity to join with them. Is it possible for any community to have more than one application awarded? 
   Answer: Yes, there's may be more than one grant funded in each Greater Illinois eligible service area.
5. Question: Is this focused only on non-criminal justice related efforts (ex. solely prevention, but services for those with criminal justice involvement)? 
   Answer: These funds cannot be used for criminal justice activity such as policing, prosecution, parole.
6. Question: What role does the LUC play in determining who gets awarded funding? 
   Answer: The Local Area Council (LAC) does not pay a role in determining who gets funded.
7. Question: What is the email I should send my Grant Application/Budget and Proposal for funding? 
   Answer: Applications must be emailed to dhs.violencepreventionservices@illinois.gov as outlined in the NOFO, see Section D.3. The budget should be submitted in the CSA system, see Section C.5. in the solicitation.
8. Question: I understand that the budget will need to be entered directly in to the GATA system but, is there a budget template that we can use while we work to draft our application/budget? 
   Answer: The FY23 Budget must be entered into the CSA system as explained in Section C.5. of the NOFO. The budget template for the overall program budget can be found here along with the other Appendices:IDHS: FY23 Greater IL Reimagine Violence Prevention Services Technical Assistance, Appendices & Frequently Asked Questions (state.il.us)
9. Question: How would we find out who is in our area LAC? 
   Answer: Local Advisory Council Webpage https://dhs.state.il.us/page.aspx?item=143126
10. Question: Do you want a PDF of the budget emailed to you as a part of the submission, in addition to being submitted in CSA? 
    Answer: Attachments 5 and 5a are where you will include the PDF of the 2 budgets (20-month & 8 month)
11. Question: What communities are included in the Waukegan North Chicago Cluster? Is Park City and /or Beach Park included? 
    Answer: The cities in that cluster are just Waukegan and North Chicago.
12. Question: Can you provide a specific link to the page with all of the attachments? 
    Answer: Link for the Notice of Funding Opportunity is: https://www.dhs.state.il.us/page.aspx?item=145468 and specifically IDHS: FY23 Greater IL Reimagine Violence Prevention Services Technical Assistance, Appendices & Frequently Asked Questions (state.il.us)
13. Question: Just for clarification. There is no need for a letter of intent 
    Answer: Correct! No letter of intent needed.
14. Question: What is the expectation on the number of case managers and street workers? 
    Answer: Applicants should propose what is in their capacity and meets the need in their community. Please adhere to the caseload requirements outlined in the NOFO.
15. Question: Is there a description of the difference between case managers, outreach staff , victim advocates? 
    Answer: Yes, in the Section A2b of the solicitation
16. Question: How many awards per community? 
    Answer: We anticipant funding at least one per community.
17. Question: What are the qualification requirements for subcontractors? 
    Answer: Subcontractors need to meet the same criteria outlined in Section C.2. Prequalification of the solicitation.
18. Question: When is the last day we can submit questions? 
    Answer: Due date for applicants and potential applicants to submit questions is Sep 9, 2022. All questions with answers will be posted by Sep 12, 2022.
19. Question: What is the Community Violence Intervention program model? 
    Answer: The Community Violence Intervention program model or CVI is an approach that uses evidence-informed strategies to reduce violence through tailor community-centered initiatives. The programming centers on engagement with individuals and groups at highest risk for violence to prevent and disrupt cycles of violence and retaliation.
20. Question: This grant is not specifying an age, just the highest risk identified by meeting certain criteria that was outlined in the NOFO, correct??? 
    Answer: Correct, the eligibility criteria is in the nofo and doesn't not specify an age range.
21. Question: As I read the activity requirements for each type of worker, there seems to be some overlap between the 3 jobs.? Street Outreach staff are on call to respond to any shooting incident but so are Victim Services worker, correct? Case Managers are not on-call, correct? When the Street Outreach worker and the Victim Services worker go out on a call, I am interpreting that they both are there to support the victim and the victim's family, they both are doing case management and referral services, but the Streat Outreach worker is to help de-escalate tension and reduce/address threats of violence between community members and community members and the police as well? When on-call is that the only difference between the Street Outreach worker and the Victim Services worker? 
    Answer: Street Outreach and Victim Service staffing needs to include 24/7 coverage. The street outreach worker de-escalates tensions and can support victims and their families with immediate needs. Victim service staff focus on meeting the needs of the victim and their family. Case managers are not on call.
22. Question: It appears that the Street Outreach worker and the Victim Services worker are providing Case Management services, so why is there a need to hire a Case Manager worker? 
    Answer: The Street Outreach and Victim Service staff are providing some?immediate referrals and connections to resources. The Case Manager works with the highest risk individuals that are interested in engaging in services and the referral typically comes from the Street Outreach Worker. The Victim Service staff also can also provide case management services for the victims they work with.
23. Question: The max case load for a Streat Outreach worker is 15. What closes a case because that informs how many staff I should propose? 
    Answer: Case closing criteria will be determined by your organization and proposed in the application.
24. Question: There is a max case load for a Case Manager of 25, what closes a case for them? 
    Answer: Case closing criteria will be determined by your organization and proposed in the application.
25. Question: There is a max case load for a Victim Service worker of 15. What closes a case for them, especially when they are providing weekly support groups to victims and their families? That service may go on much longer than any other service they provide. 
    Answer: Case closing criteria will be determined by your organization and proposed in the application.
26. Question: Under performance measures, the last metric is the percentage of successful mediations conducted. What is that percentage? What is considered a successful mediation? 
    Answer: The performance standard outlined in the NOFO is: Number of mediations conducted compared to the number of mediations resulting in positive outcomes. (Acceptable performance: 65% of mediations resulting in positive outcomes). A successful mediation is when both sides agree to a not instigate or retaliate violently. Selected applicants will receive training from a training and technical assistance provider.
27. Question: Under performance standards, the percent of agency assigned police department notifications that were responded to by Street Outreach staff, are we only held to the ones we were notified about? The local police department may not be very open to collaborating on this. I wouldn't be able to really start these conversations until now and that only gives me 4 months to get them on board with this requirement. 
    Answer: The applicant can propose a start-up period when these notification processes can be agreed upon. The applicant can project the number of responses based on actual notifications.
28. Question: Do any of these 3 positions need to have a degree? 
    Answer: No
29. Question: I see that we need to have people hired, trained, and ready to do this work within 2 months of receiving these funds. That would be quite impossible to meet, especially in Rockford. We are having such a hard time hiring. People aren't applying. Also, for the hospital I can't post a position until I receive notification that we were awarded the funds. These positions are unique to the hospital, and I would have to create new job descriptions and go through the approval process. I know that many of the agencies in this area would struggle through this process as well. Is there any give to that 60-day start? 
    Answer: Grantees can notify DHS of hiring challenges if the 2-month standard is not met.
30. Question: What is the email address to submit my application? 
    Answer: dhs.violencepreventionservices@illinois.gov

