Instructions

Download these instructions as a PDF

Table of contents

• Overview
• Registration
• Nationwide Map
• Bidding Requirements of the FOA
• Bidding
  • Getting Started
  • State Bidding View
  • Entering Tentative Bids
  • Saving Bids
• Submitting Final Bids to DOL
• Deadline
• Help

Overview

The site was developed to support the bidding and allocation process for the 2024 national grant funding competition for the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) of the United States Department of Labor (DOL).  The main site feature is an online tool applicants will use to bid on available positions at the county level as part of their applications to become SCSEP national grantees. Rules established in the Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) regarding minimum bid size and contiguous counties have been programmed into this tool. The tool is designed to allow applicants to enter and save tentative bids until they are ready to submit their final bid. This will enable applicants to create and revise different scenarios within individual states and across multiple states to maximize efficiency and facilitate quality service delivery. When ready, applicants will use this site to submit their finalized bid to DOL for inclusion with their application in response to the FOA. Also available on the site is an interactive map that shows the available national grantee positions at the nationwide, state, or county level and a customized dashboard where applicants can access information and links specific to their application.

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Registration

Applicants are required to register before they may access the full site. The registration requirements are designed to ensure the security and integrity of each applicant's bid. Each applicant organization may register one, and only one, user account on SCSEPapply.org. Multiple user accounts for the same organization would create the possibility of multiple and conflicting bids. Each organization can have only one set of bids for each of the three types of national grant funding. It is possible to download the bidding tables to share with other members of the organization.

As part of registering, organizations must indicate the types (general, set-aside for Indian or Native American organizations, and/or set-aside for Asian and Pacific Islander organizations) of bids they plan to submit by selecting those types under Type of Applicant. (This is required of applicants who are new to the bidding process, as well as to current grantees that have general and/or set-aside grants in PY 2023.) Applicants must list in their registration form the individual who is authorized to make legally binding commitments for the applicant organization as the Authorized Organizational Representative (AOR). Someone other than the AOR may also be listed as the authorized user representing the AOR.

When you first register, you will see an acknowledgment on your screen and will then receive an e-mail confirmation with a link back to the site to activate your account. Once you click on that link, your registration is complete. Registered applicants will have immediate access to the tools they will use to enter their bids for the general and/or set-aside funds that they indicate in their registration form. Whenever registered applicants return to the site, they will be directed to their customized dashboard that provides access to the appropriate tools based on the information provided in the registration form. You may edit your profile to change your registration information at any time prior to final bid submission.

If you have questions or need assistance, please Contact Us.

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Nationwide Map

For general applicants, an interactive nationwide map shows the program year (PY) 2024 available positions for national grantees, PY 2024 authorized positions for state grantees, and PY 2023 enrollments as of January 2024 for state and national grantees. Counties in the map are shaded based on their number of PY 2024 available positions, where darker shades indicate more positions. A “Key” is displayed below the map indicating how the volume of positions aligns with the county shading gradient.

The map first opens to the nationwide view. If you select a state from the list to the right of the map and click “Apply,” you will zoom in to a view of that state with all its counties. Hovering your cursor over a county, or clicking on the county, will display all the information the map provides for that county. You can select a different state in the list on the right to zoom in on that state or click Reset to deselect all states and return to the nationwide view.

The map includes zoom controls, represented as + (plus) and – (minus) buttons in the top-left corner. These can be used to zoom in and out as needed for viewing specific states and counties. The map also includes a full screen option, allowing the map to fill the entire web browser screen. This mode can be engaged by clicking on the dashed-box icon below the zoom controls in the top-left corner. Once in that mode, press the escape key (“Esc”) to return to normal viewing mode.

If preferred, users can switch to a table view of the county level information using the link found below the map screen's title.

From the navigation menu at the top of any screen, you can control (“CTRL”) click on “Nationwide Map” to open the map in a new browser tab, which you can also then move to a new browser window if desired.

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Bidding Requirements of the FOA

Pursuant to the FOA, bids for general grant funds will be tested against the following rules prior to being accepted by SCSEPapply.org:

• Bids must be for an entire state or for one or more clusters of contiguous counties within a state. The minimum bid size is 165 positions, or 10% of the available slots in the state, whichever is greater. If the state has fewer than 165 positions, the applicant must apply for the entire state. Five states—Idaho, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, and Wyoming—have fewer than 165 positions, so applicants must bid for the entire state. Each cluster of counties in the remaining states must total at least 165 slots except in the five states where 10% of the total available positions is greater than 165 slots.

