FUNDING OPPORTUNITY - SSBG Funds Available to Reimburse agencies for 2008 Activities Costs

[Rev. Mr. Marcus Hepburn]

IMPORTANT MESSAGE
VOAD Members and Others:

Latest news on the SSBG funds (Social Services Block Grant).

This is an incredible opportunity for funding (reimbursement) for
agencies around the state that assisted in response to Tropical Storm
Fay or other declared major events in 2008. Activities undertaken to
respond to TS Fay or other declared disasters in 2008 (or for costs
that are anticipated to be incurred prior to June 2010, but
attributable to 2008 events) are reimbursable.

We had a conference call this morning with DCF and Volunteer Florida.
DCF is the state agency who is administratively in control of the SSBG
funds. They are working with Volunteer Florida to gather initial
information and estimates of funds needed. DCF is also contacting
counties and other social service agencies that they work with.

The SSBG anticipates reimbursing agencies for costs incurred (or
anticipated to be incurred up to June 2010) from major declared
disasters in 2008. For Florida, the total amount of SSBG funds is
about $35 million.

Volunteer Florida will be releasing a request for initial estimates
later this week. The initial estimates will be due back to Volunteer
Florida by April 15. This will not be the application for funds;
rather, the estimates will be used by Volunteer Florida and DCF to
aggregate the estimates into a total amount for the funding request.
The funds will be available on or after July 1, 2009. Volunteer
Florida will be hosting a state-wide conference call next week and
will be issuing a standard form for reporting your estimated costs.
Remember that these are just estimates and your numbers will be
aggregated with other agencies’ estimates. You will not be bound by
the estimate that you submit.

According to the conversation today, that form will be very simple. It
will include the agency, then a list of the activities for which you
are seeking reimbursement (see list below and attached), a brief
description of the activity, and the amount you’re seeking.

There is a wide variety of activities that will be eligible for
reimbursement - See attachment for the complete list of reimbursable
activities. These must be activities (costs) incurred in response to
the declared event (e.g., Tropical Storm FAY), not otherwise funded by
a grant for that purpose.

Eligible activities include activities such as: Adoption services,
case management, congregate meals, counseling services, day-care
services, education and training, employment services, and a wide
variety of other services. There are 28 activities in all See Attached
detailed list of reimbursable activities.

FIND is coordinating notification with the state’s LTROs. We apologize
if you've gotten multiple messages about this. Volunteer Florida and
DCF will be hosting a Conference Call to answer questions.

God bless,
Rev. Mr. Marcus Hepburn, Chair, Florida VOAD
Catholic Charities of Florida/Florida Catholic Conference


Here is a list of the eligible activities..

I. Eligible activities: Uniform Definition of
Services

1. Adoption Services; Adoption services are those services or
activities provided to assist in bringing about the adoption of a
child. Component services and activities may include, but are not
limited to, counseling the biological parent(s), recruitment of
adoptive homes, and pre- and post- placement training and/or
counseling

2. Case Management Services: Case management services are services or
activities for the arrangement, coordination, and monitoring of
services to meet the needs of individuals and families. Component
services and activities may include individual service plan
development; counseling; monitoring, developing, securing, and
coordinating services; monitoring and evaluating client progress; and
assuring that clients' rights are protected.

3. Congregate Meals: Congregate meals are those services or
activities designed to prepare and serve one or more meals a day to
individuals in central dining areas in order to prevent
institutionalization, malnutrition, and feelings of isolation.
Component services or activities may include the cost of personnel,
equipment, and food; assessment of nutritional and dietary needs;
nutritional education and counseling; socialization; and other
services such as transportation and information and referral.

4. Counseling Services: Counseling services are those services or
activities that apply therapeutic processes to personal, family,
situational, or occupational problems in order to bring about a
positive resolution of the problem or improved individual or family
functioning or circumstances. Problem areas may include family and
marital relationships, parent-child problems, or drug abuse.

