Project Safe Neighborhoods FY23 Grantee Orientation

Transcript also available as a PDF.

DARYL FOX: Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to today's webinar, “Project Safe Neighborhoods FY 2023 Grantee Orientation,” hosted by the Bureau of Justice Assistance. So, today, there are a variety of presenters from BJA and CNA Corporation. They're going to provide information on today's program. Kate McNamee, Senior Policy Advisor, and then Grants Management Specialists Lauren Troy, Tiffany Johnston, Danielle Shapiro. From the Planning Performance and Impact Team, Jeannine Bulbulia. And then as mentioned, Dr. Ken Novak, Assistant Director for the Center for Justice Research and Innovation with CNA Corporation. So a lot to get to today.

In this slide, what you'll be seeing is the agenda and flow for today's webinar. We're going to start off with some introductions to OJP and BJA to kind of give you some perspective on things in the organization and where BJA is within OJP; talk about PSN, the program overview; some reporting requirements which will be of importance; and then, PSN award conditions and the program requirements of those. And then we'll round things out with support and resources for you to access once we conclude today's webinar. And then we're going to end with a Q&A. So if you do have questions, once again, enter those in the question box at the far right of your screen. Those will get in queue and then the panelists will address those once we get to that portion. So without further ado, it's my pleasure to first introduce Kate McNamee, Senior Policy Advisor with BJA, to begin the presentation part. Kate.

CATHERINE MCNAMEE: Thank you, Daryl. And good afternoon, everybody. It's a pleasure to be with you today and to share important information relating to the management of your PSN award, along with some additional resources available to assist you and your district in having your successful PSN program. As Daryl mentioned, I'm Senior Policy Advisor within BJA, which is a bureau within DOJ's Office of Justice Programs, and I oversee the development of the PSN Formula Grant Program, as well as its training and technical assistance program, which you will hear about a little later from Dr. Ken Novak.

Before diving in, I'd like to, first, provide a quick overview of the agency, as Daryl mentioned, and the team who supports your work under this program. So, what is OJP or the Office of Justice Programs? Well, we are the largest grant-making component of DOJ, along with the Office on Violence Against Women, as well as the COPS Office, the Community Oriented Policing Services Office. OJP houses the department's criminal and juvenile justice-related science, statistics, and programmatic agencies. Its mission is to provide federal leadership, funding, training and TA, technical assistance, research and statistics, and other critical resources around criminal justice system issues. Our goal is to advance work that strengthens community safety, promotes civil rights and racial equity, increases access to justice, supports crime victims and individuals impacted by the justice system, and builds trust between law enforcement and communities.

BJA is one of the offices within OJP and was created in 1984 to reduce violent crime, create safer communities, and reform our nation's criminal justice system. We strengthen the nation's criminal justice system and we help America's state, local, and tribal jurisdictions reduce and prevent crime, reduce recidivism, and promote a fair and safe criminal justice system. We have a broad mandate as you can see in here. BJA focuses its efforts on providing a wide range of resources, including training and technical assistance to law enforcement, courts, corrections, treatments, providers, reentry initiatives, justice information sharing, and community-based partners to address chronic and emerging criminal justice challenges nationwide.

So, in our stool at BJA, in terms of how we support the field, we have three legs. First, we provide great resources to jurisdictions and organizations to support programming, technologies, and personnel resources that support a fair and effective administration of justice. Second, we are actively engaged in developing resources related to promising practices so that the field can build capacity to provide evidence and forums and effective services to the public and improve criminal justice outcomes for all. And we also engage with experts across the country, and sometimes the world, depending on the topic, to support information exchange, engagements, create learning opportunities, and convening criminal justice actors, all with the goal of showcasing and spreading state-of-the-art criminal justice practices across our nation.

I am joined today by my colleagues from the BJA Programs Office as well as our Performance Team. You will be working directly with our Programs Team to administer your PSN awards. PSN districts are assigned across the Programs Office Team according to states, and they're listed here. Each state policy advisor's contact information is included on this slide as well, and they welcome your questions and inquiries, of course. They are amazing and I'm very fortunate to work with each of them. Steve Fender, with whom many of you are familiar, oversees this team. And I will now turn things over to Lauren Troy who will introduce everyone. Lauren.

