Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) Training and Technical Assistance (T/TA) Results Oriented Management and Accountability (ROMA) Next Generation Center of Excellence (COE)

The Office of Community Services (OCS) within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) announces that competing applications will be accepted for a cooperative agreement to enhance the existing local, State, and national accountability and performance management strategies within the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) Network.This two-year cooperative agreement will fund one Results Oriented Management and Accountability (ROMA) Next Generation Center of Excellence (COE) to develop updated training and technical assistance materials for a comprehensive and integrated system of performance management and accountability within CSBG. The ROMA Next Generation COE will build on the foundation of ROMA, while also integrating evidence-informed approaches to assess program success and impact. The core functions of the ROMA Next Generation COE are:1. The development of performance management materials that ensure that all CSBG-eligible entities may participate in the ROMA effort, which includes attention to the complete ROMA Cycle of performance management. This cycle includes high-quality needs assessments, community CSBG plans that utilize evidence-informed service approaches targeted to the highest priority needs, setting challenging outcome goals, and documentation and analysis of progress and results according to a consistent set of criteria;2. The adaptation of existing ROMA performance management training materials to ensure that all CSBG-eligible entities have access to relevant trainings, toolkits, and guidance materials. A key focus of this process will be to establish consistency of definitions and an integrated set of ROMA training curricula.It is expected that the ROMA Next Generation COE will participate in a CSBG Network-wide approach in partnership with OCS; the established national CSBG technical assistance centers focused on performance management, risk mitigation and quality improvement, and legal compliance; the Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 Regional Performance and Innovation Consortia (RPIs); the FY 2012 CSBG Organizational Standards Center of Excellence, which will be funded under a separate announcement (Funding Opportunity Number: HHS-2012-ACF-OCS-ET-0539); and State CSBG Lead Agencies as appropriate. The ROMA Next Generation COE will collaborate with RPIs to gain input from CSBG-eligible entities and to disseminate the training materials developed under this announcement.