FY27 CAR Family Education and Support

FY27 CAR Family Education and Support

This grant award will have an initial period of performance starting in FY27 (07/01/2026 (or upon execution of the agreement) through 06/30/2029). A budget should be submitted for FY27 only.
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PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

Provider will delivery ongoing parent education and skill-building classes designed to promote positive family interactions, strengthen family functioning, and support family reunification. Services include structured group sessions, individual family engagement activities, and supportive services such as home visits.

Program participation will be open to the general community, with priority enrollment given to families currently involved with, or identified as being at risk of involvement with DCFS, as well as foster families requiring additional parenting support.

In conjunction with group sessions, Provider will conduct home coaching visits to reinforce skills, address specific family needs, and promote healthy parent-child relationships. provider will use an evidenced based parent education curriculum/model, offering psycho-educational and cognitive-behavioral parenting interventions.
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DETAILS

Provider services will include face to face group sessions, pre- and post-assessments and home-based coaching, all delivered in alignment with the evidence-based curriculum and program requirements under Nurturing Parenting Program for Parents – The California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare.

Parenting education classes: The Provider will facilitate in person classroom instruction once a week, for a minimum of 16 weeks. Each session will be 3 hours in duration. must be operate on a continuous, rolling schedule throughout the contract term offered in 16–20-week cycles totaling approximately 48 instructional hours. Each cycle must be designed to enhance positive family interactions, strengthen overall family functioning, and support successful family reunification efforts. Virtual group sessions are allowed; however, Provider must establish and enforce clear attendance and participation standards to ensure that each session meets program requirements and qualifies as a completed class session.

Provider will allow participants to enter at any point in the cycle and complete the full sequence of sessions, regardless of their initial start date. All accepted participants will be placed into the next available class cycle to minimize wait times and promote timely engagement. All sessions must be completed and documented by the Provider’s parent educator/facilitator and stored in the client’s file. The Provider will work with any family that misses a class to ensure that the family makes up the class.

Home visits: Provider will complete 6-8 home-based coaching sessions with parents and children separately and jointly during a 90-minute lesson. These sessions must be conducted in accordance with the evidence-based curriculum, and will provide parents and children an opportunity to interact and practice new skills and will provide parent coaching to strengthen the family unit. All home-based coaching services must be documented and completed by the facilitators to address specific issues relevant to the family.

One-On-One Individual and Family Sessions will be conducted as needed to help clients and the Parent Educators identify effective parenting tools that strengthen bonding and interaction with their children. One-on-one and family sessions should be provided in conjunction with group-based services for parents facing challenges with addiction and mental health to offer support that extends far beyond the standard education, to help parents break cycles of poverty, child abuse and neglect.

Supervised Visits between Parent and Child: Provider will conduct supervised visitations to ensure parents in high conflict or at-risk situations receive careful observation and assessment, supporting the development of an appropriate education plan. Both DCFS and Non-DCFS clients referred through family court or probation are eligible for supervised visitation services. Through this component to the one-on-one sessions the provider will offer targeted family interventions and education to strengthen family stability and promote children’s wellbeing.

Provider Parent Educators will provide hands on modeling and education to new parents who lack the skill/knowledge of how to care for an infant, toddler etc. Provider Staff will observe visits, document interactions/time spent and take an active role in visitations, when necessary, if there is a teachable moment, or when specifically requested by the client or referring agent. All other education takes place before or after the visitation so that the parent and child’s time together is focused on bonding with each other. Modeling has proven an effective tool for parents whose learning disabilities hamper their ability to learn in a classroom setting.

Other Activities: The Provider will offer community events, diapers and household goods, and activities that promote child abuse prevention, family strengthening and the protective factors. Provider will use the program’s flexibility to support clients in pursuing GED testing, mental health assessments, job interviews and other steps required in their service plan and individual goals that will ultimately lead to family strengthening. Family Educators will also assist clients in schedule will accompany clients at various appointments with service providers in the community such as early childhood screenings, well child checkups, housing interviews, etc. The Program Coordinator and other Parent Educators will participate in Child and Family Team Meetings to advocate and encourage family reunification and stabilization.

