1511 Voucher Respite Program

The Illinois Department of Human Services, through its Division of Developmental Disabilities, is offering the 1511 Voucher Respite Program as a competitive renewal funding opportunity supported with State funds. The program provides short-term respite supports for children and adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities who are not receiving Home and Community Based Waiver funded services through the Division's children's or adult waivers or respite services from another State-funded agency. The program is intended to reduce caregiver stress, help individuals remain in their family homes, reduce the need for long-term services and supports, and give families greater flexibility in arranging respite services. Voucher respite may be used for planned situations as well as unplanned emergency or agency-determined crisis situations. Funded providers are expected to issue reimbursement vouchers or use direct-pay arrangements that allow families to obtain direct care support staff or special recreation program services. Permitted activities include in-home or community supervision, accompaniment on community outings and activities, registration in qualifying community-based programs, and home health personnel when medical training or expertise is necessary. Families may use certain relatives who do not live in the same home, friends, neighbors, community members, individuals who otherwise work with the person with a disability, or qualifying home health agency personnel. Funds may not be used for out-of-home medical services, medical or developmental evaluations, products or personal items, services from a family member living in the same residence, overnight-trip accompaniment, services that should be provided by a school, or childcare while the primary caretaker works. No more than 10 percent of the Voucher Respite grant allocation may be used for administrative costs. Pre-award costs may be allowable with IDHS review and prior approval, and indirect costs may be charged subject to applicable approval and indirect cost rate requirements. Applicants must demonstrate experience providing services and supports to individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities and their families, demonstrate the ability to meet the program goals, and satisfy the application review criteria. The notice does not identify specific legal organization types that may apply, but applicants must complete State registration and prequalification requirements. Applicants must maintain required State of Illinois Grantee Portal information, including organization information, FEIN, UEI, and organization type; satisfy applicable SAM.gov and UEI requirements; be in good standing with the Illinois Secretary of State when applicable; and not appear on the Illinois Stop Payment List, SAM.gov Exclusion List, or Medicaid Sanctions List. Only one accepted application is permitted per agency. Cost sharing or matching is not required. The application must contain a Program Narrative addressing the Executive Summary, Need, Capacity, and Quality sections; a Uniform Application for State Grant Assistance; a Grantee Conflict of Interest Disclosure; and a Uniform Grant Budget entered electronically in the CSA system with a PDF copy included in the submission. The budget must contain detailed justification for proposed expenditures and must be electronically signed by the provider's Chief Executive Officer and/or Chief Financial Officer. Application materials must generally use 8.5 by 11 inch pages, single spacing, 12-point Calibri font, one-inch margins, and page numbers, and the application and narrative may not exceed 25 pages, excluding the Uniform Grant Budget and Grantee Conflict of Interest Disclosure. The complete application must be emailed to DHS.DDDGrantProg@illinois.gov with the required subject line identifying funding opportunity 27-444-24-1511-01, Voucher Respite, and the submitting agency. Applications sent to other addresses or submitted by prohibited methods will not be considered. Applications are evaluated on a 100-point scale. The Program Plan and Narrative accounts for 75 points, consisting of Need for 25 points, Capacity for 25 points, and Quality of Program and Services for 25 points. The Executive Summary is worth 15 points and Budget and Cost Justification is worth 10 points. Review considerations include the applicant's analysis of service needs and target communities, plans to reach new recipients and minority groups, supporting data and evidence, readiness to provide services by July 1, 2026, prior experience with voucher respite and individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities, staffing and operational capacity, quality assurance processes, participant engagement, satisfaction measurement, and the reasonableness and allowability of proposed costs. The Department may also consider factors such as geographic distribution, demonstrated need, and past performance as an Illinois grantee, and retains final authority over funding decisions. The opportunity was posted March 23, 2026, and full applications were due April 23, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. CST. No letter of intent, pre-application, white paper, or other preliminary submission was required. A mandatory technical assistance session was scheduled for April 3, 2026, from 1:45 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. CST. Eligibility review was scheduled for April 24 through May 29, 2026, and the anticipated award date was June 12, 2026. Subject to appropriation, the grant period was expected to begin no sooner than July 1, 2026, and continue through June 30, 2029. The Department expected to make approximately $1,792,100 available, while the number of awards was to be determined and individual award amounts were negotiable. Successful applicants may be eligible for two subsequent one-year grant renewals at the Department's discretion, subject to appropriation, satisfactory performance, timely reporting, and continued good standing; the source does not establish that a new competitive application round recurs annually. Questions about the NOFO and technical submission issues are directed to Shannon Dyson at DHS.DDDGrantProg@illinois.gov. Applicants were instructed to monitor the Department's website for questions and answers and other NOFO instructions. Following selection, recommended applicants receive a Notice of State Award identifying the award amount, terms, conditions, and any specific conditions resulting from risk or merit review. The Notice of State Award itself does not authorize performance; the fully executed Uniform Grant Agreement is the authorizing document. Awardees are subject to financial and programmatic reporting requirements, close-out reporting, applicable risk assessments, and program performance measures, including service eligibility verification, waitlist movement, referral activity, voucher payment practices, satisfaction surveys, and collection of required participant demographic information.

Use specific data, facts, and evidence to demonstrate need in the proposed service area and target communities; explain how new recipients and minority groups will be reached; provide a feasible readiness plan showing services operational by July 1, 2026; document prior voucher respite and I/DD service experience; describe direct engagement with individuals and families, staffing, quality assurance, satisfaction measurement, and data-sharing capacity; clearly define target geography and audience; align the proposal with all Voucher Respite program goals; provide thorough line-item budget justification; keep administrative costs at or below 10%; verify that the proposed budget total matches the application.