July 7 1980. Migrant subcontractors or delegate agencies should contact the appropriate Migrant Conduit to ascertain the deadline for submitting their applications. (2) Applications from Headquarters and Regional T&TA applicants for one year programs, beginning January 1, 1981 and ending December 31, 1981, will be submitted to the appropriate CSA office not later than October 31, 1980. (b) Two-year Programming. (1) Beginning in FY 80, CSA is instituting two-year programming for the Community Food and Nutrition Program, that is, CSA will approve two-year work programs for applicants rather than one-year programs except as noted below in paragraph (3). Thus, there will be one competition for the selection of applicants every two years. (2) The reasons for instituting twoyear programming are: (i) To reduce the amount of time and work spent by both the applicant and CSA in the grant application and review process, (ii) to allow both the grantee and CSA to focus more attention upon the substantive work to be accomplished during the grant period, and (iii) to assure at least a two-year period of continuity for projects that cannot be accomplished within a twelve-month period. (3) The institution of two-year programming does not apply to Headquarters and Regional T&TA applicants, and does not preclude other applicants from applying for a one year grant if a particular set of proposed activities can be accomplished during a twelve-month period and further funding from CSA will not be required. (4) The procedures for applying for funds to operate two-year projects are the same as those for one-year grants with the following exceptions: (i) The applicant need submit only one Form 419 for the two-year project, with the goals, objectives and activities for the entire two-year project clearly delineated both in the Form 419, and in the project narrative; (ii) In column 14 on the Form 419, entitled "Time Table Program Year Quarter", "quarter" should be interpreted as a 6-months period, so that the columns headed "1st" and "2nd" will cover the first twelve months of the project while the columns headed "3rd" and "4th" will cover the second twelve months; (iii) The applicant need attach only one budget form (Forms 325 and 325a) covering the first year of the project, and must enter in Section II of Form 325 the dollar amount needed for the second year of the project; (iv) Column 17 of the 419 must indicate the amount of funds required for each program category (program account); and (v) By June 30, 1981, the applicant must submit to the appropriate Regional office a new Form 325 and 325a for the second year of the project and, if there are any changes in the work program needed in the light of what happened in the first year of the project, an amended Form 419 should also be submitted. (5) It is important to note that in approving applications for two-year programs CSA is neither making nor approving a two-year grant award since CSA cannot legaly commit funds which have not been appropriated. The funding process for two-year programs will be as follows: CSA will fund the first twelve months from current fiscal year funds. The second twelve month funding will be awarded in the subsequent fiscal year, if and only if, the following conditions are met: (i) Congress appropriates sufficient funds to permit the second year of funding, (ii) the grantee's performance during the first twelve months has been satisfactory, and (iii) there is no change in Agency priorities. If the above conditions are met, then the grantee will be awarded the second year of funds without having to submit another application. (6) In order to determine whether a grantee's performance has been satisfactory CSA will conduct an assessment through an on-site visit or a telephone conference in conjunction with a review of the grantee's year-end program progress report (Form 440). (7) In the event that appropriations for the CFNP are reduced in FY 81, CSA will make a determination as to how to effect reductions in grantees' budgets for the second year and notify the grantees in writing of its decision. In the event that appropriations for the CFNP are increased, CSA will determine how the increased allocation will be spent and will publish its plan for spending this increase in allocation in the FEDERAL REGISTER. In (c) Consortium Applications. order to foster cooperation among grantees and to permit the maximum use of limited funds, CSA will permit applicants for FY 80, where it is geographically appropriate within a substate area, to submit a single application through a local Community Action Agency, or through any eligible non-profit organization consistent with the provisions of § 1061.50-9(a) (1) and (2) of this subpart. The applicant would then serve as the coordinator of CFNP activities within that geographical area. The permitting of consortiums among CFNP applicants merely formalizes a practice that already exists in some regions where such arrangements are known as "clusters". (d) Program Priorities. The program priorities listed in § 1061.50-7 of this subpart are listed in priority order: (1) Access, (2) Self-Help, (3) Food Supply, (4) Crisis Relief and (5) Nutrition/ Consumer Education (See Appendix A for further discussion of