DPI Application Instructions

Application Title/Project Name: Please be descriptive of the project to be funded and do not label it merely “Delinquency Prevention and Intervention Project”.  It should be unique to your project and agency.

Amount Requested: Enter the amount of funding requested in this application. 

Applicant Information: Enter the name and contact information of the person completing the application.

Organization Information: Enter all requested information for the applicant agency.

If you have questions about updating your Organization Information, please contact Cindy Johnson at 303-239-4443.

Applicant “Doing Business As” (DBA) under a parent company/unit of Government: Choose Y for Yes or N for No.

Legal Entity Name: If your agency is a DBA, the Legal name will be different than the Applicant Agency Name.  If your agency is NOT a DBA, then the Applicant Agency Name and Legal Entity name will be the same. (See definition on page 3 of these instructions for more information.)

Legal Entity Physical Address: Street Address, City, State, Zip +4

Organizational Type: Select either 1) Local Government, 2) American Indian Tribe, or 3) Not for Profit 

Legal Entity County: Enter the county of your legal entity address.

Entity’s Fiscal Year End: Enter the month and last day of your fiscal year.

Total Federal Expenditures during the entity's last fiscal year: Enter the amount of federal contract and grant award expenditures from your most recently completed fiscal year. 

PRE-QUESTIONS

Which population does your project serve?: Select either 1) Prevention, 2) Intervention, or 3) Both

In what quarter do you anticipate serving youth?: Select either   Q1, Q2, Q3, or Q4

In what quarter do you anticipate being able to measure outcomes?: Select either   Q1, Q2, Q3, or Q4

(Q1) Project Start Date: The project start date will be December 1, 2022  

(Q2) Project End Date: The project end date will be June 30, 2023.

(Q3) Applicant Primary Contact: List the individual who will be the main contact throughout the application process (including the funding conference presentation).  Enter the name, telephone number, and e-mail address.

Project Officials: (Q4-15) You must have a minimum of three contacts for this application, the Project Director, Financial Officer, and Signature Authority (also called the Authorized Official). All three must be from the applicant agency and must be unique individuals; one person cannot serve in more than one role.

PROJECT DIRECTOR: This must be an individual other than the authorized official or financial officer and must be from the applicant agency. Enter the name, title, agency, mailing address (use the ZIP+4 Code), telephone number, and e-mail address, if applicable, of the Project Director. The project director is the individual who will be in direct charge of the project and must be within the organizational structure of the applicant agency. This should be a person who combines knowledge and experience in the project area with ability in administration and supervision of personnel and will be expected to devote a major portion of his/her time to the project. This person will be required to sign all quarterly reports, and other grant forms.

FINANCIAL OFFICER: This must be an individual other than the project director or authorized official and must be from the applicant agency. Enter the name, title, agency, mailing address (use the ZIP+4 Code), telephone number, and e-mail address, if applicable, of the Financial Officer. The financial officer is the person who will be responsible for fiscal matters relating to the project and in ultimate charge of accounting, management of funds, verification of expenditures, and grant financial reports.

SIGNATURE AUTHORITY: This must be an individual other than the project director or financial officer. Enter the name, title, agency, mailing address (use the ZIP+4 Code), telephone number, and e-mail address, if applicable, of the Authorized Official. This is the individual authorized to enter into binding commitments on behalf of the applicant agency. For local units of government, this will normally be a city manager, mayor, district attorney, and/or the chair of the county commission. At the state level, this individual will be a department or division head.

STATEMENT OF WORK:

All answers are limited to 6,500 characters.

Q14: Describe the project that will be funded with a grant award and how the project demonstrates a community-based response to crime among youth in which multiple partners are coordinating to meet the goals of the program.

Q15: Describe how the proposed project will prevent or reduce youth involvement in the juvenile justice system, including the specific population and or risk factor pathways targeted.

All projects must show a capability to prevent or reduce youth involvement in the juvenile justice system. Applicants must provide enough detail within this application for a reader to fully understand what the project is, what it will be doing, and how it will impact the described problem.

Clearly identify need through use of information or data at the level of the project (i.e., using current state or local data, not national). This section should include the following:

• A description of the problem in terms of causes and consequences.  Articulate why this problem should be addressed. Use published literature to support your description where appropriate.  
• The extent and nature of the problem in your target population and/or community. Use data to support your description. 

Q23: Describe how the proposed project will assess and advance equity in opportunities and outcomes for youth.

Q16: Describe the applicant’s experience working within the juvenile justice system, delinquency prevention, and reducing recidivism.