LAUREN TROY: Thanks, Kate. My name is Lauren Troy, and I'm a Grants Management Specialist in the Bureau of Justice Assistance Programs Office. In this next section, myself and my fellow PSN Grants Management Specialists, Tiffany Johnston and Danielle Shapiro, will walk you through the grants management requirements of the Project Safe Neighborhoods Program. Next slide please.

So, we wanted to walk you through the funding selection process and how those funding decisions are reviewed and approved by BJA. We understand this is a complex part of the program. However, we wanted to ensure these requirements and steps are clear to you as you move forward. When selecting subaward recipients that best supports your district's PSN strategy, your first bet is to form a selection committee. The selection committee should review subaward applications with guidance from the fiscal agent in collaboration with the PSN team and collaboration from the United States district attorney's office. As far as who should be a part of this selection committee, there are established guidelines that requires members to be without conflicts of interest, which means that members cannot play a role in the production of any part of the subaward application. They cannot be currently employed by the federal government. They're also not employed by a subaward applicant.

So, in summary, these individuals should have no other conflicts of interest with the selection process. And should you have any questions on what constitutes as a conflict of interest, please do not hesitate to reach out to the BJA team with questions.

Next slide please. So, this is a high-level overview of the subaward funding decision process. Once the PSN selection committee makes their selection, and keeping in mind that clear documentation is maintained of the selection process, these selections require prior BJA review and approval before any subawards can be made or subaward agreements can be issued. Once the fiscal agent receives approval from BJA for each of their selected entities, the fiscal agent can issue subaward agreements, which should be up to three years. And please keep in mind that all applicable award special conditions should be passed through to the funded subawards as part of their subaward agreement. Next slide please.

So, this is our first poll that we wanted to take. We want to pause here to see if there are any FY23 subrecipients who have already been selected by the selection committee. We'll give you a quick moment to enter your response, just to get a good pulse on your progress. So please be sure to enter your response. Okay. And we wanted to close that poll and see the results. Okay. It looks like very few of you, about 13 out of 66 participants on this call, do have subrecipients, and there's quite a few unanswered that have not been submitted. So why don't we take this moment to discuss your next steps for those who have not selected any subrecipients at this time.

So, this is a high-level overview. In this slide, we wanted to review the BJA Subaward Approval Process. So after the selection committee has made their funding decisions, the fiscal agent is required to initiate a Programmatic Scope GAM award modification or GAM in the JustGrants system. And I will go over this type of GAM in the next slide. So in the Programmatic Scope GAM, the fiscal agent must submit all required documentation for BJA review and approval of each selected subrecipient. Once they submit the required documentation via this GAM submission, BJA conducts the review. Please keep in mind that there are several people involved in the review process and that at any time, BJA may request follow-up questions or request revisions to the documentation that has been submitted. This is done via a change request, whereby the BJA grant manager will send back the Programmatic Scope GAM to the fiscal agent to resolve any questions or revisions. The fiscal agent will then need to work to resolve any questions or revisions to the documentation and resubmit the GAM for final BJA review and approval. Once BJA approves the GAM, the fiscal agent will receive an automated notification from the JustGrants system notifying them that the GAM has been approved and therefore any subrecipient documentation that was submitted in that GAM is considered approved. Next slide please.

So, this slide shows the technical steps for the fiscal agent's submission into JustGrants. And the fiscal agent will need to submit a Programmatic Scope GAM type in JustGrants. They will need to select or check the appropriate boxes as shown in this slide. We also include a step-by-step guide on how to complete this action, as well as a contact information to the JustGrants helpdesk should you have any questions or encounter any technical difficulties with your GAM submission. Next slide.

So, I wanted to review the documentation required for submission into JustGrants. In the Programmatic Scope GAM submission, fiscal agents are required to submit or attach the following documentation for each proposed subrecipient. The first document should be a Letter of Request which outlines the subrecipient's legal name and award amount and confirmation that the decision was made by the selection committee. It should also include the Project Summary, which in a short paragraph should present a clear connection on how the project addresses violent crime reduction and how the subrecipient is meeting the Gang set-aside requirement if applicable. Fiscal agents should also attach each proposed subrecipient budget and ensure the following is confirmed before submission. All line items are entered in the appropriate cost category. There is an associated detailed budget narrative outlining the line item and the cost calculation. The Total Project Costs of the subrecipient's budget matches the amount referenced in the summary award amount, and ensure that all costs are reasonable, allocable, and allowable under the PSN program. And now I'm going to turn it over to Tiffany to discuss some of the budget considerations and requirements of the PSN program.

