Expanding Opportunities Awards Technical Assistance Webinar 1

Target Awards 12 months in length and are designed to expand service delivery and/or foster collaborations in order to meet the mental health and substance abuse service needs of children of St. Louis County. Projects must utilize evidence based or research informed interventions. Both currently funded and non-funded agencies are eligible to apply for Expanding Opportunities awards. 2

Project Categories 1) Single Project Funding- Applicants may apply for a one time funding award for a single program or project. 2) Collaboration- Applicants may apply for collaborative funding for two or more agencies who are working on a specific project together which has the potential to improve mental health and substance abuse services for children, youth, and families. Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) demonstrating the collaborative relationships must be included with the application materials. 3) County Priorities- Applicants may apply for funding for programs or projects that are responsive to the emergent needs and identified priorities of St. Louis County. 3

County Priorities Prevention Services Services that treat or prevent child abuse/neglect Underserved populations 4

Funding Guidelines Expanding Opportunities are available twice a year with submission deadlines of March 1 st and September 1 st The maximum allocation for each Expanding Opportunities award is $75,000. No supplemental funds are available for Expanding Opportunities awards. If an agency spends the entire award amount, they are unable to request supplemental funds. An agency may be involved in more than one Expanding Opportunities project but must be able to demonstrate the agency capacity and staffing resources to do so. Agencies may only receive EO funding one cycle per year (March or September). 5

Evidence Based/Research Informed/Promising Practices Evidence Based Programs have undergone rigorous evaluation over many years to establish practices that demonstrate validity and positive outcomes for target populations. Often, evidence- based programs are found on registries such as National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices (NREPP) or Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP). Research informed/Promising Practices Research informed practices may have significant bodies of research to support the efficacy of the model; however those practices may have not reached the standards and requirements of evidenced-based practices. Promising practices are efforts that have histories of positive outcomes and results for their intended target populations, but have not undergone the level of rigorous evaluation as evidence- based or research informed practices. 6

Standardized Units of Service Projects must select from the list of standardized units, which are available on the CSF website. EO funding is allocated as a reimbursement for direct services provided. Collaboration applications must detail the division of direct service responsibilities between partnering agencies. 7

Application Process Applicants should submit an electronic copy to CSF and a hard copy to the CSF office no later than 4 p.m. on the day of the submission deadline. If the submission deadline falls on a weekend day, agencies should submit all materials by 4 p.m. on the last business day prior to the Application narratives should be no longer than 5 pages double spaced. Supplemental attachments do not count toward the page limit. 8

Time Frame Informational session07/28/15 Applications period opens7/27/15 Application period closes09/01/15 Board Meeting09/16/15 Agencies are notified09/17/15 in writing of Board decision 9

Review Proposals will be evaluated on how well they articulate the 1) project description 2) community need 3) project impact 4) county priority addressed (if applicable) 5) agency implementation plan and agency capacity 6) evaluation plan 7) division of responsibilities for collaboration applications. Submitted Information is subject to the Sunshine Law 10

Next Steps Application materials are available on the CSF website ( FAQ and timeline for Expanding Opportunities awards also available on website Additional questions? Call: or 11

Questions? 12