Section 850.90  Form of Grant Applications

a)         The Department will post one or more Notices of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) on the GATA Grantee Portal (https://grants.illinois.gov/portal/) seeking applications from eligible organizations contingent upon available funds.  Applicants shall submit their application materials by the deadlines set by the Department in the NOFO, which will be at least 30 days after the NOFO posting. If, on or near the application deadline, it appears that the Department will receive an insufficient number of applications for grants in one or more areas, to ensure a competitive selection process (a minimum of two applications per area), the Department may extend the NOFO posting deadline and allow by the extended deadline both new applications and application supplementation for those applicants who have already submitted applications.  The Department also may accept applications on a rolling basis with no set deadline.

b)         Applicants must submit:

1)         Uniform grant application;

2)         Uniform budget template;

3)         Conflict of interest disclosure form;

4)         Mandatory disclosures form;

5)         Executive summary or similar requirement, which describes the applicant team, pre-apprenticeship geographic area and communities to be served, partnership organizations for program delivery, the services to be provided, the equity investment eligible populations to be served, anticipated goals and outcomes of the project, and the grant amount requested;

6)         Budget narrative;

7)         Technical proposal, which describes the program activities and outcomes that the applicant will support if selected and must include the following information:

A)        The applicant organization's capacity and qualifications (e.g., capacity and expertise of the applicant team to timely deliver all Program requirements, experience with similar grants and projects and working with the identified target populations, and experience connecting participants to registered apprenticeships and contractors).

B)        The applicant organization's documentation of need (e.g., identification of the project's focus on specific equity investment eligible communities or populations, the barriers they may face and workforce needs of the target communities, the target construction and building trades and clean energy jobs as identified through local and regional market information, and the expected impact of the project on the identified communities and populations). 

C)        A description of the applicant's proposed project plan (e.g., program design, curriculum, and method of delivery, plan to recruit participants and assist with enrollment, anticipated goals and outcomes and plan to track outcomes, plan to deliver Energy Transition Barrier Reduction Program services, and the plan to address core values).

D)        Information demonstrating the cost-effectiveness of the applicant's proposed program (e.g., justification of the main budget expense items and cost per participant, including barrier reduction services, costs of subcontractors and other partners and the ability for the applicant to leverage existing programs to improve cost-effectiveness).

8)         Resumes of existing key Program staff and instructors that demonstrate capacity to complete the work outlined in the application, including the curricula chosen.  For key staff and instructor positions that will need to be filled using Program funds, include a job description for each position, including individual qualifications sought for each position;

9)         Partnership agreements between the applicant and its partner organizations for the project. The agreements must detail the entity's information, key staff information, roles and responsibilities associated with the project and dollar amounts for specific services to be rendered;

10)       Memorandums of Understanding from registered apprenticeship programs in the construction and building trades, including for direct matriculation of Program graduates;

11)       Letters from contractors agreeing to hire Program graduates; and

12)       Any additional information required to demonstrate the applicant's ability to administer a Program or that further supports the information submitted by the applicant for the proposed project.