5. Day Care Services—Adults: Day care services for adults are those
services or activities provided to adults who require care and
supervision in a protective setting for a portion of a 24-hour day.
Component services or activities may include opportunity for social
interaction, companionship and self- education; health support or
assistance in obtaining health services; counseling; recreation and
general leisure time activities; meals; personal care services; plan
development; and transportation.

6. Day Care Services—Children: Day care services for children
(including infants, pre-schoolers, and school age children) are
services or activities provided in a setting that meets applicable
standards of state and local law, in a center or in a home, for a
portion of a 24-hour day. Component services or activities may include
a comprehensive and coordinated set of appropriate developmental
activities for children, recreation, meals and snacks, transportation,
health support services, social service counseling for parents, plan
development, and licensing and monitoring of child care homes and
facilities.

7. Education and Training Services: Education and training services
are those services provided to improve knowledge or daily living
skills and to enhance cultural opportunities. Services may include
instruction or training in, but are not limited to, such issues as
consumer education, health education, community protection and safety
education, literacy education, English as a second language, and
General Educational Development (G.E.D.). Component services or
activities may include screening, assessment and testing; individual
or group instruction; tutoring; provision of books, supplies and
instructional material; counseling; transportation; and referral to
community resources.

8. Employment Services: Employment services are those services or
activities provided to assist individuals in securing employment or
acquiring or learning skills that promote opportunities for
employment. Component services or activities may include employment
screening, assessment, or testing; structured job skills and job
seeking skills; specialized therapy (occupational, speech, physical);
special training and tutoring, including literacy training and pre-
vocational training; provision of books, supplies and instructional
material; counseling, transportation; and referral to community
resources.

9. Family Planning Services: Family planning services are those
educational, comprehensive medical or social services or activities
which enable individuals, including minors, to determine freely the
number and spacing of their children and to select the means by which
this may be achieved. These services and activities include a broad
range of acceptable and effective methods and services to limit or
enhance fertility, including contraceptive methods (including natural
family planning and abstinence), and the management of infertility
(including referral to adoption). Specific component services and
activities may include pre-conceptional counseling, education, and
general reproductive health care, including diagnosis and treatment of
infections which threaten reproductive capability. Family planning
services do not include pregnancy care (including obstetric or
prenatal care).

10. Foster Care Services for Adults: Foster care services for adults
are those services or activities that assess the need and arrange for
the substitute care and alternate living situation of adults in a
setting suitable to the individual's needs. Individuals may need such
services because of social, physical or mental disabilities, or as a
consequence of abuse or neglect. Care may be provided in a community-
based setting, or such services may arrange for institutionalization
when necessary. Component services or activities include assessment of
the individual's needs; case planning and case management to assure
that the individual receives proper care in the placement; counseling
to help with personal problems and adjusting to new situations;
assistance in obtaining other necessary supportive services;
determining, through periodic reviews, the continued appropriateness
of and need for placement; and recruitment and licensing of foster
care homes and facilities.

11. Foster Care Services for Children: Foster care services for
children are those services or activities associated with the
provision of an alternative family life experience for abused,
neglected or dependent children, between birth and the age of
majority, on the basis of a court commitment or a voluntary placement
agreement signed by the parent or guardian. Services may be provided
to children in foster family homes, foster homes of relatives, group
homes, emergency shelters, residential facilities, child care
institutions, pre-adoptive homes or supervised independent living
situation. Component services or activities may include assessment of
the child's needs; case planning and case management to assure that
the child receives proper care in the placement; medical care as an
integral but subordinate part of the service; counseling of the child,
the child's parents, and the foster parents; referral and assistance
in obtaining other necessary supportive services; periodical reviews
to determine the continued appropriateness and need for placement; and
recruitment and licensing of foster homes and child care institutions.

