D.C. Mun. Regs. tit. 1, r. 1-5002

Current through Register Vol. 71, No. 49, December 6, 2024

Rule 1-5002 - THE PRE-AWARD PROCESS FOR SUBGRANTING TO PRIVATE ORGANIZATIONS

5002.1

All subgrants to private organizations shall be awarded on a competitive basis. The exceptions are as follows:

(a) An agency may make an award on a sole source basis in appropriate circumstances. These circumstances include, but are not limited to, situations where:

(1) the award of the grant designates the subgrant recipient;

(2) the federal law defines eligibility in such a way that there is only one eligible applicant; or

(3) there is a recognized coalition of service providers through which the broadest community participation may be obtained in serving the targeted clientele.

(b) An agency may make an award to an unsolicited proposal if:

(1) the agency has unobligated funds remaining from the grant due to unusual and unanticipated factors;

(2) the applicant has a program or project that clearly furthers the purpose of the grant;

(3) the proposal reflects proprietary skills or technology that are limited in availability; and

(4) the applicant brings to the total grant program matching resources (cash or in-kind) equivalent to at least thirty percent of the grant assistance requested.

5002.2

When an agency decides to award subgrants to private organizations, it shall follow the steps described in section 5002, subsections 5002.3 through 5002.7. These steps shall be followed even though the pool of applicants may also include governmental agencies.

5002.3

The agency shall first complete and approve the Subgrant Certification Form (SCF) in which it certifies that a subgrant is authorized under the criteria set forth in section 5001.3.

5002.4

The agency shall prepare the Request for Applications ("RFA") as follows:

(a) The agency shall state in the RFA the eligibility requirements for applicants, the amount of total funding anticipated for approved applications, the average amount of each subgrant or the range of subgrant awards, the criteria that will be used for scoring applications, the deadline and technical requirements for submitting applications, and the date of the pre-application conference. If the agency has not received the official grant award at the time the RFA is prepared, a contingency clause shall be included which conditions the subgrant on the receipt and availability of funding;

(b) The agency shall describe the purpose of the program in the RFA by defining the type and range of services or activities that a subgrantee shall carry out under a subgrant. The applicant shall propose measurable goals, objectives and timeframes, target recipients and a plan of formal evaluation for each specific service proposed by the applicant. The "purpose of program" section should also specify the time period for which all services will be funded and any special requirements in the authorizing statute or regulations;

(c) The criteria specified in the RFA for scoring applications shall include, but not be limited to: justification of need for grant funds, soundness of proposed service delivery plan, adequacy and reasonableness of proposed resources required, and demonstrated capability for managing the proposed project; and

(d) The agency shall give applicants a reasonable deadline in the RFA for submitting applications. Normally, thirty business days is considered reasonable unless emergency circumstances necessitate a shorter period of time.

5002.5

The agency shall prepare and disseminate a Notice of Funds Availability ("NOFA") as follows:

(a) The NOFA shall include a brief description of the purpose for which funds are available, criteria for eligible applicants, and the time and location at which the RFA may be obtained; and

(b) The NOFA shall be published in the D.C. Register and on the website that is maintained by the OGMD for all grant-funded NOFAs issued by the District government. Additionally, an agency may choose to disseminate a NOFA by publishing it in local newspapers and community newsletters, direct mailing to all prospective applicants or any other reasonable form of distribution.

5002.6

The agency shall establish a panel to review applications and make recommendations for award as follows:

(a) After the NOFA has been published and the RFA released, the agency shall appoint a review panel. The panel shall be comprised of a minimum of three individuals with knowledge and expertise in the objectives of the grant and RFA, as well as in the standard administrative requirements mandated by the source of funds. The review panel shall score the applications and make recommendations on which applications should be funded. Final decisions on awards and amounts shall be made by the head of the agency;

(b) Panelists shall sign affidavits that certify that they have no personal or vested interest in the organizations that submitted applications in response to the RFA. Affidavit forms may be obtained from the OGMD. OGMD also maintains a central registry of qualified application reviewers. Agencies are encouraged to use this registry in recruiting review panelists;

(c) Panelists who are not employees of the District government may be compensated for time served on a panel in accordance with subsection (d);

Panelists who are employees of the District government may not be compensated and may only serve if they have written authorization from their supervisors to serve on a panel;

(d) The administering agency may compensate review panelists at a rate that obtains the best qualified panelists within the following limits:

(1) the maximum rate allowable by the federal grantor agency for its own review panelists;

(2) the amount available in the administrative budget of the grant; and

(3) the maximum daily rate of a current DS-15 pay scale;

(e) The agency shall ensure that the review panelists are trained for their tasks. The agency shall convene a meeting of the panelists prior to the review activities and instruct them on the goals and objectives of the grant and the RFA, the scoring criteria and instruments, and the timeframe for completion of the panel's work. Guidelines for the establishment and management of review panels may be obtained from OGMD;

(f) After a review panel has completed its work, the agency shall evaluate each panelist's performance and forward that evaluation to OGMD for inclusion in the central registry; and

(g) If the agency awards a sole source or unsolicited proposal, the agency need not use an external review panel. The agency shall internally evaluate and score the sole source or unsolicited proposal using the same criteria that would have been applied to a competitive solicitation. The agency shall prepare a sole source justification explaining the circumstances that justified the absence of competition and attach that justification to the subgrant Certification Form that is submitted to the OMGD.

5002.7

The agency shall decide who shall be awarded a subgrant in accordance with the following:

(a) After the subgrant officer has received the evaluations and records of the review panel, the head of the agency or his/her designee shall make decisions on award and amount of each subgrant, subject to the advice of any advisory body required by law or regulation for the funding grant;

(b) If the agency director or his/her designee decides not to follow the review panel's recommendation, he/she shall provide written justification in the grant records and attach a copy of that justification to the SCRF submitted to OGMD; and

(c) After preliminary decisions have been made on awards, but before all approvals have been received, information regarding awards may be considered confidential to the extent permitted under the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act.

D.C. Mun. Regs. tit. 1, r. 1-5002

Final Rulemaking published at 46 DCR 4517-21 (May 21, 1999)