NOTICE OF FUNDING AVAILABILITY (NOFA)

Florida Division of Emergency Management Releases Funding Availability for CITIZEN CORPS/Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Programs

The Division of Emergency Management is providing you with notification of its intent to open the Fiscal Year 2011-2012 application cycle for competitive awards from the State Homeland Security Grant Fund Citizen Corps and Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Program.

The applications will be available online July 22, 2011, at the Florida CERT website, which can be accessed at www.floridadisaster.org/CitizenCorps. The submission deadline for all grants is August 31, 2011. If there are no pending appeals, funds provided under the Fiscal Year 2011-2012 cycle will be available to award recipients no earlier than October 1, 2011.

The Citizen Corps mission is to bring community and government leaders together to coordinate the involvement of community members and organizations in emergency preparedness, planning, mitigation, response, and recovery. The participation of community leaders in developing emergency plans is critical to the success of a comprehensive planning process. Community-based planning that involves the whole 21 community will reflect an accurate composite of that community and establish a viable, fully integrated and coordinated plan that emergency officials will execute when an incident occurs.

Specific emphasis should be placed on community preparedness practices that increase the inclusion of people with disabilities into community planning initiatives. Effective preparedness activities will include strategies, projects, and tools for meeting the access and functional needs of workers with disabilities, as well as citizens with disabilities through increased physical, programmatic, and communications access for people who have physical, sensory, intellectual, cognitive, and mental health disabilities in compliance with applicable laws that require inclusive preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation.

The funds will be available to any regional or local government in the State of Florida. Eligible applicants also include Fire Tax Districts and Native American Tribes or nations of Florida. The total funds for the CERT sub-grants are $356,897.00.

The Division of Emergency Management will accept sub-grant applications to perform the following activities as described hereinafter:

CERT Program – These funds are for CERT Training and start-up programs in areas of the State where CERT is not currently constituted and/or expansion of current programs. Awarded contracts for a start up or an expansion CERT program will be made available in the range of $5,000 to $15,000. There is no match requirement. Certain restrictions on what these grants can be used for do apply.

Citizen Corps Program – These funds are to support the formation of Citizen Corps Councils, to enhance existing Citizen Corps Councils and to carryout Citizen Corps goals and objectives of education, training, recruiting, screening and referring volunteers to the four federally chartered Citizen Corps programs and other Citizen Corps partners.

*(Please see application instructions for more details)*

All CCP grant recipients must register their Citizen Corps Council and/or CERT program and receive approval on the Citizen Corps website at http://www.citizencorps.gov/. In addition, all grant recipients must update/validate their Citizen Corps and/or CERT information, activity, and contacts located on the Citizen Corps and national program websites twice a year. Also, there will be timely financial reports due quarterly beginning at the start of the grant performance period not the execution date.

All applications must be submitted in a sealed envelope to:

Citizen Corps Office- Sub-grant Application

Florida Division of Emergency Management

Domestic Preparedness Section

2555 Shumard Oak Boulevard-Sadowski Building

Tallahassee, Florida 32399-2100

By 5:00 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time), on August 31, 2011. Any application received after this date, will not be considered for funding. All Sub-grants must be prepared in conformance with the Citizen Corps/CERT Program Application package Instructions found at the following Internet address starting July 22, 2011: www.floridadisaster.org/CitizenCorps.

Request for hard copies of the Citizen Corps/CERT Application Package, questions or other inquiries should be directed to the Attention: Ms. Peggy Cadeaux, State Citizen Corps/CERT Coordinator. Contact information: (850)413-9966 or preferably by e-mail: Peggy.Cadeaux@em.myflorida.com.