FY27 CAR Positive Parenting Program

FY27 CAR Positive Parenting Program

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

The Positive Parenting Program is open to the community with a focus of working with families involved within the Child Welfare System, including but not limited to families in need of support, guidance, and/or foster families struggling to provide the much-needed nurturing of children placed in their homes. Parent training utilizes The Nurturing Parenting Program (NPP), an evidenced based, evidence informed recognized curriculum with pre- and post-tests, classes, home visits and childcare.

The family centered treatment program establishes therapeutic supports for the parents and children to learn similar knowledge and skills in order to improve the quality of their lives and build nurturing skills as an alternative to abusive and neglectful behaviors

The program assists families in building self-awareness, positive self-concept/esteem, building and enhancing levels of empathy, enhancing family communication and awareness of needs, replacing abusive behaviors with nurturing behaviors, and promoting healthy physical and emotional development. The program is designed to intervene to prevent further escalation of the early stages of maltreatment and to replace old, existing harmful patterns of family interaction with newer, nurturing patterns of interaction. Those participants in need of further assistance are referred to other helping agencies.

The Positive Parenting Program also provides home visits where parents and children interact and practice their new skills, which strengthens the family unit. The home visiting services are completed by the facilitators and are utilized to address specific issues relevant to the family. Home visiting services are required of all DCFS referred families. All other families may be included in these services if deemed necessary.
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DETAILS

The Positive Parenting Program strives to build nurturing skills through group oriented and in-home parent education. The Implementation of both approaches allows the parents and their children to learn skills in the classroom setting and then implement these skills in their home environment. Practicing and utilizing nurturing skills in the home leads to improved quality of life and offers an alternative to abusive and neglectful behaviors.

The program centers on attaining competency in core nurturing skills and includes additional skill building lessons to develop to create a therapeutic treatment program for families that meet their specific needs. Competency based therapy helps families implement basic skills of the Nurturing Skills for Families. The Positive Parenting program utilizes group-oriented therapy systems promoting improved nurturing skills through hands on practice of skills learned. The program encourages a partnership between families and professionals to work together in creating an agenda that meets the specific needs of the family.

Provider utilizes the Adult-Adolescent Parenting Inventory (AAPI-2.1) and the Nurturing Skills Competency Scales (NSCS), which are built in assessment tools to access parenting beliefs, knowledge and skills. Pre, post, and process assessment tools measure the impact of the program. Family members need to demonstrate competency in the core skills that form the foundation of Nurturing Skills for Families. Each participating family is also evaluated in nine (9) separate criteria areas: attendance, sobriety, accountability, demonstrated skills, help seeking, communication, self-disclosure, sensitive language, and attentiveness. All participants are given a copy of the assessment at the start of class.

Program participants are asked to complete satisfaction surveys at the completion of the program. The completed survey allows the facilitator to assess whether the participants believe that the content of the program was helpful. Home parent coaching sessions are provided to families who are identified as needing additional services to assist them to complete their personal goals and objectives of the program. Facilitators utilize the Nurturing Skills for Families curriculum for group and in-home family sessions.

Parent Training Classes will be offered in English and, where available, in Spanish or other languages representative of client participants, using the Nurturing Parenting Program Training curriculum and associated materials.

Home visits to reinforce class content and to apply/ integrate the curriculum in the home environment, including, but not limited to, observing parent interaction, modeling appropriate parenting, providing feedback to parents, discussing the application of skills taught in the class and providing positive reinforcement as specified in the curriculum to be coordinated with the in-class sessions.
Childcare will be provided during the parent training classes to support/facilitate the parent(s) ability to be involved.

Client: Youth for whom the Department is legally responsible and for whom the Department has determined, in consultation with the Provider, the youth’s needs for rehabilitative, social and other services may best be met by the program and services provided under this contract.

The client to be serviced by the Positive Parenting Program will be the family unit. The Program focuses first on serving those involved with DCFS or identified as an at-risk family by DCFS, however the program is open to the public free of charge.

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. The program and facilitators are versatile and able to work with families who have a member recognized as having mental illness, substance abuse issues, domestic violence and teenage parents. Interpreters are utilized for those of differing languages.

The home visitation portion of the program focuses on those involved with the Department of Children and Family Services. The program is family oriented and emphasizes skills that strengthen the family. These skills are delivered to both parents and children at age-appropriate levels, with ample opportunity to practice the skills learned together.

Unit of Service: Group sessions are defined by the program curriculum and span 3 hours for 16 weeks.
Home visitations sessions are also defined by the program curriculum and are used to reinforce curriculum content. Home visitation is used to apply knowledge and skills to parenting practices with the support/ coaching of the parent educator.

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.

Nurturing Parenting Program (NPP): NPP is a curriculum-based psycho-educational and cognitive-behavioral group intervention that seeks to modify maladaptive beliefs that contribute to abusive parenting behaviors and to enhance parents’ skills in supporting attachments, nurturing, and general parenting

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.

