Description

The Executive Office of the President, Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) are accepting applications for Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 Drug-Free Communities (DFC) Support Program grants. By statute, the DFC Support Program has two goals:

1. Establish and strengthen collaboration among communities, public and private non-profit agencies, as well as federal, state, local, and tribal governments to support the efforts of community coalitions working to prevent and reduce substance abuse among youth*.
2. Reduce substance abuse among youth and, over time, reduce substance abuse among adults by addressing the factors in a community that increase the risk of substance abuse and promoting the factors that minimize the risk of substance abuse.

*For the purposes of this FOA, “youth” is defined as individuals 18 years of age and younger.

The DFC Support Program was created by the Drug-Free Communities Act of 1997 (Public Law 105-20). This announcement addresses Healthy People 2020 Substance Abuse Topic Area HP 2020-SA.

Failure to use the correct FOA will result in an application being screened out and not proceeding to peer review.

Eligibility

Eligible applicants are community-based coalitions addressing youth substance use that have never received a DFC grant. Statutory Eligibility Requirements, written into the DFC Act, are inherent in the language of the DFC Support Program. Applicants should refer to Table 1: Statutory Eligibility Requirements, which contains a summary of the minimum documentation applicants must provide to meet these criteria. The table also specifies evidence required and where to place it in the application (e.g., as an attachment, in the Project Narrative, or in the Budget Narrative).

Failure to meet any single statutory eligibility requirement will cause the application to be deemed ineligible; in such case it will not move forward to peer review. Should your application fail to meet the eligibility requirements, the person listed as the Business Official on the Application for Federal Assistance (SF-424) will receive a letter stating why the application was deemed ineligible. No additional information may be added to an application after it has been submitted. Final authority lies with the DFC Administrator to determine the eligibility of an application.

NOTE: Coalitions that have already received 10 years of DFC funding are not eligible to apply for this grant.

All DFC applications will be jointly screened by ONDCP and SAMHSA to determine whether an applicant meets all the DFC Support Program Statutory Eligibility Requirements identified in Table 1. In addition, the non-profit status of the legal applicant (if applicable) will be verified along with its ability to fiscally manage federal funds. Applications submitted by eligible coalitions that demonstrate they meet all requirements will then be scored through a peer review process according to the evaluation criteria described in the Application Review Information of this FOA. Each year, DFC recipients must demonstrate compliance with all of the Statutory Eligibility Requirements to be considered for continuation funding.

A DFC legal applicant (an organization applying on behalf of a coalition, the coalition, or the applicant coalition) must reside within the United States and/or the U.S. Territories. The intent of the DFC Support Program is to fund coalition activities in the United States and does not authorize the funding of organizations or activities outside the United States.

Award Information

Funding Mechanism: Grant

Anticipated Total Available Funding: $8,750,000

Anticipated Number of Awards: Approximately 70 grant awards

Anticipated Award Amount: Up to $125,000 per year

Length of Project: Up to 5 years

Cost Sharing/Match Required?: Yes

Proposed budgets must not exceed $125,000 in total costs (direct and indirect) in any year of the proposed project.  Annual continuation awards will depend on the availability of funds, recipient progress in meeting project goals and objectives, timely submission of the required data and reports, and compliance with all grant award Terms and Conditions. Failure to comply with the Terms and Conditions of the award may result in suspension or termination of the award.

Applicants should be aware that award amounts are subject to the availability of funds.

To apply for a DFC grant under this FOA, a coalition must have never received a DFC grant.

Recipients will be awarded funds for one year beginning on September 29, 2017.  Funds for subsequent years within a grant cycle are distributed on an annual basis as non-competing continuation awards. Each year, recipients must demonstrate compliance with the DFC Statutory Eligibility Requirements.