OASEE Questions and Answers
The following table includes questions asked regarding the Opioid Abatement Strategies Effectiveness Evaluator (OASEE) Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO). Questions and answers will be updated each Friday afternoon during the application period.
| # | Question | Answer |
|---|---|---|
| 1/26/2024 | ||
| 1 | Our billing rates are not based on salary plus fringe. Our rates are fully loaded and inclusive of all costs (other than project-related expenses). Would it be acceptable to present our fully loaded rates in this proposal? | Allowability of costs and cost allocations methods are determined in accordance with 2 CFR Part 200 Subpart E and Appendices III, IV, V, and VII. All grantees, except for Local Education Agencies (as defined in 34 CFR 77.1), must make an Indirect Cost Rate election in the Grantee Portal, even grantees that do not charge or expect to charge Indirect Costs (44 Ill. Admin. Code 7000.420(e)). It is recommended that you consult with your attorney. |
| 2 | Section 2, Q29. Asks for Sam.gov account number, what are they referring to? | Edited 1/31/2024: Please enter "999999999"in this field. It is an extraneous question. |
| 2/2/2024 | ||
| 3 | In the application there is an item asking respondents to “Identify the community partnerships that will contribute to the success of the evaluation and describe your experience with these partners.” By community partnerships are you referring to formal partnerships that the evaluator will secure through subcontract arrangements to deliver evaluation services OR are you referring to the partnerships that funded agencies have formed with other entities to implement opioid abatement activities? If neither of these, can you please explain what you mean by community partnerships? | The question refers to formal or informal partnerships that the evaluator will establish or maintain to contribute to the success of the project. |
| 4 | Question 93 asks applicants to identify the community partnerships that will contribute to the success of the evaluation and describe your organization’s experience with these partners. Are you expecting formal agreements, letters of support or simply the proposed partners and the applicants experience with them? | No formal agreements or letters of support are required for the application. |
| 5 | Can the RCCA speak to any specific measures that are already being collected, or anticipated to be tracked and collected by the 20 grantees already in place? | The RCCA has not yet issued awards. Three funding opportunities are currently receiving applications, and each has a set of tasks, deliverables, and performance measures in the NOFO. However, the data is not limited to that in the NOFO. Those materials are available at http://35.165.19.157/funding-opportunities/. |
| 6 | Does the RCCA anticipate any additional grantees/awards to be released beyond the 20 grant agreements already in place? If so, how many? | The number of awards to be administered by the RCCA during the period of performance depends upon the number of recommendations received and approved by the Governor’s Opioid Prevention and Recovery Steering Committee. At this point, seven programs have been approved by the Committee for administration by the RCCA. Three are open for application (including this one). In the long term, Illinois expects to receive funds from the National Opioid Multistate Settlements Agreements until 2038. |
| 7 | Should responses include either a detailed description of the subrecipient data portal to be developed (up to 1,000 words) or optionally, upload a portal concept plan (Attachment J), similar to Section 7, Q90/Attachment G? OR are both the detailed description (up to 1,000 words) and upload (Attachment J) allowed? | Both may be submitted. |
| 8 | How many additional data collection activities does the RCCA anticipate each year? | Subrecipients must report financial and performance information monthly to meet grant adminstration requirements. The cadence and frequency of other data collection activities should be proposed by the applicant in the study design. |
| Updated 2/7/2024 | ||
| 9 | Is it anticipated that the OASEE will only maintain the data portal during the period of performance, or does the RCCA anticipate the OASEE will need to maintain the data portal after the period of performance ends? | The OASEE will be responsible for developing appropriate closeout materials and transfer of all assets upon the conclusion of the award as prescribed by the subaward agreement. |
| 10 | Beyond ongoing TA for the data portal and entering data, how many TTA sessions or webinars does the RCCA anticipate will take place each year? | The number of TA sessions the OASEE must provide to subrecipients has not been defined beyond the requirements outlined in Task 5. |
| 11 | Would the RCCA consider a time & materials format budget for this opportunity rather than the cost-type required, for organizations that consider their detailed cost information (i.e. salaries, fringe, indirects) as proprietary? | No. Per 2 CFR 318(j) "The non-Federal entity may use a time-and-materials type contract only after a determination that no other contract is suitable and if the contract includes a ceiling price that the contractor exceeds at its own risk." |
| 12 | Section C.6, Indirect Cost Rate, states “Organizations must notify the RCCA of any changes to their previously established NICRA no later than 6 months after the close of the organization’s fiscal year.” Given many entities will have changes to their NICRA on an annual basis, would the RCCA confirm what this notification entails, and the details required in such a notification? | Notification of a change to the NICRA would be similar to the requirements for application: "A grantee who has a current, applicable rate negotiated by a cognizant federal agency must provide to Grantor a copy of its Indirect Cost Rate acceptance letter from the federal government and a copy of all documentation regarding the allocation methodology for costs used to negotiate that rate, e.g., without limitation, the cost policy statement or disclosure narrative statement. Grantor will accept that Indirect Cost Rate, up to any statutory, rule-based or programmatic limit." |
| 13 | Does the RCCA anticipate the contractor will need to complete the full Application Programming Interface (API) process in order to host the data portal? If so, what does the API process entail and how long does the process typically take? | The RCCA does not require complete API access, and it is optional but beneficial if available. |