  Large states with minimum bid sizes greater than 165

  • California, minimum bid: 244
  • Florida, minimum bid: 189
  • New York, minimum bid: 206
  • Pennsylvania, minimum bid: 168
  • Texas, minimum bid: 172

• Bids for all but the 18 largest counties must be for the entire number of positions available in a county. In these large counties, you may bid for any number of available positions as part of a cluster bid that meets the minimum size requirements for the state in which the county is located. Note that most but not all of these counties are in states where the minimum bid is greater than 165 positions.

  Large counties for which applicants may bid less than the entire county

  • Maricopa County, Arizona
  • Los Angeles County, California
  • San Diego County, California
  • District of Columbia, D.C.
  • Broward County, Florida
  • Miami-Dade County, Florida
  • Cook County, Illinois
  • Wayne County, Michigan
  • Hennepin County, Minnesota
  • Bronx County, New York
  • Kings County, New York
  • New York County, New York
  • Queens County, New York
  • Cuyahoga County, Ohio
  • Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
  • Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania
  • Dallas County, Texas
  • Harris County, Texas
     
• Counties with no available national grantee positions are considered part of any cluster to which they are contiguous.
• Applicants must submit bids in at least two states.
• No final bid may exceed 5155 positions nationwide.

An applicant will not be able to save a tentative bid or submit a final bid that violates the first five of these rules. An applicant may save an otherwise acceptable tentative bid that exceeds the maximum bid size (the last rule) to preserve as many scenarios as the applicant desires. However, SCSEPapply.org will prevent the applicant from submitting their final bid until all bid data provided meet the requirements described in the FOA. You may save an acceptable tentative bid for any county or state at any time and modify it until you submit your final bid. At that time, you will not be able to make any further changes.

Set-aside grant funds will be tested against the following rules prior to being accepted by SCSEPapply.org:

• Set-aside applicants may apply for up to 709 authorized positions for each category of set-aside grant funding.
• There is no minimum funding request by state or county, and set-aside applicants may indicate the number of positions they propose to serve in each county, without regard to contiguity.

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Bidding

Getting Started

Depending on the applicant types selected in your profile, you can bid on general or set-aside positions. To begin bidding, go to your Dashboard and click the “Browse states and submit…” link associated with the type of bids you would like to enter. This will open a pop-up window where all states are listed along with information on your current enrollments (if any) and saved bids (if any). Click a state name to open that state’s bidding view and begin submitting bids for that state.

The rules and bidding process differ depending on applicant type (general as opposed to set-aside). Some instructions—for example, all instructions related to clusters—only apply for one type of applicant. These instructions will be prefaced with General only or Set-aside only as appropriate.

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State Bidding View

The state bidding view has 4 main sections:

1. At the top of the bidding view you will find:
   • the “Save Tentative Bids for This State” button
   • General only. a link to “Select all available national grantee positions in state”
   • a link to “Clear all tentative bids”, and
   • a link to “Bid in another state”
2. On the left-hand side is the bidding table with a row for each county in the state. The columns in this table will vary depending on whether you are registered as a new or current grantee, and if you are bidding on general or set-aside positions.

3. On the top right side of the state bidding view is a state bidding map with the state's counties outlined. If a bid has been entered for a county, that county will be shaded a dark blue. Otherwise, it will be shaded light blue.
4. In the lower right side of the state bidding view, you will see:
   • a button to “Save Tentative Bids for This State”.
   • General only. Summary information including:
     • National Grantee Positions Available in State (total PY 2024 authorized positions for the state)
     • National Grantee Positions Remaining (A dynamic counter of your remaining bids for the state)
     • Minimum Bid (per PY 2024 bidding rules for the state )
     • Your Tentative Bid Total (A dynamic counter of your entered bids for the state)
     • Active Cluster Bid Total (A dynamic counter of the bid count for the cluster currently being edited)
   • Set-aside only. Summary information including:
     • Nationwide Set-aside Positions Available (The PY 2024 nationwide maximum set-aside bid amount)
     • Set-aside Positions Remaining (A dynamic counter of your total remaining bids nationwide, not only for the selected state)
     • Your Tentative Bid Total  (A dynamic counter of your entered bids for all states in this category of set-aside funding)
5. The link to “View summary of all your tentative bids by state”, which can be used to switch to a different state’s bidding view

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Entering Tentative Bids

The bidding process enables applicants to enter tentative bids in a way that conforms to the FOA bidding rules. Note that it may help to have a copy of these instructions at hand while you are entering your tentative bids.

