FFY2011 RFP Technical Assistance FAQs
Update:06/10/10
Q. If we receive State funds that pay 100% of our program supervisor’s salary, could 10% of her salary be used as match in our PSSF budget?
A. Yes, this would be an eligible match if 10% of her time was dedicated to PSSF services.
Q. We are not changing any of our services but will need to make changes to our budget. Can we still submit as a “continuing program”?
A. You may make changes to the budget and still submit your proposal as a “continuing program.”
Q. In regards to liability coverage is there a certain dollar amount our program and the Department should be covered in order to satisfy this requirement?
A. Here is the PSSF contract language pertaining to insurance coverage…
PARA #127_INSURANCE:
The following requirements shall be adhered to by contractors throughout the duration of the Contract, and as may otherwise be specified herein. Contractors shall procure and maintain insurance that shall protect the Contractor and the Department form any claims for bodily injury, property damage, or personal injury that may arise out of operations under the Contract. Contractor shall procure the insurance policies at its own expense and shall furnish and be on file with the Department an insurance certificate of the coverage required in this section listing the Department as certificate holder. In addition, the insurance certificate must provide the name and address of the insured, name, address, telephone number and signature of the authorized agent; the name of the insurance company (Licensed to operate in Georgia); and, a description of the coverage in detailed standard terminology; and an acknowledgement that notice of cancellation is required to be given to the Department. Contractor is required to obtain and maintain the following types of insurance coverage for the duration of the Contract:
A. Contractor will maintain commercial liability coverage of Professional Liability/Malpractice policy which includes Errors and Omissions for each person completing assessments or providing direct services with a minimum of $1,000,000 per event and $3,000,000 annual aggregate. Copy of proof of General Commercial Liability coverage of a minimum of $100,000. Liability coverage must include all staff and Contractor must maintain verification that all persons with whom you contract have appropriate coverage.
B. Vehicle Insurance Policy - Vehicle Liability, bodily injury, and property damage coverage on vehicle(s) used by the Contractor or Contractor’s personnel in performance of transportation services provided by this Contract. The Contractor must carry a minimum of:
• Liability Insurance of $100,000 per person and $300,000 per occurrence and
• Bodily injury; and property damage coverage in the amount of $100,000 per person,
and $300,000 per occurrence
Q. On service delivery schedule I need more lines than provided. If I insert more lines then the formula isn’t there. Should I just do 2 pages?
A. In these rare cases where the number of services exceed the number of lines available on the service delivery schedule (13), send a request to rfptechnicalassistance@caresolutions.comand request a custom form to accommodate the number of services you have.
Q. Are tutoring services allowed as program costs in the Family Support Services service model?
A. Yes, tutoring would be an allowable ancillary service for Family Support service models.
Q. Does the applying organization have to have the total amount of matching funds in a bank account or escrow at the time the program begins?
A. Although you are not required to have all the match funds available at the commencement of the contract, you must provide an assurance that they will be made available and when on your certified cash match letter (Form #5) included with your proposal.
Q. Last year we provided Family Preservation services (FPS) under the Placement Prevention service model. We provided home-based parent education AND individual/family therapy. In the current RFP, therapeutic counseling is a core service for the FPS Crisis Intervention service model. Does this mean in order to provide therapy/counseling, we would have to write a new proposals as a Crisis Intervention service model?
A. Therapeutic counseling is a REQUIRED core service for the FPS Crisis Intervention service model, however, it can be provided as an ancillary service for Placement Prevention. You can submit as a 'continuing program' if you do not change your service array.
Update:06/08/10
Q. Is there a form letter for certifying your financial statements?
A. No. Your accountant should be able to furnish a statement certifying that the financial records you are including in your proposal are an accurate portrayal of your financial health.
Q. Two questions on the forms…
1- Section E - Forms
Family Support Services
Part 5- Service Implementation, Row 8, Column C: Will not allow anything to be typed into this cell as it is “password protected”.
2- Same form as above, column E - objectives and measurements: Is there any way to add bullets to this column to separate the objectives from the measurements and to also allow for more than one objective?
A. 1. If you downloaded the forms on the first day of the RFP release, you may need an updated form(there was a lone password protected cell in the original document that was causing a problem.). Try downloading a new version (what is currently on the website) to see if that solves the problem.
2. Excel doesn't have a "bullet" function. You can insert rows and enter text in the last column to list all of your objectives for that service. See example below.
Q. What is the difference between an objective and an outcome. Can you give examples of each?
A.
Objective: A specific statement that explains how a program goal will be accomplished. For example, an objective of the goal to increase caregiver knowledge of alternatives to corporal punishment could be to provide classes on effective discipline techniques to participants. An objective is stated so that changes, in this case, an increase in a specific type of knowledge, can be measured (such as with a pre- and post-test).
Outcome: Outcomes are the results of the services provided and refer to the changes in knowledge, attitude or behavior of the participants. Example: Participants will demonstrate an increased knowledge of alternative discipline techniques measured by changes from the pre-test to the post-test.
Q. When I go to print the service implementation plan, the last column prints on a second page. Is this OK or should I do something to fix it?