priorities). (e) Review Process. The review process for applications, except Headquarters applicants, will be competitive, i.e., each application will be reviewed, rated, and ranked according to the criteria published in Appendixes B through F, with funding preference being given those applicants with the highest scores. Each applicant must score a minimum of 65 points in order to be funded. An applicant who scores more than the minimum points required may be funded, if funds are available, but funding is not guaranteed. The review process for all applications will be undertaken by the office to which applications are submitted as indicated in § 1061.50-11 of this subpart. Regional Offices and Migrant conduits' ratings, rankings and favorable or unfavorable funding decisions will be reviewed by CSA Headquarters before decisions become final. Applications from conduit organizations other than migrant conduits, must include copies of the applications from the sub-contractors or delegate agencies to which the conduit is redistributing CFNP funds. (f) Notification of Appeals. (1) Each Regional Office will establish an appeals panel of not less than three members. Regional Offices will complete their funding decisions and mail notifications of results to all applicants within 30 working days of the deadline for submitting applications. The letter of notification will indicate whether the applicant was selected for funding and will give the applicant's score and rank standing and will include reviewers' rating sheets and comments. If an applicant is not funded and believes that the score assigned was unfair or that an incorrect decision regarding eligibility was made, the applicant may file a written appeal to the CSA Regional Director and may also request a hearing before the Regional Appeals Panel. All appeals and requests for a hearing must be presented in writing to the Appropriate Regional Director within ten working days of notification by the regional offices of the applicant's failure to qualify for funding. An applicant may only appeal a decision not to fund. He may not appeal the amount of funds awarded. (2) The appeal should state succinctly why the applicant believes the decision of CSA to be incorrect or unfair. Where a meeting with the Appeals Panel is requested, the panel will promptly schedule such a meeting, hear the applicant's complaint, and provide any additional pertinent information as to why the applicant was not funded. The Appeals Panel will consider the arguments and evidence presented by the applicant and present its findings and recommendations to the Regional Director. Within 15 working days of the deadline for submitting appeals, the Regional Director will notify in writing all applicants of his/her decision. The decisions of the Regional Directors will be final. (3) Migrant subcontractors or delegate agencies will follow the same procedure outlined above except that their appeals will be made to the appropriate Migrant Conduit's Executive Director, whose decision will be final. There will be no appeals process for CSA Headquarters applicants since they are not funded on a competitive basis. (g) CSA Form 419 and Project Narrative. (1) All applicants for CFNP funds are required to submit a CSA Form 419 (Summary of Work Program and Budget). Since funds for most applicants will be awarded on a competitive basis, it is absolutely essential that applicants provide, through the Form 419 and project narrative, as complete and specific a picture as possible of what they propose to do and how they intend doing it. In preparing the narrative, applicants should refer to the discussions in the rating criteria in the following section. NOTE: The requirement to conform both to the General Standards of Effectiveness and the Specific Standards of Effectiveness described in § 1061.50-6 of this subpart must be met in order for an applicant to be considered eligible for funding. Therefore, applicants must not only list in item 11 of CSA Form 419 the standards which are being met in each program category, they must describe in the project narrative exactly how the standards will be addressed. In other words, in addressing the General Standards of Effectiveness, the applicant must show how the project will (i) strengthen the community's planning and coordination capabilities, and/or (ii) improve service delivery systems, and/or (iii) make use of innovative approaches, and/or (iv) involve maximum feasible participation by the poor in the planning and implementation of the project, and/or (v) mobilize a broad range of resources, and/or (vi) hire the poor in carrying out the project's activities. (2) In addressing the Specific Standards of Effectiveness applicants must list on the Form 419 the particular standard which is being met and describe in the project narrative the extent to which the project will result in (i) improvement in the nutritional status of the target population or (ii) reduction in hunger among the target population. Projects that do not meet a minimum of three of the general standards effectiveness and one of the specific standards will not be considered eligible for funding. Applicants must identify in the project narrative their discussion of the standards of effectiveness with the