1 City of Union City
Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA)
Public Service Activities
Overview
The City of Union City announces the availability of funding for public service activities in FY_________.
The City will be awarding two-year grants. Organizations funded through this process, will receive funding for FY _________ and FY__________, pending availability of funds and satisfactory performance.
Mandatory Technical Assistance Workshop
(Date) | 10 AM – 12 PM
Virtual Conference Call via Zoom
APPLICATION DEADLINE
(Date) at Midnight (no exceptions)
Eligible Programs/Activities
General Fund and CDBG funds can be used for a wide range of public service activities. Below are examples of allowable activities.
• Child care
• Crime prevention
• Domestic violence programs
• Drug abuse prevention
• Education
• Employment services (e.g. job training)
• Fair housing counseling/education
• Food programs
• Health care/Mental Health Services
• Homeless programs
• Legal services
• Microenterprise assistance
• Senior programs
• Special Needs Programs
• Youth programs
Minimum Requirements
Below are the minimum requirements an applicant must meet in order to be eligible to apply for funding:
• Valid 501(c)3 non-profit or a public agency
• Completes an annual financial audit*
• Proposed program benefits one or more of the following groups:
o Low to Moderate-income families and/or households
o Seniors (age 62 or older)
o Persons with disabilities
o Homeless persons
o Youth Support Services
*Applicable to organizations that receive over $500,000 in annual revenue 2 CDBG Requirements
In order to be eligible for CDBG funding, an application must also meet the following criteria:
1. Be an eligible activity under U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) regulations (a sample of eligible activities is provided on page 1); AND
2. Meet HUD’s CDBG National Objective, which is to benefit low to moderate income (LMI) persons.
In order for a CDBG activity to be eligible under the LMI national objective, the activity must qualify under either a) Area Benefit OR b) Limited Clientele. a. Area Benefit: The public service activity must be offered to all residents of an area where at least fifty-one percent (51%) of the residents are low- and moderate-income per the latest census data available. The area must be clearly delineated by the subrecipient and must be primarily residential. The City has identified census tract 440200 along with census block groups 440331 (Block 2), 440307 (Block 1), 440308 (Block 2), and 440336 (Block 1) as a low-moderate income census tract(s). Additionally, there may be other census block groups that also qualify. Activities that are located in a low-income service area but are designed to meet special needs cannot be qualified under this category. For example, a senior center would qualify under the Limited Clientele category and not the Area Benefit category. OR
b. Limited Clientele: Under limited clientele, activity must benefit a specific targeted group of persons of which at least fifty-one percent (51%) must be low- and moderate-income.
Income verification must be done to document client benefit except if the clients are considered “presumed benefit” (see section i below), in which case, their status must be verified. This can be achieved by meeting one of the following criteria:
i. Presumed Benefit: Serving a group primarily presumed to be LMI such as abused children, battered spouses, elderly persons, severely disabled adults, homeless persons, illiterate adults, persons living with AIDS, and migrant farm workers; OR ii. Serving at least fifty-one percent (51%) LMI, as evidenced by documentation and data concerning the client’s family size and income; OR iii. Having income-eligibility requirements that limit the service to persons meeting the LMI income requirement, as evidenced by the program operator’s procedures, intake/application forms, and other sources of documentation.
Contract Requirements
All applicants should review the City’s CDBG and General Fund Contract Templates, included as Attachments 1 and 2, to ensure that they can meet the City’s contracting requirements.
Two-Year Term
The City issues two-year funding contracts to coincide with the City’s two-year budget cycle. The second year funding is subject to availability of funds and satisfactory performance. Funding for the second year is generally intended to be the same as the first year, pending the availability of funds. The FY (Fiscal year) contract term is July 1, (year) to June 30, (Year) and the FY (Fiscal year) contract term is July 1, (Year) to June 30, (Year).
3 CDBG Contract Requirements
All CDBG grantees will be required to follow the CDBG regulations and all other applicable federal laws including but not limited to the following. Please review the CDBG contract template included as Attachment 1 for additional information.
