Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority details registration, budget and scoring for Bullying Prevention grant NOFO

A staff member of the Criminal Justice Information Authority led a technical assistance session laying out eligibility, registration and budgeting rules for the State/Federal Year 27 Bullying Prevention Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO).

The presenter told applicants that "falling out of compliance at any point will disqualify your organization from consideration," and said all application materials must be submitted through the state application portal by 5:00 a.m. March 12, 2026; paper or email submissions will not be accepted.

Why it matters: the session explained the administrative steps that determine whether organizations can be considered for awards, the financial limits of the NOFO and the scoring standards reviewers will use to rank applications.

Key details the presenter emphasized include: award amounts between $65,000 and $75,000 per grantee; a grant performance period beginning Oct. 1, 2026 or upon execution of the grant agreement and running through June 30, 2027; and a hard submission deadline of 5:00 a.m. on March 12, 2026. Applicants must obtain a unique entity ID via SAM.gov (which replaces the DUNS number), complete registration in the Illinois Grant Accountability and Transparency Act (GATA) portal, and set up the designated single sign-on account for the application portal to submit materials.

The presenter walked through scoring and narrative expectations: the program narrative is worth 100 points, two equity questions are worth up to 10 bonus points (5 points each), reviewers' scores will be averaged, and applications with an average score below 70 will not be funded. The presenter advised applicants to "pay attention to the number of points assigned to each question" and to prioritize responses accordingly.

Budget and allowable costs: the presenter said every budget line must align with the program narrative and include a narrative explanation of the expense. Costs must be allowable, reasonable and necessary. Applicants should list fringe-benefit costs separately (FICA, health insurance, retirement, etc.). Travel should be justified in the narrative; if an agency has no lower internal travel rate, use the state reimbursement rate of $0.70 per mile. Food is allowable when programmatic and tied to attendance (examples: workshops, focus groups, trainings) with limits of up to $3 per snack or $10 per meal; alcohol is not permitted. Single items under the supplies line should generally cost less than $100; any unit over $100 must be listed separately with justification.

Subawards and subcontractors: the presenter distinguished subcontractors (professional services to a grantee) from subawards (entities that implement portions of the program). If a planned subawardee is identified, name the entity in the application; if not, mark it "to be determined." If awarded, grantees must provide documentation for subcontractors and subawardees.

Administrative expectations and reporting: applicants should plan for grant administration by designating staff to coordinate grant initiation, monitoring and reporting; the presenter recommended allocating at least 0.5 full-time equivalent for those duties. Once awarded, grantees must report quarterly on the goals they select in the application and report expenditures to show funds were spent appropriately.

Screening, compliance and timeline: applications will be screened for completeness, including verification of GATA prequalification and current SAM.gov registration. Failure to maintain required registrations or to remain in good standing during the application review or award period may result in disqualification. All submitted questions about the NOFO will be compiled into a weekly Q&A document posted on Fridays.

What the NOFO does not specify in the session: the presenter did not name exact scoring rubrics beyond point totals, did not list the number of awards to be made, and did not specify application portal product branding beyond referring repeatedly to submitting materials through the portal. Applicants should consult the NOFO and posted Q&A for any additional specifics.

The presenter closed by wishing applicants luck and reminding them to monitor registrations and the Q&A postings while preparing submissions.