Client assistance with transportation will be provided to parents as needed to support/facilitate the parent(s) ability to attend parent education classes. Additionally, the Provider will offer transportation reimbursement as needed for clients to attend group sessions.

Provider will contact clients to schedule individual coaching sessions, home visits or and to confirm supervised visitation schedules once assigned to a family. Parent Educators are responsible for contacting clients within two weeks of the assignment to initiate individual coaching sessions and completing documentation following every supervised visitation observation and individual coaching session.

Client contacts are monitored monthly by the Provider. All required documentation of contacts and services must be logged and attendance sheets for home visits and group sessions must be available to verify with client signature.

The Provider must utilize the Adult-Adolescent Parenting Inventory (AAPI-2.1) and the Nurturing Skills Competency Scales (NSCS), built in assessment tools to assess parenting beliefs, knowledge and skills. Pre, post, and process assessment tools will be used to measure the impact of the program.

Provider will offer program participants satisfaction surveys at the completion of the program. Home parent coaching sessions must be provided to families who are identified by the Program Supervisor as needing additional services to assist them to complete their personal goals and objectives of the program.

Provider staff must be available to conduct services to participants during normal business days/hours (Monday-Friday 8-5pm), with evening and weekend hours as needed to accommodate parents/caregivers’ schedules.

Client: The client is any family unit within the community including those involved with DCFS or identified as an at-risk family by DCFS and families in the community not involved with the child welfare system who are referred by family court systems, social service agencies, or through self-referrals.

Adult-Adolescent Parenting Inventory (AAPI-2): The AAPI-2 is an inventory designed to assess the parenting and child rearing attitudes of adult and adolescent parent and pre-parent populations. Based on the known parenting and child rearing behaviors of abusive parents, responses to the inventory provide an index of risk for practicing behaviors known to be attributable to child abuse and neglect.

At-risk: At-risk is defined as experiencing moderate dysfunction within the family environment. This dysfunction negatively impacts the family unit and puts the family at-risk for involvement with the child welfare system.

Nurturing Skills Competency Scales (NSCS): The NSCS is a criterion referenced, self-report inventory designed to provide comprehensive information about the “quality of life” issues that families face as they attempt to put into practice the new parenting beliefs, knowledge and skills. Each NSCS addresses the unique needs of children in different developmental groups: prenatal; birth to five; school-age; teen parents and parents and their adolescents. The NSCS is an inventory that gathers information, both past and current, about individuals and their families in order to alert family members as well as professionals about on-going conditions that could lead to (1) the initial occurrence of child maltreatment; or (2) the recurrence of child maltreatment.
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STAFFING QUALIFICATIONS

Direct Service -
Program Assistant: Minimum Requirements: High school diploma or equivalent. Must complete 10 hours of training education focusing on child welfare and/or parent skills trainings prior to serving clients and annually thereafter. Valid Driver’s License and insurance must be maintained throughout employment.

Program Coordinator: Minimum bachelor’s degree in Social Work, Psychology or related field from an accredited school and at least five years’ experience in social service.

Parent Educator/Facilitators: bachelor’s degree in Social Work, Psychology or related field from an accredited school, or bachelor’s degree in an unrelated field from an accredited school with minimum of one year of experience in child welfare and/or social service field.

