Section 199.05. Application.

 

(1)   Who may apply.

(a) An applicant may be any of the following:

1. A public agency.

2. A legally-formed organization.

3. A coalition of organizations under the auspices of a public agency or a legally-formed organization.

4. The tribal governing body of a federally recognized Wisconsin tribe or band of Indians, or an American Indian organization appointed by the tribal governing body.

(2)   Solicitation.

(a) The board shall solicit applications for initial grants by preparing one or more RFPs, publishing a legal notice of the availability of each RFP at least twice in the official state newspaper no later than 3 weeks before the application deadline, and distributing copies of an RFP on request.

(b) Based upon satisfactory performance and availability of funds, the board may solicit applications annually for continuation grants from current grantees. The board's solicitations shall be published as a legal notice at least twice in the official state newspaper no later than 3 weeks before the application deadline. The board shall provide details of the continuation grant to interested parties upon request.

(3)   Making application.

(a) Initial grants.

1. An application for an initial grant shall be made on forms included in the RFP.

2. The RFP shall specify a date by which the applicant must apply.

3. The application shall be submitted to the board in accordance with the deadline and processes indicated in the RFP.

(b) Continuation grants.

1. The board may solicit applications for continuation grants from currently-funded projects in a form determined by the board to be appropriate for the projects.

2. The continuation solicitation shall specify a date by which the applicant must apply.

3. The application shall be submitted to the board in accordance with the deadline, required format and content specifications indicated in the continuation solicitation.

(4)   Content of application. An application for an initial grant shall include all of the following:

(a) An application summary sheet.

(b) The application checklist included in the RFP.

(c) An abstract that briefly describes the project and highlights the project's purpose.

(d) A summary of the budget request.

(e) A justification of the proposed budget detailing cost estimates used in compiling the budget request.

(f) A narrative description of the program.

(g) A statement of assurance of compliance with applicable federal statutes and regulations and state statutes and rules, including the requirements of this chapter and the RFP.

(5)   Review of applications.

(a) Applications for initial grants.

1. `Preliminary review.' All initial grant applications shall include all of the application contents specified in sub. (4) and, if applicable, the RFP. The board or its designated evaluation committee shall review each application for compliance with the format and content specifications of sub. (4) and the RFP. Applications that fail to meet all of the criteria may not be approved by the board. Rejection of an application for failure to meet form and content specifications is not subject to appeal to the board.

2. `Evaluation criteria.' The board or its designated evaluation committee shall evaluate initial grant applications that receive a favorable preliminary review as specified in subd. 1. against criteria specified in sub. (4) and the RFP. The criteria shall include all of the following:

a. The applicant's organizational and programmatic capacity to implement the proposed project.

b. The applicant's understanding and ability to communicate the needs of the target population.

c. The applicant's stated purpose and objectives for the program and methods and timetable for implementing the program.

d. The extent to which the applicant's proposed budget is clear and justified.

e. An evaluation plan for the project.

(b) Criteria for evaluating continuation applications. The board or its designated evaluation committee shall evaluate continuation grant applications against all of the following criteria:

1. The applicant's understanding and capacity to communicate the needs of the target population.

2. The applicant's timetable for implementing the continuation of the current program.

3. The quality of the program as measured by program objectives and methodology, evaluation methodology and outcomes, fiscal management, documentation of program services, and the involvement of community partners.

(6)   Ranking applications.

(a) Ranking applications for initial grants.

1. The board or its designated evaluation committee shall weight the importance of each evaluation criterion by assigning points to it. The criteria weighting shall be provided in the RFP.

2. Using the evaluation criteria specified in subs. (4) and (5) , the board or its designated evaluation committee shall evaluate each application against each applicable criterion and assign points signifying the degree to which the application meets each criterion up to the maximum number of points specified in the RFP. The total points assigned to the application for all applicable criteria will be the score for each application.

3. The board shall numerically rank each application for each RFP and for continuation grants.

(b) Ranking applications for continuation grants.

1. Using evaluation criteria specified in sub. (5) (b) , the board or its designated evaluation committee shall conduct a non-competitive evaluation of each application.

2. The board shall assign a numerical score to each continuation grant application.

3. The board or its designated evaluation committee shall award continuation grants based upon the applicant's demonstration of effective grant administration and achievement of program outcomes during the previous funding period.

Cr. Register, May, 2001, No. 545 , eff. 6-1-01.