Children & Youth Investment Trust Corporation

Granting Process

Funding Opportunity
Funds are made available to the Trust in a variety of ways. Each year, the District designates funds for year-round and summer programs. Other city dollars are allocated to the Trust to support projects such as the Effective Youth Development plan. Agencies frequently partner with the Trust on a granting initiative. We also have private partners such as the Fannie Mae Foundation that work with us through a donor-advised fund or a particular initiative such as DC PATHWAYS. In each instance, goals, priorities and objectives are defined by the appropriate group (Trust Board, agency staff, EOM, etc.), and parameters for the grants. In almost all instances, the process is open and competitive. There have been a few rare occasions where the process is “invitation only” at the funder’s request. A Request for Proposals (RFP) is drafted, approved and released.

RFP
The Trust posts the RFP on the its website, and notifies the public through a listing in the Mayor’s Funding Alert and through a blast e-mail to our data base of over 1,200 providers, current grantees and stakeholders. Bidders’ conferences (which are listed in the RFP and release announcement) are held in various locations throughout the city to answer any questions potential applicants may have about the RFP. All questions and answers are documented and posted on the Trust website prior to the due date. No questions are allowed after the final bidders’ conference, to ensure all applicants have access to the same information.

In general, eligibility requirements include the following:

Must have 501[c] [3] tax-exempt status, been incorporated to operate in the District of Columbia, and be providing direct services for at least one year.
Must be organized under the District of Columbia Non-profit Corporation Act (DC Code, sec.29-501 et seq.).
Must be a community-based organization[s], defined as: non-profit agency with a board of directors that is reflective of the community of population served
Organization’s primary vision and program focus must be on serving children and/or youth within the District of Columbia.
Organization must be in good financial standing with the DC Office of Tax and Revenue and the Internal Revenue Service (I.R.S.) as well as follow all appropriate charitable financial reporting standards
For collaborative applications, one organization must act as the lead agency. That organization must meet all criteria listed and accept fiduciary responsibility for the application and grant.

Proposals must be submitted by the deadline, either in person at the Trust offices or electronically. Either way, the applicant will receive a receipt from the Trust stating the proposal was received by the deadline. Only proposals received by the deadline are assured review.

Administrative Review
Trust staff perform an initial administrative review to ensure all required components are included in the submission. If anything is missing, the applicant is notified and has 24 hours to complete the application. Proposals are rejected if not completed within 24 hours. Complete applications then advance to the next stage.

Review Process
The Trust engages a range of external reviewers that are experts in their field - programming, youth development, evaluation, and other funders. The reviewers go through an orientation to familiarize them with the goals, priorities and objectives of the funding opportunity, as well as the scoring process. Each proposal is reviewed by at least two external reviewers. Reviews consider and score organizational, programmatic and financial information. These reviewers score the proposals based on the scale provided to them by the Trust, and provide notes on their review.

For organizations that are not current Trust grantees, Trust staff performs a site visit during the review process, to evaluate the physical site, the staff and the services currently provided. The site visit is scored according the Trust site visit form. We are now asking for references as well, and may speak to community partners and program participants.

For organizations that are current Trust grantees, Trust staff provides an evaluation of their performance under their current grant contract. This includes site visit reports, average daily attendance, program and financial reports.

The scores from these processes are tallied for each proposal.

Slate
Trust staff create a slate of recommended applicants. This slate includes all scores, reviewers notes, and a recommended minimum scores based on funds available. Information for further consideration will be included, such as geographic distribution, expertise with targeted population, collaborations, etc.

Awarding Grants
The slate is presented to the appropriate decision making group (as previously mentioned, Trust Board, agency staff, private funding partners, EOM, etc.). Grants are awarded to successful applicants and grant amounts are determined, dictated by funds available. Trust staff notifies all applicants of the status of their proposal via e-mail and hard copy letter.

The Grantee Experience

Upon receiving notification of award, the assigned program associate will contact the grantee and help them modify their work plan and budget based on the award. Once both have been approved, a contract is signed with the grantee outlining the responsibilities of both parties, the terms and conditions of the grant including termination process. If a grantee is out of compliance, they will receive verbal notification from the program associate along with a suggested course of correction with deadlines, then a 30-day written notice of the Trust’s intent to terminate the grant.

