Overview & Application Process
for the Drug-Free Communities
Support Program
Executive Office of the President
Office of National Drug Control Policy
Drug-Free Communities Act of 1997
• Established the DFC Program
• Subsequent reauthorizations in 2001 and 2006
• Current reauthorization “in progress”
• Funding for FY2013 is somewhere between $92 and
95million
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Will fund around 100 grants next year
Request for Applications posted in January 2013
All eligible coalitions are encouraged to apply
Authorizes and Appropriates the DFC Program
Office of National Drug Control Policy
SAMHSA
CADCA
Review/Program/Finance
Training/Technical Assistance
DFC Grantees
Goals of the DFC Program
To establish and strengthen collaboration among
communities, nonprofit agencies, and Federal,
State, local and tribal governments to support the
efforts of community coalitions to prevent and
reduce substance use among youth
To reduce substance use 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
Theory of the DFC Program
A small amount of Federal funding combined with a local match
of resources and volunteer support can reduce youth drug use
– Grantees receive $125,000/year in 5 year cycles
– Maximum of 10 years
By mobilizing community leaders to identify and respond to the
drug problems unique to their community, DFC is designed to
change the entire community environment
Focusing on environmental change ultimately contributes to
reductions in substance use among youth, and over time,
substance abuse among adults
How DFC Works
• Government issues Request for Applications
• Coalitions apply
• Applications are scored through a Peer Review
process
• Award highest scored applications until all funds
are exhausted
DFC’s Definition of a Coalition
A formal arrangement for cooperation and collaboration
between groups or sectors of
a community, in which each group retains its identity, but all
agree to work together toward
a common goal of building a safe, healthy,
and drug free community
DFC grants are intended to support community-based coalitions
Why Community Coalitions?
• Local problems need local solutions
• No one-size-fits-all way to solve problems
• Communities needs to be able to
adjust/adapt in real time
• Efforts need to be owned by communities
Facts About:
FY 2012 DFC Grantees
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$92M appropriation funding 692 total grantees:
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$84.6M to 692 DFC grantees
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$2.8M to ONDCP (Administrative Operations)
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$4.6M to SAMHSA (Grant Monitoring & Management)
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$2M to CADCA (National Coalition Institute)
DFC covers 49 states, DC, Puerto Rico, Palau, American
Samoa and the Federated States of Micronesia
DFC Works!!!
• Past 30-day use of alcohol,
tobacco & marijuana has
declined for middle & high
school
• Past 30-day use of alcohol,
tobacco & marijuana was lower
for high school youth in DFCfunded communities than a
nationally representative
sample (YRBS data)
ICF International,
2011 DFC Status Report
DFC in Urban Centers
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Currently, 57% of all DFC grants are in urban centers
$125k doesn’t seem like enough
Big cities need multiple DFC coalitions
Use the DFC Mentoring Program to get coalitions off
the ground with the support of current DFC grantees
• Help citizens understand that collaboration and
leveraging of resources is the heart of coalition work
• DFC is an infrastructure support grant—not intended
to “buy” everything
January
RFA public
February
March
March/April
Applications Due HHS Format/Requirement
Screening
Recruit Peer
Reviewers
June/July
Rank Order
Funding Packages
Assembled
August
Funding Decisions
Announced
May/June
Peer Review
Process
April
Statutory Eligibility Screening
Eligible? Ineligible?
September
Notice of Awards
Issued
October
Summary Sheets/Scores
Mailed
December
Mandatory New Grantee Training
in Washington, DC
THE $625,000-$1,250,000
QUESTION IS….
WHY DO APPLICANTS FAIL TO GET
FUNDED?
The Simple Stuff
• Do not miss application deadline
• Aim for a week ahead of the deadline as your mail
out date
• Make sure you use the correct RFA…to the T
• Not one from a previous year
• Do not make up your own questions
• Do not mix RFA questions
• Some from one year and some from another
• Follow the RFA for the correct year as it is written
using all provided templates where REQUIRED
The 12 Sectors
(examples of potential representatives)
• Youth
• a person under 18; not a
youth minister, coach,
etc.
