CSBG DCL Reminder! Master List and State Plan Due September 1
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Administration for Children and Families
Office of Community Services
Division of Community Assistance
330 C Street, SW, 5th Floor
Mail Room 5425
Washington, D.C. 20201
www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ocs/programs/csbg
Community Services Block Grant
Dear Colleague Letter
Re: Reminder! Master List and State Plan Due September 1
Date: August 28, 2018
Dear Colleagues:
As you may be aware, the due date for the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) Eligible Entity Master List and the CSBG State Plan is Saturday, September 1, 2018. As we approach the due date for the Master List and State Plan, we wanted to share a few reminders with you. We understand that there have a been a few technical glitches. We have been working daily with our technical partners, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) GrantSolutions Center of Excellence to fix each technical glitch in time for you to submit your State Plan on time.
Although we are unable to modify the due date for the CSBG State Plans (which is specified in statute), we will review and accept complete State CSBG Plans that are submitted after the due date due to any technical challenges given that the due date does not fall on a regular business day. State Plans will be reviewed based on receipt and in accordance with our Federal Accountability Measures with feedback provided within 45 days of receipt of the online plan and a goal of addressing any issues and accepting plans within 60 days of submission when possible.
Certifying the State Plan
The State Plan can only be certified after all validations are clear. Additionally, the State Plan must be certified by the authorized official as designated in the Designation Letter attached to question 1.3 in the plan. If the State Plan is certified by someone other than the person designated on the designation letter, the State Plan will not be accepted and your State Plan will be returned.
Section 1
As a reminder, 1.5 is a new question this year. If there is a state association within the state, you must select that there are changes to 1.5, and update each correlating item. Items 1.2b, 1.2d and 1.4b also have to be updated. Under 1.2 and 1.4 respectively, select “yes” that there were changes, and then select the correlating check boxes for 1.2b. Department Type, 1.2d. Authorized Official, and 1.4b. Point of Contact.
Attachments
During the webinars held August 14, Great! We Made It, and August 15, Submitting the State Plan, we spoke about acceptable attachments. This year, we are only accepting attachments as a response to and/or as a supplement to nine items, as shown in the table below. Attachments as a response or supplement to any other item within the State Plan will not be accepted, and your State Plan will be returned. For the items where attachments used to be allowed, we have updated the amount of characters allowed. Limiting the number of attachments allows us to better review each response, and will help us to prepare as we create the CSBG Performance Management site. These webinars can be found on the NASCSP website .
| Item No. | item title |
|---|---|
| 1.3. | Designation Letter [Required] |
| 2.3. | Legislation/Regulation |
| 4.4. | Public Hearing Documentation [Required] |
| 6.1b. | Alternative Organizational Standards [Required, as applicable] |
| 10.2. | Monitoring Policies |
| 15.1. | Lobby Certification |
| 15.2. | Drug-free Workplace Certification |
| 15.3. | Debarment Certification |
| 15.4. | Environmental Tobacco Smoke |
Technical Assistance
Please provide any technical assistance requests through email to Niki Frazier and Monique Alcantara, with a copy to CSBGStates@acf.hhs.gov no later than 4:00PM EST Thursday, August 30. Technical assistance will be limited Friday, August 31. In the case that you run into an issue on August 31, please still send an email, and we will respond as quickly as possible during the following week. As noted above, plans that cannot be submitted prior to Saturday September 1 will still be reviewed and accepted upon submission and review. OCS will work with states to address any technical issues on an expedited basis.
If you have any questions, please contact your program specialist with a copy to CSBGStates@acf.hhs.gov. Thank you again for your continued hard work to ensure high quality State CSBG Plans.
Sincerely,
Seth Hassett
Director, Division of Community Assistance
Office of Community Services