Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care FY 2008

Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care FY 2008

Department of Early Education and Care

Accreditation Grant Renewal Application

PART I – OVERVIEW, ELIGIBILITY, FUNDING, SUBMISSION AND CONTACT INFORMATION

Background: / The Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) provides services for children in Massachusetts through a mixed delivery system which includes child care centers, out-of-school time programs, family child care homes, public preschool programs, private school preschool and kindergarten, and Head Start programs. EEC is responsible for licensing early education and care and out-of-school time programs throughout Massachusetts and for providing child care financial assistance to low-income families with children birth to 13 years of age. In addition EEC provides support for information and referral services, inclusive programming for children with special needs, parenting and family support, and professional development opportunities for educators in the early education and out of school time fields. These efforts affect thousands of early education and out of school time providers, who serve more than275,000 children each day. In its broadest role, EEC also serves as a source of information to more than one million families in Massachusetts.
National Accreditation is a positive and constructive process for improving quality in early childhood programs. EEC and Care is committed to ensuring that all children have access to quality early childhood programs. Program accreditation and staff credentialing through nationally recognized processes are the means for CPCs to demonstrate the high quality of the participating programs and providers.
Grant Purpose: / The purpose of the Accreditation grant program is to increase the quality of early education and care programs by ensuring that such programs have access to the supports needed to achieve National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) independent or system-affiliated family child care programs to achieve National Association for Family Child Care (NAFCC) accreditation.
Grant Goals and Priorities: / The specific goals of the Accreditation Grant are to:

1. To provide accreditation support to center-based and family childcare programs for participation in the CPC program;

1. To provide the following supports:
2. Consultation support for accreditation and re-accreditation; and
3. Assistance with costs associated with accreditation and re-accreditation;

1. Encourage broad based collaboration to identify accreditation needs for programs. The expectation is that CPC programs will collaborate with each other and other agencies to better serve a larger geographical region to maximize accreditation funding and benefits.

Applicant Eligibility: / This is an application for renewal of FY 2007 accreditation grant funding Existing CPC programs who received transitional accreditation funding in FY 2007 are eligible to apply for renewal of grant funds, either individually or jointly. The approval of your FY 2008 continuation application and request for funds may be delayed or withheld if there are outstanding FY 2007 and/or 2008 data reports.
The lead agency and all subcontracted providers must comply with all applicable statutes, regulations, policies, and procedures, inclusive of any changes made to the CPC Program as a result of enacted legislation, duly promulgated regulations, or policies implemented by the Board and Department of Early Education an/ord Care.
Funding: / This is an application for renewal of FY 2007 accreditation grant funding. CPC lead agencies may apply for the eligibility amounts listed in Appendix B. Accreditation grant funding for the CPC program is subject to FY 2008 state budget appropriations and budget language.
Fund Use: / Accreditation grant funds may be used as follows:

1. Staff salaries;
2. Payment of 50% of accreditation costs for individual programs (programs required to match 50% cost), including the following;

• Enrolling in self-study;
• Becoming an applicant;
• Becoming a candidate & Onsite Visit; and
• Reaccreditation Annual Report.

1. Consultant/s costs and travel.

Services may be provided by the lead agency and/or through subcontracts with other agencies or consultants (subject to EEC approval).
Fiscal Administration and Oversight
Please note the limit on fiscal administrative costs. The sum of the followingexpenditures cannot exceed 8.0% of the total Accreditationgrant award (delineated in detail in Part II: Budget Detail and Narrative):

1. Salary of the supervisor of the grant coordinator;
2. Salaries of fiscal staff (including, but not limited to, bookkeeper andcontract monitors);
3. Telephone/utility, maintenance and repair, an internal audit costs associated with the administration of the accreditation grant program; and
4. Costs of administrative caps on subcontracts. Administrative costs of any subcontract shall not exceed 8.0% of the subcontract award. Please use guidelines equivalent to those provided above, and delineated in Part II: Budget Detail and Narrative, to determine the administrative costs of a subcontract.

