Refugee Individual Development Accounts (IDA) Program

Post Date

March 4th 2015

Application Due Date

May 4th 2015

Electronically submitted applications must be submitted no later than 11:59 p.m., ET, on the listed application due date.

Funding Opportunity Number

HHS-2015-ACF-ORR-ZI-0958

CFDA Number(s)

93.576

Funding Instrument Type(s)

Grant

Funding Activity Categories

Income Security and Social Services

Number of Awards

13

Eligibility Categories

State Governments
County Governments
City or Township Governments
Special District Governments
Independent School Districts
Public and State Controlled Institutions of Higher Education
Federally Recognized Native American Tribal Governments
Public Housing Authorities or Indian Housing Authorities
Non-Federally Recognized Native American Tribal Organizations
Non-Profits With 501 (c) (3) Status With The IRS (Except Higher Education Institutions)
Non-Profits Without 501 (c) (3) Status With The IRS (Except Higher Education Institutions)
Private Institutions of Higher Education
Other

Public or private non-profit agencies are eligible for awards under this announcement. ORR is limiting this Funding Opportunity Announcement to those eligible entities with a partnership with a financial institution. Applicants must provide documentation of participation of a financial institution(s) in the project. This documentation must be in writing, on letterhead of the financial institution, and signed by a person authorized to make the commitment on behalf of the financial institution. The documentation must include a commitment by the financial institution to establish IDAs for the refugee participants, to establish a parallel account (or accounts) for the matching funds, and to provide the grantee with account activity data on the IDAs and the parallel account(s) in a timely manner. The “match” mentioned in this announcement does not refer to the applicant finding additional funds to match funds being provided by the Federal government; it is the portion of federal funds to be allocated for matching clients' IDA savings. Faith-based and community organizations that meet the eligibility requirements are eligible to receive awards under this funding opportunity announcement. Faith-based organizations are encouraged to review the ACF Policy on Grants to Faith-Based Organizations at: http: //www.acf.hhs.gov/acf-policy-on-grants-to-faith-based-organizations. Applications from individuals (including sole proprietorships) and foreign entities are not eligible and will be disqualified from competitive review and from funding under this announcement.

Funding

• Estimated Total Funding:

  $2800000

• Award Range:

  $100000 - $250000

Grant Description

The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) invites eligible entities to submit competitive grant applications for projects to establish and manage Individual Development Accounts (IDAs) for low-income refugee participants. Eligible refugee participants who enroll in these projects will open and contribute systematically to IDAs for specified Savings Goals, including home ownership, business capitalization, vehicles for educational or work purposes, professional certification, and education (limited to postsecondary education, college entrance exam fees, Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) and GED preparation and test fees). Grantee organizations may use ORR funds to provide matches for the savings in the IDAs of up to $2,000 per individual refugee and $4,000 per refugee household. Applications will be screened and evaluated as indicated in the published funding opportunity announcement. Selection of awards will be contingent on the outcome of the competition and the availability of funds. The “match” mentioned in this announcement does not refer to the applicant finding additional funds to match funds being provided by the Federal government; it is the portion of federal funds to be allocated for matching clients' IDA savings. Successful grantees will be expected to coordinate their policies and procedures for developing and administering refugee IDA projects with ORR and with the existing refugee IDA network.

Contact Information

• Agency

  Department of Health and Human Services

• Office:

  Administration for Children and Families

• Agency Contact:

  ACF Applications Help Desk
  app_support@acf.hhs.gov
  

• Agency Mailing Address:

  ACF Applications Help Desk

• Agency Email Address:

  app_support@acf.hhs.gov

• Location:

  Administration for Children and Families - ORR

• More Information:

  http://www.acf.hhs.gov/grants/open/foa/view/HHS-2015-ACF-ORR-ZI-0958