TIFFANY JOHNSTON: Thanks, Lauren. There are three main things to consider when developing your budget: programmatic costs; the administrative cost, threshold of 10% in which the fiscal agent can allocate up to; and the required 30% Gang Task Force Set-aside requirement that needs to be met. As a reminder, all programmatic costs for subrecipients and/or fiscal agents must be approved by your selection committee. Fiscal agents are allowed to allocate up to 10% of the award amount for administrative costs to administer the PSN award. Remember, if you want to allocate indirect costs, please ensure that you have an up-to-date agreement on file or state that you are using the 10% de minimis rate in your budget narrative, if applicable. Just a reminder that indirect costs are not included in the 10% administrative threshold cap.

If you are wondering how to calculate your budget, let me provide you an example. If you are awarded $100,000, you would subtract your administrative cost of 10%, which is $10,000, which leaves you $90,000 to allocate for programmatic activity. You would calculate the 30% Gang set-aside off of the $90,000, which is about $27,000. That means that the $27,000 of your $90,000 programmatic activity needs to be dedicated specifically to the Gang Task Force Set-aside. Your remaining amount can be allocated to any other activity approved by your selection committee. Next slide please.

Here are some examples of allowable uses of PSN funding: personnel costs, including salary, fringe, and overtime for staff supporting the PSN project; training and travel, including workshops, events, and conferences as long as they are approved by BJA staff prior to the cost being incurred; equipment and material publications. Just make sure that the items you would like approval for are listed in your line item budget for BJA to review. Next slide please.

Here are some examples of unallowable uses of PSN funding. Food and beverage, monetary incentives such as gift cards, and entertainment cost such as sporting events and diversion activities. Although, there may be some exceptions to the rule if they have a programmatic purpose and there is sufficient justification provided. If you have questions regarding these costs, please reach out to your grant manager. Next slide please.

As you can see on this slide, 30% of the amount made available as grants under the program each fiscal year shall be granted to the Grant Task Force in regions experiencing a significant or increased presence of criminal or transnational organizations engaging in high levels of violent crimes, firearms offenses, human trafficking, and drug trafficking. Next slide please.

What is a Gang Task Force? A task force does not need to be led by or include participation of a federal agency. A task force can be composed entirely by state and local or tribal staff. If a federal agency is involved in this task force, that federal agency cannot receive grant funds. The collaborative and coordinated effort does not need to be officially designated a Gang Task Force as long as the programmatic activity is focused on the investigation and/or prosecution of criminals and/or transnational organizations engaging in categories of offenses outlined in the act. Next slide please.

How to meet the Gang Set-aside requirement? A transnational organization is defined as a group of two or more individuals, one or more who is a citizen of a foreign country, that exists for a period of time that acts in concert with the aim of committing any of the categories of offenses outlined in the PSN Authorization Act, whether they are successful or not. A criminal organization is defined as a group of two or more individuals that exists for a period of time and that act in concert with the aim of committing any of the categories of offenses outlined in the PSN Authorization Act, whether they are successful or not. Allowable programmatic activities that fall within the Gang Set-aside include but are not limited to enforcement, non-enforcement, outreach, prevention, and reentry, as long as the activities are specifically related to addressing the criminal and/or transnational organizations that are committing the criminal offenses outlined in the act. Towards the end of the presentation, we will provide a link to the Gang Set-aside frequently asked questions for any questions that you may have. Next slide please.

Modifications to approved subrecipients. If you have an approved subrecipient and they want to make changes to the purpose or scope of their PSN project or you as a fiscal agent no longer want to fund the previously approved subrecipient and wish to fund a new subrecipient, you must seek BJA approval first. We talked earlier about the process of getting those changes approved in the presentation. Also, please be aware, any changes that needs to be made to your budget as a fiscal agent or subrecipient budget needs to be approved by your BJA grant manager. If you have any questions regarding what type of changes require BJA approval, please reach out to your grant manager before those changes are implemented. Next slide please.

So, in the next section, we will be discussing the reporting requirements under the PSN program. Next slide.

