Dovetail

APPLY FOR A MINI GRANT

The Dovetail Professional Development Grant Scheme is a small-grants program for individual workers in Queensland to access up to $1,000 to attend or access specific training and/or other professional development activities related to youth AOD practice.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:

• What sorts of activities can I apply for funds for?
• Can the funds be used to pay for in-house or group training at my organisation?
• What are the eligibility criteria?
• What is the difference between a PD Grant and a PD Training Event?
• How often are the Grant Rounds held?
• How much money is available at each round?
• How will my application be assessed?
• If my grant is unsuccessful, can it be considered for future rounds?
• Are there any other conditions?
• If I am successful, how do I organise payment?

 

WHAT SORTS OF ACTIVITIES CAN I APPLY FOR FUNDS FOR?

Typically the Grant Scheme is used for individual staff to attend specialist training, conferences, professional workshops, seminars or training events on topics relevant to working with young people and/or AOD practice, although other PD events or opportunities can be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Funds can be used to pay for the following items only:

• Training Costs
• Conference registration fees
• Travel Costs
• Accommodation Costs

Please note that meal allowances, catering costs and other incidentals are not covered under this grant scheme.

CAN THE FUNDS BE USED TO PAY FOR IN-HOUSE TRAINING AT MY ORGANISATION?

Yes, funds can be used to pay for a specialist trainer to come to your organisation to provide in-house or group training, although it may be more suitable to talk to Dovetail about organising a Professional Development Training Event for your area - see below for more details.

WHAT ARE THE ELGIBILITY CRITERIA?

To be eligible for a Dovetail Professional Development Grant you must:

• Be based in Queensland and provide services to young people living in Queensland.
• Work for a not-for-profit (or community based) organisation that is incorporated and able to accept legal and financial responsibility for you and your attendance at the training or PD activity / event.
• Not have already been funded for, directly paid for or attended the training or PD activity / event that you are applying for funds for.
• Have no other funds available to pay for the PD activity (ie Professional Development Allowance as part of your wage or an allocated training budget etc)
• \Not have received a PD Mini-Grant in the last 12 months.
• Not be applying for funds to enrol in an undergraduate or postgraduate course.
• The PD training or event will be completed by 30th June 2012.

Please note that Dovetail will only accept 1 individual or in-house grant applications from the same organisation within a particular locality or region at each round.  If more than one application is received from the same service provider in a particular region, all submissions will be returned and the service asked to nominate a single application that they would like to be considered for funding.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A PD GRANT AND A PD TRAINING EVENT?

Professional Development Grants are small, flexible grants designed to help an individual worker (or a group of workers) to up-skill in a particular area of practice.

If there are multiple workers, organisations or groups wanting more comprehensive training or skill-development across one or more topic areas, then it may be more appropriate to request a Professional Development Training, which is a training package tailored specifically for your region in consultation with the Dovetail Project Team.  Please contact the Dovetail office on 3837 5621 to enquire about Professional Development Training in your region.  (Please note that due to demand there may be limited availability of PD Training at certain times throughout the year).

HOW OFTEN ARE THE GRANTS ROUND HELD?

Each grants round is open for a period of 2 months.  The closing time / date for each round is 5pm on:

1)      Friday 12 August, 2011

2)      Friday 14 October 2011

3)      Friday 16 December 2011

4)      Friday 17 February 2012

5)      Friday 13 April 2012

Grants are assessed and applicants are notified of the outcome within 7 days of the closure of the round.  Please note these timeframes in relation to the PD training or conference for which you are applying for.  Dovetail does not offer retrospective payments for training that has already taken place.

HOW MUCH MONEY IS AVAILABLE AT EACH ROUND?

There is $5,000 available at each of the five rounds, totalling $25,000 across the year.  Any unspent amounts are held over to the subsequent grant round.

HOW WILL MY APPLICATION BE ASSESSED?

All eligible applications are assessed by the Dovetail Management Advisory Group according to the following criteria:

• Criteria 1 (30%): Relevance of the training or PD activity to Youth and/or AOD practice.
• Criteria 2 (30%): Relevance of the training or PD activity to the applicant's role within the organisation (or to an organisation as a whole if applying for in-house / group training).
• Criteria 3 (10%): How the learning from this training or PD activity will be shared with colleagues and peers?
• Criteria 4 (20%): Whether the training complies with generally accepted good practice standards for Youth and/or AOD work in Queensland?  (as identified in Dovetail's Vision Statement)
• Criteria 5 (10%): Whether the training or PD event offers good 'value for money' in terms of benefit to the applicant or organisation and its clients.

Please note that Dovetail also reserves the right to award grants on the primary basis of:

• Equal distribution across the state
• A spread between different types of PD activities (eg training / workshops /  conferences)

IF MY GRANT IS UNSUCCESSFUL, CAN IT BE CONSIDERED FOR FUTURE ROUNDS?

Yes, unsuccessful applications are automatically held over for consideration in the next grant round (for a maximum of 2 consecutive grant rounds) and all applicants are given feedback on why their grant was deemed successful or unsuccessful at the end of each round.

ARE THERE ANY OTHER CONDITIONS?

Yes, you may be asked to prepare a short report or article for the Dovetail Magazine and website to share with other workers across the state what you learnt or how your thinking and/or practice may have changed as a result of accessing the PD activity.  This would be done in negotiation with the Dovetail Project Team.

Also your line manager must be aware of and support your application and will be notified of the outcome of the assessment panel's decision.

IF I AM SUCCESSFUL, HOW DO I ORGANISE PAYMENT?

Successful applicants are requested to get their organisations to register and pay for the training course directly with the training provider, alongside any travel and accommodation costs.

Within one month after completion of the training or PD activity, successful applicants are requested to submit:

• A PD Grant Report Reimbursement Form (provided to successful applicants upon notification)
• Copies of Invoices, receipts or other proof of payments used to pay for the training or PD activity
• An itemised Tax Invoice (and relevant supporting information) from your organisation made out to "Dovetail - PD Grant Scheme" with preferred payment method options, a valid ABN and statement of GST.

Dovetail will then organise for reimbursement to be made directly to your organisation within 14 days.  Please note that the reimbursement will not exceed the approved amount in the grant application and payments cannot be made directly to individuals.

 

FORMS

PD Grant Application

PD Grant Agreement

PD Grant Acquittal

APPLY NOW > download application form