Clean Corps: Frequently Asked Questions

Eligibility Questions

As stated when the grant opened on August 15, the Clean Corps grant deadline will continue to be Monday, Sept. 19 at 5 p.m.
Any organization that meets the organizational criteria outlined in the eligibility section of the RFA (page 3) is welcome to apply.
Unfortunately, no. To be eligible for this grant program your organization must be located in or partnering with one of the 33 targeted neighborhoods. See Appendix A (page 10) of the RFA for a full list of neighborhoods.
No. Noting that the applicant will be paying their employees on a bi-weekly schedule will not make the application ineligible or reduce its score.
Please reach out to BMORE Beautiful for eligibility about their program. Email: Brandi.Welsh@baltimorecity.gov

Appendix A of the RFA (beginning on page 10) explains how the neighborhoods were selected for this program. If you have additional questions about neighborhood selection, contact the Department of Planning’s Baltimore Green Network.
Yes, all applicants must be a nonprofit with 501(c)(3) status and be based in Baltimore City, or be fiscally sponsored by such an organization. The Neighborhood Model requires the applicant be a Baltimore community-based organization that has a relationship with the neighborhood. The Partnership Model requires the applicant be a Baltimore-based nonprofit organization that provides workforce training.
Subcontractors can be from outside of Baltimore. The applicant organization, crew supervisor and crew members must all be from Baltimore City.
Applicants are required for to provide financial information based on their grant request amount. For requests under $100,000, the applicants are to provide their most recent 990. For grant requests equal to or over $100,000, the applicants are asked to provide audited financials.

Programmatic Questions

Clean Corps is the name of this Baltimore City demonstration project that is a multi-agency effort to increase workforce opportunities and development while addressing gaps of service in cleaning and mowing vacant lots, cleaning dirty alleys, and cleaning public trash cans in up to 15 high-need neighborhoods.
One, the other, or both would be acceptable.
Organizations are not required to service entire neighborhoods. However, applicants are required to provide a list of project sites with addresses. A template for this list is provided in the application.
Yes, this is the intensity and presence expected in each neighborhood.
No, applicants are not required to provide all the support services listed in the appendix. Applicants should note which of the services in Appendix B that they are offering as well as any additional support services not listed in Appendix B that they are offering to their employees.
No, but the total expenditures cannot go beyond the annual totals for each model: $339,570 total per year for those applying under the Neighborhood Model and $337,470 per year for those applying under the Partnership Model.
No, crew members are not restricted to part-time hours.
Yes. Successful grant applicants will work with DPW and the neighborhoods on choosing a holding site in the neighborhood. This will be done in the first meeting in the neighborhood after the grant has been awarded. DPW will also provide locations where the applicant's Baltimore-certified trash hauler can dispose of the neighborhood’s trash. DPW will not provide a roll-off.
Yes, under the Partnership Model, the worker can live anywhere in the city. They do not have to reside in the specific neighborhoods that they will be working in daily nor any of the 33 target neighborhoods.
Using your organization’s existing model is acceptable as long as services and staffing do not fall below the standards outlined in the RFA of 4 days per week and 50 weeks per year.