So here's our next poll. We want to hear from you on which reporting requirement does your agency tend to struggle with? Do you struggle with reporting frequency, understanding which system to report in, understanding what information to report on, or none and your agency is a pro? Please submit your response now. Okay. We'll go ahead and close the poll. It looks like, for the most part, folks struggle with what information to report on. That's okay. We will go over all of that information in our upcoming section regarding reporting requirements in the next two slides to help clear up some of that confusion. Next slide please.

Perfect. Thank you. So Federal Financial Reporting. When you accept your award, you agree to comply with all BJA reporting requirements. As such, you are responsible for submitting two different types of reports. The first type of report is a Federal Financial Report, also known as an FFR. Those are due quarterly. The designated financial manager is responsible for the submission of these reports in JustGrants. As a reminder, for each FFR report, grantees should enter a cumulative expenditure amount for each reporting period. Next slide please.

Your federal financial reporting due date. This slide outlines the FFR reporting due dates for the JustGrants system. It's important to note that if you don't submit your FFR by the due date, JustGrants will automatically freeze your funds until the delinquent reports are submitted. Please also keep in mind that delinquent reports count negatively towards your status as a grantee during your risk assessment. Please do everything you can to submit these reports on time. With that being said, I'm going to hand it off to Jeannine who is a member of our PPI Team, and she will discuss the second type of reporting requirement which is performance report.

JEANNINE BULBULIA: Thank you, Tiffany. This portion of the presentation will cover several topics related to Performance Management at BJA. We will discuss requirements for data reporting, including what you need to report, where reporting happens, when reporting is due throughout the year, and how to report data. We will also share some data reporting and goal setting best practices to set you up for success. Finally, we will share contact information and resources for you to contact us if you need assistance with your performance measures or reporting at any time. Next slide.

Let's start with what is Performance Management. Performance Management is the process by which grantees regularly collect data on their grant activities to determine whether they are implementing activities as intended and achieving their desired goals and objectives. Using performance measures that capture input, outputs, and outcomes over time enables pre-and post-comparisons that can be used to assess change. BJA has established performance measures for each grant program. These measures were included in the original solicitation that you responded to. We will review the specifics of your program's unique questionnaire during this orientation. You can find additional information and several resources on the Office of Justice Programs' Grant Performance Management and Progress Reporting Information portal at the website listed here on this slide. Next slide please.

Performance measures have many purposes for BJA. They allow BJA to look at your program holistically as well as at a local level to identify areas of success, as well as potential opportunities for improvement. This also allows BJA to target training and technical assistance resources to subjects or localities that need them most. Furthermore, BJA routinely receives data calls and requests, sometimes from Congress or the White House, and relies primarily on the data provided by grantees during reporting periods to respond to these inquiries. BJA and OJP regularly track progress towards goals and report annual key performance indicators to leadership during budget formulations, as well as ongoing yearly monitoring. DOJ is also required to comply with the reporting requirements of federal laws. Next slide.

Not only does BJA benefit from Performance Management but there are many benefits to you and your programs as well. You should be systematically monitoring performance measures to include some of the data BJA collects as well as your own programmatic data to help identify success, as well as areas of continuous improvement. Mentoring performance measures can help you proactively address challenges and generate evidence that you are meeting your goals. This can lead to sustainability and continued resource advocacy for your program. The data you collect has the potential to show the impact, not just for your program but for your organization. Next slide.

Now, let's talk about the what, where, when, and how you will be required to report. Next slide.

There are three required sources of data that you will use to report: performance measures, narrative questions, and closeout questions. The performance measure questions for your program are a series of questions that measure outcome of grant activities and demonstrate the accomplishments of goals and objectives of BJA programs. Grantees report on performance measures during each quarterly reporting period. A series of narrative questions related to the grantee's specific goals, objectives, barriers, and successes are also provided to grantees to be used for data reporting and are reported only in January and July. Finally, closeout questions are a series of questions grantees will need to respond to only when activities have been completed and the grant is ending. Next slide.

The Performance Measurement Tool, also known as the PMT, is the online data collection tool for OJP's grant recipients. It is structured as an online questionnaire and is available year-round. The PMT contains a lot of information and tools to assist you in your reporting. You can access the PMT by following the link on this page. If you are new to reporting, you should have received a welcome email with directions on how to create an account and access the PMT. As you may have heard, JustGrants is replacing the Grants Management System and will also replace the PMT in coming months. Continue to report in the PMT until you are given directions on the transition and are instructed how to report directly into JustGrants. Next slide.

