Job Opportunities for Low-Income Individuals (93.593)
Program
93.593 Job Opportunities for Low-Income Individuals
Federal Agency
ADMINISTRATION FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Authorization
Family Support Act, Title V, Section 505, as amended, Public Laws 86-778, 88-452, 90-265, 99-190, 100-485, 104-193, 106-554 as amended, 42 U.S.C. 1310.
Program Number
93.593
Last Known Status
Active
Objectives
The purpose of the JOLI program is to make grant awards eligible to organizations that will test and evaluate ways of creating permanent full-time employment and business opportunities for welfare recipients and other low-income individuals through: (1) self-employment; (2) microenterprise; (3) new business ventures; (4) business expansion through the provision of technical or financial assistance to private employers to create new jobs; and, (5) non-traditional employment development initiatives.
Types of Assistance
Project Grants.
Uses and Use Restrictions
Funded projects must: 1) create new employment and/or business opportunities for welfare recipients and other low-income individuals; (2) enter into a cooperative relationship with the local Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) agency involving supportive services and client referrals to the project, and projects are encouraged to establish a formal partnership with the local Child Support Enforcement (CSE) agency involving non-custodial parent referrals to the project; (3) develop a comprehensive project design that describes: the work program and strategy; the participant training design; support services and counseling; technical and financial assistance plan; access to business capital; and, follow-up participant support services; and ,(4) include an independent, methodologically sound evaluation of the effectiveness of the activities in creating new jobs and/or business opportunities. Funds awarded under this program cannot be used for new construction or the purchase of real property.
Eligibility Requirements
Applicant Eligibility
Grants are made to nonprofit organizations (including community development corporations) tax exempt from Section 501(a)of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, by reason of paragraphs 501(c)(3) or (4) of such Code. Faith based organizations that are exempt from taxation under Sections 501(c)(3) or (4) of the Internal Revenue Code are also eligible to apply for JOLI program funds.
Beneficiary Eligibility
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients and other low-income individuals, whose income does not exceed 100 percent of the official poverty guidelines may be served through this program.
Credentials/Documentation
Applicants must include with the application written evidence of the local TANF agency's willingness to enter a cooperative agreement. Applicants are encouraged to include with the application written evidence of a partnership with the local Child Support Enforcement agency. When the applicant involves the use of other organizations', businesses' or agency resources to include funds, facilities, services, etc. or other forms of willingness to cooperate written evidence should be included with the application. All nonprofit organizations and faith based organizations (including community development corporations) exempt from taxation under Section 501(c)(3) or (4) of the Internal Revenue Code must submit proof of this tax exempt status. Grantee's applicable costs and administrative procedures will be determined in accordance with 45 CFR Part 74.
Application and Award Process
Preapplication Coordination
This program is eligible for coverage under E.O. 12372, "Intergovernmental Review of Federal Program". An applicant should consult the office or the official designated as the Single Point of Contact in his or her State for more information on the process the State requires to be followed in applying for assistance, if the State has selected the program for review.
Application Procedure
All information and forms required to prepare a grant are published in the Federal Register. Copies of the program announcement are available from: OCS Operations Center, 1815 North Fort Meyer Drive, Suite 300, Arlington, VA 22209, 1800-281-9516. In addition, this announcement is accessible for reading or downloading at: http://www.acf.dhhs.gov/programs/ocs/kits1.htm.
Award Procedure
Official notice of approved grant applications is made through issuance of a Financial Assistance Award. Official notice of an accepted application proposal is made through award of a grant.
Deadlines
Deadlines for grants are announced in the Federal Register as part of the solicitation of applicants. Closing Date for the Fiscal Year 2003 will be published in the Federal Register anticipated in late May.
Range of Approval/Disapproval Time
Appeals
Appeals are processed in accordance with HHS regulations in 45 CFR Part 16.
Renewals
No-cost extensions are available, if formally applied for and approved. If an application is recommended for approval for 1 or more years, the grantee must submit each year a formal request for an extension accompanied by a progress report which will be evaluated prior to a recommendation of continuation.
