Dear Workability I Region Managers, Program Coordinators, Mentors, and Grantees:

Workability I Grant Conditions Guidance

The purpose of this letter is to provide program guidance specific to the requirements of the Workability I (WAI) grant, the forthcoming grant conditions procedures, and the process to have conditions removed from the grant.

Per the 2021–22 form AO-400 Grant Award Notification (GAN) form, Conditions of the Grant Award located on page two, each grantee is responsible for complying with all grant terms, applications, requirements for the budget, and policies, including deadlines for fiscal documents as outlined in the GAN as a condition of funding. Failure to comply with fiscal and programmatic policies may result in conditional status placed on the grant award.

Conditional Status of Grant Awards

The WAI grantees that did not meet one or more of the following bulleted requirements below for the 2021–22 fiscal year will have conditions placed upon the 2022–23 WAI grant award:

• Timely Submission of Required Paperwork (Conditions of the Grant Award item numbers one, two, and four)
• Timely Submission of Required Reports (Conditions of the Grant Award numbers six, 13, and 14)
• Achievement of at least “Basic/Developing” on the Annual Program Requirements Report (Conditions of the Grant Award number nine)

The California Department of Education (CDE) will provide grantees a Conditions Letter with the issuance of their GAN for the 2022–23 fiscal year (FY), identifying the areas for which the grantee did not meet to the requirements of the grant award. The Conditions Letter will be signed by the Director of the Special Education Division (SED), and a copy of this notification will be provided to the WAI grantee’s Superintendent.

Action Plan for Removing Conditional Status

As a result of conditions placed on the WAI grant award, the grantee will be required to submit to the CDE a one-year action plan (WAI Action Plan), no later than 30 days from the date they received their GAN, detailing how they will address the area(s) for which they were placed on conditions. Once the WAI Action Plan is reviewed by the assigned CDE consultant, the grantee will be notified if the WAI Action Plan is accepted and initiate monitoring.

The assigned CDE consultant will monitor the grantee(s) progress on addressing the issue(s) by:

• Conducting, at a minimum, one technical assistance virtual meeting with the grantee to address the area(s) of noncompliance
• Requiring the grantee to attend the upcoming CDE Fiscal and Program WAI Handbook training
• Verifying that the grantee met with their assigned regional mentor quarterly for guidance on the implementation of the WAI Action Plan

Should the grantee fail to address all areas for which they were placed on conditional status within the one-year period designated in their Action Plan, the WAI grantee’s grant award may be reduced or revoked.

Detailed information about conditional grant status, the required WAI Action Plan submission, and ongoing grant monitoring will be provided in the Conditions Letters, which will be issued to select grantees along with the 2022–23 WAI GAN, as well as in the forthcoming CDE Fiscal and Program WAI Handbook.

If you have additional questions on the information in this letter, please contact Nick Wavrin, Education Programs Consultant by email at NWavrin@cde.ca.gov, or Wes Roberson, Education Programs Consultant by email at WRoberson@cde.ca.gov.

Sincerely,

Heather Calomese, Director
Special Education Division
HC: nh