Deadline for Submitting Applications To Use FY 2018 Tribal CCDF Program Funds for Construction or a Major Renovation Extended to August 1
Tribal Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) program funding has more than doubled in fiscal year (FY) 2018. This funding increase provides an opportunity for tribes to make critical investments and improvements in their child care programs. One option is to use a portion of CCDF program funds for the construction or renovation of child care facilities. To use CCDF program funds for construction or a major renovation, a CCDF tribal lead agency must first request Administration for Children and Families’ (ACF) approval in accordance with Program Instruction (PI) CCDF-ACF-PI-2016-05. Under these procedures, tribal lead agencies must normally submit applications by July 1 to use funds from that fiscal year for construction or a major renovation. However, ACF recognizes that the FY 2018 funding increase occurred relatively late in the fiscal year. Therefore, to allow for additional time, ACF will accept applications to use FY 2018 funds for construction or a major renovation through August 1, 2018.
The tribal lead agency should submit as much information as possible prior to the August 1 deadline. At an absolute minimum, the tribe must provide complete responses to:
Application Item 1—Tribal name and tribal lead agency name
Application Item 12—A statement of the amount of construction or renovation costs that will be paid with CCDF program funds listed separately by the federal fiscal year in which those funds become (or became) available. The tribal lead agency should indicate whether the funds should be transferred from tribal mandatory or discretionary funds. Note: For a single project, a tribal lead agency may use CCDF program funds from more than 1 fiscal year. A project that uses more than 1 year of CCDF program funding may be approved in a single application.
See pages 5 through 10 of PI CCDF-ACF-PI-2016-05 for the description of the 18 application items. Although complete responses are required for items 1 and 12, the tribal lead agency should provide as much information as possible for all 18 items in the application that will be submitted prior to August 1. If information for one or more of the items is currently unavailable, the application should indicate the approximate date when the information will likely become available, and the tribe should submit the additional information to the Regional Office as soon as the information has been obtained.
Based on the tribal lead agency’s complete responses to items 1 and 12, and any additional information available for the remaining items, ACF will transfer the amount of funds requested in item 12 to the separate grant award for construction and renovation. However, the transfer of CCDF program funds to the separate grant award does not automatically allow the tribe to spend the funds for construction or renovation. CCDF program funds cannot be used for construction or renovation (other than planning and consultant costs—see pages 4–5 of the 2016 PI) until the tribe submits, and ACF approves, a complete construction/renovation application. The ACF Regional Office cannot approve an application until the necessary information for all the application items has been submitted. Tribes should move expeditiously in completing their applications and, upon receiving ACF approval, in finishing construction/renovation projects. Any funds not liquidated within the 3-year liquidation period will revert to the federal government. The liquidation timeframe begins with the date that the funds are originally awarded—not the date that the funds are transferred to the separate grant award for construction and renovation.
Office of Child Care
Administration for Children and Families
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Mary E. Switzer Building, Fourth Floor, MS 4425
330 C Street, S.W.
Washington, DC 20201
General office number: (202) 690-6782
Fax: (202) 690-5600
General email: occ@acf.hhs.gov
Website: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/occ
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