heading: Standards of Effectiveness Addressed. Failure to comply with this requirement will result in the application's being rejected as ineligible. (h) Rating Criteria. In preparing the Form 419 and project narrative, applicants should keep in mind the seven criteria (discussed below) which will be used by CSA reviewing teams in rating and ranking applications. (1) Participation of the Poor. Fundamental to all CSA-funded programs, including the CFNP Program, is the requirement that low-income residents be substantively involved in the planning, conduct, and evaluation of projects at the community level. The minimum requirements for the participation of the poor are spelled out in § 1060.1 of this chapter and all applicants are advised to review it carefully. NOTE: Limited Purpose Agencies are reminded that they must have either a board of directors which is comprised of at least one-third representatives of the poor or a policy advisory committee, a majority of which are democratically selected representatives of the poor served by the project (See § 1062.200-4 of this chapter). Although participation of the poor is an eligibility requirement, it is included in the rating criteria in order to highlight the emphasis that is being placed on participation of the poor in the CFNP and to enable CSA to make a judgement about the quality of an applicant's efforts to secure such participation. Thus, applicants will be rated on (i) the extent to which have involved the low-income residents of the areas to be served in the planning of the project, including the selection of goals and priorities; (ii) the ways in which the poor will be involved in the implementation of the project; and (iii) the ways in which the poor will be involved in the evaluation of the project. (2) Needs analysis. The second criterion-the analysis of needs-refers to the initial step in the planning process which lies behind the project described in the Form 419 and project narrative. § 1067.40 of this chapter requires Title II grantees to develop and maintain planning documents which contain, among other things, an analysis of the particular needs the project is addressing. The needs analysis must describe the nature and extent of the problems of hunger and malnutrition among the poor in the community the project will serve. The analysis should indicate what efforts are currently being undertaken to meet those needs, what gaps or short falls there are in these efforts and the extent to which the needs or problems remain unmet or unsolved. The applicant should clearly identify, among the range of needs listed, the precise need(s) the proposed project will address. Appropriate statistics to document the need(s) should be supplied; for example, the number of persons participating in the food stamp program as compared with the number of eligible persons not participating, or the number of children in need of but not receiving school breakfasts, or the number of families which could benefit from a gardening project, or the number of persons in need of emergency food assistance. The needs analysis must indicate which of the problems described will be addressed and why these particular problems (priorities) were selected. If the applicant is addressing other problems and needs of lowincome persons, the needs analysis should indicate the order of priority which the problem of hunger and malnutrition has among those needs and should include a description of the types and level of resources already committed to solving that problem. Community Action Agencies should indicate the amount of local initiative funds, as well as other resources, which are currently being applied to anti-hunger activities. (3) Adequacy of work program and budget. The third criterion--the adequacy of the work program and budget-refers to the project goals, activities, and budget described in the Form 419 and project narrative. The project goals (item 11 of Form 419) should be stated in specific and measurable terms and they should be appropriately related to the needs described in the needs analysis. They should reflect the changes or results which the project activities are expected to bring about. The activities should be listed in summary form on the Form 419 (item 13) and described in detail in the project narrative. The description should indicate not only what will be done but how it will be done, i.e., the strategy that will be pursued in achieving goals. The activities should be appropriately related to the goals. If an applicant is proposing to carry out activities in more than one program category, the categories would be listed on the Form 419 in priority order, and the goals, activities and funds required for each category should be clearly delineated. The applicant need only submit one budget (325 and 325a) for the entire proposal whether one or more program categories is included. (4) Anticipated Impact. The statement of project goals should include a description of what the applicant intends to accomplish, i.e., what results or changes the applicant intends to bring about in relation to the problem to be solved. Thus the statement of goals is a statement of anticipated impact. The anticipated impact of the project should be stated in specific and measurable