Wisconsin Sound Beginnings Birth to 3 Mini-Grant Application Cover Sheet

County:



Contact Person Information
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Program:



Address:



E-mail:



FAX:



Total Budget Request:



Signature of County Birth to 3 Program Representative or their Designee:



Date:



Wisconsin Sound Beginnings Birth to 3 Mini-Grants

If you are serving children in your Birth to 3 Program who are deaf or hard of hearing or are interested in building your county's capacity to serve children who are deaf or hard of hearing, here's a new opportunity for you.

What are Wisconsin Sound Beginnings Birth to 3 Mini-Grants?

The Wisconsin Sound Beginnings Program (WSB) has been committed to partnering with Wisconsin's Birth to 3 Program and other state partners since its inception in 1999. The purpose of the partnership has been to increase the capacity of county Birth to 3 Programs and their community partners to serve infants and toddlers who are deaf and hard of hearing and their families.

WSB Birth to 3 activities have been funded largely by a grant from the federal Maternal and Child Health Bureau that was granted to the Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services as part of their nationwide commitment to early hearing detection and intervention (EHDI). With the remaining federal WSB Birth to 3 funds, we are offering mini-grants to County Birth to 3 Programs to assist them in meeting the current and future needs of infants and toddlers in their counties who are deaf and hard of hearing, and their families.

Furthermore to build our community's capacity and increase positive outcomes for young children who are deaf or hard of hearing and their families, we encourage collaboration across programs and systems statewide.

We believe you have the ideas and relationships, and may find these funds useful to seed actions or ideas you've already been thinking about or working on. For that purpose, we have established these mini-grants.

Who is eligible to apply for a WSB Birth to 3 Mini-Grant?

What can WSB Birth to 3 Mini Grants be used for?
We are inviting you to tell us how you would use the WSB mini-grant funds to enhance your capacity to either serve a child currently in your program or to engage in activities that will help your program be more prepared to serve a newly referred child who is deaf or hard of hearing.

Following are examples of types of activities you may propose.

Note: These are examples. In addition, we welcome your ideas for activities that address the situation in your county. The overall outcomes is that your project impact services for current and future children in your Birth to 3 Program.

How does this connect with other EHDI initiatives? Wisconsin Education Services Program for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing - DPI Outreach Program (WESP-DHH):
Sally-Ann Anderson, Birth to 6 Services Coordinator for WESP will have a prescribed role in your mini-grant program. If funded, Sally- Ann will be a consultant to your county's mini-grant project. You can call upon her to assist you in carrying out your project. She will also ask that you report your progress to her mid-way through the project (i.e., December or January) via a telephone conference call. (See participation requirements below.)
Additionally, Sally- Ann will be available for consultation, evaluations, and observation regarding individual children at no-cost to counties as part of her typical WESP role, following the typical referral process.

Guide-By-Your-Side Program:
You may choose to include the time of a Guide-By-Your-Side parent guide as part of your plan. If you plan to involve them in activities beyond the 3 visits covered by the Guide-By-Your-Side project covers, you would need to build payment for their time into your budget at: $13/hour per Guide, $15/hour for bi-lingual Guides, plus mileage reimbursement.

Wisconsin Sound Beginning Birth to 3 Consultants:
Many of the people who trained in 2001-2 to be Wisconsin Sound Beginnings Birth to 3 Consultants are still very interested in working with Birth to 3 Programs in serving young children who are deaf or hard of hearing and their families. One option in your proposal would be to include activities along with funds to support their involvement. We have learned that a number of the consultants may also be available for training, evaluations and direct service provision, expanding their previous roles that were more limited to consultations and planning. You will need to individually contact each consultant, negotiate their potential involvement, and include funds in the budget for their involvement,if necessary.
A list of the WSB Birth to 3 Consultants is attached to this proposal to assist you in planning for their involvement.

How much money is available?
We are inviting counties or their designee to submit a budget up to $1,500. (See attached budget sheets.)

How many WSB mini-grants will be funded?
6-12 depending on the number of submissions and requested budgets. The goal is to fund as many as possible.

What are the timelines for participation in the project?

What is required for participation?

Who's involved in this project at the state?
The WSB mini-grant program is being coordinated among a number of key partners:

How do I apply for a WSB mini-grant?
Complete the attached application form by: October 15, 2004, you must submit either an electronic copy by e-mail to: tuchman@waisman.wisc.edu or submit a hard copy to:
Linda Tuchman, WPDP/RESource Director
Waisman Center, S101D
1500 Highland Ave.
Madison, WI 53705

Wisconsin Sound Beginnings Birth to 3 Mini-Grant Application Project Proposal

Please answer the following questions. Use no more than two additional pages to thoroughly respond to each section of the application. Typed responses required.

What outcome(s) do you want to achieve? (15) Tell us what you hope to accomplish and changes you anticipate making.

Why? (20) Tell us how your proposed project will further your capacity to serve current and future children who are deaf or hard of hearing in your Birth to 3 Program.)

How will your mini-grant project promote language and social emotional development in young children who are deaf or hard of hearing? (15)
Research indicates that young children who are deaf or hard of hearing are often significantly delayed in their language and social emotional development. Tell us if your proposed project will address this area of need. If so, how?

Respond to the following points to describe how do you propose to meet your outcome. (45 total)

Budget (5)
Please complete the attached budget sheet. You can use either the EXCEL spread sheet or the attached Word document. Please include a brief justification for the budget you proposed. Include information about how you plan to supplement these funds with other sources of funding.

Wisconsin Sound Beginnings Birth to 3 Mini-Grant Budget Form


County:



Type of Expense Amount of Funds Requested Additional costs anticipated, but covered by other sources
Personnel Costs _ _
Speakers _ _
Food _ _
Publicity (e.g. postage, printing) - Specify _ _
Materials _ _
Other (specify): _ _
Other (specify): _ _
Totals _ _