• 2 CFR part 200 - Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Requirements for Federal Awards
• Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Public Law 88-352) • Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 (Public Law 90-284) • Section 109 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 • Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
• Age Discrimination Act of 1975
• Section 3 of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 • 24 CFR 570.611
• 24 CFR 570.303 of the Community Development Block Grant regulations • National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA)
• HUD Lead Safe Housing Rule
• 24 CFR 35, subparts B through R
• Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970 • Federal Labor Standards Provisions - Davis-Bacon and Related Acts (DBRA); Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act (CWHSSA); Copeland (Anti-Kickback) Act; and Section 110 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, as amended (CDBG).
Insurance Requirements
Type of Insurance Minimum Limits
Commercial General Liability $1,000,000 per occurrence. Commercial general coverage shall be at least as broad as Insurance Services Office Commercial General Liability occurrence form CG 0001 (most recent edition) covering comprehensive General Liability on an “occurrence” basis Automobile Liability $1,000,000 per occurrence. Automobile coverage shall be at least as broad as Insurance Services Office Automobile Liability form CA 0001 (most recent edition), Code 1 (any auto). No endorsement shall be attached limiting the coverage.
Workers’ Compensation $1,000,000 per accident. Subrecipient may rely on a self-insurance program to meet those requirements, but only if the program of selfinsurance complies fully with the provisions of the California Labor Code. The Workers’ Compensation policy shall be endorsed with a waiver of subrogation in favor of the entity for all work performed by the Subrecipient, its employees, agendas, and subcontractors.
Professional Liability
For licensed professionals
performing work pursuant to
this Agreement
$1,000,000 covering the licensed professionals’ errors and omissions Any deductible or self-insured retention shall not exceed $150,000 per claim
Application
Applications must be completed and submitted online via ZoomGrants, the City’s online grant management system. Applications that are submitted via mail, fax, or email will not be accepted.
Additional instructions for how to use ZoomGrants is included as Attachment 3. The application is 4 available starting (Date) and can be accessed at the following link:
https://www.zoomgrants.com/gprop.asp?donorid=2250&limited=5604 The application consists of the following sections:
• Basic Information
This section includes basic application information such as applicant contact information, program name, amount requested, and IRS verification.
• Pre-Application
All applicants must submit a pre-application to demonstrate that they meet the minimum requirements listed above.
• Application Questions
This section includes questions related to general information, program description, program location, organizational capacity, outreach, measuring success, and financial capacity. • Union City Specific Budget
Applicants will be required to complete a budget specific to the funding the applicant is seeking from Union City. If the applicant is awarded funding, this budget will be the baseline for the grant agreement budget.
• Tables / Budget
Applicants will be required to complete three (3) tables pertaining to partnerships, program metrics, and a program-specific budget (including Union City and non-Union City funds). • Required Documents
Applicants will be required to upload the following documents:
o Audit1
o Profit & Loss Statements – Prior 2 years
o Partnership MOU2
o Organizational Chart
o Composition of Policy Making Board
o Staff Composition
o Non-Discrimination Policies
o Conflict of Interest Policies
o Agency-wide Budget
o Articles of Incorporation3
o California Tax Exempt Certificate3
o IRS Tax Exempt Certificate3
• Bonus Documents
Applicants also have the opportunity to upload the following documents for bonus points. o Cost allocation plan;
o Strategic; and/or
o Equal opportunity marketing plan – Note non-discrimination policies are not equal opportunity marketing plans and will not receive bonus points.
Applicants can score up to 100 points. Applications will be scored according to how completely and thoroughly questions are answered. The highest scoring applications will receive funding priority.
Included as Attachment 4 is the Scoring Criteria.
1 Required if applicant received over $500,000 in annual revenue. If an applicant’s annual revenue is less than $500,000, the applicant must attach a letter explaining this. 2 Required if an applicant is different than the program provider 3 Required only for non-profit applicants
5 Priorities
Given the affordable housing and homelessness crisis the City and greater Bay Area are facing, the City is prioritizing funding for homeless-related programs. The City Council has also prioritized addressing homelessness within the City and has made a commitment to fund homeless programs in order to provide match funding to access additional State homeless grants.