Q17: How does the proposed project reflect a commitment to using Research-Informed crime and violence reduction strategies? Describe or reference prior research demonstrating the effectiveness of the proposed strategy (if any).

Q18: Describe the applicant’s capacity to report on project metrics, including prior experience (if any) in reporting similar metrics, who will be responsible and whether the applicant anticipates additional resources or support will be needed to meet this requirement.

Q19: Describe any community-based partners the applicant will work with on the project, including each partner’s role.

Q20: Provide data documenting the need for the project, including the rates of crime among youth in the project area, and other data used to identify the need of the proposed project.

Q21: What additional resources will the applicant and or partner agency provide to implement and sustain the project during the project period? (In kind or monetary)

Q22: Describe how your partnership might sustain the proposed project beyond the 2-year grant funding period.

Q23: Describe how the proposed project will assess and advance equity in opportunities and outcomes for youth.

GOALS & OUTCOMES: These are the elements against which your project will be evaluated and which you will use to report quarterly and final progress. 

Goals: Goals are logical, sensible, clearly written and directly tied to the project.
Write one or more goals you will focus on this project.  Goals are broad statements (i.e., written in general terms) that convey a project's overall intent to change, reduce, or eliminate the problem described.  

Outcomes: Outcomes are realistic and able to be accomplished in the time frames described. Outcomes identify the amount of intended change expressed as a rate, percent or whole number. Include measures that will sufficiently document any change that occurs. 

Please write at least one measurable outcome(s) for each goal.  Outcome statements should include:

• The specific type of change or improvement that will occur
• The number or percent of individuals impacted (where appropriate)
• The expected magnitude, on average, of the expected change
• If client based, include outcomes reflecting the number of clients to be served

Measurement is the description of what data will be collected to measure the change. Please describe the specific measurement tool(s) you will use to collect data for each outcome.  If you do not have a tool please state TBD (To Be Determined).

Timeframe:  The quarter in which the objective will be completed.

BUDGET: 
Grant recipients may only use up to seven and one-half percent of the grant award for administrative, staffing, and other start-up expenses necessary to implement a project supported with a grant award.

Budget items should be detailed, reasonable, specifically defined, justified and the applicant should demonstrate how the costs were determined.  It should be clear so that no concerns of supplanting will exist. Budget must be completed entirely and each item listed should be accompanied by a description, which provides justification for the budget items and details the basis for determining the cost of each item.

• The budget must cover the entire project duration.
• In figuring the budget, work with WHOLE DOLLAR AMOUNTS ONLY. When necessary, round to the next highest whole dollar amount.
• The budget is broken into seven Budget Categories: Personnel, Supplies and Operating, Travel, Equipment, Consultant/Professional Services, and Indirect Costs. 

PERSONNEL: This budget category should be used when employees are positions within the applicant agency and the implementing agency is a division (under the same unit of government) of the applicant agency.

The Personnel Budget should consider overtime, time needed to acquire new staff, and changing demands for personnel during the course of the project. If the implementing agency is contracted by the applicant agency (i.e., non-profit organization), these costs should be included in Consultants/Contracts (Professional Services).

Questions regarding the difference between a contract employee and a regular employee may be directed to the Internal Revenue Service. Contract employees or independent contractors should be shown under Consultants/Contracts (Professional Services).

Position Title and Name:  Add each position by title and name of employee, if available; if two individuals have the same title, list it twice.

Annual Salary: Enter the annual, full-time salary or base pay for the position.

Annual Base Salary to be Paid by Grant Funds: Enter the annual salary or base pay for the position to be paid by grant funds.
% to be paid by Grant Funds: ZOOMGRANTS will automatically calculate this % based on the amounts you entered in the annual salary columns.  

Annual Fringe:  Enter the amount of Fringe Benefits for that position in column 1 and the percentage of time to be devoted to the project by this position in column 2.

Annual Fringe to Be Paid by Grant: Enter the annual fringe for the position to be paid by Grant funds.

% to be paid by Grant Funds: ZOOMGRANTS will automatically calculate this % based on the amounts you entered in the annual fringe columns.

Total Base Salary + Fringe: ZOOMGRANTS will automatically calculate this total based on the amounts you entered in the annual salary and fringe columns.

Total Base Salary + Fringe to Be Paid by Grant: ZOOMGRANTS will automatically calculate this total based on the amounts you entered in the annual salary and fringe columns.

