The order of the grant proposal submittal should be uniform application, budget, disclosures, proposal, and attachments. Each page (including each tab of the budget) should be sequentially numbered.
Illinois Works is able to approve a grant advance, if requested, for use as working capital. However, the advance request cannot be for more than 10% of the total grant amount.
There must be a misunderstanding here about Administrative Costs. We, at the State of Illinois, do not charge grants any administrative fees. Instead, we allow for grantees to charge their grants certain administrative fees following the State’s guidelines. Please read Pages 11, and 13-14 of the NOFO where administrative costs, and indirect costs are addressed.
Please clarify what you mean by “administrative fees…deducted.” I can tell you can you can use some of the grant money to cover for administrative fees for your organization per the guidelines provided in the NOFO.
We do have several grantees that partner with technical high schools, but none of the grantees are colleges. Unfortunately, we do not have a lot of colleges in our network, but we would certainly like to see more colleges apply to be part of the network. I can tell you, however, that the requirements for community members to join an Illinois Works program include applicants being at least 18 years of age, Illinois State residents, and have a H.S. diploma or GED certificate. However, programs that want to operate in a high school can request a waiver, and they would have to work with seniors only (even if they are not 18 years of age), ensure that construction is really a career they want to pursue, and transition them to DOL-registered apprenticeship programs immediately after they graduate and get their H.S. diploma. One key Illinois Works requirement to keep in mind is that the Illinois Works Jobs Program Act requires that program participants receive a stipend (per Illinois Works policy and guidelines) and sometimes school districts do not have policies and procedures to implement a stipend system. Finally, Illinois Works requires real time reporting of participant's activities, attendance, academic performance, among many others. If participants are minors, the school district still has to comply and ensure they get the appropriate approvals in order to comply with the reporting requirements.
We do not have a list of approved contractors. You get to choose your contractors or partners for this program.
The Illinois Works Pre-Apprenticeship Program grant can be used by school districts. However, programs that want to operate in a high school have to work with seniors only (even if they are not 18 years of age), ensure that construction is really a career they want to pursue, and transition them to DOL-registered apprenticeship programs immediately after they graduate and get their H.S. diploma. One key Illinois Works requirement to keep in mind is that the Illinois Works Jobs Program Act requires that program participants receive a stipend (per Illinois Works policy and guidelines) and sometimes school districts do not have policies and procedures to implement a stipend system. Finally, Illinois Works requires real time reporting of participant's activities, attendance, academic performance, among many others. If participants are minors, the school district still has to comply and ensure they get the appropriate approvals in order to comply with the reporting requirements.
The Illinois Works Jobs Program Act requires that program participants receive a stipend (per Illinois Works policy and guidelines, and it must be paid directly to students and cannot be used to paid any other services. Other wrap-around or supportive services can be paid for with Illinois Works grant money above and beyond the direct stipend payments that must go to students) and sometimes school districts do not have policies and procedures to implement a stipend system. Here are some other items that a very important for applicants that works with high school students: the requirements for community members to join an Illinois Works program include applicants being at least 18 years of age, Illinois State residents, and have a H.S. diploma or GED certificate. However, programs that want to operate in a high school can request a waiver, and they would have to work with seniors only (even if they are not 18 years of age), ensure that construction is really a career they want to pursue, and transition them to DOL-registered apprenticeship programs immediately after they graduate and get their H.S. diploma. Finally, Illinois Works requires real time reporting of participant's activities, attendance, academic performance, among many others. If participants are minors, the school district still has to comply and ensure they get the appropriate approvals in order to comply with the reporting requirements.
If I wanted to pursue this grant opportunity, would I need to apply for the waiver before I submit the initial grant application? If so, what does the waiver process look like and where should I go to get information on how to apply.
There is no special process outside of your application. You would have to mention on your application that you are planning to serve a high school population and that you will need a waiver.
The Office of Illinois Works does not have specific guidelines related to this, but we would expect that applicants will use standard font sizes, colors, spacing, and margins when writing their grant proposals.
• Applications must be formatted to an 8 1/2 x 11-inch page size, using 11-point type and at 100% magnification. Tables may be used to present information with a 10-point type.
• The program narrative must be typed single-spaced, with 1-inch margins on all sides.
• The entire application, including appendices, must be sequentially page numbered (handwritten page numbers are acceptable). Items included as attachments are not included as a page limit.
We allow grantees to choose their own contractors or partners. As long as the relationship is clearly outlined an a signed MOU and the transfer of funds from the grantee to the partner follow the required processes approved by DCEO.
Per our NOFO, only non-profit organizations that meet the community-based organization definition of the Illinois Works Jobs Program Act can apply to receive this funding—unfortunately, that definition does not include por profit organizations. You can, however, apply as a partner of a community-based organization. They would have to be the applicant.
We have checked the Grant Application and it is fillable (you need Adobe Professional). Please thoroughly read the NOFO in order to put together your grant proposal paying close attention to the proposal requirements outlined on pages 15-19 of the NOFO.
Your organization seems to possibly be a good fit for the type of programming we do, we would certainly welcome an application from your organization. Please go to the NOFO's landing page ( WIOA Illinois Works Pre-Apprenticeship NOFO 2022 (illinoisworknet.com)) where you will find all the materials you need to apply for this grant opportunity (pay special attention to the NOFO Materials section). There is also an FAQ section, and more importantly at the bottom of the page, you will find all the recordings and slide decks for the four technical assistance sessions we delivered related to this NOFO.
While the focus of this NOFO is the geographic areas you listed above, we will also consider proposals from other parts of the state as long as their focus (although not exclusively) is the underrepresented populations targeted by the Illinois Works Jobs Program Act (women, minorities, and veterans). Please keep in mind that applicants that submit proposals that align with the two NOFO goals will receive primary consideration.
There will not be an extension for submitting a proposal for Illinois Works nor can you request and be granted an extension. If you are waiting for an EIN number form the IRS, but have all other required documents to apply for a grant, go ahead and submit them and let us know once you have received your EIN number.
The primary goal of the Illinois Works Pre-Apprenticeship program is to transition graduates to DOL-registered apprenticeship programs in the building and construction trades. The only one that would qualify as a "trade" for our purposes would be electricians if they are transitioned to a DOL-registered apprenticeship program. The other positions you mentioned would qualify as secondary transitions.