12. Health Related and Home Health Services: Health related and home
health services are those in-home or out-of- home services or
activities designed to assist individuals and families to attain and
maintain a favorable condition of health. Component services and
activities may include providing an analysis or assessment of an
individual's health problems and the development of a treatment plan;
assisting individuals to identify and understand their health needs;
assisting individuals to locate, provide or secure, and utilize
appropriate medical treatment, preventive medical care, and health
maintenance services, including in-home health services and emergency
medical services; and providing follow-up services as needed.

13. Home Based Services: Home based services are those in-home
services or activities provided to individuals or families to assist
with household or personal care activities that improve or maintain
adequate family well-being. These services may be provided for reasons
of illness, incapacity, frailty, absence of a caretaker relative, or
to prevent abuse and neglect of a child or adult. Major service
components include homemaker services, chore services, home
maintenance services, and household management services. Component
services or activities may include protective supervision of adults
and/or children to help prevent abuse, temporary non-medical personal
care, house-cleaning, essential shopping, simple household repairs,
yard maintenance, teaching of homemaking skills, training in self-help
and self-care skills, assistance with meal planning and preparation,
sanitation, budgeting, and general household management.

14. Home Delivered Meals: Home-delivered meals are those services or
activities designed to prepare and deliver one or more meals a day to
an individual's residence in order to prevent institutionalization,
malnutrition, and feelings of isolation. Component services or
activities may include the cost of personnel, equipment, and food;
assessment of nutritional and dietary needs; nutritional education and
counseling; socialization services; and information and referral.

15. Housing Services: Housing services are those services or
activities designed to assist individuals or families in locating,
obtaining, or retaining suitable housing. Component services or
activities may include tenant counseling; helping individuals and
families to identify and correct substandard housing conditions on
behalf of individuals and families who are unable to protect their own
interests; and assisting individuals and families to understand
leases, secure utilities, make moving arrangements and minor
renovations.

16. Independent and Transitional Living Services: Independent and
transitional living services are those services and activities
designed to help older youth in foster care or homeless youth make the
transition to independent living, or to help adults make the
transition from an institution, or from homelessness, to independent
living. Component services or activities may include educational and
employment assistance, training in daily living skills, and housing
assistance. Specific component services and activities may include
supervised practice living and post-foster care services.

17. Information and Referral: Information and referral services are
those services or activities designed to provide information about
services provided by public and private service providers and a brief
assessment of client needs (but not diagnosis and evaluation) to
facilitate appropriate referral to these community resources.

18 Legal Services: Legal services are those services or activities
provided by a lawyer or other person(s) under the supervision of a
lawyer to assist individuals in seeking or obtaining legal help in
civil matters such as housing, divorce, child support, guardianship,
paternity, and legal separation. Component services or activities may
include receiving and preparing cases for trial, provision of legal
advice, representation at hearings, and counseling.

19. Pregnancy and Parenting Services for Young Parents: Pregnancy and
parenting services are those services or activities for married or
unmarried adolescent parents and their families designed to assist
young parents in coping with the social, emotional, and economic
problems related to pregnancy and in planning for the future.
'Component services or activities may include securing necessary
health care and living arrangements; obtaining legal services; and
providing counseling, child care education, and training in and
development of parenting skills.

20. Prevention and Intervention Services: Prevention and intervention
services are those services or activities designed to provide early
identification and/or timely intervention to support families and
prevent or ameliorate the consequences of, abuse, neglect, or family
violence, or to assist in making arrangement for alternate placements
or living arrangements where necessary. Such services may also be
provided to prevent the removal of a child or adult from the home.
Component services and activities may include investigation;
assessment and/or evaluation of the extent of the problem; counseling,
including mental health counseling or therapy as needed; developmental
and parenting skills training; respite care; and other services
including supervision, case management, and transportation.

