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Grants and Other Financial Assistance Programs: FY2018

Quality Enhancements in After-School and Out-of-School Time (ASOST-Q)
Fund Code: 530

Purpose:	The goal of this state funded grant program is to enhance out-of-school time (OST) programs and services to improve the academic, physical, social, and emotional wellness of public and non-public school-age youth during the school year and the summer months. OST refers to after-school and out-of-school time programming (including vacations, weekends, before-school, and summer).
Priorities:	The main priorities for this grant are to improve the quality of OST programs and services by supporting: Activities that enhance one or more of the quality criteria areas outlined in the Guidelines for Quality Enhancements in After-School and Out-of-School Time - found below in the Additional Information section. These criteria provide a framework for balanced, quality programming that supports the academic, physical, social, and emotional development of participants. (Category A - Quality Enhancements) Regional and statewide professional development (PD), which includes networking opportunities, for OST providers. (Category B - Regional or Statewide PD) Partnerships to develop, pilot, and document high-quality service-learning (SL) curricula that will help to decrease summer learning loss, increase students' social and emotional learning competencies and increase their understanding of academic skills and concepts. (Category C - SL Curriculum Development)
Eligibility:	Eligible applicants include all FY17 Fund Code 530 recipients.
Funding Type:	State
Funding:	Approximately $1.9 million is projected to be available for these continuation grants. The final total amount available is subject to the state budget appropriation. FY18 funding amounts will at most be equal to the amounts awarded competitively in FY17 but may need to be reduced. Funding is contingent upon availability. All dollar amounts listed are estimated/approximate and are subject to change. If more funding is to become available it will be distributed under the same guideline as listed in the initial RFP document.
Fund Use:	Funds must be used to support activities that enhance programs and services as outlined in this Funding Opportunity RFP. Budget expenditures may include, but are not limited to the following: Staff and coordinator salaries related to the quality enhancement; PD activities; Stipends for professionals and students involved in the delivery of services; Activities to promote family engagement; Additional costs associated with serving students with disabilities and/or students who are English language learners; Program materials and supplies; and Transportation. (Please note: vehicles may not be purchased with these funds.) General notes on fund use (applicable to applicants in all categories): Funds from this grant may not be used to support tuition for individual participants; Not more that 15% of total funds requested may be used to support program administrative costs (e.g., program director, bookkeeping, secretarial, etc.); and Indirect costs are not allowable. Additional notes for Category A - Quality Enhancements: Applicants requesting funding to support existing staff costs must provide a clear justification for the allocation of these costs to the proposed enhancements; and Funds requested must be clearly linked to proposed program enhancement activities. Additional notes for Category C - STEM-SL Curriculum Development: All applicants must budget $7,500 ($5,000 school year / $2,500 summer) in the grant request to support PD provided by the Department and its partners. These funds will support the required PD/support provided by the Department and its partners (specific dates are still being confirmed and will be sent to all grantees upon award). The required $7,500 is pre-populated under Contractual Services (Line 5) in the budget pages for this grant. Please do not remove or change the amounts - awarded grantees will pay these funds directly to Harkins Consulting, LLC (formerly KIDS Consortium). Applicants may add additional items to Line 5 as appropriate. Category C applicants are expected to budget additional funds, as needed, to support other costs, associated with this required PD (e.g. stipends for planning, substitutes, travel, etc), as well as for additional planning/curriculum writing time, and training of staff.
Project Duration:	School Year: Upon approval (no earlier than 09/01/2017) - 06/30/2018 Summer: 7/1/2018 - 8/31/2018
Program Unit:	Office of Student and Family Support
Contacts:	Allison Smith
Phone Number:	781-338-3232
Date Due:	Proposing to use any portion of the funds during School Year only: Thursday, September 7, 2017* Proposing to use any portion of the funds during School Year & Summer: Thursday, September 21, 2017* Proposing to use funds during Summer only: For informational purposes, applicants should email Part III - Program Information and summer only budgets to asost@doe.mass.edu. Summer 2018 is state fiscal year 2019. In order to avoid having to enter an application into EdGrants twice, there will be an opportunity for Summer only applicants to submit Summer only budgets into EdGrants in the Spring of 2018. *The start date of the grant cannot be before the application is submitted in EdGrants. For a 9/1 start date, you need to get your grant submitted prior to 9/1.