This table on this slide outlines the type of data you'll report during each reporting period, when your reports are due in the PMT and whether you will also need to upload your report in JustGrants. As you can see from the alternating values under the second column, you'll only report on the narrative questions in January, July, and during your last reporting period of grant activity, regardless of where it falls on the schedule. As you can see from the table, the PMT is only open for data entry during the month after a reporting period closes. The PMT is accessible year-round for you to review and edit your data, generate reports, and more but you will need to contact the PMT Helpdesk to help you unlock reports when you need to revise previously completed reports. Please note that reports are due 30 days after the end of a reporting period. Next slide.

Please be advised that the performance measures for the PSN program have been updated and are not yet active in the PMT system. We encourage you to log into your PMT account to see the current measures you are required to report. We also have two PSN webinars available to you which will provide you more information on reporting. If you have any questions at any time during reporting, please reach out to the PMT Helpdesk. The contact email is provided on this slide. Next slide.

As mentioned earlier, the PSN program questionnaire contains performance measures, narrative questions, and close-out questions. The questionnaire consists of multiple-choice, numeric responses, and open-ended questions. Here are the categories of questions which are currently in the PMT. Please ensure that you're answering all questions of the questionnaire or you will receive an error message. Once the PMT is updated, the questions within the PMT will be consistent with the PDF Performance Measures found on the website. Next slide.

The Narrative Questions are found at the end of the questionnaire. This section is where grantees can highlight their accomplishments and discuss their challenges. Grantees are required to complete these Narrative Questions in January, July, and at the end of their award. Next slide, please.

When establishing clear goals, there are several methods that can be used, one of which is setting SMART goals. SMART is an acronym to ensure goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. Let's talk about SMART goals further. You want to ensure that they are Specific, which clearly defines the desired outcomes or results. Measurable, there should be measurable progress towards the completion of the goal. Achievable, the goal should be challenging yet realistic, given the grantee's resources. Relevant, the goal is aligned with the grant application and allowable uses of funds. And Time-bound, the goal should be completed within the grant period. In setting SMART goals, we outline a few leading questions that can help you when developing good goals and objectives for the narrative section of the PMT.

Here, we provide some leading questions for fiscal agents to consider when developing their goals and objectives so that you can provide a robust and detailed narrative that we require. In making sure your goal is specific, some questions to consider are: What will be accomplished by the fiscal agent and subrecipient? What actions will the fiscal agent and subrecipient take? And who is involved from the fiscal agent agency and recipients? In tracking your goals so that it's measurable, some questions to consider are: What metrics will the fiscal agent and subrecipient use? What are the indicators of success by the fiscal agent and subrecipients? Your goal should also be achievable. Consider questions like: How will the fiscal agent and subrecipient accomplish the established goals? What are the tools and skills needed? In making sure your goals are relevant, consider the following questions: What is the overall relevance of the goal to your PSN project? How does it align with the PSN program? Lastly, you want to ensure your goals are time-bound. Some questions to think about include: What are the deadlines? Is there a sense of urgency for some deliverables? Your goals and objectives should be developed in consideration of these questions. It should contain the level of detailed information that can answer these questions. Next slide.

Now let's take a look specifically at the Narrative Section of the PMT. You are required to complete the Narrative Section of the PMT in January, July, and at the end of the grant. There are several columns of the PMT Narrative Section which include Goals and Objectives, the Status of that goal, the Progress and Barriers towards that goal, and Planned Activities for the next six months. In the Goal column of the report, the established goals are entered here. You will see that there are fiscal agent goals that should be entered. These goals are set for the duration of the project and should remain consistent throughout each reporting period. Underneath the fiscal agent goal, the subrecipient goal should also be entered. Once fiscal agents receive BJA approval for each subrecipient, fiscal agents are expected to enter each subrecipient's overall goal in the section of the PMT.

As a reminder, all goals should be SMART, that is Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. It is important to keep in mind that if you are a fiscal agent who has been approached to perform programmatic activities in addition to administrative responsibility of administrating the PSN program, please ensure your goals and objectives reflect this by providing a detailed narrative outlining of what you were doing as a fiscal agent to oversee the PSN program and provide a detailed narrative as to the programmatic activities you are undertaking as well.

