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The Pat McGuire Child Welfare Education Fellowship is a pilot financial assistance program in which DCFS provides educational stipends to a diverse pool of eligible students at participating universities in Illinois who commit to seek and maintain full-time employment at an Illinois Child Welfare Contributing Agency (“CWCA”) after graduation. Participating universities must maintain a social work program designed to train and prepare students for employment in the child welfare social work field including employment in foster care and other direct services programs at Illinois CWCAs and contract with DCFS for purposes of administering the Program. Stipends are available a private or public universities in Illinois that has a Program agreement with DCFS.

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20 ILCS 505/44, et seq.

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Due to numerous factors, including the rate of pay, child welfare contributing agencies have a high employee turnover rate and struggle to maintain consistent employment levels. This high turnover is disruptive to the delivery of direct child welfare services to families and youth in care. A number of institutions of higher education in this State offer child welfare social work programs that are designed to train and prepare students for employment in the child welfare social work field, including, but not limited to, employment at child welfare contributing agencies that provide direct child welfare services to families and youth in care. The Department and public institutions of higher education have a mutual interest in providing greater access to child welfare social work education for a professional workforce that is responsive to the work of the Department through child welfare contributing agencies. The Department shall establish and administer the Pat McGuire Child Welfare Education Fellowship Pilot Program to provide financial assistance to a diverse pool of eligible students who commit to seek and maintain employment at a child welfare contributing agency that contracts with the Department upon graduation from a participating institution with a degree in social work. The goal of the program is to develop and support an effective and stable direct service child welfare workforce.

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Review Grant Agreement for Terms and Conditions.

Education Organizations;

All applicants that meet the eligibility requirements as described in the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) will be considered.

Beneficiary shall (1) be a full-time student in their junior or senior year in a BSW program at a participating university or enrolled full-time or part-time in the MSW program at a participating university; (2) commit to maintaining their existing enrollment status in the applicable social work course of study each academic year throughout the duration of their participation in the program; (3) the beneficiary shall be a student in current and future good academic standing and meet the University’s personal conduct requirements in the University’s applicable social work program each semester and academic year; (4) the beneficiary shall commit to satisfactorily completing the DCFS Foundations curriculum and take and pass all exams required to obtain their Child Welfare Employee License (CWEL); and (5) the beneficiary shall commit to, and be eligible to, work full-time in a direct services position at an Illinois Child Welfare Contributing Agency (CWCA) upon graduation and shall commit to obtaining and maintaining their CWEL in good standing.

Direct Payments for Specific Use

Education

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No prior coordination or approval is required with governmental or non-governmental units prior to the submission of a formal application to DCFS.

Refer to Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO).

Proposals are selected based on the criteria listed in the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO).

All applications must be submitted by the posted deadline. IDCFS staff conducts an initial review of all applications received for eligibility and GATA compliance. Reviewers may consist of DCFS GATA staff, division leadership, and other internal DCFS staff. Each proposal will be reviewed by a minimum of three reviewers. Proposals will be approved based on funding available. While recommendations from the review team will be a key factor in funding decisions, the Department maintains final authority over funding decisions and considers the scores of the review team to be non-binding recommendations. The Department reserves the right to evaluate applications in the larger context of the overall portfolio by considering geographic distribution of awards (e.g., ensuring coverage of certain counties or service areas), client needs, and overall programmatic/ financial risk assessments in its pre-award decisions. Any internal documentation used in scoring or awarding of grants shall not be considered public information. Final award decisions will be made by the Director (or their designee). The Department reserves the right to negotiate with successful applicants to adjust award amounts, locations, etc. Funds are disbursed based on the schedule agreed upon and included within the Uniform Grant Agreement.

Refer to Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO).

General expectation of the length of time between the application deadline and when an award is made is 30 calendar days.

Competitive grant (and in some cases non-competitive) appeals are limited to an appeal related to the evaluation process. Evaluation scores may not be protested. Submission of Appeal An appeal must be submitted in writing in accordance with the grant application document. An appeal must be received within 14 calendar days of Award denial. The written appeal shall include at a minimum the following: i. the name and address of the appealing party ii. identification of the grant for which you are appealing the evaluation/review process iii. a statement of reasons for the appeal Response to Appeal a. DCFS will acknowledge receipt of an appeal within fourteen (14) calendar days from the date the appeal was received. b. DCFS will respond to the appeal within 60 days or supply a written explanation to the appealing party as to why additional time is required. c. The appealing party must supply any additional information requested by DCFS within the time period set in the request.

Two one-fiscal year renewals of initial grant award agreements are allowable (i.e., a grant award agreement length of three-fiscal years maximum). A new Uniform Grant Application (either through the initial NOFO application or multi-year renewal) is required each year.

Match: Matching funds are not required for this grant program. Refer to Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for further information.

Administrative Costs: Reimbursement of administrative costs may not exceed 20% of the costs of other services (20 ILCS 505/5a). Funding allocated under this grant is intended to provide direct services to clients. It is expected that administrative costs, both direct and indirect, will represent a small portion of the overall program budget and should NOT exceed 20%. Administrative means those activities performed by staff and costs which are supportive of and required for project implementation for which there is no direct client contact such as fiscal staff; audit; clerical support; office rent, utilities, insurance; general office equipment etc. Program budgets and narratives will detail how all proposed expenditures are directly necessary for program implementation and will distinguish between Indirect/Direct Administrative and Direct Program expenses. Any budget deemed to include inappropriate or excessive administrative costs will not be approved.

Reports: The Provider will submit expenditure documentation forms in the format prescribed in the Program Plan. Performance Data: The Provider may be required to submit performance data as prescribed in the Program Plan or as directed by the Department. Audits: The Provider will be subjected to the audit requirements contained in the Single Audit Act Amendments of 1996 (31 USC 7501-7507) and subject F of 2 CFR Part 200, and the audit rules set forth by the Governor's Office of Management and Budget (30 ILCS 708/65).

All grantees must follow Title 44 Illinois Administrative Code 7000.90 (Auditing Standards).

The Provider must follow record retention requirements found in CFR 200.334 and record retention rules as prescribed by the Department.

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406 East Monroe St., Springfield, IL 62701

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