Budget Narrative and Justification:  Explain how the salary and fringe benefit rates for this position were determined. An explanation and justification are required if the budget is not for an entry-level position. If the salary is expected to increase during the project year, indicate the percentage of the increase, and the months covered by the increase, and justify it. Be sure that the scheduled salary increase has been included in the Salary row, and that the proposed salary is one that is paid for equivalent positions and employee qualifications in your area.

Non-Personnel: Budget and Budget Narrative Details:
Please Note:  For all other Budget Categories (Supplies & Operating, Travel, Equipment, Consultants & Contracts [Professional Services], and Indirect Costs) the following sample budget screen is the same. Be sure to read the following definitions for each budget category before completing it.

Item:  Add the name of each item

Budget Narrative and Justification: The applicant must provide a justification and explanation of the budget items listed in each Budget Category, as well as detailing the basis for determining the cost of each item. Failure to justify and explain/show calculations could result in denial of funding.

Describe the criteria used to compute budget figures. All budget figures should be justified and explained. The budget narrative should show the relationship between budget figures and proposed project operations. For example, if this is a training project, explanation of the Consultants/Contracts budget category amount should include an explanation of the need for consultants to provide the training and the hourly cost of the services to be provided.

OAJJA recognizes that governments are constantly faced with the challenges of limited resources. It is important that you describe how maximizing resources will be accomplished and that this project is not duplicating services.

SUPPLIES AND OPERATING: Add expendable or non-durable items within this category by major type [e.g., office supplies, software (regardless of cost), training materials, research forms, telephone, tuition, postage, etc.,] and show the basis for computation: “X” dollars per month for office supplies, “Y” dollars per person for training tuition, telephone-base charge plus long distance at “Z” dollars per month.

• Includes tuition, registration, vehicle gas, leases, etc.
• Out-of-state training costs must be justified in terms of availability of comparable training in state.
• Large items should be listed and justified (e.g., unusual supply items, software, special printing, etc.)

NOTE: Tuition and registration fees (even if they include lodging and/or subsistence), vehicle gas, leases, and maintenance on project- or government-owned vehicles are operating expenses not travel. These types of costs must be shown in the Supplies and Operating category.

Items with a per unit cost of less than $5,000 are considered supplies and should be listed in this category. Items costing $5,000 or more should be listed under Equipment (see D below). If software is being purchased, regardless of the price, it belongs in the Supplies and Operating category. If custom development of software is contracted out, it is subject to prior approval by OAJJA and should be shown in the Consultants/Contracts (Professional Services) Budget. All purchases should be made through competitive bid, state or local award, or established purchasing/procurement procedures.

Budget Narrative and Justification:  Explain how the cost of each item was determined and justify the need for the item.

TRAVEL: Add travel expenses for project personnel by purpose (e.g., to attend training sessions, to transport clients, etc.) and show basis for computation. Show airfare, ground transportation, automobile, lodging and meals individually. Indicate if the travel is in-state or out-of-state.

Out-of-state travel must be justified and tied to the project goals and objectives.

Where a jurisdiction has an established travel policy, those rates may be used. Otherwise, state travel rates are the maximum allowed. Allowable State travel rates are:

• Mileage: $.585 cents per mile for use of personal vehicle.
• Lodging: In-state is the actual cost of reasonable accommodations. However, lodging costs in excess of $96.00 must have prior approval of the Project Director. Out-of-state costs should be federal GSA rates, and reasonable.
• Meals: Exceptions to the following rates are available from the DCJ for higher cost metropolitan areas.

In-State

Rates per Meal:

Breakfast $13.00
Lunch $14.00
Dinner    $23.00

Total per diem: $50.00
Incidentals: $5.00

NOTE: Tuition and registration fees (even if they include lodging and/or subsistence), vehicle gas, leases, and maintenance on project- or government-owned vehicles are operating expenses not travel. These types of costs must be shown in the Supplies and Operating category.

Budget Narrative and Justification:  Explain the relationship of each cost item to the project, (e.g., if training or conference travel expenses are requested, explain the topic of the conference and its relationship to the project, you must explain why this training cannot be achieved in state). Out-of-state travel is discouraged and needs to be thoroughly justified. 

EQUIPMENT: Add each item separately, by unit cost. This category should include all items with a unit cost of $5,000 or more and useful life of more than one year. Items not meeting these criteria should be included in the Supplies and Operating category. Equipment must be justified as necessary and not currently available.

If the proposed equipment is to be shared with entities outside this project, the cost should be prorated based upon the percentage of use of the equipment by this project.

DCJ must provide prior written approval for the actual purchase of all equipment, separate from approval to fund the project. All equipment must be purchased through competitive bid, state or local award, or established purchasing/procurement procedures.