General only. There is a maximum bid limit for each state and a maximum limit of 5155 nationwide.  The system will prevent you from saving a state bid that exceeds the state's maximum limit. 

Set-aside only. The maximum number of set-aside positions you can bid for nationwide is 709.  

The system will let you save bids across states that exceed the nationwide maximum. This is to enable applicants to freely develop their bids and try out different scenarios. The system will not let you submit a final bid to DOL that exceeds the nationwide maximum. 

General only. You can satisfy the bidding rules if you select all the available national grantee positions in a state. To do so, click the link at the top of the bidding view called “Select all available national grantee positions in state.” When you use this feature, you can still update, add or delete bids by county if/as needed.

Click the link “Clear all tentative bids” to reset all county bids to 0. Previously saved bids will not be affected until you save your updated county bids. Clearing all tentative bids for a state and saving effectively removes that state from your total SCSEP bid. 

Enter Bids by County

• Scroll to the county in the bidding table and enter your bid in the bid box associated with that county and located in the table's last column. Alternatively, you can:
  • Select a county from the state bidding map on the right side of the screen (selectable state counties are shaded blue). Clicking on a county in the map will auto-scroll the bidding table to that county’s row and insert the cursor into that county’s bid box.
  • Use the "Jump to County" select list located below the bidding table. Selecting a county (use the up and down arrow keys or start typing the name of the county to move through list options) from this list and pressing the "enter" key will auto-scroll the bidding table to that county’s row and insert the cursor into that county’s bid box. You can return to the "Jump to County" select list at any time, from anywhere on the page, by pressing the alt+j (or option+j on a Mac) key combination.
• General only. Pressing the "enter" key when your cursor is in a county's bid box, or clicking on the county in the map, will set your bid for that county to the entire number of positions available in that county.
• Set-aside only. The amount you bid for any county must be greater than or equal to 0 and less than or equal to 709.
• General only. Although you can enter a county bid for less than its available positions, with the exception of the 18 largest counties, you will only be able to save your state bid if individual county bids are equal to the number of available positions in that county or 0. For the 18 largest counties, you can enter a bid that is less than the number of the county's available positions, and still save your state bid, as long as the state’s minimum bid rules are satisfied.
• When a bid value is entered for a county, the table cell for that county’s name in the left-hand column of the bidding table will turn blue and the county in the state map will be shaded a similar blue color.
• Set-aside only. If a bid has been entered for a county, then its bid box will be highlighted with a blue border.
• General only. If a bid has been entered for a county, then a red, blue, or green highlight will be added to its bid box depending on conditions described under Creating a cluster, Starting an additional cluster, and Switching between clusters below.
• To remove a bid value for a county (reset to 0), you can delete it while the cursor is inside the bid box or click on the “X” icon to the right of the county’s bid box.

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General only. As noted above, you can satisfy state bidding rules by entering bids for all counties. You can also meet requirements by entering bids for one or more clusters of contiguous counties within the state where the sum of the bids in the cluster meet the minimum bid requirement of 165 positions or 10% of the state’s total bid amount, whichever is greater. (See Bidding Requirements of the FOA for more information.)

