Your kids don’t need to be NMF to get decent merit awards. They need excellent GPA and SAT or ACT scores for awards at some colleges.
Re: the CSS Profile….that is for institutional need based aid. You will need to check which of your two kids’ colleges require the non-custodial parent Profile, and then either you or your former spouse will need to complete it (depending on which kid it is).
Keep in mind that for the 2023-2024 academic year, the FAFSA will no longer use place of residence as the determining factor for custodial parents…it will be the parent who provides the most support (which usually is the parent with the higher income). Also, the FAFSA will no longer divide the EFC in half with multiple students in college at the same time.