Budget Narrative and Justification: Explain how the cost of each item was determined. Explain why the proposed equipment is essential to conducting the project and is not currently available for use within your agency or organization. 

CONSULTANTS & CONTRACTS (PROFESSIONAL SERVICES): *Application must contain a detailed budget and budget narrative for anything listed under Contracted, Consultant and Professional Services. List each consultant, contractor, or type of service with proposed fee (by eight-hour day or hourly rate). If the applicant agency is contracting with an outside agency to conduct the day-to-day operations of the project, the total cost should be in Consultants/Contracts (Professional Services). 

Rates (honoraria are not an allowable expense) for individual professional services must be based on an hourly rate (including preparation and travel time), and must have explicit, separate prior approval from DCJ. Rates for individual consultants/contractors cannot exceed $650 per day or $81.25 per hour.  Justification is required to establish a “usual” or “going rate” for similar services. Some consultants/contractors provide services at a flat rate rather than an hourly rate. If that is the case, identify the service to be provided, including all covered expenses such as travel, and the rate for each “unit” of service. Contact DCJ if you have questions.

Professional services should be procured competitively. Sole source contracts must be justified and must have specific prior written approval from DCJ before execution of any contract, separate from approval to fund the project. Refer to the Administrative Guide for Federal Justice Grant Programs or contact DCJ for additional guidance. Consultants/ must be able to sign the Certification of Debarment, OJP Form 406 1/1 (see section J of the Certified Assurances for details).

Budget Narrative and Justification:  Explain why proposed consultant/contract services cannot or should not be provided by project staff. Explain how the hourly rate or flat rate was determined. For each consulting organization added, indicate the number of people to be assigned to the project, number of hours per person per day to be spent on the project, and a breakdown of the contract price by major cost item (i.e., supplies, rent, equipment, travel, contracted services).

INDIRECT COSTS: Indirect costs are costs of an organization that are not readily assignable to a particular project, but are necessary to the operation of the organization and the performance of the project. Examples of costs usually treated as indirect include those incurred for facility operation and maintenance, depreciation, and administrative salaries.

If the applicant meets any of the two requirements below, they are eligible to request indirect costs at the approved rate.

• A governmental department or agency unit that receives more than $35 million in direct Federal funding must submit its indirect cost rate proposal to its cognizant agency for indirect costs for approval. 
• Other governmental department or agency (receiving less than $35 million in direct Federal Funding) must develop an indirect cost proposal in accordance with the requirements of Title 2 C.F.R. Part 200 of the Uniform Requirements (Department of Justice regulations) and maintain the proposal and related supporting documentation for audit. These governmental departments or agencies are not required to submit their proposals unless they are specifically requested to do so by the cognizant agency for indirect costs.

If the applicant has never received a federal negotiated indirect cost rate, and is not required to have a federal negotiated indirect cost rate, they are eligible to request the "de minimis" rate which is 10% of the Modified Total Direct Costs (MTDC).

When using this method, cost must be consistently charged as either indirect or direct costs, but may not be double charged or inconsistently charged as both. Also, if this method is chosen then it must be used consistently for all Federal awards.

What is the Modified Total Direct Cost, or MTDC? 

• This base includes all direct salaries and wages, applicable fringe benefits, materials and supplies, services, travel, and subawards up to the first $25,000 of each subaward (regardless of the period of performance of the subawards under the award).
• MTDC excludes equipment, capital expenditures, charges for patient care, rental costs, tuition remission, scholarships and fellowships, participant support costs, and the portion of each subaward in excess of $25,000. Other items may only be excluded when necessary to avoid a serious inequity in the distribution of indirect costs, and with the approval of the cognizant agency (OJP).

Organizational Chart: Required if personnel is being requested. If your project has personnel in the budget category, you must attach your organizational chart in this section. 

Priority Letter: Required if the Applicant Agency is submitting more than one application. Letter must include rank order and why the agency has ranked projects in that order.

Letters of Support: If you wish to submit letter(s) of support which speak to the collaborative relationship between your project and other agency(s)/organization(s), these can be submitted in ZOOMGRANTS under the Documents Tab.  These are not mandatory.

Financial Management Questionnaire: Required.  All applicants are required to download this form, complete, save, and upload back into ZOOMGRANTS. It is the applicant’s responsibility to verify the agency’s ability to administer funds and comply with federal and state accountability requirements. The questions should be answered by the Applicant Agency with the assistance of the Financial Officer. 

Certification Regarding Lobbying; Debarment, Suspension; and Drug-Free Workplace: Must be submitted with the application.