• Parent
• mother/father/guardian
/grandparent
• Business
• Chamber of
Commerce/owner of
local business
• Media
• the outlet where the
majority of the
community gets
information
• School
• Principal
• Superintendent
• Youth-Serving
Organization
• Boys & Girls Club
The 12 Sectors (con’t)
(examples of potential representatives)
• Law Enforcement
• Chief of Police/Sheriff
• Religious/Fraternal
Organizations
• Pastor/Rabbi/Imam/
Masons
• Civic/Volunteer Groups
• Sertoma Club/Kiwanis
Club/Big Brothers & Big
Sisters
• Not just a random
“volunteer” on the
coalition
• Healthcare Professionals
• Doctor/Nurse/Dentist/Behavi
oral Health Professional
• State/Local/Tribal
Government w/ expertise
in substance abuse
prevention
• SSA/State Prevention or
Treatment Director
• Other Substance Abuse
Organization
• Local prevention/treatment
provider
Statutory Eligibility Requirements:
Coalition Minutes
• Typically, the RFA asks for
• One set between January 1-September 30 of the year
PRIOR to the RFA being published
• Second set from October 1 of the year PRIOR to the RFA
being published and the application due date (March of
the current year)
• Purpose:
• To prove 6 months existence, as well as recent coalition activity
• To indicate significant involvement by sector members
• To show that youth substance use prevention is a priority
Statutory Eligibility Requirements:
Mission Statement
• Coalition must have as its principal mission the reduction
of substance abuse, which at a minimum includes the
prevention of the use/abuse of drugs…with a primary
focus on youth…
• Mission statement must belong to the applicant
coalition
• Problem - Mission statement is generalized toward
public health issues
Statutory Eligibility Requirements:
Multiple Drugs
• …developed a strategic plan to reduce substance abuse
among youth, which targets multiple drugs of abuse
• Multiple = more than 1
• Cannot be an “underage drinking” coalition that does not
address other drugs
• Do not use the terms “ATOD”, “substances” or “substance
abuse” to account for all substances
• List multiple drugs in data question and in the Action Plan
Statutory Eligibility Requirements:
National Evaluation
Provide this information in the correct Attachment:
1.
The name of the survey utilized to collect the survey for the four
core measures.
2. How often/when will the survey(s) be administered for core
measures data collection?
– usually a year; tell us how often the survey is administered
(yearly/every 2 years)
3. What, if any, supplemental survey(s)/data will be used to meet
the requirements of the DFC National Cross-Site Evaluation?
– Name of the survey/description of data or NA (if not
applicable)
Statutory Eligibility Requirements:
Legally Eligibility Entity
• Scenario One:
• The coalition is it’s own 501(c) 3 and is legally eligible
to apply for a DFC grant on its own
• On a single sheet of paper, labeled “Attachment 5:
Statement of Legally Eligibility Entity”
• Write and sign a statement indicating the coalition
is a legally eligibility entity
Statutory Eligibility Requirements:
Legally Eligibility Entity
• Scenario Two:
• The coalition is partnering with an outside agency to
serve as the legal applicant/grantee on its behalf
• May use the sample in the RFA for the
Memorandum of Understanding between the
partnering agency and the coalition
• Must have two signatures: one from the legal
applicant/grantee and one from the coalition
Statutory Eligibility Requirements:
Legally Eligible Entity
• If the legal applicant (#8 on the 424) is not the coalition,
then there must be an MOU signed between the legal
applicant (#8 on the 424) and the coalition the grant, if
awarded, will support
• Even if the coalition is operated in the same building or
under the same staffing structure as the legal applicant,
an MOU must be in place between the legal applicant
and the coalition
Statutory Eligibility Requirements:
1:1 Match
• Must indicate one-to-one match requirement
• Problems: Incorrect math and/or forget to add match in the
places indicated
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Must show a dollar-for-dollar match from non-Federal
sources equaling amount of Federal request
• Know the origin of any funding you put forth as match (i.e., Is
the police officer’s salary paid for with Federal funds passed
through the State/County/City?)
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Do not overpromise match
• Must account for every matched dollar to the Government
Statutory Eligibility Requirements:
$125k/year
• No more than $125,000/year within all parts of the
application
• Make sure ALL the numbers match
• Make sure they do not exceed $125,000
Overlapping Zip Codes
& Letter(s) of Mutual Cooperation
• If an applicant coalition is going to overlap zip codes
with a current DFC grantee or an applicant applying in
the same cycle, the following must be included in a
Letter of Mutual Cooperation:
• Which zip codes overlap—list the specific zip codes
• What the two (or more) coalitions will do to work together
• Must have one signature from each overlapping coalition(s) on
the letter
One DFC Grant at a Time
Grantee = Entity awarded a grant
Coalition
with 501c(3) status
Outside Fiduciary Agent
• Only one grant can be issued to a grantee at one time
• Sign the form titled “Applicant Assurance of No More than One DFC
Grant” and place under the correct Attachment number
• This Appendix also states that you can only fund one coalition at a
time. One grant, one coalition.
