2018 Archived Information for the Statewide Family Engagement Center Competition
SAM.GOV ALERT
It has come to our attention that some applicants for the SFEC Grant Opportunity have experienced difficulties renewing or completing their System for Award Management (SAM) registration, the system operated by the General Services Administration (GSA), because of a new GSA requirement concerning the submission of a notarized letter appointing a designated entity administrator. As you know, successful registration in SAM is a prerequisite to being able to register in Grants.gov and submit an application electronically.
Because of this issue, the U.S. Department of Education is allowing those SFEC applicants that have experienced or are experiencing difficulty in registering or renewing their SAM registration the opportunity to submit their applications as a PDF attachment(s) to an email(s) to SFEC@ed.gov by the deadline, July 30, 2018 by 4:30:00 pm, Eastern Time. This deadline was established in the Notice Inviting Applications for the SFEC program, which was published on June 28, 2018: https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2018-06-28/pdf/2018-13913.pdf. We note that the Department’s e-mail system will not accept attachments that are larger than 25 MB. Therefore, applicants that chose to submit an application as a PDF file attached to an e-mail should confirm that it is not larger than 25 MB and confirm the maximum file size that their own e-mail systems can transmit. If an application exceeds the 25 MB limit for files submitted to the Department by e-mail, or exceeds the file size that an applicant’s e-mail will transmit, the applicant should divide their applications into sections and submit in multiple e-mails, using an “easy to understand” naming convention, e.g. InstitutionNameSection1, InstitutionNameSection2, and so on.
An applicant, which has not been able to access Grants.gov because of the notarized letter requirement and cannot submit an application as an attachment to an e-mail, has the option of submitting a hard copy through a delivery service that provides next day delivery. If you exercise the option to submit a hardcopy with a next day delivery, rather than e-mailing your application or submitting it electronically through Grants.gov, please include with your application a dated invoice or mail receipt that proves your application was mailed or submitted for delivery by July 30, 2018. Your application must be sent to the following address:
U.S. Department of Education,
Application Control Center, Attention:
CFDA Number 84.310A
LBJ Basement Level 1,
400 Maryland Avenue SW, Washington,
DC 20202–4260.
Please note that applicants that receive a SFEC grant will need to complete their SAM registration before they can draw down funds. If there are any other issues please contact the SFEC inbox at SFEC@ed.gov and please remember to document your issue by providing any e-mails you received from or submitted to SAM or Grants.gov and other relevant material concerning your issue.
Timeline for 2018 SFEC Competition
Application Available: June 28, 2018
Deadline for Notice of Intent to Apply: July 13, 2018
Deadline for Submission of Applications: July 30, 2018
Estimated Award Date: September 30, 2018
2018 SFEC Competition Forms
SFEC NOTICE INVITING APPLICATIONS
SFEC APPLICATION PACKAGE
Sample Application Instructions: Please note that the SFEC Application Instructions shown here are for applicants to download and use only as a guide. Unless your organization qualifies for an exception to the electronic submission requirement, all SFEC grant applications are submitted electronically via Grants.gov. See the NIA for information about how to submit an application for the SFEC competition.
Pre-Application Webinar
Pre-Application Webinar: On Wednesday, July 11th, the Department hosted a pre-application webinar for SFEC potential applicants. Topics included a program overview, eligibility, competitive preference priorities, application and program requirements, selection criteria, and the application submission process. For those who were not able to attend, the webinar was recorded and can be accessed here. A PDF of the webinar slides can also be downloaded for review.
Evidence and Evaluation Resources
To assist applicants applying to the FY 2018 Statewide Family Engagement Centers (SFEC) competition, the Department has compiled a number of resources related to evidence, logic models, and evaluation.
SAM.gov ALERT
If you are registering a new entity in SAM.gov, you must provide an original, signed notarized letter stating that you are the authorized Entity Administrator before your registration will be activated. Read the FAQs to learn more about this process change.
Additionally, beginning on April 27, 2018, entities renewing or updating their registration will be required to submit an original, signed notarized letter confirming the authorized Entity Administrator associated with the DUNS number before the registration is activated.
Please begin the SAM registration, including any necessary renewals or updates, as soon as possible. Also, please alert the ED contact for this competition (sfec@ed.gov) if you experience any delays due to the requirement to submit a notarized letter designating an Entity Administrator.