Please note: EEC has reserved the right to include the above categories in its calculation of an approved administrative cap. Federal indirect rates may not be charged to this grant.
Project Duration / 7/1/2007– 6/30/2008(provided applicants meet all program requirements)
Contact / Contact: Annette Lamana
Phone: 413-788-8401, ext 123
Email:
Timeline and Submission Date / Continuation grant proposals must be submitted byJune 11, 2007and must be received by EEC’s Central office by 3:00 pm.
Required
Forms to be Submitted: /

1. Part II- Budget Detail Pages and Budget Narrative (Attached Separately)
2. Part III- Subcontractor Budget Detail Pages and Budget Narrative (Attached Separately)
3. Part IV-Required Statistical Information (informed by goals and priorities listed above)
4. Part V- FY 2008 Program Contact Information

Please note: Part I: Standard Contract Form will be sent to you following your grant submission and must be returned to EEC with original signatures by June 22nd.
Additional
Information for the Applicant: / Appendix A: Instructions
Appendix B: Accreditation Grant Eligibility Amounts
Appendix C: Grant Negotiation, Payment Terms, Grant Expenditures, Termination, Recoupment of Funds, and Relevant Laws
Submission
Instructions: / PLEASE NOTE: SUBMISSION REQUIRES E-MAILING AND MAILING PORTIONS OF THIS APPLICATION
Applicants must mail one complete originaland 3 complete copies to:
Grants Management
Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care

51 Sleeper Street

Boston, MA02210
Applicants must email*:
Part II: Budget Detail and Narrative;
Part III: Subcontractor Budget Detail and Narrative; and
Part IV: Required Statistical Information
to:
Pleaseinclude “Accreditation Grant” and the name of your Lead Agency in the subject line of the email message. If your Lead Agency is submitting more than one RFR, please indicate the communities served (e.g. CPC RFR: Lead Agency Name: Town 1 Served, Town 2 Served) in your e-mail.

PART V: FY 2008 PROGRAM CONTACT INFORMATION

1. SUMMER CONTACT - Must be available to the Department from June 10, 2007 through September 1, 2007.

Name:
Name of Agency:
Mailing Address:
Phone:
Fax:
E-mail: *

1. GRANT COORDINATOR

Name:
Name of Agency:
Mailing Address:
Phone:
Fax:
E-mail: *

1. LEAD AGENCY CONTACT

Name:
Name of Agency:
Mailing Address:
Phone:
Fax:
E-mail: *

1. FISCAL CONTACT

Name:
Name of Agency:
Mailing Address:
Phone:
Fax:
E-mail: *

APPENDIX A – INSTRUCTIONS

PART II: Budget Detail and Narrative: – Instructions

Your Accreditation budget is in the form of an Excel spread sheet. Its purpose is to provide budgetary information, using a line item or object of expenditure format. All amounts on budget lines must be rounded to whole dollars.

Specific budgetary information structured in an object of expenditure or line item format and containing sufficient sub-line item information to comply with the relevant laws is required.

Grant recipients must do the following:

• Maintain separate and auditable records for each project;
• Maintain time and attendance records to support payrolls;
• Maintain time distribution records for salaries and wages of employees that are chargeable to more than one grant program; and
• Administer funds in compliance with relevant federal, state and local laws, regulations and/or policies, including but not limited to 815 CMR 2.00 et. seq."

General Instructions

Open the excel document entitled Budget Detail Information and Narrative attached to your email. Save this document to your computer. Rename the file so it includes the name of your Lead Agency (e.g. Budget Detail _Lead Agency Name_Town Names).

The first column of budget detail and narrative document has numbered rows. These numbers budget detail line for reference purposes.

The budget contains the following columns:

• Lead Agency Name: Please enter the legal name of your lead agency.
• Communities served: Please enter the communities served in your lead agency’s formal catchment area.
• Expenditure Category: Delineates the specific expenditure categories that reflect ACCREDITATION program goals and allowable expenditures
• Proposed FY 2008 Expenditure: Report the proposed funding you intend to allocate to specific expenditure categories. This column will auto-sum all of the figures entered to provide a subtotal where indicated and total grant award amount at the bottom of the spreadsheet. This amount should not exceed your given allocation for that particular line item, as listed in Appendix B).
• Expenditure Description: Please provide a detailed explanation of how the funding proposed in the Proposed FY 2008 Expenditure column will be used. Please do not reiterate the definitions that are included in the next column entitled Expenditure Parameters.
• Expenditure Parameters: Provides definitions and parameters for appropriate expenditures.

