Notice of Funds Available (RFP) Print Apply for this Grant

Specifications

Description

Over the five-year grant period, children and youth with developmental disabilities will be empowered through skill development and opportunities to advocate for themselves and others.

Background, rationale, and scope of project:

According to Wrights Law self- advocacy is:
Learning how to speak up for yourself, making your own decisions about your own life, learning how to get information so that you can understand things that are of interest to you, finding out who will support you in your journey, knowing your rights and responsibilities, problem solving, listening and learning, reaching out to others when you need help and friendship, and learning about self-determination.
Why is Self-Advocacy Important?

So that you have the knowledge needed to succeed and are given the chance to participate in decisions that are being made about your life.
*(https://www.wrightslaw.com/info/self.advocacy.htm)
Developing self-advocacy skills is a critical tool for youth with disabilities to achieve their goals and increase self-sufficiency. It is never too early to start teaching these skills. The foundation for self-advocacy can begin when a child is young and then be expanded upon during the elementary, middle, and high school years.

Currently in Ohio, there are few education programs for youth with disabilities to improve self-advocacy skills. Most programs are focused on adults with disabilities. Fortunately, several school districts have developed goals focusing on student self-advocacy and self-determination, but it is not enough. Often the youth programs occur in the final years of high school, leaving youth with inadequate skills to speak up and be involved in making important decisions about their life, as well as become leaders in adulthood.

The Ohio Developmental Disabilities Council (ODDC) will fund a project to increase and improve the:

• support children and youth with DD receive from families, schools, direct service providers, and other entities to learn self-advocacy and leadership skills and put these skills into practice.
• opportunities children and youth with DD have to use advocacy skills in educational planning, including Individualized Education Programs (IEPs), transition plans, and all decision-making.
• self-advocacy and advocacy skills of children and youth with DD for them to advocate for themselves and others.

ODDC will support activities that build capacity and systemic change through outreach, training, research, technical assistance, supporting and educating communities, interagency collaboration and coordination, demonstration of new approaches, informing policymakers and eliminating barriers, and system design and redesign.

ODDC will provide funding as outlined below for each year of the project. Proposals should address each year of the project. Proposals should address, if necessary: transportation, accessibility, use of technology, replication, sustainability, if the project reaches entire state or a specific region, cross-disability, and cultural diversity.

Additional Requirements

There are no restrictions on the type of entity that may apply for this project.

All applications must include three (3) letters of recommendation, the resume of the project director, and the names of the organization’s board members (if the applicant is an organization with a governing board), proof of non-profit status (if the applicant is a non-profit organization), a copy of the applicant’s most recent federally negotiated indirect cost rate agreement (if requesting indirect costs and not using the de minimis rate), and a signed copy of the Council’s Assurances form, which will be available on the DD Suite application website. These materials can be uploaded as part of the application submission in DD Suite.

Attachments

This NOFA is accompanied by several attachments. Please download and review each attachment prior to beginning the grant application process. The attachments include:

State Plan Language - This is a complete description of the project which includes intended outcomes and proposed performance measures.

DD Council Assurances - These assurances must be signed and attached as part of the application submission. Refusal to include a completed DD Council Assurances form will result in the application being removed from consideration.

Grantee Guidelines - This document includes important information about the requirements of a DD Council grantee. (THIS IS THE MASTER PLAN BOOKLET – ATTACHED)

Funding

Please note the funding level for this project is $85,000/year.

Clear Language

As a reminder, proposals should be written in clear language. Proposals will be reviewed by individuals with varying degrees of reading ability. Clear language includes complete sentences and correct words. It is not unprofessional or a way of talking down to people. Instead, it is a way of making information easy to read for all audiences. Clear writing tells the readers exactly what they need to know without using extra words and long words. A Clear Language Handbook is attached.

Due Date

A complete grant application must be submitted on DD Suites by 11:59 PM on July 2, 2021.

Questions

Please contact Leslie Connelly at leslie.connelly@dodd.ohio.gov or 614-644-5542.