Governor's Council on Developmental Disabilities Programs Page    

Who We Are    Press Room   Public Policy   Resources

INNOVATIVE GRANTS

The Governor's Council on Developmental Disabilities invites Innovative Grant proposals twice a year, on March 1 and October 1.  The Council recently approved revisions to the Innovative Grant process and its contract requirements.  Please check back in the summer of 2008 for information regarding upcoming Innovative Grants proposals.

Innovative Grants: Guidelines and Application

Innovative Grants are small, renewable grants for unique projects that by their very nature spark enthusiasm. The applicant should demonstrate expertise in the project area and creative collaboration and leveraging of other resources. Innovative Grants should respond to a barrier or issue that has not been successfully addressed to any real extent in the implementation area. Innovative Grants may replicate “best practice models” or propose an entirely new project that increases the inclusion of people with developmental disabilities in community life, particularly around the areas of relationships, homes, jobs, learning, supports or transportation. The ultimate outcome of Innovative Grants is to promote policies, systems change, and capacity building that improve the quality of life for Georgians with developmental disabilities

To Complete and Submit an Application Click Here

Grant Applicant and/or their Proposed Project should:

  • Respond to the Council’s mission, values and goals (see attached)

  • Positively impact the inclusion and/or integration of persons with developmental disabilities in the mainstream activities of their communities

  • Clearly articulate and justify the need to conduct the proposed activity based on research

  • Demonstrate a thorough and sound methodology that is appropriate to the project

  • Have real and measurable outcomes with a data-based evaluation plan

  • Actively collaborate with one or more other entities to implement the project

  • Demonstrate their particular expertise to carry out the project

  • Demonstrate that Council is not the only funding source

  • Have developed a reasonable budget that is supported with sufficient narrative

  • Demonstrate either a plan for continuation (as appropriate) and/or a plan for encouraging replication

  • Provide detailed letters of collaboration from project partners. Each collaboration letter should state plainly what their role in the project would be if funded, not simply that they support the project.

  • Consult with GCDD staff prior to submission. It is recommended that applicants contact John Edward Dallas at jodallas@dhr.state.ga.us or (404) 656-6593 at least 30 days prior to the submission deadline.

 

Proposals will NOT be considered that:

  • Are for ongoing, administrative, or operational expenses of existing programs

  • Are for direct services, equipment purchase, capital campaigns, fundraisers or construction

  • Are not for projects longer than one year in duration.

 

Funding

§       Maximum funding per year is $9,999; grants may be renewed for a second year at the mutual agreement of GCDD and Grantee.

  • They require a minimum 25% match (cash or in-kind). Match is funds or in-kind contributions to the project that come from any non-federal source.

  • Grant funding is for reimbursable expenses only—no payment can be made in advance.

 

Schedule

  • The Council will accept applications on October1, 2008.

  • Eight copies of the application should be submitted by 2:00 p.m. of the date due by email, mail or hand delivery only. Email applications may be submitted in PDF format to jodallas@dhr.state.ga.us .  No faxes will be accepted.

  • Notification of status of all requests will be made within 60 days.

  • A Q&A Conference Call will be held on September 7, 2008 @ 9:30 AM and September17, 2008 at 3:30 PM to answer additional questions about the grant process. RSVP to jodallas@dhr.state.ga.us  or by calling (888) ASK-GCDD.

A Sample of Previously Funded Projects: These projects are examples of the kinds of creative projects GCDD wishes to fund. They may provide ideas or materials for replication in other communities around Georgia.  Contact GCDD to discuss in greater detail.

  • The federal legislation to amend the Medicare homebound restriction, supported in part by the DD Council, passed as a part of the Medicare prescription drug benefit in 2004. The bill change allows for a pilot project in some states so that people with severe disabilities who received 24-hour home care to leave their homes and be supported in the community with everyone else. GCDD grant funds paid for self-advocates to travel to meet with members of Congress and testify before the committee.

