The Administration for Native Americans (ANA) issued the attached FEDERAL REGISTER notice announcing changes to program policies and procedures for the FY 2011 grants cycle overseen by the agency. The ANA proposes to issue four “Funding Opportunity Announcements” or FOAs and describes how those programs will be administered. There are changes to administrative policies and to which programs are included under each FOA. Other changes include revised evaluation criteria and revised or new funding minimum/maximum levels.
For FY 2011, FOAs would be issued for: Social and Economic Development Strategies (SEDS); SEDS–Tribal Governance; SEDS–Assets for Independence; Native Language Preservation and Maintenance (Language P&M) and Esther Martinez Initiative (Language-EMI).
We summarize the key FY 2011 FOA changes below.
Program-Specific Changes for FY 2011. The consolidation of grant opportunities to four FOAs is as follows:
- Social and Economic Development Strategies (SEDS). The SEDS and SEDS-Special Initiative are combined under one FOA; interest areas will be economic development, social development, strengthening families, and preparation of a tribe’s application for federal recognition—limited to one time only for this purpose. The ANA has two SEDS funding ranges – $50,000 to $149,000 per budget period or $150,000 to $400,000 per budget period.
- Social and Economic Development Strategies-Tribal Governance (SEDS-TG). Tribal Governance was formerly funded under the general SEDS but is expanded under a separate priority to “emphasize projects that strengthen the internal capacity and infrastructure of Tribal governments to increase services provided to children and families” along with projects that increase “a Tribal government’s ability to exercise local control and decision making over their resources” particularly those that strengthen “linkages between social services, health programs, and schools serving Native children.” The proposed SEDS-TG funding range is $50,000 to $375,000 per budget period.
- Social and Economic Development Strategies-Assets for Independence (AFI). This FOA will be a joint funding initiative between ANA and the Office of Community Services (OCS) to “support Tribes and Native organizations in planning and implementing comprehensive asset-building projects” and will also provide training and technical assistance. The purpose of the AFI program is assist individuals or families “to save earned income in special-purpose, matched savings accounts called Individual Development Accounts (IDA).” IDA funds will be used by the participant toward purchase of a first home, to capitalize a small business, or for postsecondary education or training. One application would be submitted but with two budgets—one for the ANA portion and a separate one for the OCS aspect. Eligible applicants are non-profit organizations serving Native American populations, or tribes/Alaska Native villages applying jointly with a non-profit organization serving Native American populations. The proposed SEDS-AFI funding range is $50,000 to $250,000 per budget period for the ANA portion. The OCS would provide up to $1 million for the five-year project and budget period.
- Language Preservation and Maintenance (Language P&M) and Esther Martinez Initiative (Language EMI). The start date for projects funded under this FOA will be August 1, 2011, in order to better align with the academic calendar.
The attached notice details other changes, including an administrative policy that limits grantees to only one active grant per Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) number. Further, an applicant who has received at least two awards consecutively within one CFDA number may not receive a third award under the same CFDA number if other applicants who have not received an award in the three prior years “are within scoring range to be funded.”
If we may be of further assistance regarding the ANA notice, please contact us at the information below.
