0833 In-Home Respite Program

The Illinois Department of Human Services, through its Division of Developmental Disabilities, is offering the 0833 In-Home Respite Program under funding opportunity 27-444-24-0833-01. The program is a competitive renewal opportunity supported with State funds and is designed to provide short-term in-home and community-based respite supports for children and adults diagnosed with intellectual or developmental disabilities. The program specifically serves individuals who are not receiving Home and Community Based Waiver funded services through the Division's children's or adult waivers or respite services through another State-funded agency. Its central purposes are to provide relief to caregivers, reduce caregiver stress and the potential for crises, help individuals remain in their homes and communities, reduce reliance on long-term supports and services, and increase the number of families able to access developmental disabilities supports. In-Home Respite is operated as a fee-for-service program. Services must be provided by staff of an IDHS-contracted agency and may occur in the individual or family home or in the community. Services can include supervision, personal care, and staff supports needed by the individual in the home or during outings and community activities, consistent with individual needs and caregiver direction. Planned respite can address needs such as caregiver doctor appointments, recreational events, vacations, or sibling needs, while emergency or crisis respite can address circumstances such as caregiver illness or hospitalization, loss of employment, declining mental health, homelessness, abuse, neglect, or other destabilizing circumstances. Planned and unplanned 87D respite services may be provided for up to 360 hours per individual in a fiscal year. The FY27 In-Home Respite rate is stated as $27.45. Mileage may be reimbursed to workers consistent with State of Illinois Travel Control Board regulations. IDHS expects to make approximately $3,969,600 available for the program. The number of awards is to be determined, and individual award amounts are negotiable. The source reports an average prior-year grant award of $263,759.32, but this is historical information rather than a current award minimum or maximum. Cost sharing or matching is not required. Indirect costs may be applied but require approval through the Illinois Indirect Cost Rate Election System. Pre-award costs may be allowable at IDHS discretion and with prior approval, including completion of the required Pre-Award Cost Authorization Letter. Subrecipient agreements and budgets require Department pre-approval, while the successful applicant remains responsible for subcontractor performance and monitoring. Proposed costs must be necessary, reasonable, allocable, justified in the budget narrative, and allowable under applicable cost principles. Certain entertainment, capital, personal-use, deposit, and related expenditures require specific prior written approval. 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 stated review criteria. Applicants must be registered with the State of Illinois and prequalified before the application deadline. Requirements include applicable SAM.gov registration, a valid UEI, good standing with the Illinois Secretary of State where required, and absence from the Illinois Stop Payment List, SAM.gov Exclusion List, and Medicaid Sanctions List. Only one accepted application is permitted per agency. Applications must include a Program Narrative addressing the Executive Summary, Need, Capacity, and Quality sections; the Uniform Application for State Grant Assistance; the Grantee Conflict of Interest Disclosure; and a budget entered in the CSA system with a PDF copy. The fee-for-service budget is entered as a Fixed Rate Budget and must be electronically signed by the provider's CEO and/or CFO. The application packet is limited to 25 pages, excluding the Conflict of Interest Disclosure and budget, and must follow the specified formatting requirements. Complete applications must be submitted electronically by email to DHS.DDDGrantProg@illinois.gov with the subject line "27-444-24-0833-01, In-Home Respite, Name of Agency Submitting Application." Applications sent to another email address or delivered by fax, hard copy, disk, thumb drive, password-protected email or document, or specified encrypted email services will not be accepted. The application opened March 23, 2026 and closed April 23, 2026 at 5:00 p.m. CST. No letter of intent, pre-application, white paper, or other preliminary submission is required. A nonmandatory technical assistance session was offered April 1, 2026. Applicants that did not receive confirmation of receipt were required to notify IDHS within 48 hours of the deadline. Questions regarding the NOFO may be directed to Shannon Dyson at DHS.DDDGrantProg@illinois.gov. Applications are evaluated for eligibility before entering Merit Review. The 100-point review consists of Need for 25 points, Capacity for 25 points, Quality of Program or Services for 25 points, Executive Summary for 15 points, and Budget and Cost Justification for 10 points. Reviewers consider the proposed service area and target communities, evidence of need, outreach to new recipients and minority groups, organizational readiness and experience, staffing and operational capacity, quality assurance and satisfaction processes, alignment with program goals, projected participants, proposed services, and justification of fixed-rate expenditures. IDHS may also consider factors such as geographic distribution, demonstrated need, and past performance as a State grantee. Risk assessments are conducted before awards and can result in specific conditions or additional monitoring. Eligibility review was scheduled for April 24 through May 29, 2026, with an anticipated award date of June 12, 2026. Subject to appropriation, the grant period begins no sooner than July 1, 2026 and continues through June 30, 2029. Successful applicants may be eligible for two subsequent one-year renewals at IDHS discretion, subject to sufficient appropriations, satisfactory performance, timely reporting, continued prequalification, and resolution of outstanding issues. Selected applicants receive a Notice of State Award, followed by a Uniform Grant Agreement; the fully executed agreement is the authorization to begin performance. Payment is based on monthly service reporting through the Reporting of Community Services database. Programmatic reporting is required under the grant agreement, and additional annual performance data may also be collected. The source does not state that this competitive solicitation itself recurs annually or on another regular schedule, so no future application cycle is inferred.

Use data, facts, and evidence to demonstrate need in the proposed service area and target communities; explain outreach to new recipients and minority groups; demonstrate readiness to begin services by July 1, 2026; document prior I/DD and in-home respite experience and appropriate staffing; provide a detailed quality assurance and satisfaction measurement process; align the proposal directly with program goals; ensure the fixed-rate budget is complete, signed, justified, and matches the funding amount requested; follow the prescribed narrative structure because missing or misplaced content can reduce or eliminate scoring