In the next column, fiscal agents will select the status of the goal entered. The options provided are Not Yet Started, Delayed, In-Progress, Completed, and Goal No Longer Applicable.

The next column of the PMT Narrative is Progress and Barriers. From the prospective of the fiscal agent and subrecipients once they're approved by BJA, fiscal agents are to provide detailed progress, achievements, and challenges towards each goal for the last two quarters. This information should be specific and demonstrate the work completed in the last six months as it relates to the specific goal by the fiscal agent and each subrecipient. Remember to include an explanation as to the status of each goal. If the status you select for a goal is delayed, provide an explanation as to the delays or challenges the fiscal agent and/or a subrecipient encountered in their progress towards that goal. In the Planned Activities column, fiscal agents should provide a detailed outline of the activities that will take place by both the fiscal agent and its subrecipients in the next six months.

On the BJA website, there is a PSN-specific two-part webinar that provides specific examples of narratives for different stages of implementation. Next slide.

Finally, we would also like to share some tips to improve data quality that your program can do from the very beginning. It is recommended that a designated staff person coordinates all performance measure data collection and entry to ensure consistency. If this is the first time you will be reporting data, make sure you are familiar with the data you need to collect. Do this by reviewing the questions in the PMT. Ensure a backup person is aware of the data collection and reporting progress so they can fill in if the designated staff person is unavailable or leaves their role. Consider available data collection methods, including case management systems or other databases, spreadsheets, tracking intake forms, or other methods. If partner organizations are included in your program design, be sure to engage them from the start in the planning progress. Determine and formalize agreements are needed to ensure the necessary data is collected and the program meets its goals and objectives. Next slide.

Here's the BJA PMT Helpdesk contact information and a list of available resources that will provide you with additional information as needed. Our office hours are Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 a.m. Eastern Time. We strive to return every email within 24 hours, so please don't hesitate to send us an email even after business hours. On behalf of BJA and the Planning Performance and Impact Team, thank you for your time, dedication, and hard work. I'll now turn it over to Danielle for the PSN Award Conditions and Program Requirements.

DANIELLE SHAPIRO: Thank you [INDISTINCT] I'll discuss compliance through award conditions and overall compliance with PSN program requirements. Next slide, please.

Your award agreement contains a comprehensive list of all of your award conditions. We wanted to highlight a few of them here. Published materials. So all curricula, training materials and publications, reports, require prior BJA approval before publication. And these materials must include a disclaimer that references your specific award number and that the project was supported by BJA, as well as the PSN [INDISTINCT] Ask your grant manager for more information.

The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006, referred to FFATA, requires that pass-through entities who award first-year subawards of $30,000 or more are required to submit data in a dedicated reporting system called FSRS.gov. All designated grant award administrators and financial managers must complete the OJP financial management and grant administration training by 120 days after the date of the grantee's acceptance of the award, if you haven’t already. We track attendance at this training, and if you're monitored, we will ask for a certificate of completion.

Please note, for award funds that are used for DNA testing of materials, there are special conditions governing this. Any resulting eligible DNA profiles must be uploaded to the Combined DNA Index System database operated by the FBI. There is more on this, so please consult your award conditions if this pertains to your grant or ask your grant manager. Next slide, please.

If your recipient at any tier interacts with minors, Determinations of Suitability must be made before individuals interact with these minors. As the crime grantee, you are responsible for passing this condition onto your subrecipients and making sure that it's happening. There are special requirements here with required searches on approved repositories during specific timeframes and specific states where individuals work or live. We highly recommend that you review the award condition and its specific requirements by referencing the link located on this slide. Next slide, please.

As we have discussed, grantees must receive prior BJA approval via the submission of a Programmatic Scope GAM before any subrecipient costs can be expended or obligated. Even though you may have listed subawardees in your application, it doesn't mean they were approved. PSN is somewhat unique in this regard. Next slide, please.

The National Environmental Policy Act, referred to as NEPA. You may be familiar with this regulation. NEPA is a federal law that applies to decisions BJA makes about whether or not to fund a project. Activities that typically require NEPA documentation include new construction such as installing poles and standard construction, the use of chemicals, and the use of firearms. There's more to this list as you can see on the slide. Should any of your subrecipient projects include activities or costs that meet the above criteria, your grant manager may ask you to complete a NEPA checklist which must be reviewed by the BJA NEPA Coordinator. Next slide, please.

