Community Economic Development (CED) Projects

For Fiscal Year (FY) 2012, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Community and Economic Development (CED) program, administered by the Office of Community Services (OCS) in the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), will provide approximately $27 million in grants ($800,000 maximum per project) to Community Development Corporations (CDCs) for projects designed to address the economic needs of low-income individuals and families through the creation of employment and business opportunities. CED funding may be used to provide technical and financial assistance in order to create sustainable new employment and business opportunities for recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and other low-income individuals whose income level does not exceed 125 percent of the Federal poverty level (http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty). This year, in coordination with the Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI), the CED program will provide up to $10 million of this funding to CDCs for CED projects located in food deserts and designed to improve access to healthy, affordable foods. HFFI is the first time the Federal government has coordinated its efforts to eliminate food deserts around the country. Together, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the U.S. Department of Treasury (Treasury) and HHS have created the Healthy Food Financing Working Group (Working Group). Information about the CED program may be found at http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ocs/ced/index.html. CED-funded projects can be non-construction or construction projects. The grant period for non-construction projects is three years; for construction projects, the grant period is five years. The CED Program permits facility construction as needed to support business creation, business expansion and/or job creation. However it is important to note that short-term construction jobs associated with preparing for business start-up or expansion are not counted when determining the number of jobs created under the CED program as they are designed to be temporary in nature. The following two changes have been made as modifications to this announcement: 1) In Section I. Funding Opportunity Description, the following language has been added to direct potential applicants to the CED website, which contains additional resources: Resources for prospective applicants, including a pre-recorded applicant webinar, will be available no later than Thursday, May 3, 2012, at http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ocs/ced/index.html under the link titled “Grantee and Prospective Grantee Resources and Tools.” The resources will be available until the closing of this funding announcement. 2) In Section I. Funding Opportunity Description, Nevada and Oregon have been added to the list of states designated as "Underserved Areas." This addition appears twice in Section I under the paragraph titled "Underserved Areas" and under the definition of "Underserved Areas" in the definition section. This addition is also reflected in other areas of the FOA: Under Business Plan in Section IV.2. Content and Form of Application Submission. Under Bonus Points - Underserved Areas: States or Trust Territories Without Active CED Grants in Section V.1. Criteria. Under Objective Review and Results in Section V.2. Review and Selection Process.