Supervisory -
Executive Director: Minimum bachelor’s degree from an accredited school and 8+ year’s social service experience and three years of demonstrated leadership including financial and organizational management experience.
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MINIMUM STAFFING EXPECTATIONS

Provider must maintain sufficient staff to maintain the following staff to client ratios:
• Family Education and Support programs for group sessions class ratio 1:15
• One-on-One/Family Support Sessions ratio is 1:8
• Diaper Pantry ratio is 1:1
• Workshops 1:12
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REFERRALS

Families involved with DCFS/CWCA will be accepted to the program on a no decline basis with a referral from the caseworker or supervisor. Referrals will also be accepted from judges, probation, other social service agencies, school districts and self-referrals via phone, email, fax, or mail. Self-referrals or other agency referrals will be accepted for services provided enrollment does not exceed capacity.
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TREATMENT GOALS/SERVICE PLANS

Client treatment plans will comply with the structure and goals set forth by the Nurturing Parenting Program curriculum including the specific constructs of the model. Service plans will be provided by DCFS and CWCA caseworkers. If no specific parenting goals have been identified or the client does not have a DCFS/CWCA developed service plan, the Provider Parent Educator will use results from the Adult-Adolescent Parenting Inventory as well as from direct parent-child interaction observations to develop goals with the client/family that is being served.
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TARGET POPULATION

Inclusions:
Clients identified by DCFS/CWCA as benefitting from parenting and family services will be accepted for services. Program participation is open to all families in the community, with priority enrollment given to families currently involved with, or identified as being at risk of involvement with, the child welfare system, as well as foster families requiring additional parenting support.

Additionally, targeted families may include families headed by teen parents, grandparents raising grandchildren, or an identified family needing support and guidance in nurturing and raising children.

Exclusions:
Clients will not be accepted for services when they have been referred to class two (2) times within a quarter but have failed to complete all sessions or have been unsuccessfully discharged. If this exclusion applies to a family, it will be discussed with the family and the referral source. The family will then be offered the service the following quarter. Clients will not be accepted if the class has reached maximum capacity but will be placed on a waiting list and referred for the next opening available.

Clients may also be excluded if they present with untreated mental health or addiction issues that impede a client’s ability to engage in a learning environment, have a documented history of verbal or physical threats of aggression towards staff or peers or a documented history of violating the of confidentiality of other class participants.

Client Capacity Under DCFS Agreement: 600
Capacity at Any Given Time: 90

Client Capacity Under Program: 750
Capacity at Any Given Time: 120

Average Length of Services: 12-16 weeks average

NPP group services run for 16 weeks; with 1 assessment and 1 post-intervention session and up to 7 in person home coaching visits for intervention reinforcement. The length of service under this contract will be based on the specific needs of the client and the number of units that are authorized by the designated DCFS staff person.

The provider must obtain prior authorization from DCFS to serve clients outside of the program plan parameters.
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PROGRAM OUTCOMES AND METRICS

% of clients with no indicated reports; target = 90%.
% of participating parents maintaining children at home; target = 90%.
Client satisfaction survey results; 85% report satisfactory or good experience.
Comparison of pre- and post-test scores; at least 70% demonstrate improvement.
Attendance and completion records; 60% of enrolled parents graduate.
Post-program assessments or self-reports; 80% show improvement.

Details

• Awarding Agency: Department Of Children And Family Services
• CSFA Number: 418-00-3573
• CSFA Popular Name: Family Education & Support
• Funding Opportunity Number: 418 - Family Education and Support
• Assistance Listings Number: 93.669
• Announcement Type: Initial Announcement
• Award Type: Competitive
• Total Funding Available: $332,556.00
• Expected Number of Awards: 1
• Funding Sources: Federal Or Federal Pass Through, State
• Indirect Costs Allowed: Yes
• Posted Date: 2026-04-27
• Award Period: 2026-07-01 – 2027-06-30

Funding Restrictions

Grant awards will be subject to state statutory requirements that limit the administrative costs to 20%. Fringe benefits cannot exceed 25% of total salaries.

Indirect Cost Description

Indirect Costs are allowed. To charge indirect costs to a grant, the applicant organization must have an annually negotiated indirect cost rate agreement (NICRA).

There are three types of NICRAs:

1. Federally Negotiated Rate. Organizations that receive direct federal funding, may have an indirect cost rate that was negotiated with the Federal Cognizant Agency. Illinois will accept the federally negotiated rate. The organization must provide a copy of the federal NICRA.