So, 2 CFR 200 has requirements for pass-through entities in the uniform guidance. Subrecipient file and specific documentation that you should maintain is listed in the next two slides. These documents would be reviewed if you are chosen to be monitored. Included in these documents are assigned award agreement. Again, we want to see that special conditions are being passed on to subrecipients. We would want to see the approved budget and any budget modifications as well as progress reports and financial reports. Next slide, please.

There should be more documentation, and this includes evidence of monitoring and follow-up. You want to make sure that you have supporting documentation for procurement as well. Finally, for those grantees who are working with approved BJA research partners, please be sure to submit a final research report or deliverable in your final performance reports. Next slide, please.
Now, I will turn the presentation over to Dr. Ken Novak, who will discuss training and technical assistance.

DR. KENNETH NOVAK: Thank you. Good afternoon. My name is Ken Novak, and I represent the Training and Technical Assistance team at CNA. And along with our strategic partners, I'm excited to speak with you today about TTA opportunities and processes that are available through Project Safe Neighborhoods.

CNA is a nonprofit research and analysis organization whose portfolio includes a wide range of projects that focus on work, working with state, local, and federal government agencies to promote public safety. We're the TTA provider for PSN, but we also provide similar resources to the public safety partnership, smart policing initiative, crime analyst in residence program, and body-worn camera initiative.
I want to describe our approach to TTA and how it can contribute to success. We view training and technical assistance as a feature to add value to your program. It is to complement the activities that you already have in place or wish to develop. We do not see training and technical assistance to be viewed as burdensome, quite the contrary. We recognize there's a great deal of diversity across districts in terms of problems, crime, constituencies, partnerships, resources and so forth. And with this in mind, we seek to develop a robust TTA portfolio that meets the needs of the districts where you are. So, what exactly is training and technical assistance and how does it support PSN goals? Training and technical assistance is offered at no cost to each of the 94 districts as a way to enhance district's PSN efforts.

One of the defining characteristics of PSN is partnerships. And we have adopted this same approach on how we develop and deliver training and technical assistance to the districts. A coordinated team of national organizations, including CNA, Michigan State University, the National District Attorney's Association, and the National Crime Center for Victims of Crime support PSN training and technical assistance efforts in the areas of strategic planning, performance measures, and research, law enforcement and prosecution, and support victims and witnesses of crime through resources, instruction, and collaboration. The most requested forms of training and technical assistance include crime analysis, law enforcement and prosecution, strategic planning, and victim and witness-centered programs. Next slide, please.

Training and technical assistance takes many different forms. One is consultation. Each of the districts is assigned a regional TTA team that includes a liaison and an analyst to serve as the central and consistent points of contact for PSN teams and facilitates training and technical assistance requests and delivery. In addition, the regional TTA teams help develop a network of peers among PSN regions so that all participants have an opportunity to learn from and mutually support one another. We provide informational resources in the form of partnership guidebooks, webinars, regular newsletters, and podcasts. And a lot of these resources can be found on our website at psntta.org. Training, it can be done virtually or in person. Among the more popular trainings that we offer are gangs and guns, making your firearms cases more prosecutable, crime analysis and violence reduction strategies, media relation and crisis communication training. And we also leverage expertise from our partners at MSU, NCVC, and NDAA to provide training on trauma-informed investigations and prosecutions, building law enforcement victim services relationships, a five-part webinar series on grants development, and problem analysis training. Furthermore, we sponsor peer-to-peer exchanges, which is a way to leverage the expertise from other districts.

One of the best ways to learn and implement promising practices is to learn what worked and sometimes equally as important to what didn't work from other districts. While peer exchanges can be done virtually, more often than not, it is effectively conducted in person where small teams visit other districts to learn from stakeholders and operational experts. We offer a wide range of different assessments. Assessments provide a baseline understanding and the challenges for growth within specific areas. We've assembled teams with particular expertise in each subject matter to guide and facilitate assessments which are typically conducted on site. The process varies, but typically involves reviewing policies, assessing capacity, analyzing data, and speaking to stakeholders. Assessment teams produce a report and recommendation with action items that are designed to be executed in short, medium, and long-term phases. The goal is to provide a foundation for where the agency is, where it wants to go, and how to get there. And our training and technical assistance aligns with the PSN pillars of community engagement, prevention and intervention, accountability, and strategic and focused enforcement. Next slide, please.