terms and should include the number of persons to be served, the extent to which their nutritional needs will be met and the extent to which unmet needs will remain after the project is completed. The applicant should also include a statement indicating the per/person cost of serving those for whom the project is intended and the dollar value of services or benefits derived. (5) Coordination. Each applicant must indicate to what extent other organizations conducting anti-hunger activities were involved in the planning of the project, and the ways in which the project will be coordinated in the implementation phase with the activities of these organizations. CAA's must indicate how they intend to coordinate their activities with antihunger groups and anti-hunger groups must indicate how they intend to coordinate their activities with CAA's. (6) Catalytic Effect of Project on Institutions. Catalytic activity which is aimed at institutions should attempt to bring about two results: Institutional change and mobilization of resources. The means of achieving these is advocacy. The applicant, therefore, should describe in detail how the project staff will, through advocacy for low-income persons seek to change interpretations of laws, regulations, policies, procedures, and attitudes in order to insure that low-income persons receive the benefits to which they are entitled. Advocacy of this sort may and should include enlisting the poor to speak on their own behalf in order to insure that their views are heard, their rights are observed, the benefits to which they are entitled are provided, and their needs are met. The applicant should also state how the project staff will, through advocacy for low-income persons, leverage dollars or in-kind contributions from other elements in the community in support of the project and what the overall end effect of the project itself will be in terms of leveraging dollars or services for low-income individuals. (7) Ability of Applicant to Perform. § 1050, Subpart I, of this chapter requires Title II grantees to submit a semi-annual and annual project progress review report (CSA Form 440). Since the ability of the applicants to carry out successfully their proposed work program is one of the important criteria, applicants who are currently operating (or have operated in the past) a CFNP project must attach to the application a copy of the CFNP portion of the most recent Form 440, updating it where necessary. CSA grantees who have never operated a CFNP project must attach to the application that portion of their most recent Form 440 which relates to a project they have operated that is similar to CFNP projects. Applicants not previously funded by CSA should attach to the application a third-party or self-evaluation of a project they have been operating that is similar to CFNP projects, along with a brief statement summarizing their overall administrative ability and general performance record. All applicants currently operating CFNP projects are encouraged to conduct a third-party evaluation of their current CFNP project (or in the absence of such, a self-evaluation) and attach copies of these evaluations to their applications. (i) Training and Technical Assistance. The applicant's need for training and technical assistance in carrying out the project should be carefully described in item 15 of the Form 419. It is presumed that most, if not all, projects will need some form of technical assistance. The training and technical assistance plans proposed by the regional T&TA providers will be based in part upon the statement of goals, activities, and T&TA needs expressed by applicants on their Form 419s. It is important, therefore, that applicants be precise and specific in defining and articulating their T&TA needs. (j) Program Accounts. The following program account numbers for the various program categories should be entered in item 16 of Form 419: 12-Access. 15-Nutrition education. 42-T&TA. [45 FR 33789, May 20, 1980, as amended at 45 FR 56348, Aug. 25, 1980] APPENDIX A I. PROGRAM PRIORITIES (1) In continuing Access as the number one priority, CSA recognizes both accomplishments and continued need. The primary emphasis of the CFNP over the past two years, under the head of Access activities, has been to increase the participation of the poor in the various public feeding programs at the federal, state and local level. Partly as a result of that emphasis, a substantial momentum has developed among anti-hunger advocates and the various administering agencies which has, in fact, resulted in sizable increases in the number of poor participating in those programs and in significant improvements in program administration. Funding levels for the federally-funded programs have been increased and the statutes and regulations governing them have been considerably improved. (2) Much has been done, yet much remains to be done. Forty percent (40%) of the nation's poor and near-poor who are eligible still do not participate in the Food Stamp Program; seventy-five percent (75%) do not participate in the School Breakfast Program; and eighty-five percent (85%) are still not reached by the WIC Program. These statistics are unacceptably high, and the unmet need is great with respect to |