Assistance Considerations
Formula and Matching Requirements
There is no requirement for matching Federal funds, however applicants are encouraged to share in the cost of projects and to mobilize other resources for project implementation. Cooperative letters of resource commitment are given special considered in the review of applications.
Length and Time Phasing of Assistance
Grant awards are approved for up to a 3 year project period. The maximum grant for the full project and budget period is $500,000.
Post Assistance Requirements
Reports
Required reporting includes: Semi-Annual Programmatic and Semi-Annual Fiscal reporting and Final program and fiscal reporting, which is a cumulative report for the total project operational period. All projects must include an independent, methodologically sound evaluation of the effectiveness of the activities carried out under the grant. Interim Project Evaluation reports must be submitted annually and a Final Project Evaluation report at the end of the project period. Evaluation reporting includes: project evaluation plan, annual evaluation reports, and a final cumulative evaluation report.
Audits
Audits are conducted in accordance with the requirements in 45 CFR 74 and 92 and OMB Circular No. A-133. In accordance with the provisions of OMB Circular No. A-133, (Revised, June 24, 1997), "Audits of States, Local Governments, and Non-Profit Organizations," nonfederal entities that expend financial assistance of $300,000 or more in Federal Awards will have a single or a program-specific audit conducted for that year. Nonfederal entities that expend less than $300,000 a year in Federal awards are exempt from Federal audit requirements for the year, except as noted in Circular No. A-133.
Records
Financial and other records of the grant are to be kept 3 years after the termination of the grant or until audited, whichever comes first.
Program Accomplishments
Seven grants were awarded in FY 2002. Funded JOLI projects are awarded funds to: 1) create new jobs for TANF recipients and other low-income individuals that will move them to economic self-sufficiency through: self-employment, microenterprise business employment initiatives, new business ventures, or expansion of existing businesses through technical and financial assistance, as well as and through non-traditional employment initiatives (where women and minorities currently represent less than twenty five percent of the work force); 2) test new approaches to solving human services problems through research demonstration grants; 3) collect data for policy, management, and analytical purposes; (4) evaluate programs for efficiency and effectiveness; 5) replicate exemplary projects; and, 6) develop commercially-viable products for the human arena through Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR). It is anticipated that 7 grants will be awarded in fiscal years 2003 and 2004.
Financial Information
Account Identification
75-1536-0-1-506.
Obligations
(Grants) FY 02 $5,500,000; FY 03 est $5,464,250; and FY 04 est $5,497,000.
Range and Average of Financial Assistance
$500,000; $437,300.
Regulations, Guidelines and Literature
JOLI Program guidelines are published in the Federal Register at: 67 Federal Register 8074 (2/21/2002). Other JOLI Program information is available at: http://www.acf.dhhs/gov/programs/joli/welcome.htm ; Poverty Guidelines: http://aspe.os.dhhs.gov/poverty/02poverty.htm ; and Grants Generally: http://www.hhs.gov/grantsnet.
Related Programs
93.647, Social Services Research and Demonstration; 93.645, Child Welfare Services_State Grants; 93.601, Child Support Enforcement Demonstrations and Special Projects.
Information Contacts
Regional or Local Office
Not applicable.
Headquarters Office
Carol Watkins, Director, Division of Community Discretionary Programs, Office of Community Services, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 370 L'Enfant Promenade, SW, Washington, DC 20447. Telephone: 202/401-5282.
Web Site Address
http://www.acf.dhhs.gov/programs/joli/welcome.htm
Examples of Funded Projects
Microenterprise business development, self-employment business training, specialized job training related to new business ventures and/or a specific business expansion project that is designed to create permanent full-time jobs for eligible TANF and other low-income individuals to move toward economic self-sufficiency, and non-traditional employment opportunities for women and minorities that currently represent twenty-five percent of the work force in industries and businesses.
Criteria for Selecting Proposals
Selecting factors include: 1) Organizational experience in program area and staff responsibilities; 2) analysis of need; 3) work program; 4) significant and beneficial impact; 5) third party evaluation; 6) public-private partnerships; and, 7) budget appropriateness and reasonableness.