The Neighborhood Model is for a Baltimore community-based organization that is currently working with one neighborhood. Under the neighborhood model, the community-based organization will work with the targeted neighborhood and hire residents from the targeted neighborhood as their Clean Corps workers and crew supervisor.
The Partnership Model is for Baltimore-based nonprofit organizations that provide workforce training to Baltimore City residents to do alley cleaning, maintenance of public street trash cans, and cleaning and mowing vacant lots. Under the partnership model, the workers and crew supervisor must be from Baltimore City but can live anywhere within the city.
No, there isn't any ranking among the 33 neighborhoods.
No. This grant is focusing only on the 33 neighborhoods listed in Appendix A of the RFA.
Adherence to local hiring laws and regulations is required under American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding guidance. Grant recipients are also required to comply with other federal, state, and local background laws, including environmental laws and federal civil rights and nondiscrimination requirements. All workers will need to be insured by the organization under the grant's required insurance standards.
If the applicable labor laws are being followed, particularly the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the youth workers are insured under the grantee's required insurance, and the applying organization will be meeting the requirement of performing the level of work outlined on page 4 of the RFA, an applicant can submit a grant request using youth workers.
You can search recent 311 service requests by type at: data.baltimorecity.gov.
A subcontractor can be any for- or not-for-profit business that is registered to do work in Maryland and providing a service to your organization for this program.
Yes. The factoring company would need to be listed as a subcontractor in the application.
Yes. The cost must be directly tied to the Clean Corps program.
The applicant is required to provide location of services (i.e., where the lots, alleys, and trash cans will be cleaned) in the application. Prior to beginning the work, the grantee must finalize the service sites with the neighborhood association's leader and the Department of Public Works (DPW) as to not provide the same service on the selected lots, alleys, and trash cans.
The Mayor’s Office of Employment Development (MOED) is available to provide support services to grantees working under the Neighborhood Model. Appendix B of the Request for Applications (RFA) has this list.
There is not a particular document or listing. However, you can search recent 311 service requests by type at: data.baltimorecity.gov.
Applicants are required to provide a list of sites with addresses and level of service. Prior to beginning the work, the grantee must finalize the service sites with the neighborhood association's leader and the Department of Public Works (DPW).
The details of how and when employees are paid is completely up to the applicant and should be shared under the Management Plan section of the application. Use of a payroll firm or software is required to ensure on-time payments to workers and supervisors. Weekly payments and debit cards as payment method are highly recommended.
The requirement is that the grantee must pay the workers at least $15 per hour and they must use a payroll firm or software to ensure on-time payments. Debit cards as a payment method are highly recommended.
The tax structure for employees can be decided by the applicant organization or the subcontractor that the organization may be partnering with to hire. The structure must comply with federal, state, and local background laws, including environmental laws and federal civil rights and nondiscrimination requirements. All applicable labor laws, including the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) must be followed.
All grantees are required to comply with federal, state, and local background laws, including environmental laws and federal civil rights and nondiscrimination requirements. All applicable labor laws, including the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), must be followed.
The Baltimore Health Code requires that all who are paid to collect, transport, and dispose of waste in Baltimore City must get a Baltimore City trash hauler license from the Baltimore City Health Department. It requires that the hauler complete a one-page application, pay a yearly fee, and submit the application and fee to the Department of Health. Read more information on the Health Department website.
The Baltimore Health Code requires that all trash haulers who are paid to collect, transport, and dispose of waste in Baltimore City must have a Baltimore City trash hauler license from the Baltimore City Health Department. Applicants can get a list of Baltimore licensed trash haulers/Baltimore certified trash haulers by emailing jessica.speaker@baltimorecity.gov.
Yes. Insurance requirements, including liability, are linked on page 5 of the RFA.
The applicant must get a letter of support from at least one of the neighborhood associations' presidents/chairs/executive directors within that neighborhood. The Baltimore Department of Planning (DOP) has created a Community Association Directory of the neighborhood associations in Baltimore.
No. The City of Baltimore will not be providing any work, storage, or base space.
Multiple organizations applying for either or both models can submit applications for funding for the same neighborhood. We will only select one grantee per neighborhood.
There is only one source of funding for all the applications.
Yes, the funding is on hand.
The successful applicants will receive funding for 90 days upfront once their agreement has been signed and finalized.
Yes, your grant budget can include all costs associated with hauling.

The level of service provided in the applicant's grant application is for the first 12-month period. It is anticipated that the number of lots, alleys and public trash cans may change during the 28-month period of the grant, depending on conditions in the field and efficiencies that the workforce will gain over the period.
No. The Clean Corps grant is a separate project from Care-a-Lot. We have been working closely with the Care-a-Lot staff to ensure we avoid duplications.
As noted on page 5 of the RFA, all vacant lots that are cleaned and mowed under the Baltimore City Environmental Control Board’s Care-a-Lot program between March 1, 2022 and June 1, 2022, will not be eligible for this grant.
No, the Clean Corps funds cannot be used for capital improvements.
No. An organization can be either a fiscal sponsor OR a subcontractor for community groups, not both. Both would be considered a conflict of interest and a violation of the rules governing American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding.
No, the applicant needs to do a site visit of the neighborhood(s) to determine the public trash cans, vacant lots, and alleys that will be included in the location of services template of the application. There is a map of recent 311 calls for Baltimore that the applicant may wish to consider in selecting their sites: https://maps.baltimorecity.gov/leaf/
The applicant needs to provide a separate letter of support from each individual association. Because we are anticipating that there may be several applications for the same neighborhood, we will be reviewing each application for each neighborhood from both the neighborhood and partnership model applications.
You will need to work with your organization's workmen's compensation carrier on their requirements for the location of where your workers will need to go for medical help in the event of injury.
Yes. The Baltimore City Department of Planning is working to ensure that this will be part of the required training.
If the applicant can meet the schedule for the cleaning of public trash cans, alleys, and vacant lots outlined in the RFA, and still is able to do additional cleaning in coordination with DPW to avoid any duplication of work, the applicant is free to do so.
The schedule is based on the availability of the trainers from the city agencies. All mandatory meetings and training will be during the workday to accommodate the trainers.
No. Vacant houses may have structural damage and put the workers at risk.
No. However, grantees can rent equipment from equipment rental companies. Applicants may also consider the nonprofit organization Baltimore Community Tool Bank.

Technical (Grant Portal or Template) Questions

Follow the link provided in the application. Once the document opens, you will see it is in a Read-Only format which means you will not be able to edit the document directly. In the top left corner choose File> click the 3 dots> click Save As> click Download a Copy.