American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 - Strengthening Communities Fund - State, Local, and Tribal Government Capacity Building Program

This funding opportunity is being made available under Section 1110 of the Social Security Act, and Title VIII of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009, P.L. 111-5 http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111_cong_bills&docid=f:h1enr.pdf. The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Community Services (OCS) solicits applications to award 48 grants to State, local and Tribal governments to build their capacity to provide nonprofit organizations with capacity building training and technical assistance. Pursuant to this announcement, ACF will award funds to State, city, county, and Indian/Native American Tribal government offices (e.g., offices responsible for outreach to faith-based and community organizations or those interested in initiating such an effort), or their designees, to build their own capacity to partner with community-based and faith-based non-profits and to provide training and technical assistance to help nonprofit faith-based and community organizations better serve those in need and to increase nonprofit organizations' involvement in the economic recovery. Grantees will use program funds to provide free capacity building services to nonprofit organizations, such as a beneficiary benefits clearinghouse, outreach and education, facilitation of partnerships between and among nonprofits and other government agencies, and training and technical assistance to improve awareness of and access to ARRA efforts/benefits and to improve organizational capacity to be active participants in ARRA efforts/benefits. Grantees will also use program funds to build their own capacity to provide these services to nonprofits. The purpose of this grant program is to build the capacity of government offices (or their authorized designee) that provide outreach to faith-based and community-based organizations and to assist nonprofit organizations in addressing the broad economic recovery issues present in their communities, including helping low-income individuals secure and retain employment, earn higher wages, obtain better-quality jobs, and gain greater access to State and Federal benefits and tax credits. Successful applicants will be subject to reporting requirements consistent with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 Standard Terms and Conditions. In addition, successful applicants will use a quarterly performance progress report (SF- PPR) format specific to Strengthening Communities Fund (SCF) awards.