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Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) State Agency General Infrastructure Grant (Part B): Track 2 - FY 2024

Agency: U.S. Department of Agriculture
CFDA: 10.578
Federal FON: USDA-FNS-WIC-INFRASTRUCTURE-24
Office: Food and Nutrition Service (FNS)
Multipart Grant: Yes
Next Due: 07/05/2024 (Application)
Solicitation Date: 05/21/2024
   
Match Required: No
Actual Funds: $30,000,000 (Estimated)
Summary:

The purpose of this program is to support Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) state agencies as they continue to modernize their programs. Projects will support WIC Infrastructure, including technological, digital, partnership, and/or outreach infrastructure at the state agency level through activities related to outreach, innovation, program modernization, and increased equity in program access.

Applicants are encouraged to use human-centered design to plan for, improve, and implement projects.

Funding will be provided for the following program components:

  • (Part A): Track 1
  • (Part B): Track 2
  • (Part C): Track 3
  • (Part D): Track 4

The purpose of the Track 2 component is to enhance state agencies' management information system (MIS), electronic benefit transfer (EBT) system, and/or other technology used to provide WIC benefits and services. These enhancements must provide a better user experience for WIC applicants, participants, and/or staff; and/or improve longevity, flexibility, program integrity, and/or cost efficiency. Project activities may include:

  • Activities related to upgrading MIS to support WIC modernization goals related to streamlining certification and optimizing virtual services
  • Activities related to improving the participant experience through apps, websites, telehealth, or similar activities
  • Activities related to the transition from offline to online EBT, including participant, vendor, and staff training and development/dissemination of resources
  • Activities related to EBT platform/provider transitions because of new contracts
  • Activities related to increasing the use of plain language and supporting individuals with limited English proficiency (LEP)
  • Activities related to improving the accuracy of WIC transactions through updates to the authorized product list (APL) or price look-up (PLU) processes or procedures
  • Upgrading MIS capacity to allow participants greater choice in store
  • Upgrading MIS to improve usability by WIC staff to streamline staff and backend functions and use staff time more efficiently
  • Upgrading not-to-exceed (NTE) calculations to aid in cost containment by providing options to implement a standard deviation or percentage over mean for each approved subcategory
  • Other activities that directly support this component's objective

All projects must followed HB901 procedures, which may be initiated after award are made.

Eligibility Notes:

Eligible applicants are all current WIC state agencies, including those in each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the 33 WIC Indian tribal organizations (ITOs), and the WIC organizations of the territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

State agencies may apply either as individual applicants or as leads of multistate agency collaborations. Priority, and additional points during the evaluation process, will be granted to multistate agency collaborations.

Applicants may submit multiple applications for this program overall; however, each applicant may only submit a single application for this component, and only one application per program component.

Applications for this component will receive priority consideration over applications for the Track 3 and Track 4 components of this program. Applications for the Track 1 component will receive priority over applications for this component.

Eligible Applicants:
Consortia
State Government
Tribal Organizations/Institutions
Application Notes:

Applications must be received by 11:59 p.m. ET on July 5, 2024.

Applications must be submitted online at www.ecivis.com/grants.gov. Mailed, emailed, and hand-delivered applications will not be accepted.

Applications must include:

  • Cover sheet
  • Table of contents
  • Project narrative
  • Budget detail and budget table
  • Activities/indicators tracker
  • SF 424
  • SF 424A
  • SF 424B
  • SF LLL
  • Representations regarding felony conviction and tax delinquent status for corporate applicants (if applicable)
  • Program accounting system and financial capability questionnaire
  • Negotiated indirect cost rate agreement (if applicable)

Applications may not exceed 15 pages total, excluding the table of contents, cover sheet, activities/indicators trackers, and appendices. Applications must be formatted on single-spaced, numbered pages, using 12-point font.

The following are required in order to submit an application:

  • Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) number
  • SAM (System for Award Management) registration
  • SPOC (state Single Point of Contact) notification

Applicants may obtain a UEI number and verify or renew SAM registration status at www.ecivis.com/sam. Applicants in states participating in the SPOC program must contact the relevant SPOC listed in the SPOC file before applying.

Applications will be evaluated using the following criteria:

  • Project feasibility and management (25 points)
  • Track alignment and impact (40 points)
  • Staffing (10 points)
  • Evaluation (10 points)
  • Budget table and budget narrative (15 points)

Refer to the NOFA file for additional application information.

Match Required: No
Actual Funds: $30,000,000 (Estimated)
Match Notes:

Matching funds are not required for this program.

Funding Notes:

Approximately $30 million is available to support an estimated 25 awards for this program overall, with an unspecified amount available to support awards through this component. Awards will be for up to $4 million for multistate agency collaborations, and up to $2 million for individual state agencies.

Award announcements are expected to be issued in September 2024.

Project periods are expected to begin in September 2024, and end in September 2027.

Refer to page 29 of the NOFA file for detailed guidance regarding costs that are expected to be itemized in the application budget narrative.

Costs of equipment with a useful life of more than one year and a cost of $5,000 or more require prior approval from the funding agency.

Funds may not be used for:

  • System remodels, system (re)designs, rebuilds, or transfer/implementation of a new management information system (MIS); or any phase related to these activities
  • Costs of entertainment, including amusement, diversion, and social activities and any associated costs, unless there is a programmatic purpose and prior approval is received from the funding agency
  • MIS remodels, rebuilds, or transfer/implementation of a new MIS; or any phase related to these activities, including planning
  • Pre-award costs
Contacts:

Patrice Williams
Grant Officer
Patrice.Williams@usda.gov

Agency Address
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
Food and Nutrition Service (FNS)
Braddock Metro Center II
1320 Braddock Place
Alexandria, VA 22314

Contact Notes:

Questions should be directed to Patrice Williams.

Applications must be submitted online at www.ecivis.com/grants.gov.

The agency address provided is for reference purposes only.

Files:
NOFA File: US17850B_NOFA_FY2024.pdf (699.1 Kb)
Other Pre-Award File: US17850B_FinancialCapabilityQuestionnaire_FY2024.pdf (152.0 Kb)
Federal Forms:
SPOC (195.6 Kb)
File Notes:

The NOFA file contains the full solicitation for this program. The FinancialCapabilityQuestionnaire file contains a required form for the submission of applications. The SPOC file contains information on the state Single Point of Contact program.

Grant Keywords
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Grant Categories
Health, Prevention/Treatment
Human Services