21. Protective Services for Adults: Protective services for adults
are those services or activities designed to prevent or remedy abuse,
neglect or exploitation of adults who are unable to protect their own
interests. Examples of situations that may require protective services
are injury due to maltreatment or family violence; lack of adequate
food, clothing or shelter; lack of essential medical treatment or
rehabilitation services; and lack of necessary financial or other
resources. Component services or activities may include investigation;
immediate intervention; emergency medical services; emergency shelter;
developing case plans; initiation of legal action (if needed);
counseling for the individual and the family; assessment/evaluation of
family circumstances; arranging alternative or improved living
arrangements; preparing for foster placement, if needed; and case
management and referral to service providers.

22. Protective Services for Children: Protective services for
children are those services or activities designed to prevent or
remedy abuse, neglect, or exploitation of children who may be harmed
through physical or mental injury, sexual abuse or exploitation, and
negligent treatment or maltreatment, including failure to be provided
with adequate food, clothing, shelter, or medical care. Component
services or activities may include immediate investigation and
intervention; emergency medical services; emergency shelter;
developing case plans; initiation of legal action (if needed);
counseling for the child and the family; assessment/evaluation of
family circumstances; arranging alternative living arrangement;
preparing for foster placement, if needed; and case management and
referral to service providers.

23. Recreational Services: Recreational services are those services
or activities designed to provide, or assist individuals to take
advantage of, individual or group activities directed towards
promoting physical, cultural, and/or social development.

24. Residential Treatment Services: Residential treatment services
provide short-term residential care and comprehensive treatment and
services for children or adults whose problems are so severe or are
such that they cannot be cared for at home or in foster care and need
the specialized services provided by specialized facilities. Component
services and activities may include diagnosis and psychological
evaluation; alcohol and drug detoxification services; individual,
family, and group therapy and counseling; remedial education and GED
preparation; vocational or pre-vocational training; training in
activities of daily living; supervised recreational and social
activities; case management; transportation; and referral to and
utilization of other services.

25. Special Services for Persons With Developmental or Physical:
Disabilities, or Persons With Visual or Auditory Impairments Special
services for persons with developmental or physical disabilities, or
persons with visual or auditory impairments, are services or
activities to maximize the potential of persons with disabilities,
help alleviate the effects of physical, mental or emotional
disabilities, and to enable these persons to live in the least
restrictive environment possible. Component services or activities may
include personal and family counseling; respite care; family support;
recreation; transportation; aid to assist with independent functioning
in the community; and training in mobility, communication skills, the
use of special aids and appliances, and self-sufficiency skills.
Residential and medical services may be included only as an integral,
but subordinate, part of the services.

26. Special Services for Youth Involved in or at Risk of Involvement
With Criminal Activity: Special services for youth involved in or at
risk of involvement with criminal activity are those services or
activities for youth who are, or who may become, involved with the
juvenile justice system and their families. Components services or
activities are designed to enhance family functioning and/or modify
the youth's behavior with the goal of developing socially appropriate
behavior and may include counseling, intervention therapy, and
residential and medical services if included as an integral but
subordinate part of the service.

27. Substance Abuse Services: Substance abuse services are those
services or activities that are primarily designed to deter, reduce,
or eliminate substance abuse or chemical dependence. Except for
initial detoxification services, medical and residential services may
be included but only as an integral but subordinate part of the
service. Component substance abuse services or activities may include
a comprehensive range of personal and family counseling methods,
methadone treatment for opiate abusers, or detoxification treatment
for alcohol abusers. Services may be provided in alternative living
arrangements such as institutional settings and community-based
halfway houses.

28. Transportation Services: Transportation services are those
services or activities that provide or arrange for the travel,
including travel costs, of individuals in order to access services, or
obtain medical care or employment. Component services or activities
may include special travel arrangements such as special modes of
transportation and personnel to accompany or assist individuals or
families to utilize transportation.

29. Other Services: Other Services are services that do not fall
within the definitions of the preceding 28 services. The definition
used by the State for each of these services should appear elsewhere
in the annual report.