State Court Improvement Program
Published on AidPage by
IDILOGIC on Jun 24, 2005
Purpose of this program:
To assist State courts in performing their role in the continuum of care provided for families and children at risk. It provides State courts with the flexibility to design assessments which identify barriers to timely and effective decision-making, highlight practices which are not fully successful, examine areas they find to be in need of correction or added attention, and then implement reforms which address the State courts specific needs.
Possible uses and use restrictions...
Grants under the State Court Improvement Program may be used for assessment and improvement activities, broadly defined, of the child welfare functions of a court system.
Who is eligible to apply...
The highest State courts in each of the 50 States, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico are eligible to apply for funding. The term "highest State court" means the judicial tribunal which is the ultimate court of appeals in the State.
Credentials/Documentation
All State courts which submit applications as per instructions released by the Children's Bureau, Administration on Children, Youth, and Families (ACYF) are eligible to receive Court Improvement Program grant funds.
Note:This is a brief description of the credentials or documentation required prior to, or along with, an application for assistance.
About this section:
This section indicates who can apply to the Federal government for assistance and the criteria the potential applicant must satisfy.
For example, individuals may be eligible for research grants, and the criteria to be satisfied may be that they have a professional or scientific degree,
3 years of research experience, and be a citizen of the United States. Universities, medical schools, hospitals, or State and local governments may also be eligible.
Where State governments are eligible, the type of State agency will be indicated (State welfare agency or State agency on aging) and the criteria that they
must satisfy.
Certain federal programs (e.g., the Pell Grant program which provides grants to students) involve intermediate levels of application processing, i.e., applications
are transmitted through colleges or universities that are neither the direct applicant nor the ultimate beneficiary. For these programs,
the criteria that the intermediaries must satisfy are also indicated, along with intermediaries who are not eligible.
How to apply...
Application Procedure:
Standard Forms 424 and 424A are required. Further instructions can be obtained from the Children's Bureau, ACYF and the appropriate HHS Regional Offices.
Note: Each program will indicate whether applications are to be submitted to the Federal headquarters, regional or local office, or to a State or local government office.
Award Procedure:
Awards to approved applicants will be made from the Administration for Children and Families, Office of Administration, Office of Grants Managment
Note: Grant payments may be made by a letter of credit, advance by Treasury check, or reimbursement by Treasury check.
Awards may be made by the headquarters office directly to the applicant, an agency field office, a regional office,
or by an authorized county office. The assistance may pass through the initial applicant for further distribution by
intermediate level applicants to groups or individuals in the private sector.
Deadlines and process...
Deadlines
None.
Note:
When available, this section indicates the deadlines for applications to the funding agency which will
be stated in terms of the date(s) or between what dates the application should be received.
When not available, applicants should contact the funding agency for deadline information.
Range of Approval/Disapproval Time
Federal approval time will be between 30 and 120 days.
Preapplication Coordination
None. This program is excluded from coverage under E.O. 12372.
Note:
This section indicates whether any prior coordination or approval is required with governmental or nongovernmental units
prior to the submission of a formal application to the federal funding agency.
Appeals
Appeals are processed in accordance with HHS Departmental regulations at 45 CFR Part 16.
Note:
In some cases, there are no provisions for appeal. Where applicable, this section discusses appeal procedures or allowable rework time for resubmission
of applications to be processed by the funding agency. Appeal procedures vary with individual programs and are either listed in this section or
applicants are referred to appeal procedures documented in the relevant Code of Federal Regulations (CFR).
Renewals
Applications for fiscal year 2003, fiscal year 2004 and fiscal year 2005 funds will be requested and accepted based on guidance to State courts by the Children's Bureau.
Note:
In some instances, renewal procedures may be the same as for the application procedure, e.g., for projects of a non-continuing nature renewals will be treated as new, competing applications; for projects of an ongoing nature, renewals may be given annually.
Who can benefit...
The State courts are eligible.
Beneficiaries
About this section:
This section lists the ultimate beneficiaries of a program, the criteria they must satisfy and who specifically is not eligible. The applicant and beneficiary will generally be the same for programs that provide assistance directly from a Federal agency. However, financial assistance that passes through State or local governments will have different applicants and beneficiaries since the assistance is transmitted to private sector beneficiaries who are not obligated to request or apply for the assistance.
What types of assistance...
Formula Grants
Allocations of money to States or their subdivisions in accordance with distribution formulas prescribed by law or administrative regulation, for activities of a continuing nature not confined to a specific project.
How much financial aid...
Range and Average of Financial Assistance
$100,158 to $1,192,273; $255,357.
Note:
This section lists the representative range (smallest to largest) of the amount of financial assistance available. These figures are based upon funds awarded in the past fiscal year and the current fiscal year to date. Also indicated is an approximate average amount of awards which were made in the past and current fiscal years.
Obligations
(Grants) FY 03 $13,278,550; FY 04 est $13,279,644; and FY 05 est $16,600,000.
Note:
The dollar amounts listed in this section represent obligations for the past fiscal year (PY), estimates for the current fiscal year (CY), and estimates for the budget fiscal year (BY) as reported by the Federal agencies. Obligations for non-financial assistance programs indicate the administrative expenses involved in the operation of a program.