This slide represents visual examples of some of the TTA opportunities I discussed before. I recognize that this is a lot to take in. My recommendation would be to check out the PSN TTA website. Again, that is psntta.org, to familiarize yourself with these resources and the full training and technical assistance portfolio. You'll be contacted by your liaison soon if you haven't already or by a member of CNA staff to arrange periodic meetings with the districts within your region. Or you can always reach out to me directly via email and I can point you in the right direction. My direct email is [email protected].
So, three key takeaways to remember, one, TTA is free and is designed to complement your strategies. TTA should be adding value to your goal attainment. Two, TTA can be leveraged at any time throughout your project and training and technical assistance is free. And three, we labor to customize TTA to the unique problems within your district as much as possible. And with that, I'd like to turn the presentation over to Stephen.

STEPHEN FENDER: Thank you, Dr. Novak. So the next several slides, I'm going to go through the content relatively quickly as these are designed as resources for you as needed once we conclude the presentation and post this on the PSN website. And we also plan to send this out and email to our grantees. Next slide, please. Oh, I'm sorry. We're already there. Okay. So here we are. First, we have the information on how to access JustGrants resources. That includes training and helpdesk and the JustGrants newsletter. Next slide.

This slide includes links to our helpdesk for the PMT and financial reporting technical assistance. Next slide, please.

Here we have the contact for the OCFO helpdesk for any revisions needed after submitting an FFR or grant funding drawdown problems. And also the link to the Gang Set Aside frequently asked questions that Tiffany referenced earlier, should you have any questions about that requirement. Next slide, please. Thank you.

This slide contains information for subawards versus subcontracts and the DOJ Financial Guide. Next slide.

Thank you. We also have resources for procurement, including Sole Source and the DOJ Procurement Guide, so the financial guide and procurement guide, these last two sources are really important documents. Next slide, please.

And given the PSN is largely a subaward grant-making model, we include here a number of additional resources to supplement administration of your approved subawards. I hope you're familiar with these links. If you're not, please access here and reference as needed and contact your grant manager if you have any questions about these particular links. Next slide, please.

For those of you who are new to TTA, a follow up on Dr. Novak's presentation. We have some number of ways to contact the TTA team in addition to what he provided. Thank you. And here's Dr. Novak's direct contact information as well as the performance measurement analyst, Jeannine Bulbulia. And finally, here are a few BJA social media links for important BJA updates and other information. You can access that. Next slide.

Okay. This concludes the formal presentation. At this time, we'll be glad to cover any questions that you have based upon the information provided or otherwise, the grant administration related. And to moderate the question, should there be any, I'll turn it back over to Mr. Daryl Fox. Daryl.

DARYL FOX: Thanks, Steve, and thanks everyone for their presentation today. Just a reminder, there's been some questions that the recording and PowerPoint for today, along with the transcript will be posted to BJA's website within the PSN webpage. So everybody that's registered will receive an email when that's posted and where to access that, so you'll be able to go back and reference this presentation along with all those links that Steve just went through for your reference. If you have a question today, we have plenty of time left. You can enter that in the Q&A box, far bottom right of your screen, three dots, sent to all panelists, and we'll get those in queue. And the panel will be available to answer anything that you may have. And Jeannine, thanks so much. She had entered her email in the chat box if anybody wants to reference that and capture that. As you noticed, there was links being entered in throughout when time allowed. That way you'll be able to access those directly as the PowerPoint itself is not linkable now. But once it's posted to the website, that will be 508 compliant and will be clickable. And if you do enter a question, if it refers to a particular portion or panelist, you can maybe incorporate that in the question. If not, we can just pose it to the panel as a group.

STEPHEN FENDER: Daryl, I'm not seeing any questions, so I think we're glad to conclude at this time. I would say that if you do have questions that come up later, please contact your grant manager or myself. We're glad to answer them to the best of our ability and be on a lookout for the presentation that will be posted later.

DARYL FOX: Great. Thanks so much. So on behalf of the Bureau of Justice Assistance and our panelists, we want to thank you for joining today's webinar. This will end today's presentation.