|
IOWA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
COVID-19 Public Health Workforce Supplemental Funding Application Requirements
Application: 2022-2023
APPLICATION DEADLINE: March 3, 2022 at 4:30 PM CST
Contact: Melissa Walker, Administrative Consultant
Iowa Department of Education
400 East 14th Street
Des Moines, Iowa 50319-0146
melissa.walker@iowa.gov
OVERVIEW and GENERAL INFORMATION:
Introduction: The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) awarded funding, totaling $2,000,000,000, to eligible jurisdictions on the approved but unfunded (ABU) list for CDC-FFATP18-1802 to establish, expand, train, and sustain the state, tribal, local, and territorial (STLT) governments public health workforce jurisdictional COVID-19 prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery initiatives, including school-based health programs.The Iowa Departments of Public Health (IDPH) and Education (IDOE) propose to use the $4.5 million dollars from Iowa’s portion of the CDC’s allocation that must be directed to schools to train and sustain our school health workforce to support Iowa’s COVID-19 response and recovery initiatives through school-based health programs focused on Social-Emotional-Behavioral-Health (SEBH). Funding for the grant will facilitate the need to train personnel to address our COVID-19 response needs over the performance period by building capacity to address one of our school health priorities, namely to address the SEBH needs of Iowa’s children that are deriving from coping with SEBH needs during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Funding Purpose:
The purpose of this grant allows districts to increase their coverage of capacity building necessary to meet the increased need for SEBH-related capacity as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Activities and services include expanding professional development opportunities and workforce for coaching.
Competitive applications should prioritize SEBH needs surrounding diversity, inclusion and health equity.
The competitive grant will be allocated in the following manner:
Prospective grantees will apply for funds to the IDOE, which will administer the program on behalf of IDPH in accordance with all requirements of the CDC. The department anticipates awarding between 40 and 80 grants ranging from $50,000 to $100,000 based on the following criteria:
-
Cost of attendance at approximately 12 in-person professional development sessions for a leadership school health team from the district or school over the two-year period of performance estimated at $18,000 per application;
-
A minimum leadership school health team size of five members;
-
Cost of regular coaching for the school health leadership team and other district or school staff anywhere from once a week to a half-time, temporary position ranging from $15,000 to $35,000 annually;
-
Additional variation in applications that may increase or decrease the award amount such as team size and number of coaches.
-
Instate travel amounts will not be reimbursed in excess of limits established by
Iowa Department of Administrative Services
.
Selection Criteria: 40 to 80 districts will be selected from the highest scoring districts and based on available funding. If tie scores occur, a district will be selected if the district has identified needs as written in their continuous improvement action plan using data surrounding SEBH. Districts will be sorted by highest to lowest points in three categories of size. School district size is defined based off of the district's certified enrollment from the year in which the district is applying for the grant:
1. Small: Certified enrollment up to 599 students
2. Medium: Certified enrollment of 600 to 2,499 students
3. Large: Certified enrollment greater than or equal to 2,500 students
Eligible Applicant: Only local education agencies for public PK-12 schools are eligible to apply for this grant. To be eligible to apply for this grant, the public school district must have been in operation before 12/27/2021 and demonstrate SEBH professional development and workforce needs surrounding health equity, diversity and inclusion related to COVID-19.
Application and Grant Information: Applications are competative; consequently, all required compnents of the application must be completed following the stated instructions and submitted in a timely manner to be considered for funding. Funding for the COVID-19 Public Health Workforce Supplemental Funding Opportunity is limited; therefore, the application process is highly competative and it is likely that not all applicants will receive funding.
The selection of public school districts is based on:
i. participation in an Implementation Network of district and school leaders focused on SEBH for the duration of the period of availability of these funds,
ii. readiness to engage in professional learning that includes consistent coaching within the district or school(s), and
iii. need for additional funds to cover the costs of participation in the Implementation Network.
School districts that do not currently receive additional federal funding to cover the costs of professional learning and coaching beyond currently available relief funds and Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) school improvement funds will be given priority in grant funding.
Program Period:
Grant funds will be dispersed across the program period and on a quarterly basis as claims are submitted provided grantees meet program requirements and continued assurance. Program period is May 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023.
Services to be Delivered, Allowable Use of Funds and Performance Criteria:
Awarded Applicants are expected to provide the required deliverables related to reporting. The required deliverables also includes professional development, supplemental workforce or both:
|
Area
|
Required Deliverables
|
|
Professional Development
|
-
Attendance at approximately twelve (12) in-person professional development sessions for a school health leadership team from the district or school over the two-year period of performance estimated at $18,000 per application; including a minimum school health leadership team size of five members; and
-
Regular coaching for the school health leadership team (minimum of 5 members) and other district or school staff anywhere from once a week to a half-time, temporary position ranging from $15,000 to $35,000 annually.
Allowable expenditures include:
-
Costs associated with attendance at meetings of the Implementation Network to engage in professional learning on SEBH, including: Mileage reimbursement; Substitute pay; Meal reimbursement; and Hotel reimbursement
|
|
Supplemental Workforce
|
-
Costs of contracting, hiring, or adding days or funds to the contract of current staff for coaching as prescribed by the Implementation Network or as approved by the Department, including:
Per diem consulting charges of up to $500 for up to two full days per week for the period of performance; and
-
A half-time, temporary position of up to $35,000 annually for the period of performance; and
-
Additional costs directly related to the identified services outlined in the school district’s approved application.
|
|
Reporting
|
-
Quarterly provide a list of funds received and activities undertaken by the district. Reports to include how the districts included a focus on diversity, health equity, and inclusion. Reports to also include after effects of Covid-19 for each district.