August 31, 2022:

31. Question: I noticed on the application checklist document that we are required to submit 2 different budgets, one is for 8-months, and the other says for 20, however the grant period in total is 20 months, should this be 12 months instead of 20 so the 2 budgets add up to 20 months in total, or do you actually want the 20-month budget  as well? 
    Answer: Please submit two budgets, one for 8 months and one for the entire grant  award period which expected to be 20 months.
32. Is a letter of intent is required for eligibility for this NOFO response? 
    Answer: No, a letter of intent is not required for this NOFO.
33. Question: I'm writing about the funding opportunity numbers below. We are interested in applying for these grants. However. I don't see anything related to the LOI's on the summary information pages. Are applicants able to submit them at this point? The funding opportunity numbers are below. 
    FUNDING OPPROTUNITY NUMBERS:
    23-444-80-3005-01
    23-444-80-2774-03 
    Answer: Letters of Intent (LOI) are not required for either of the above referenced NOFOs.  Interested applicants can follow the submission directions outlined in Section D of both NOFOs.
34. Question: Does the Executive Summary count towards the 20-page limit? 
    Answer: No, it does not.
35. Question: Do I include the Executive Summary in the narrative? 
    Answer: The narrative section will begin with the Capacity section. The Executive Summary will be an Attachment.

September 8, 0222:

36. Question: We plan to subcontract with one agency to implement this project. This agency will be the entity providing the Street Outreach and Case Management.? I noticed the under Section D. Application and Submission Information, F. Budget Narrative, ii. Sub-recipients that we need to submit and attach Attachment 8 "sub-recipient Agreement". As a city government applicant, we would not be able to execute and agreement with a sub-recipient based on an award that has not yet been granted. Additionally, the process that we will need to go through to get an executed agreement will not occur until after the application submission due date. Could we, instead, submit an MOU signed by the City and the sub-recipient that details each parties intention to execute an agreement once notice of the award is provided and is reflective of the activities, responsibilities and budget submitted through this application? 
    Answer: YES - that is perfectly fine.
37. Question: We received information regarding the Violence Prevention Program. Currently the link https://www.dhs.state.il.us/page.aspx?item=140713 indicates that the application deadline is 3/9/22. Is this the correct link? 
    Answer: The correct link for the Greater Illinois VPS NOFO is : IDHS: Greater Illinois Reimagine Violence Prevention Services (23-444-80-2774-03) Notice of Funding Opportunity (state.il.us) The correct link for the Rolling Chicago VPS NOFO is: IDHS: RPSA Violence Prevention Services (23-444-80-2774) Continuous Notice of Funding Opportunity (state.il.us)
38. Question: We are looking to apply for grant?23-444-80-3005-01. I'm looking on the executive summary page and see nothing about the letter or notice of intent to file. 
    Answer: Applicants do not need a letter of intent for this solicitation.