Required Documents:	Part I - General - Program Unit Signature Page - (Standard Contract Form and Application for Program Grants) Part I - School Year Part I - Summer Part II - (This is a budget template for the applicant to utilize while working through their final budget request in order to prepare for entering it into EdGrants. Please feel free to use this template when preparing for Application Submission. This Is Not the Budget. The actual final budget the applicant is requesting will be entered directly into EdGrants as part of the application submission process. Summer only (FY2019) applicants should email this completed budget template to asost@doe.mass.edu for informational purposes. Part II - Category A & B Part II - Category C Part III - Required Program Information Year-End & Continuation Data Report Addendum A - Grant Assurances
Additional Information:	Throughout the duration of the grant, the following are required of all recipients of the respective category: Category A: Quality Enhancements Implement program quality enhancements that support identified needs or gaps in program services - Guidelines for Quality Enhancements in After-School and Out-of-School Time Programs. Implement Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (Department)-required program evaluation tools to be used to support continuous program improvement. Submit required grant reporting. (Details will be provided to all grant recipients.) Category B: Regional or Statewide PD (including networking opportunities) Provide PD that includes networking opportunities to meet identified needs of the OST field, particularly those receiving ASOST-Q, Category A funding. Review the needs of ASOST-Q grantees, finalize PD offerings, and provide the Department with a schedule and registration information. The Department will distribute to ASOST-Q grantees and other OST providers (as appropriate). Submit required grant reporting, including attendance lists and session evaluation summaries. (Department will provide details to all awarded grantees.) Category C: SL Curriculum Development Identify a team, including representatives from the participating OST sites and other partners which will participate in required training, and develop, implement and document the SL curriculum. Participate as a team in all required Department-sponsored PD. Implement the developed SL curriculum with youth for a minimum of 25 hours over a minimum of 4 weeks during the summer. This program can be implemented as a component of an existing summer program. (Programs are encouraged to dedicate additional time as appropriate.) Work with the Department to document and submit curriculum materials developed to serve as examples for other summer programs. Submit other required grant reporting. (Department will provide details to all awarded grantees.) (Optional) Implement again the SL curriculum developed in FY17 with a new group of students and make and document refinements as needed.
Submission Instructions:	Complete the Application Submission through EdGrants by the dates listed in the Due Date section above. The start date of the grant cannot be before the application is submitted in EdGrants. Applicants requesting School Year (FY2018) funds only: Must complete the Application Submission in EdGrants by entering the budget and attaching all required forms listed in this RFP to the Attachments List formlet of the Application Submission. Applicants requesting both School Year (FY2018) and Summer (FY2019) funds: Must complete the Application Submission in EdGrants by entering the School Year (FY2018) budget and attach all other required forms listed in this RFP to the Attachments List formlet of the Application Submission. These applicants must also attach the Summer (FY2019) proposed budget in the Attachments List. Applicants will be notified in Spring of 2018 to enter in the Summer (FY2019) portion of the budget. Applicants requesting Summer (FY2019) funds only: Must email Part III-Program Information and summer only budgets to asost@doe.mass.edu. Nothing is required in EdGrants at this time. Applicants will be notified in the Spring 2018 regarding submitting Summer FY2019 application into EdGrants. In EdGrants, applicants are required to create and name the grant project. Please use the following naming convention for your "Applicant Project Name" in EdGrants: FY18 (insert fund code number and program unit) Applicant Name All items listed under the required forms section of this RFP should be uploaded / attached in the Attachments List formlet of the Application Submission in EdGrants. This includes a signed / scanned PDF of Part I / Coversheet with Superintendent's signature as well as Schedule A form, if applicable to your district. The budget the applicant is requesting needs to be entered directly into EdGrants as part of the application submission process. For Guidance Documents regarding EdGrants, visit EdGrants: User Guides and Information. For information on upcoming EdGrants webinar trainings email EdGrants@doe.mass.edu. For information on upcoming EdGrants webinar trainings email EdGrants@doe.mass.edu. Please note: It is up to the district to determine who they want to add as EdGrants Front Office users in order to submit grant application as well as payment request information. Please review the EdGrants: User Security Controls to make informed decisions regarding assigning your district level users.