Adult Education and Literacy Grant Program

The Illinois Community College Board is soliciting competitive applications for Adult Education and Literacy services in Area Planning Council 507 through the Adult Education Basic Competitive funding opportunity. The competition is intended to ensure that adult education services are available in an area where the most recent grant competition did not produce a viable applicant. APC 507 is the area served by Danville Area Community College and includes portions of Vermilion, Edgar, Iroquois, Champaign, and Ford Counties. The purpose of the funded services is to help adults become literate and gain skills needed for employment and self-sufficiency, help parents and family members participate in their children's educational development, support attainment of secondary credentials and transitions to postsecondary education and training, and assist English language learners with English, mathematics, civics, and citizenship knowledge. The program combines federal and state adult education resources. Estimated total program funding is up to $316,271, consisting of $115,506 in Non-Match State Funds, $100,765 for WIOA Federal Basic plus the required 25 percent State Match, and up to $100,000 in Federal Adult Education Leadership funding. Leadership funds are braided with WIOA funding and may support rapid implementation of services, start-up activities, high-quality professional development, and other required or permissible activities under the applicable section. Allowable WIOA activities include adult basic and secondary education, English language acquisition, bridge programming, workplace adult education and literacy, workplace preparation, career awareness and development, civics instruction, and Integrated Career and Academic Preparation System activities. Funds must supplement and not supplant other state or local public funds. WIOA funds may not support high school equivalency testing administration or test-taker testing fees, although Non-Match State Funds may support HSE testing. Eligible applicants are organizations meeting the WIOA Section 203(5) definition of an eligible provider and capable of providing services within APC 507, even when the applicant itself is located outside the APC. Examples include local educational agencies, community-based organizations, volunteer literacy organizations, institutions of higher education, public or private nonprofit agencies, libraries, public housing authorities, other nonprofit institutions capable of providing adult education and literacy activities, and consortia of eligible providers. Applicants must demonstrate fiscal, administrative, and programmatic capacity and demonstrated effectiveness under 34 CFR 463.24. Evidence may include measurable skill gains, educational functioning level gains, high school diploma or equivalency attainment, postsecondary transition, employment outcomes, or comparable measures for organizations without prior AEFLA funding. Applications failing demonstrated effectiveness will not be reviewed or scored. Applicants must submit through Euna/Amplifund. Although ICCB issued a single NOFO, applicants seeking the available funding must submit the same narrative and associated programmatic documents through two separate Amplifund opportunities, one for WIOA and one for Non-Match State funding, with a separate budget for each opportunity. Required materials include demonstrated effectiveness information, the Uniform Grant Application, separate Uniform Budgets with the required CEO or authorized signature on the Certificate worksheet, the Grant Narrative, Scope of Work, Programmatic Risk Assessment, and FFATA for the WIOA opportunity. Applicants also must complete applicable Grant Accountability and Transparency Act prequalifications and the Internal Control Questionnaire. The narrative addresses APC Alignment and Regional Coordination, Performance Improvement Strategy, Retention and Persistence, Data Management and Continuous Improvement, and Instructional Services and Program Design. Eligible applications are reviewed competitively using a standardized merit-based rubric totaling 100 points. APC Alignment and Regional Accountability is worth 20 points; Performance Strategy is worth 15; Retention and Persistence Strategies, 10; Career Pathways and Workforce Partnerships, 15; Data Management and Continuous Improvement, 10; Instructional Services and Program Design, 5; and the Scope of Work Plan, 25. Budgets are not scored but must be reasonable and limited to allowable expenditures. Review includes eligibility screening, merit-based scoring, and funding recommendations based on scores, regional considerations, funding availability, demonstrated need, and ICCB priorities. ICCB may request clarification, require budget adjustments, adjust award amounts, and make determinations based on overall programmatic balance and statewide needs. The NOFO was posted August 7, 2026, and applications are due September 15, 2026, at 5:00 PM CST. There is no Intent to Apply requirement. An optional bidder's conference is scheduled for August 17, 2026; attendance is not mandatory. Applicant questions must be submitted in writing no later than two weeks before the application submission deadline. The initial grant period is October 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027, with one renewal option for July 1, 2027 through June 30, 2028. Renewal and continued funding remain subject to appropriations, availability of funds, performance, compliance, and ICCB policy determinations. The NOFO does not establish this special APC 507 competition as a regularly recurring solicitation. The agency contact is Whitney Thompson, Deputy Director for Workforce Education, Illinois Community College Board, 401 E. Capitol Avenue, Springfield, Illinois 62701. She may be reached at whitney.thompson@illinois.gov or 217-558-0318. Amplifund technical support is separately available at contact@amplifund.com or 216-377-5500. Awardees will receive a Notice of State Award, and accepted grant awards will be published by the awarding agency through Grants.Illinois.gov. Funded programs are subject to fiscal and programmatic monitoring, reporting and data requirements, performance targets, and applicable federal, state, GATA, WIOA, and ICCB requirements.

Demonstrate effectiveness first because applications failing this requirement will not be reviewed or scored; align the Grant Narrative and Scope of Work closely; document active APC alignment, regional coordination, partner roles, and staff accountability; use baseline and performance data to support improvement strategies; clearly address retention barriers and early interventions; align career pathways with regional workforce needs and postsecondary and workforce partners; ensure budgets are reasonable and contain only allowable expenditures; give particular attention to the 25-point Scope of Work and 20-point APC Alignment criteria