-
Other Reports As Requested: The CDC may request other reporting not known to the department of public health or the department of education.
|
Examples of Funding Restrictions/Unallowable Use:
-
Co-pays;
-
Pharmaceutical drugs;
-
Inpatient treatment or hospital-based services;
-
Residential services;
-
Construction and school facility repairs and improvements;
-
Leasing space;
-
Seclusion room or space;
-
Purchase, training and care of an emotional support animal
-
Purchasing internet connectivity;
-
Resources, materials, software, supplies, and purchased services that are provided by the regular school program (e.g., core curriculum and instructional material, library materials, technology);
-
Leisure resources that are not appropriate for use in the typical age/grade classrooms (e.g., gaming system, non-educational computer games, weighted blankets, fidget toys).
Procedures Used to Determine Approval: Applications will be reviewed for eligibility. All those submitted by an eligible applicant will be reviewed and scored by trained persons with expertise in the grant requirements. Review forms will be used to record points and comments made by grant reviewers. Final scores of the applications will be determined based on all completed reviews and then ranked accordingly. In the event grant applications receive an equal number of points that necessitates a further determination of whether an applicant is to receive a grant, an additional review shall be conducted. All applicants will receive notification of approval/non-approval for funding no later than March 24, 2022. Awards will be finalized for each successful applicant within the Iowa Grants System. Assurances shall be signed by an official with authority to bind the applicant and shall be submitted to the Department through the online application system, IowaGrants.gov, prior to the award of any funds under this program.
Due to limited funding, grant awards will be targeted to school districts in Iowa where there were limited federal funds received by the district to cover costs of professional learning and coaching beyond Elementary and Secondary Act (ESEA) school improvement funds. The number of grants to be awarded will be determined based on quality of grant application, established need, and available funding.
Submission of Application:
The Department must receive the application by 4:30 PM Tuesday, March 3, 2022 through the online grant application
system, IowaGrants.gov. This is a mandatory requirement and will not be subject to waiver as a minor deficiency.
This is a competitive application. Please adhere to all requirements and instructions within each form of the application within
IowaGrants.gov. Any information submitted separately from the application will not be considered in the review process.
Application Competative Criteria Components:
|
Area
|
Components
|
Points
|
|
Action Plan
|
The extent to which the actions:
-
Address the district or school's SEBH needs using data (e.g. SAMI, conditions for learning report, expulsion rates, absenteeism, or other).
-
Readiness, meaning readiness to engage in professional learning that includes consistent coaching within the district and identified five health leadership team members (at a minimum).
-
Professional learning aligns with identified SEBH data needs required by the grant.
-
Address one or more of the SEBH services required by the grant (e.g. professional development surrounding SEBH that also addresses diversity, health equity, inclusion, workforce needs or coaching needs surrounding SEBH using the Implementation Network or as approved by the department).
-
Are likely to lead toward successful implementation (actionable, measurable, include timeline to meet goal and evidence of implementation and progress on actions as identified in their continuous improvement plan).
-
Prioritize professional development meetings of the Implementation Network addressing SEBH, diversity, inclusion and health equity to meet needs of learners/youth/families.
-
Priortize workforce needs for regularly coaching as prescribed by the Implemenation Network for school health leadership teams.
-
Health Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity: Address after effects of COVID 19 and the barriers to access SEBH services/supports (ie. barriers based on gender, race, color, national origin, disability).
|
50
|
|
Budget Proposal
|
Awarded amounts will be distributed across the program period and on a quarterly basis as claims are submitted. Proposals should indicate costs anticipated to be encumbered across the program period through June 2023. Extent to which the budget:
-
District proposals must be reasonable and aligned with the deliverables outlined in the action plan.
-
Budget excludes non-allowable uses of funding.
-
Budget is in alignment with allowable uses of funding.
|
15
|
|
Priority
|
Identify the federal funds received by the district to cover costs of professional learning and coaching beyond Elementary and Secondary Act (ESEA) school improvement funds.
-
School districts that do not currently receive additional federal funding to cover the costs of professional learning and coaching beyond currently available relief funds and Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) school improvement funds will be given priority in grant funding.
|
45
|
Appeal of Grant Denial or Termination: Information on appeals may be found in 281--Iowa Administrative Code 7.5
281—7.5(290,17A) Appeal of grant denial or termination. Any applicant may appeal the denial of a properly submitted competitive program grant application or the unilateral termination of a competitive
program grant to the director of the department. Appeals must be in writing and received within ten working days of the date of the notice of decision and must be based on a contention that the process was
conducted outside of statutory authority; violated state or federal law, policy, or rule; did not provide adequate public notice; was altered without adequate public notice; or involved conflict of interest by
staff or committee members. The hearing and appeal procedures found in 281—Chapter 6 that govern director’s decisions shall be applicable to any appeal of denial or termination.
In the notice of appeal, the grantee shall give a short and plain statement of the reasonsfor the appeal.
Critical dates for the Application Process
|
Application Process
|
Critical Dates
|
|
Application open and directions available
|
2/10/2022
|
|
Deadline to submit questions in writing; email Melissa Walker at melissa.walker@iowa.gov
|
2/24/2022
|
|
Application due to the Department via IowaGrants.gov
|
3/3/2022
|
|
Notification of awards. Grant awards are contingent on available funds
|
3/24/2022
|
|
Contracts Issued/Awards Finalized
|
Within 60 days of 4/7/2022
|
|