2. State Negotiated Rate. The organization may negotiate an indirect cost rate with the State of Illinois if they do not have a Federally Negotiated Rate. If an organization has not previously established an indirect cost rate, an indirect cost rate proposal may be submitted to the State of Illinois through the indirect cost rate system no later than three months after the effective date of the award. If an organization previously established an indirect cost rate, the organization must continue to use that rate until its expiration. Upon expiration, the organization may re-submit a new indirect cost proposal through the system annually, within six months after the close of the grantee’s fiscal year, OR an organization may elect to use the de minimis rate instead of their State Negotiated Rate.

3. De Minimis Rate. An organization may elect a de minimis rate of 15% of modified total direct cost (MTDC). Once established, the de minimis rate may be used indefinitely. The State of Illinois must verify the calculation of the MTDC annually in order to accept the de minimis rate.
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NOTE
• All grantees must complete an indirect cost rate negotiation or elect the De Minimis Rate in the indirect cost rate system to claim indirect costs. Indirect costs claimed without an established negotiated rate or a De Minimis Rate election in the system may be subject to disallowance.
• Grantees have discretion not to claim payment for indirect costs. Grantees that elect not to claim indirect costs cannot be reimbursed for indirect costs.
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Restrictions on Indirect Costs

Yes

Citation Governing Indirect Cost Restriction

2 CFR 200.414(c) and 2 CFR 300.414

State Award Notices

REVIEW AND SELECTION PROCESS
All applications must be submitted by the posted deadline. IDCFS staff conducts an initial review of all applications received for eligibility and GATA compliance. Reviewers may consist of DCFS GATA staff, division leadership, and other internal DCFS staff. Each proposal will be reviewed by a minimum of three reviewers. The review and selection of grant award recipients is conducted in a fair and equitable manner that evaluates and selects grantees most likely to be successful in delivering results based on program objectives, and with limited disruption to the continuity of services. Proposals will be approved based on funding available.

While recommendations from the review team will be a key factor in funding decisions, the Department maintains final authority over funding decisions and considers the scores of the review team to be non-binding recommendations. The Department reserves the right to evaluate applications in the larger context of the overall portfolio by considering geographic distribution of awards (e.g., ensuring coverage of certain counties or service areas), client needs, and overall programmatic/ financial risk assessments in its pre-award decisions. Any internal documentation used in scoring or awarding of grants shall not be considered public information.

Final award decisions will be made by the Director (or their designee). The Department reserves the right to negotiate with successful applicants to adjust award amounts, locations, etc. Funds are disbursed based on the schedule agreed upon and included within the Uniform Grant Agreement. The release of this Notice of Funding Opportunity does not obligate the Department to make an award.
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AWARD NOTIFICATIONS
An award status notification (approval or denial) will be delivered via an automated email from Euna Grants. This email will serve as notification that an award has been made. However, this email is not an authorization to begin performance or incur costs.
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APPEALS
Competitive grant (and in some cases non-competitive) appeals are limited to an appeal related to the evaluation process. Evaluation scores may not be protested.

An appeal must be submitted in writing in accordance with the grant application document. An appeal must be received within 14 calendar days of Award denial.
The written appeal shall include at a minimum the following:
i. the name and address of the appealing party
ii. identification of the grant for which you are appealing the evaluation/review process
iii. a statement of reasons for the appeal

Response to Appeal
a. DCFS will acknowledge receipt of an appeal within fourteen (14) calendar days from the date the appeal was received.
b. DCFS will respond to the appeal within 60 days or supply a written explanation to the appealing party as to why additional time is required.
c. The appealing party must supply any additional information requested by DCFS within the time period set in the request.

Reporting

Grantees will be expected to submit both (monthly or quarterly) periodic performance reports and monthly financial reports. The exact reporting requirements of this award will be defined in the program plan of the Uniform Grant Agreement.