  • With the establishment of the Institute for the Study of Disadvantage and Disability, post-baccalaureate students from three Atlanta universities (Morehouse, Emory, and Georgia State) in the fields of human services are developing projects that address the circumstances of children with DD living in situations of social and economic disadvantage.  The Institute’s work takes an interdisciplinary approach to include academic perspectives from theology, medicine, law, women’s and children’s studies, special education and urban studies. Grant funds paid for stipends to graduate students to conduct their field work, for staff time, and for a summit to share research, findings, and policy recommendations.

  • Aging and Disabilities Coalition: During the 2004 legislative session, Senate Resolution 822 called for the assessment of the needs of people who are aging with developmental disabilities and their aging caregivers, and preparation of solutions. After a six-month process of research and the development of recommendations, a statewide symposium was held to enlist the help of national experts, Georgia legislators and policymakers, and the results of the work are documented in a final report shared with policymakers. Grant funds paid for the symposium and coalition facilitator.

 

New Guidelines for Renewal of Innovative Grants

Approved by the GCDD on April 19, 2008

Grant Renewal

Grantees must send a letter by mail to the Executive Director ninety (90) days before their contract’s end-date, informing the Executive Director of their interest in renewing their Innovative Grant and explaining their reasons for wanting to do so.  For example, since program guidelines direct that Innovative Grants be awarded for projects that will be one year in duration, grantees seeking renewal must explain why their project has lasted more than one year and describe what steps they have taken—and, if their grant is renewed, what steps they will take—to find funding sources other than the Council for their project.

The following documents shall accompany a renewal request letter:  (1) a new Innovative Grant Proposal and (2) all programmatic and expenditure reports for the first, second, and third quarters of their contract.  In addition, in order to be eligible to request a renewal, grantee must demonstrate that they already expended at least 75 percent of grant monies.

Within ten (10) business days of receiving the letter and supporting documents, the Executive Director will review them with the Program Administrator.  (The Program Administrator will notify grantees in writing—by fax, regular mail, or electronically—of the Council’s receipt of their application.)  If the Executive Director and Program Administrator find that the materials are complete and merit consideration for renewal, the Executive Director will direct the Program Administrator to contact the Innovative Grant Proposal evaluation committee to set up a meeting or conference call to evaluate the proposal along with attached reports.  The Program Administrator will ensure that the evaluation committee receives all the application materials in advance of the scheduled meeting or conference call.

If the evaluation committee needs additional information from grantees, it shall make its request through the Program Administrator, who will notify grantees in writing, requesting specific information from them also in writing.  The Program Administrator will forward the Grantees’ reply to the evaluation committee for consideration during their next conference call or meeting.  The Program Administrator will inform the Executive Director of the committee’s decision, preparing a letter to be sent from the Executive Director to grantees.  The Program Administrator shall also prepare the minutes of the conference call or meeting and distribute them to the Executive Committee and evaluation committee members and place them in the files.

 The entire process, from receipt of a request for renewal to evaluation of a proposal found acceptable, should take sixty (60) days at most.

 When the Project Director for an Innovative Grant and the Program Administrator are not one and the same, the Program Administrator will work with the Project Director on the deliverables for the contract for a renewed Innovative Grant, and will prepare and submit a contract package (award letter, minutes, deliverables) to the Grants Administrator.

For renewed Innovative Grants over $5,000, grantees shall complete the standard electronic application documents―Project Budget Plan, Project Data Sheet, Project Outline, and Project Work Plan.  For renewed grants less than $5,000, grantees must complete a W-9, a Request for Independent Contractor and Independent Contractor Questionnaire.  In either case, grantees shall file quarterly reports, using the electronic Programmatic Report and Expenditure Report forms.

An Innovative Grant is renewable only once, for another entire year, for a maximum total of two years of funding.
HOMEPAGE   CONTACT INFO   MAP