IDHS Employment Barrier Reduction Fund Grant

IDHS Employment Barrier Reduction Fund Grant

Status: ACTIVE
Funder: Illinois Department of Human Services: Division of Family & Community Services
Amount: US $3,000,000
Last Updated: May 18, 2025

Summary

The IDHS Employment Barrier Reduction Fund Grant aims to alleviate financial and logistical challenges faced by low-income individuals in Illinois. By providing funds to community-based organizations, the program supports access to essential resources for those receiving SNAP, TANF, and Medicaid, promoting sustainable employment and long-term economic stability. It emphasizes collaboration with sub-grantees to ensure services reach high-need areas, ultimately empowering vulnerable populations to achieve economic independence and reduce reliance on public assistance.

Overview

Executive Summary: The Employment Barrier Reduction Fund is a state-funded initiative administered by the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) to support low-income individuals in overcoming financial and logistical obstacles to employment. The program provides funding to community-based organizations (CBOs) that offer services to individuals receiving SNAP, TANF, and Medicaid, helping them access essential resources to enter and sustain employment. Additionally, the program seeks to prevent low-income individuals from experiencing financial emergencies or hardships that could push them further into poverty, making it more difficult to participate in employment and education activities. By addressing immediate financial barriers-such as transportation, childcare, and housing stability-the program ensures that individuals can focus on securing sustainable employment, gaining new skills, and improving their long-term economic stability. Many individuals face challenges such as transportation costs, lack of work-appropriate attire, and childcare expenses, which prevent them from securing and maintaining employment. By funding supportive services, this program helps reduce reliance on public assistance while promoting long-term financial stability and self-sufficiency. This program uses an intermediary model of service delivery in order to serve the entire state through sub-grantees. Agreements should be in place with all sub-grantees working with the grantee. Performance must conform to all program rules and guidelines. Agreements with sub-grantees are subject to review and approval by the Department. Goals and objectives of the Program The EBRP will be used to break down employment barriers, empowering underserved, and vulnerable populations across Illinois. The goal for the program is to impact and strengthen partnerships and referrals from FCRC offices and leverage other funding sources to assist eligible households. Renewed funding is essential to expanding outreach and enabling more individuals and families to achieve economic independence and long-term stability.

Eligibility

You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website. Applications for renewal or supplementation of existing projects are eligible to compete with applications for new State awards.Successful applicants under this NOFO may be eligible to receive two subsequent one-year grant renewals for this program.To ensure equitable access and a meaningful statewide footprint, applicants must work in close collaboration with the Department to identify focus communities which represent areas of high need, significant population centers, and strategic regional importance. The grantee will recruit sub-grantees and establish services in or near the focus areas. Focus areas may include but are not limited to the following:Rockford (Winnebago County) - 65.1% of households making less than $25,000Freeport (Stephenson County) - 43.1% of households making less than $25,000Sterling (Whiteside County) - 42.3% of households making less than $25,000DeKalb (DeKalb County) - 65.9% of households making less than $25,000Davenport/Quad Cities area (Rock Island County and surrounding) - 63.5% of households making less than $25,000Galesburg (Knox County) - 44.7% of households making less than $25,000Peoria (Peoria County) - 52.8% of households making less than $25,000Macomb (McDonough County) - 71.3% of households making less than $25,000Quincy (Adams County) - 57.2% of households making less than $25,000Champaign (Champaign County) - 46.8% of households making less than $25,000Decatur (Macon County) - 49.0% of households making less than $25,000Kankakee (Kankakee County) - 42.2% of households making less than $25,000Springfield (Sangamon County) - 35.9% of households making less than $25,000St. Louis Metro East (St. Clair and Madison Counties) - 56.4% of households making less than $25,000Coles County (including Charleston and Mattoon) - 36.7% of households making less than $25,000Marion County (including Centralia and Salem) - 39.6% of households making less than $25,000Carbondale (Jackson County) - 39.7% of households making less than $25,000Johnson County (Southern Illinois region) - 66.7% of households making less than $25,000Not all focus communities require immediate subcontract agreements to be included in the application. However, applicants must demonstrate capacity to serve all areas and a plan to recruit and establish subcontractors to ensure service availability in these areas by the quarter two (2) of the fiscal year.Pre-Award Costs are allowed subject to the discretion, review, and prior approval of the IDHS Budget Committee. Pre-Award Costs must be identified as such in the IDHS Uniform Grant Budget Narrative.Indirect Costs may be applied to this grant award. Indirect Cost rates must be approved through the Illinois Indirect Cost Rate Election System (ICRES).The specific types of applicants that may apply for the grant award are: private, not-for-profit community-based organizations that are incorporated and have been granted 501C(3) statuspublic community- based organizationsunits of local governmentThe applicant must meet the Registration, Pre-qualification and any other Mandatory Requirements listed in this funding opportunity.Additional Mandatory RequirementsApplicants should be able to:Demonstrate the ability to begin services immediately upon execution of the uniform grant agreement.Demonstrate strong connections with local or regional organizations, employers and public community spaces to perform volunteer recruitment, customer recruitment, and locations for service.Demonstrate strong community ties and capacity for volunteer recruitment and customer recruitment.Demonstrate capacity to implement an Intermediary model with sub-grantees (strongly recommended), otherwise applicants must detail how their organizational structure will allow coverage of regions 2, 3, 4, and 5Have demonstrated compliance with IDHS performance, financial and reporting standards. Applicants should be located in or plan to offer services within community areas with high rates of poverty and unemployment. Applicants who are community colleges, adult education providers, vocational or CTE educational institutions, CBOs offering apprenticeships or pre-apprenticeships; or organizations planning to subcontract with these entities will be strongly considered.The applicant must have a minimum of 5 (five) years of experience providing similar services.The applicant must develop a budget consistent with program requirements.

Ineligibility

Pre-Award costs are not allowable for this award.Applications from entities that have not prequalified prior to and on the due date of this application will NOT be reviewed and will NOT be considered for funding.Must not be on the Illinois Stop Payment ListMust not be on the Sam.gov Exclusion ListMust not be on the Medicaid Sanctions List