Account Identification
75-1512-0-1-506.
Note:
Note: This 11-digit budget account identification code represents the account which funds a particular program.
This code should be consistent with the code given for the program area as specified in Appendix III of the Budget of the United States Government.
Examples of funded projects...
Not applicable, this is a formula grant program.
About this section
This section indicates the different types of projects which have been funded in the past. Only projects funded under Project Grants or Direct Payments for Specified Use should be listed here. The examples give potential applicants an idea of the types of projects that may be accepted for funding. The agency should list at least five examples of the most recently funded projects.
Program accomplishments...
There were 52 grants awarded in fiscal year 2003. It is estimated that 52 grants will be awarded in fiscal years 2004.
Criteria for selecting proposals...
Not applicable. This is a formula grant program which does not receive discretionary grant proposals.
Assistance considerations...
Length and Time Phasing of Assistance
The U.S. Treasury will provide funds for this program.
Formula and Matching Requirements
Each State court with an approved application is allotted $85,000 for fiscal year 2002 -2006. In addition to this base amount, the remainder of the amount appropriated for all State courts ($13,279,550 for fiscal year 2004) will be divided among those courts with approved applications according to each State's proportionate share of children under the age of 21. If any State courts do not apply for their share of these funds, the unclaimed amount will be reallocated each year to all other State courts with approved applications. Nonfederal share (or match) is required at the rate of 25 percent of the total budget.
Note:
A formula may be based on population, per capita income, and other statistical factors. Applicants are informed whether there are any matching requirements to be met when participating in the cost of a project. In general, the matching share represents that portion of the project costs not borne by the Federal government. Attachment F of OMB Circular No. A-102 (Office of Management and Budget) sets forth the criteria and procedures for the evaluation of matching share requirements which may be cash or in-kind contributions made by State and local governments or other agencies, institutions, private organizations, or individuals to satisfy matching requirements of Federal grants or loans.
Cash contributions represent the grantees' cash outlay, including the outlay of money contributed to the grantee by other public agencies, institutions, private organizations, or individuals. When authorized by Federal regulation, Federal funds received from other grants may be considered as the grantees' cash contribution.
In-kind contributions represent the value of noncash contributions provided by the grantee, other public agencies and institutions, private organizations or individuals. In-kind contributions may consist of charges for real property and equipment, and value of goods and services directly benefiting and specifically identifiable to the grant program. When authorized by Federal legislation, property purchased with Federal funds may be considered as grantees' in-kind contribution.
Maintenance of effort (MOE) is a requirement contained in certain legislation, regulations, or administrative policies stating that a grantee must maintain a specified level of financial effort in a specific area in order to receive Federal grant funds, and that the Federal grant funds may be used only to supplement, not supplant, the level of grantee funds.
Post assistance requirements...
Reports
Both fiscal and program reports are required annually and are due 90 days after the close of the grant year.
Note:
This section indicates whether program reports, expenditure reports, cash reports or performance monitoring are required by the Federal funding agency, and specifies at what time intervals (monthly, annually, etc.) this must be accomplished.
Audits
In accordance with the provisions of OMB Circular No. A- 133, "Audits of State, local governments, and non-profit organizations" State and local governments that expend more than $500,000 in Federal awards within the State's fiscal year shall have an audit made in accordance with OMB Circular No. A-133, or in accordance with Federal laws and regulations governing the programs in which they participate. Other audits are conducted in accordance with the requirements of 45 CFR Part 92.
Note:
This section discusses audits required by the Federal agency.
The procedures and requirements for State and local governments and nonprofit entities are set forth in OMB Circular No. A-133.
These requirements pertain to awards made within the respective State's fiscal year - not the Federal fiscal year,
as some State and local governments may use the calendar year or other variation of time span designated as the fiscal year period,
rather than that commonly known as the Federal fiscal year (from October 1st through September 30th).
Records
Records must be retained at least 3 years. Records shall be retained beyond the 3-year period if audit findings have not been resolved.
Note:
This section indicates the record retention requirements and the type of records the Federal agency may require.
Not included are the normally imposed requirements of the General Accounting Office.
For programs falling under the purview of OMB Circular No. A-102, record retention is set forth in Attachment C.
For other programs, record retention is governed by the funding agency's requirements.
Regulations...
Authorization
Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993, Section 13712, Public Law 103-66.
Note:
This section lists the legal authority upon which a program is based (acts, amendments to acts, Public Law numbers, titles, sections, Statute Codes, citations to the U.S. Code, Executive Orders, Presidential Reorganization Plans, and Memoranda from an agency head).
Regulations, Guidelines, And Literature
ACYF-PI-94-12 issued June 27, 1994,ACYF-CB-PI-99-02 issued February 23,1999, Letter of April 24, 2002 from ACYF Commissioner Joan Ohl to the Highest State Courts of Appeal, and ACYF-CB-PI-03-04 issued March 28, 2003. The Court Improvement Program is not regulated. Literature about court assessments and improvements can be found by contacting National Child Welfare Resource Cneter for Legal and Judicial Issues at 800-285-2221.