Community Notice: Appropriation Act for FY 2016

Dear FYSB Grantee:

As you are aware, the Government Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 ends on September 30, 2015 and an Appropriation Act for FY 2016 has not yet been passed. The Administration strongly believes that a lapse in appropriations should not occur, and that there is enough time for Congress to act to prevent a lapse. However, prudent management requires that we prepare for an orderly execution of contingency plans in the unfortunate event of a lapse. In the event a continuing resolution or a FY2016 budget is not passed and a lapse of funding occurs, I wanted to provide you with information related to our grant administration processes.

Should a lapse in funding occur, HHS and Administration for Children and Families staff will not be available to provide routine administrative support services. HHS will, however, maintain the Payment Management System in an operational status to continue processing grant drawdown requests, so that payments can be made for excepted programs. The robust internal controls that currently exist would continue to ensure the integrity of grant drawdown requests and payments. For awards received prior to the gap in funding, you may also be able to continue drawing funds from prior awards during an appropriations lapse. If you received your notice of grant award with restrictive terms and conditions, or if your drawdown request triggers one of the Payment Management System edit checks and or the drawdown limit controls, you may not be able to drawdown funds.

If you are considering submitting an application for additional HHS federal assistance funding, please be advised, that the Grants.gov system will be operational and will be accepting applications from prospective grantees. HHS will take action on those applications for fully funded and excepted programs. For those programs which are non-excepted, the Grants.gov system will to accept and store applications until such time as the responsible Department has the authority and funding to return to normal business operations.

Please check our website at www.acf.hhs.gov and www.hhs.gov for updates. Thank you for your assistance with this period of a potential government shut-down and your ongoing support of the Administration for Children and Families.

Communication Notice to RHY Grantees

US Dept. of Education Releases New Guidance on Homeless Youth Determinations

Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Education issued a Dear Colleague letter clarifying determinations for unaccompanied homeless youth for financial aid. It revises USED policy so that all applicants under age 24, including those who are 22 or 23 years old, and who are unaccompanied and homeless, or self-supporting and at risk of being homeless, qualify for a homeless youth determination and will be considered independent students.

Importantly, the clarifies that youth who are between the ages of 21 and 24 and who are unaccompanied and homeless, or self-supporting and at risk of being homeless, qualify for a homeless youth determination, and will be considered independent students. This is a change from previous guidance that defined “youth” as 21 and under.

The July 29 ED Dear Colleague letter may be downloaded here: http://naehcy.org/educational-resources/higher-ed

NAEHCY’s higher education page contains many additional resources for youth, school district homeless liaisons, homeles service providers, financial aid administrators, and other higher education professionals, including:

• A Higher Education Hotline, (855) 446-2673 (toll-free) or [email protected]
• Podcasts
• FAFSA Tip Sheets
• Determination Templates
• Toolkits on financial aid, college access, and college success

For more information, and for assistance related to higher education, please contact NAEHCY’s Director of Higher Education Initiatives, Cyekeia Lee, at:
Toll-free helpline: (855)-446-2673
Phone: (313)-436-5949
Email: [email protected]

RHY-OHS Partnership Dissemination Plan

The attached RHY-OHS Partnership Dissemination Plan is a resource document developed in coordination with the Office of Head Start to provide to RHY grantees (primary focus on Maternity Group Home grantees).  The information will assist grantees in identifying important factors that influence a child’s behavior and effective response strategies.

RHY-OHS Partnership Dissemination Plan 2015

Annual RHY Grantee Survey Now Available

It is time for the annual RHY Grantee Survey. The information gathered from this survey will help the Family and Youth Services Bureau understand more about the work you do at the local level and will help RHYTTAC in planning the training and technical assistance that would be most helpful. The survey should take approximately 10 – 20 minutes to complete. Although only one answer per grantee agency is required, the instrument does allow for staff operating from different role perspectives to include their points of view as well. Please forward to other staff within your organization. The deadline for the completion of the surveys is Friday, July 17. Thank you in advance for the information.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/2015GranteeAssessment