Important:Rows numbered 1 through 10 (highlighted in yellow to far left) reflect costs to the Lead Agency associated with coordination and implementation of the ACCREDITATION Grant.

Rows number 11 and 12(highlighted in yellow to far left) should reflect costs associated with subcontracted services.

Row 11: Program Coordination and Support Attributed to Subcontracts: Please indicate thetotal expenditures attributed to subcontractors for the purpose of grant coordination and/or implementation. For each subcontractor who conducts grant coordination and support, please complete Part III: Subcontractor Budget Detail and Narrative.

Row 12: Subcontracts for Individual Consultants/contractors: Please indicate the total expenditures for individual consultants/contractors for the delivery of accreditation services other than program coordination and implementation. Please note: subcontracts with independent contractors for the provision of program coordination, including subsidy management services are prohibited in this line. You do not need to complete Part III: Subcontractor Budget Detail and Narrative for these subcontractors.

In the section labeled “Grant Administration and Oversight” please indicate in the Proposed FY 2008 Expenditure column, the amount your lead agency will expend on approved administrative costs. Approved administrative costs are delineated in the Expenditure Parameter column of this budget. You must indicate administrative costs of the lead agency and any subcontract separately. Administrative costs associated with subcontract may also not exceed 8% of the total subcontract.

Note: The sum of lead agency administrative costs and subcontracted administrative costs must not exceed 8% of the total grant amount. Federal indirect rates or those assigned by other entities may not be charged to this grant.

Please note: Accreditation Grant Total may not exceed the allocation listed in Appendix B.

APPENDIX C – GRANT NEGOTIATION, PAYMENT TERMS, GRANT EXPENDITURES, TERMINATION, RECOUPMENT OF FUNDS, AND RELEVANT LAW

EEC will negotiate with the selected Grantee(s) the specific deliverables and timeline for their completion prior to the commencement of this project. Payments will be made according to the final negotiated terms. EEC will have sole discretion to determine whether a deliverable has been successfully completed by a Grantee thereby triggering a payment.

If during the project, a Grantee would like to request a change in the required services, deliverables, or timeline, the Grantee may propose such changes to EEC who may agree to implement such changes. The parties may mutually agree to such change(s) through a written memorandum. A formal grant amendment will not be required.

Grantees are encouraged to use Electronic Funds Transfers (EFT.) EFT allows for payments to be made from the Commonwealth to grantees electronically and is the preferred method of payment for all payees doing business with the Commonwealth. Use of EFT significantly reduces payment delays through a reduction in processing and mailing time. Registering a grantee for EFT payments requires completion of an Electronic Funds Transfer form by the Grantee and submission to EEC as part of contract execution.

To initiate any grant payments, grantees must submit a Request for Funds Form for the appropriate fiscal year. Throughout the grant term, grantees must seek EEC’s approval for any budget changes by filing EEC Amendment Forms. Within sixty (60) days of the termination of a grant, a grantee must submit an FR1 Final Financial Report and repay the Commonwealth for any unexpended funds. These forms are available at EEC’s website,

Forms must be sent to the following address:

Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care

51 Sleeper Street, 4th Floor

Boston, MA02210

Attn: Sandy Fortier Hollow

All grant recipients must use the grant monies in accordance with the terms and requirements set forth in this Request for Responses, in addition to applicable EEC policies, regulations and/or state or federal laws. EEC reserves the right to recoup any and all monies which are not spent in accordance with such terms and/or laws. EEC further reserves the right to discontinue grant funding to any recipient who violates any of the grant terms and/or conditions which are incorporated into this Request for Responses.

The selected Grantee must comply with all applicable provisions of the Massachusetts General Laws, State Finance Law, 815 Code of Massachusetts Regulations 2.00 et seq. (regarding grants), and the Office of the State Comptroller’s policies and procedures regarding grants.

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