General only. Creating a Cluster

• Enter a bid for a county (see Enter bids by county).
• Once a bid is entered for a county, its bid entry box in the bidding table and all the bid entry boxes for counties contiguous with the selected county, will be highlighted with a red border.
• You may need to scroll up or down in the screen to see all the contiguous (red) counties. When your cursor is inside a highlighted bid box, pressing the Tab key will move the cursor to the next contiguous county.
• Continue to build your cluster by entering bids for contiguous counties. Note that your contiguous county options will expand to include counties contiguous with all counties with bids (and highlighting will be added to the newly contiguous counties’ bid boxes).
• Continue to enter your bids in any of the red highlighted bid boxes until you reach the minimum cluster bid. The minimum cluster bid is equal to the minimum state bid. For most states, the minimum state bid is 165 or 10% of the state’s total bid amount, whichever is greater. (See the Bidding Requirements of the FOA for more information.) When your cluster satisfies the minimum, all red county bid box highlighting will turn to green.
• At this point you can continue to add to your cluster by bidding on additional contiguous counties (now highlighted in green) as well as delete or adjust existing county bids.
• If by deleting or adjusting bids, your cluster no longer meets the minimum cluster bid requirement, county highlighting will turn back to red.
• NOTE: While building a cluster, counties may be included in the same cluster that are not directly contiguous with one another, but there are one or more counties with 0 national grantee authorized positions that geographically connect them.

General only. Starting an Additional Cluster

• You can start a second cluster of contiguous counties by entering a bid for a county that is not contiguous with any counties in the first cluster (enter a bid in any nonhighlighted county bid box or use the map to select a county not connected to any counties in your first cluster).
• When you enter a bid for this new county, you will see a new set of county bid boxes highlighted in red associated with counties contiguous to the new county. Highlighting of county bid boxes in the first cluster (non-active cluster) will turn to blue.
• Continue building your second cluster as you did your first cluster.
• You can start a new cluster before you’ve finished building existing clusters (before minimum cluster bid amounts are reached). However, if at least one of the clusters you have begun building does not meet the cluster minimum requirement, the system will prevent you from saving your bid data, and display a message indicating which cluster is incomplete.
• You can start a third cluster (and as many other clusters as you wish) the same way you started your second cluster.

General only. Combining Clusters

• You can join clusters by entering a bid for a county contiguous with both clusters.

General only. Switching Between Clusters

• If you have built two or more clusters, the he easiest way to switch between them is to use the state bidding map and click on any county in the cluster you wish to make the active cluster. You can also use the Tab key or your mouse to select any county in the cluster’s bid box.
• The newly activated cluster’s county bid boxes with be highlighted in green (minimum bid amount is met) or red (minimum bid amount is not met).
• County bid boxes for counties not in the active cluster will be highlighted in blue (bid entered, part of another cluster) or have no highlight (no bid entered, not part of any cluster).

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Saving Bids

You can save your county bids at any time by clicking the “Save Tentative Bids for This State” button found at the top left and bottom right of the state bidding view. Your bids will not successfully save if bidding requirements are not met. (See Bidding Requirements of the FOA for more information.) If you leave the state bidding view without saving, your updates will be lost.

General only. Prior to saving a state bid, you may want to use the state bidding map to switch between clusters and make sure they all meet the minimum bid requirements (all clusters' county bid boxes would have green highlighting).

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Submitting Final Bids to DOL

Applicants may log on to the site as often as they wish prior to the close of the competition at 11:59 PM Eastern Time on May 6, 2024. Applicants may save and modify tentative bids in any county or state at any time during the competition until they submit their final bids. From the Dashboard, applicants can download an Excel or PDF file of their tentative bids at any point while they are in the process of bidding. When you are sure of all of your final bids, you must click on the button labeled “Begin Final Bid Submission” found on your Dashboard, then click on the “Submit Final Bids to DOL” button on the following screen. This officially transmits to DOL your final bids for all of the categories of grants for which you are applying. After you have submitted your final bid, you will receive a confirmation e-mail. You will still be able to access your account in SCSEPapply.org to download a copy of your bids in Excel or PDF format, if you had not already done so. You will not be able to save or submit another bid after you have submitted your final bids.

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Deadline

Applicants must be fully aware of the proposal submission requirements in the FOA and adhere to all requirements. Applications received after the deadline or incomplete applications will NOT be considered. The closing date for the FOA is 11:59 PM Eastern Time on May 6, 2024, and bids will be accepted in SCSEPapply.org up until that time. However, the instructions in the FOA strongly advise applicants to submit their applications as soon as they can before the deadline (at least three business days prior if possible), with enough advance time to mitigate any technical problems that may arise. Your application will not be considered complete if your official final bid is not submitted through this site by the deadline.

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Help

Please Contact Us with any questions regarding the FOA and for technical questions or requests for assistance with SCSEPapply.org.

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