You are probably wondering when the DRS4 funding opportunity announcement (FOA) will be available. You might even be wondering what it will look like and how you will know.
We usually post directions for each group at about this stage in the process and based on the number of questions we have received this week, we know it is time to post them again.
The countdown for your grant application begins on the day the FOA for your service area is published on grants.gov. Rounds 1 and 2 had 90 days but round 3 only had 60 days. Every single day counts so it is best to know from day one. Before it goes live it will be forecasted on ACF’s grant forecast.
(This is not intuitive at all…so if you feel at all frustrated or confused, you are not alone.)\
1. Go to your preferred search engine and type in “ACF grants forecast” and the top selection should say “Grants Forecast – Administration for Children and Families.” Click on that OR follow this link: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/hhsgrantsforecast/
2. Look about a third of the way down in the middle of the page and you’ll see a text box with a blue title row with the word “Agency” in white writing attached to a bigger, light blue box with lots of acronyms in darker blue writing. You are looking for “ACF (###)” – the number varies – which at the top of the left column inside the light blue part of the box. Click on that.
3. In the search box (off to the right), type 93.600 and click enter.
4. Click the “show” drop down menu and select 100.
5. Go to the third column and click on the column title “Last Updated”. It will go from oldest to most recent, so click it a second time and you’ll see the column from most recent to least recent.
6. Right this second, the most recent FOA to be forecasted is “Head Start and/or Early Head Start – Geary County, Kansas”- that was on 5/28/15
When they are forecasted, they will look like the one you can see on 8/29/15 – Head Start and Early Head Start Grantee – Lucas County, Ohio. The difference is that now that indicates that it was posted to grants.gov (as indicated in the far right column, ‘status’).
We would expect the FOAs to be forecasted soon. You can check the status using these steps and know that we’ll notify everyone here, too.
Thank you.
Contact Us
If you are in Round 4 DRS and need help with your grant application, or if you are a delegate or otherwise qualified agency considering your options, please be in touch with Foundations of Families.
We have successfully worked with agencies in every round of recompetition to write winning grants, design competitive programs, confirm prudent budgets, and plan for a manageable start-up period. Contact Amy Augenblick, Executive Director at (703) 599-4329 703-599-4329 or [email protected] to learn about how we can help.