A. If you set your page margins to half inch before printing and this should eliminate the problem.
Q. I have more than one objective and measurement for some of my services. Should I just add the additional objectives/measurements in the same cell beneath the other ones since I cannot add a row(s)?
A. Yes
Q. We need to add more lines to the budget document but it won’t allow us to do so. Should we just start a second page?
A. Forms were updated on June 2 to address a couple of formatting issues. If you experience problems with any of your forms, try downloading the current version (if you had downloaded them prior to the update.) You should be able to add rows to the budget now and the form automatically truncate to a second page.
Q. We plan to apply as a “continuing program” & have 2 questions:
1. We would like to add client transportation. We already have a van. We will show hourly costs for a driver. Should we estimate fuel costs based on miles per gallon or would we be reimbursed at the rate of $.50 per mile?
2. We may be using utility costs toward our cash match. Would that go under “Regular Operating expenses on the Budget?
A. The answers are:
1a. If client transportation is NOT on your current service delivery schedule and you add this service, you will NOT be able to submit as a "continuing program."
1b. If you submit a "new proposal"... You would need to estimate the total number of trips and develop a unit cost per trip. Then on the expense side it would probably be best to estimate your mileage and use a flat mileage rate to calculate your total expense on the budget.
2. Utility costs should be included under “Facility Costs”. Keep in mind that you must provide adequate justification for the amount you attribute to the PSSF program. For example, if your utility costs for the whole building are $6,000 per year and PSSF utilizes one room once a week for a 2-hour class, you cannot expense the whole $6000 to PSSF to satisfy the match. The allocation must be proportional to PSSF utilization. Also, clearly identify it as "match only" on the budget form, if it qualifies.
Update:06/07/10
Q. We are a continuing program and we have submitted our self-assessment. We do not recall an agency history being a part of that assessment. My question is do you have our agency history on file, or do we need to submit it via the new PSSF grant, or submit it directly to you via an addendum?
A. If you are submitting a proposal as a "continuing program" the instructions do not include questions on your agency's history. This information is available to us in your previous proposal. DO NOT include agency history as an "addendum" or "extra" information as it will disqualify your proposal.
Q. It appears that at least some of the forms are password protected/blocked for read only. A message does pop up saying I can go to "tools", to unprotect with a password, but even if I had a password don't see the unprotect option under tools
A. The cells for required core services and the cells with formulas in them are password protected. You should not have to edit these. If there is a cell where that you have been instructed to enter information and you cannot, please let us know which form, the column and the line where you encountered a problem so that we can investigate.
Q. We received PSSF funding for FFY2010 and would like to submit a proposal to continue program services for FFY2011. At the bidders' conference, it was mentioned that there are "required deliverables." How do we know if we have the "required services" now?
A. Your service plan (approved service delivery schedule) for FFY2010 includes all the required deliverables for your identified service model. Current PSSF network providers may submit a proposal as a 'continuing program' if there are no changes to their service array. They may adjust total program cost, total # of units, and/or unit cost. However, if any of these parameters change, they must provide adequate justification to support doing so.
If you add or delete any services you must submit a 'new proposal'.
Q. In the county we serve, transportation is a major issue. Also, several of the foster children we serve are located in foster homes outside of our county. In order to serve all these children, we are wondering if leasing a vehicle, hiring a driver and insurance for the vehicle can be line items on our "Time-Limited Reunification Services" Supervised Family Visitation PSSF Grant budget. We would only use the vehicle for the purpose of transporting the children we serve to the scheduled visits with their parents and back to their foster homes. We document miles and drivers hours.
A. The cost of leasing a vehicle to provide transportation services is eligible as an expense. You must demonstrate the need to do so to justify the cost allocated to PSSF services.
Update: 06/04/10
Q. How many can be submitted by one agency?
A. Effective FFY2010, agencies were limited to submitting two proposals .
Q. Can we apply for funding in more than one service category or service model?
A. You may submit proposals in more than one service category and/or model, however, each proposal must be specific to a single service model. In other words, you cannot combine Family Support and Time-Limited Reunification proposals into one proposal. Nor can you combine FPS Placement Prevention in a proposal for FPS Crisis Intervention.
Q. We would like to expand to serve another county. Do we need to submit a "new proposal"?
A. A "continuing program" may elect to expand its service area provided it can demonstrate its capacity to do so and the request does not exceed $75,000 in federal funds. This would not require preparing a "new proposals."
However, if serving an expanded region means that program costs would exceed these limits, you would need to submit a "new proposal".
Q. On the Excel forms, I can't see the entire answer or description I've written.
A. There is word limit on what will display in a single cell of an Excel spreadsheet - approximately 100. Be concise in your descriptions. You may add additional detail in your narrative component.
Q. In preparing our budget, it spilled onto a second page. Is this acceptable?
Should I mark through the total on page 1 and have the final tally on page 2?
A. The budget, and all other forms, will automatically truncate to a second page. These additional pages do not count against you in the page limits for your proposal. However, please try to be concise in your descriptions so that your forms are as few pages as possible.
There is no need to sub-total pages when this occurs. The totals will calculate on the final page of the budget and the service delivery schedule.
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