End of Grant Policy
(aka The 10 Year Rule)
• Maximum of 10 years of DFC funding per coalition
• Outside agencies acting as grantees on behalf of a
coalition cannot seek funding for the same coalition for
more than 10 years
• Sign the form titled “Applicant Assurance of Compliance
with the End of Grant Policy” and place under the correct
Attachment number
The Content: Project Narrative
• Problem - Application contains fluff & not enough
substance
• Answer the question in the first 2-3 sentences of the first
paragraph of the answer
• Name your community—make it specific
• “In the ABC neighborhood/town/city/county, local conditions
increase the likelihood that youth substance use will take place….”
• Do not write an application full of “obvious statements”
• “Youth substance use is a problem that increases the
opportunities for youth to fail at school and not become
productive members of their community, and society as a whole.”
The Content: Project Narrative
• Problem - Application lacks consistent focus beginning
with problem identification & throughout each question
including the Action Plan
• Example: Applicant lists underage drinking & Rx as main
problems early in application, but fails to provide strategies
to address underage drinking & Rx in Action Plan (or
throughout application)
• RFA has always contained a question that implies the use
of data to determine the community’s most significant
youth substance use problems
• RFA will continue to ask for a 1-year Action Plan
The Content: Project Narrative
• Make the best use of the pages allotted for response to
the Project Narrative
• If a question has a high point value, it will most likely
require more pages
• The Action Plan will carry the most points in the RFA
• Why? Because it tells us what you are going to do and what
you want us to fund
The Content: Project Narrative
• Application lacks focus on environmental strategies
• If you don’t know what “environmental strategies”
are…learn
• They are required for DFC grantees
• Applications include strategies that are considered
“environmental” will score higher
• Action Plan should be comprehensive with a focus on
environmental strategies
Individual
Provide information
Build skills
Provide support
Change incentives / consequences
Reduce barriers / enhance access
Change physical design of
the environment
• Modify policies and broader systems
Environmental
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The Content: Environmental Strategies
• Seven Strategies for Community Change
• Strategies 1-3=educational/individual
• Strategies 4-7=environmental
• Support the use of all 7 with emphasis of the use of DFC
funding on strategies 4-7
• Newer coalitions may use 1-3 to prep a community for the
implementation of 4-7
• New initiatives may require 1-3 to prep a community for
the implementation of 4-7
The Content: Action Plan
• MUST use the template as provided in the RFA
• Must address BOTH DFC goals
• May add your own in addition to the two indicated
• Include measurable objectives
• Include specific strategies that will move the objectives
addressing the drugs named as priorities for the coalition
• Must include activities relevant to each strategy for each
drug being addressed
Start Working on Your Action Plan TODAY!
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Please use Landscape Orientation
10 pt. font (ONLY IF USING PAPER SUBMISSION)
Learn how to write a measureable objective
Understand the difference between a “strategy” and an
“activity”
• Get technical assistance from the Institute (800-5422322, ext. 240) and have the Action Plan reviewed
Reading/Using Old Applications
• Do not waste your time reading old applications—even if
they were funded
• Do not dust off the one you wrote last year/the year
before that/five years ago & submit it for the FY2013 RFA
funding cycle
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RFA questions change every year purposefully
The DFC Program evolves & changes
We get smarter
What was funded 1, 2, 3, 5 years ago might not get funded next
year
Who are Peer Reviewers?
• DFC grantees in Years 1-4 or 6-10 or former grantees
• Can include any member of the coalition
• Go through training from ONDCP & SAMHSA
• Want to read your “story”
• Write application for one of your peers to read
• Human elements to the process
• Do not make it hard for Reviewers to find information
• Lose the “fluff”
• White space
QUESTIONS?
SHANNON WEATHERLY
ACTING ADMINISTRATOR
202.395.6774
SWEATHERLY@ONDCP.EOP.GOV