Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund will pause its acceptance of new CDFI certification applications from Aug. 1 through Oct. 31 so it can switch to a new platform. Acceptance of new applications will resume Nov. 1, the fund said Friday.
Organizations that are in the process of applying for CDFI certification or that intend to do so in the near future have until July 31 to submit their applications using an interim submission process (more below). The fund will review all certification applications submitted by the July 31 deadline. Any applications received on or after Aug. 1 will not be considered and must be resubmitted once the blackout period ends Nov. 1, it said.
This 90-day “blackout” period will allow the CDFI Fund to transition its CDFI certification application to a new Awards Management Information System (AMIS). This is a unified technology platform that will support all CDFI Fund programs through each phase of the program life cycle, including CDFI certification and compliance monitoring. The blackout period will allow the fund to convert to the updated system for processing CDFI certification applications.
Under the interim CDFI certification application process in effect now, begin by submitting a CDFI Certification Signature Page through the myCDFIFund portal, then separately submit all required application documents and attachments to the “Org Related Attachments” section in AMIS. Get information and guidance on how to submit the certification application and attachments at www.cdfifund.gov/cdficert (go to “How to Apply Step 1: Apply”).
Currently certified CDFIs are not affected by this change, the funds notes, and they are still required to meet any reporting requirements previously communicated to them, including the Annual Certification Report requirement for 2018. Questions can be directed to the Certification, Compliance Monitoring and Evaluation Help Desk via an AMIS Service Request, via e-mail at ccme@cdfi.treas.gov, or phone at (202) 653-0421.
CDFI Fund to Pause Acceptance of New CDFI Certification Applications for 90 Days