In addition, in 2023, the City conducted a Public Services Needs Assessment Study for the purpose of identifying the community’s public services needs and developing a plan of action to address those needs.
The study includes key findings and recommendations on how the City can better utilize existing funds.
As a result of this study, the application process will prioritize programs that can address the following findings identified in the study:
• Services or programs prioritizing homeless services, senior services, and youth services The Needs Assessment Report is available on the City’s website:
https://www.unioncity.org/DocumentCenter/View/10486/2023-Needs-Assessment-City-of-Union-City--- FINAL-6523
The County of Alameda is in the final stages of completing it Regional Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing (AI) report. The purpose of the AI is to meet the City and County’s obligation to affirmatively further fair housing, which is a requirement of recipients of funding from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). HUD requires that an analysis of impediments be conducted every five years, preferably in conjunction with a five-year Consolidated Plan process, which the City will be completing and submitting to HUD by May 15, 2025. Since this NOFA coincides with the completion of the City’s Consolidated Plan (CONPLAN) and Annual Action Plan, the application process will also prioritize programs that can address the following findings identified in the study:
• Services or programs prioritizing services that promote the following:
o expand housing opportunities for people with special needs o address challenges of displacement among residents in high cost and gentrifying areas o promote fair housing enforcement and education through interagency collaboration.
The Regional Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing report will be finalized at the end of January 2025 and will be available for review on the City’s website:
https://www.unioncity.org/293/Community-Development-Block-Grant-Progra Application Review and Approval Process
Below is an overview of how applications will be reviewed and selected. For additional information, please see the schedule section below.
• Applications will be reviewed by Housing and Community Development staff for completeness and scored on the objective scoring criteria.
• The Social Services Subcommittee of the Human Relations Commission (HRC) will score applications on the remaining scoring criteria.
• Applications will receive a total score and will be ranked by scoring. • The Social Services Subcommittee will review all scores and applications collectively and make funding recommendations.
• The Social Services Subcommittee recommendations will be presented to the Human Relations Commission, who will then make recommendations to the City Council. 6 • The City Council will review the HRC recommendations and make funding allocations at the (Date) City Council meeting.
Schedule
NOFA Issued /Application Available (Date)
MANDATORY - Technical Assistance Workshop (Date)
APPLICATION DEADLINE (Date)
Staff review of applications for completeness (Date)
HRC Public Services Subcommittee reviews and scores
applications and makes funding recommendations
(Date)
HRC reviews Subcommittee recommendations and
makes funding recommendations to the City Council. The
HRC’s recommendations are incorporated into the draft FY (Fiscal year) CDBG Annual Action Plan.
(Date)
FY (Fiscal Year) Consolidated Plan and CDBG Annual Action Plan published for a 30-day public comment period
(Date)
City Council makes funding allocations and approves the Consolidated Plan and CDBG Annual Action Plan
(Date)
FY (Fiscal Year) Consolidated Plan and CDBG Annual Action Plan submitted to HUD
(Date)
Fiscal Year (Fiscal Year) begins (Date)
Mandatory Technical Assistance Workshop
All potential applicants are required to attend the Technical Assistance Workshop. If an applicant does not attend the workshop, their application(s) will not be considered.
Please RVSP to [email protected] by (Date).
Once potential applicants have submitted an RSVP, they will be sent a zoom link to attend the workshop.
Mandatory Technical Assistance Workshop
Friday, (Date)
10 AM to 12 PM
Virtual Conference Call via Zoom
Contact Info
Programmatic & Administrative Questions
Francisco Gomez Jr.
Housing & Community Development Manager
Monday – Thursday and alternating Fridays
8 am to 6 pm
(510) 675-5322
[email protected]
7 Technical Questions / ZoomGrants
Step 1: Please review the ZoomGrants University (ZGU) page:
https://zoomgrants.zendesk.com/hc/en-us
Step 2: If you cannot resolve your issue via ZGU, contact the ZoomGrants Tech Support Desk.
Monday – Friday (except for holidays)
8am to 5pm (Mountain Time)
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (866) 323-5404 x2