Section 2670.10  Definitions

 

"Community Non-Profit Agency or Organization" means a local agency or organization which is registered as a non-profit corporation with the Secretary of State and/or has been granted non-profit status by the United States Internal Revenue Service.

 

"Department" means the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.

 

"Director" means the Director of the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.

 

"Matching Funds" means cash expenditures, commodities, supplies, equipment, rents or leases calculated at fair market value.  Volunteer services may be used as matching funds equal to the value of the services of paid employees.

 

"Veteran" means any honorably discharged veteran of the United States Armed Forces.

 

Section 2670.20  Designation of Multi-Purpose Service Centers

 

a)         The Director shall designate multi-purpose service centers to provide job training, counseling, and placement services in the designated areas on the basis of applications from interested community non-profit agencies or organizations.

 

b)         Applications must be submitted to the Director on forms provided by the Department.  These forms will be available to interested parties no later than April 1 of each year.  Forms may be obtained by writing or calling the Department.  Completed forms must be delivered in person to the Department or post-marked no later than May 15 of each year.  Applicants chosen to be designated as multi-purpose service centers will be notified in writing by August 1.  Applicants not chosen will also be notified in writing by August 1.

 

c)         The Director shall make the designations based on a thorough review of all applications submitted.  The application forms will contain the information necessary to evaluate the criteria listed in this subsection.  Each applicant must document designation as a non-profit organization by the Secretary of State and/or the Internal Revenue Service to be an eligible applicant.  Eligible applicants will be judged relative to all other applicants received.  All criteria will be weighted equally.  The evaluation criteria are:

 

1)         The extent to which the applicant has experience providing social services.

 

2)         The overall quality of the program that the applicant proposes to deliver the required services.  This will be judged by comparing the narrative program descriptions of each applicant.  This narrative must include such information as location of the service center, estimated number of veterans to be served, services to be delivered and means of delivery.

 

3)         The extent to which the applicant demonstrates the availability of local resources to assist in implementing and continuing the program.  This will be judged by the amount of resources, cash and in-kind, budgeted by the applicant to supplement the funds requested under the Veterans' Employment Act.  This information will be required in the proposed budget section of the application form.

 

d)         Designation will be valid for one year only.  Designated centers will be required to re-apply each year in accordance with subsections (a), (b), and (c) of this Section.

 

Section 2670.30  Target Groups

 

The multi-purpose service centers must make services available to all eligible veterans.  All recipients must be honorably discharged veterans of the United States Armed Forces.

 

Section 2670.40  Program Funding

 

a)         The Director will enter into a grant agreement with each of the community non-profit agencies or organizations designated to serve as a multi-purpose service center.  These agreements will identify the parties and enumerate all of the rights and responsibilities of each party exactly as stated in Section 2670.50 of this Part.  The term of the agreement will be that of the State fiscal year, July 1 to June 30.

 

b)         Funds will be provided by the Department from those monies appropriated by the General Assembly for this purpose.  Program operations must begin within thirty days after the signing of the agreement.

 

c)         Each agreement will enumerate the scope of the services required to be provided by the multi-purpose service center.  The agreement must also describe in detail how each service will be delivered.

 

d)         Each local agency is required by the Act to provide matching funds of not less than 5% of the contract amount [330 ILCS 25/7(b)].

 

e)         To the extent possible, supervisory, technical and administrative positions relating to the local program shall be filled by veterans [330 ILCS 25/7(b)].

 

Section 2670.50  Responsibilities and Reporting Requirements

 

a)         Once the Director and each designated community non-profit agency or organization have agreed upon the amount necessary to operate the multi-purpose service center and signed the grant agreement, the Director will make available ten percent (10%) of that amount to start up and begin operations.  Subsequent to that, the local agency will submit to the Director at the end of the month a complete accounting of all expenses incurred in that month.  The Department will reimburse budgeted expenses as incurred.

 

b)         Allowable start-up costs will be those for:  personal and fringe benefits; travel; office equipment and supplies; office rent; postage; telephone; printing; and contractual expenses for professional services. Procurement of supplies and equipment with State funds must be done in accordance with the State statutes and the rules of the Department of Central Management Services.  Unspent State funds shall be maintained in accounts covered under Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation agreements.

 

c)         Travel expenses will be reimbursed in accordance with the latest Department of Central Management Services Travel Regulations (80 Ill. Adm. Code 2800).

 

d)         The grantee shall keep records which detail the grantee's expenditure summaries submitted pursuant to subsection (a).  All financial records must be kept according to the Accounting Standards of the Financial Accounting Standards Board of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, 1211 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10036 (June 1984), and no subsequent dates or editions are operative.  An annual audit of grant funds shall be conducted by the Department. All grantee records which reflect the actual activities conducted and the actual costs and expenses incurred by the grantees will be subject to an audit at any time by the Department's internal auditor.

 

e)         Each local agency will also submit an annual report to the Director following completion of the fiscal year, June 30.  This report shall include evaluations of the effectiveness of the job training, placement and service programs to veterans including the number of persons served by the various service programs, and estimates of the cost effectiveness of the various components of the center.  This report must be submitted no later than July 31 of each year. [330 ILCS 25/7(b)]

 

Section 2670.60  Rural Outreach Initiative

 

a)         Applicants proposing to serve areas outside of Cook County shall include, as a part of their applications, a plan for a Rural Outreach Initiative.  This Plan should specify the means by which the applicant proposes to insure the delivery of services to veterans in rural areas who would not otherwise have access to the program.

 

b)         Each Rural Initiative Plan will be evaluated by the Department to assure that it is sufficient to meet the need of the rural areas involved.  The criteria consist of:

 

1)         Whether the plan includes an analysis of the population and problems (e.g., number of veterans, unemployment rate, particular circumstances such as plant closings, etc.) involved in the area.

 

2)         Whether the proposed budget can realistically result in the delivery of the services described in the plan.