Being a grantee of the Trust provides an organization with numerous benefits along with certain requirements and responsibilities. Here are several aspects of the grant partnership:

Orientation
All grantees participate in an orientation process that familiarizes them with the Trust staff, the requirements of the grant and with their fellow grantees. Several areas are covered in this orientation:

Payment process
Webstars training and reporting requirements
Site visits
Grantee meetings
Affinity groups
Trainings and technical assistance

Payment Process and Average Daily Attendance
Trust grants are “reimbursable grants” – they reimburse the grantee for funds expended according to an approved budget. However, we make payments in advance to reduce the burden of grantees so they can cover their expenses as they are incurred.

The payment process provides grantees with an initial percentage of the grant upon signing of the contract. For the year round grants, this is 25% of the full amount. Each ensuing payment is based on their successful submission of quarterly reports and maintaining an average daily attendance (ADA) rate within 75% of their funded number of participants. For example, if a grantee receives an award to serve 50 children or youth, they must show an average daily attendance rate of at least 40 participants for the quarter to receive their next quarterly payment. If a grantee is not achieving their contracted ADA number during any quarter, the program associate will work with them to determine the reason, and provide assistance where possible. If the grantee still is not reaching the ADA, the payment will be reduced proportionally.

A final 10% of the grant is withheld from the last quarterly payment until all final reports are submitted.

Payments are approved by the program associate, grants administrator and financial officer prior to release.

Webstars
Webstars is the Trusts web-based tool for grantees that has three functions:

Data collection
Financial Grant compliance
Program workplan and benchmark reporting

Grantees are required to maintain participant attendance records in Webstars. Monthly expenditure reports and quarterly program reports are submitted through Webstars, as is the final report.

Site Visits
Trust program associates perform regular site visits for all grantees. Site visits allow for increased communications between providers and Trust staff, and afford opportunities for one-on-one technical assistance. Staff exchange ideas, promising practices and challenges. Trust staff can assure adequate program safety standards are in place, and observe program staff interaction with participants. Staff document the visit and include it in the records for the grantee. Additionally, program staff provide prescription support, suggest appropriate partnerships and recommend strategies to maximize a grantee’s strengths and correct weaknesses.

Grantee Meetings and Affinity Groups
All grantees are required to attend quarterly grantee meetings. These meetings keep grantees abreast of Trust initiatives and trainings, current status of District partnerships, grant opportunities, and provide for regular networking among CBOs. Affinity groups provide for more grantee shared learning about specific topics, such as evaluation, serving specific populations and serving as the Executive Director of a community–based organization.

Capacity Building, Trainings and Technical Assistance
The Trust offers a range of learning opportunities for all grantees, as well as non-grantees. In addition to the individual support of a program associate, grantees can take advantage of seminars and learning circles, curricula projects, professional development for youth workers, leadership development for executive directors and organizational assessment and capacity enhancement.

Matching Funds
For most grants, all applicants with annual budgets exceeding $250,000 must provide matching funds for the proposed project equal to 20% of the amount of the total project budget. (For example, an applicant proposing a project with a total budget of $125,000 could request $100,000 from the Trust, but must provide $25,000 in additional funds.) These matching funds must be in place by the signing of a grant contract. Funding from District Government Agencies may not be used for match. In-kind donations and services are not acceptable as matching funds. Organizations with annual budgets of $250,000 or less are exempt from the matching funds requirement.

Research and Evaluation
Grantees are required to participate in research and evaluation projects commissioned by the Trust, as well as to develop and implement evaluation of their programs.

Fees for Programming
It is allowable to propose a program that serves both Trust-funded and non-Trust-funded participants. Non-Trust-funded participants may be charged a fee for programming. Trust-funded participants may NOT be charged a fee for programming.

Program Safety Standards
Programs must offer a safe and nurturing environment for children and youth. The “DC Standards for Out-of-School Time” provide recommendations for such an environment. The standards are available at http://www.cyitc.org/cyitc/standards. Organizations will be required to provide background checks for all staff and TB tests for staff. First-Aid/CPR-certified staff is required at all sites. Programs will be required to provide an “Emergency Preparedness Plan” that deals with threats of terrorism, “Code Red Days” (extreme heat), etc. and includes a communications plan for parents.

Reporting Incidents
Notification of an incident must be received within 24 hours, and written incident reports are required within five days of any unusual incident that involves staff and/or participants.

Youth Worker Training
All grantees are required to have at least two front-line youth workers complete the DC BEST “Advancing Youth Development” 30-hour course. This training is made available several times through the year at a minimal cost to the practitioner.