Nurturing Skills for Families: a proven evidence-based program that provides concrete evidence for providing healthy relationship skills for all family members.
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STAFFING

Direct Service:
Facilitators must have a bachelor’s degree in social work or related field from an accredited school with at least 1 year of experience working with children and families in a child welfare field and have successfully completed the appropriate NPP parent training curriculum prior to facilitation of group/home visiting sessions.

Para-Professional Trainers/Child Care Facilitators: Trainers assisting the Facilitator shall have a high school diploma or GED, be 21 years of age or older and have experience working with children and families.

Supervisory:
Provider’s Program Coordinators/Supervisory positions require a minimum of a bachelor’s degree in social work or related field from an accredited school with at least 3 years of experience working with children and families in a child welfare field and have successfully completed the appropriate NPP parent training curriculum prior to facilitation of group/home visiting sessions. Supervisory positions must have previous experience with supervising child welfare staff.

Minimum Staffing Expectations:
All classes have up to four (4) group facilitators; two (2) facilitators for the adult group and two (2) facilitators for the children’s group, if deemed necessary. Staff shall not carry more than 15 cases at one time.

All staff, including newly staffed facilitators providing nurturing skills parenting classes for families under this contract must have successfully completed the Nurturing Parenting training (NPP) which is the evidence-based curriculum and implement the amount of sessions as stated in the nurturing families training.
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TARGET POPULATION

Inclusions:
Clients identified by the Department of Children and Family Services as benefitting from parenting and family services will be accepted for services. This program is targeted to serve DCFS involved families as referred but will accept private or self-referrals for any parents and children in need of or requesting such services. The program is most beneficial for persons who have greater than a borderline IQ.

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 session.

Client Capacity Under DCFS Agreement: 90
Capacity at Any Given Time: 30

Client Capacity Under Program: 90
Capacity at Any Given Time: 30

Average Length of Services: NPP group services run for a minimum of 16 weeks; with 1 assessment and 1 post-intervention session and up to 16 home sessions 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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REFFERAL AND ADMISSION PROCEDURES

The Provider will make every effort to engage referred families and to address with them and with their caseworkers potential barriers to group enrollment.

Referral Decision-Making Criteria: Families involved with DCFS or identified private agencies will be accepted to the program with a referral from the caseworker or supervisor. Referrals are provided to DCFS and private agencies three (3) to four (4) weeks prior to the classes beginning. Self-referrals or other agency referrals will be accepted for services provided enrollment does not exceed capacity. Referrals must be received by Provider’s staff in writing, via mail, fax, or emailed up to the week before the sessions begin. A release of information must be attached to the referral. Self-referrals or other agency referrals can be taken via phone, email, fax, or mail prior to the week before the first session.

The referrals, as well as the reconciliation metrics quantitative and qualitative measures, will be measured by tracking every referral made to the center, tracking the unique number of DCFS Families, unique number of DCFS Children, unique number of Non-DCFS Families, unique number of Non- DCFS Families identifying what action will be taken based on the referral. Tracking will include agency involvement and be reviewed by the program monitor at the time of the monitoring visit.
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CLIENT CONTACTS

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. In home-based sessions meet with parents and children separately and jointly during a 90-minute lesson, once a week for 16 weeks.

All sessions must be completed and documented by the parent educator/facilitator and stored in the client’s file. The parent educator/facilitator shall work with any family that misses a class to ensure that the family makes up the class.
Client contacts are monitored monthly by the Provider supervisor. 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.
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PROGRAM OUTCOMES AND METRICS

The Positive Parenting Program will assist DCFS families to meet their service plan goals, increase the number of children maintained in their family of origin home, and assist in children being returned home.
• 90% of the clients will not be the subject of indicated reports of abuse or neglect during the service period.
• 90% of clients with children/adolescents who reside in their home at the time of referral will remain at home during the service period. DCFS may do further analysis to determine whether the children remain in the home one year after the completion of parenting training.
• 85% of the participants will rate the overall experience as satisfactory or good as determined by the individual client satisfaction surveys administered at the conclusion of each series.
• 70% of the clients completing the program will demonstrate increased knowledge about parenting as determined by the parent-training curriculums pre- and post-tests.
• A minimum of 60% of parents enrolled will graduate from the program.

Clients receiving these services will be aware of and know how to access concrete support systems in the area in times of need. Clients will be provided with education on community service Providers and navigate services to assist them as needed

Details

• Awarding Agency: Department Of Children And Family Services
• CSFA Number: 418-00-3570
• CSFA Popular Name: Positive Parenting Program
• Funding Opportunity Number: 418 - Positive Parenting Program
• Assistance Listings Number: 93.590, 93.669
• Announcement Type: Initial Announcement
• Award Type: Competitive
• Total Funding Available: $160,008.00
• Expected Number of Awards: 1
• Funding Sources: Federal Or Federal Pass Through, State
• Indirect Costs Allowed: Yes
• Posted Date: 2026-04-28
• 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.