FY24 Project Safe Neighborhoods

Transcript also available as a PDF.

DARYL FOX: Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to today’s webinar, “FY 2024 Project Safe Neighborhoods Formula Grant Program” [PSN], hosted by the Bureau of Justice Assistance [BJA]. At this time, it’s my pleasure to introduce Kate McNamee, Senior Policy Advisor with BJA, to begin the presentation. Kate.

KATE MCNAMEE: Thank you so much, Daryl. And good afternoon, all. Welcome. We have a lot of information to share with you to set you up for success with your 2024 PSN formula funding application. And for those new to the process, we will share who we are in OJP [Office of Justice Programs] and BJA and the basics of the PSN program. We will also provide details on applicant eligibility requirements and highlight specific application components that are critical to your receiving your funding.

We’re also joined by our colleague, Brandy, from EOUSA [Executive Office for United States Attorneys], who will go over the ethical and programmatic guidance important to U.S. Attorney personnel as they support this process. Training and technical assistance components will also be described later in the presentation. Next slide.

Right. So, first of all, we’d like to, you know, discuss who we are so that you know where this program falls at the Department of Justice [DOJ]. OJP is the branch of DOJ that provides grants, resources, and research to the criminal justice field through the work of the six components listed here. Each component has its own focus area, with BJA having the broadest mandate to work across the criminal justice system on a variety of issues. The COPS Office [Office of Community Oriented Policing Services] and the Office on Violence Against Women and OJP are DOJ’s three grant-making components. Next slide, please.

The Bureau of Justice Assistance was created in 1984—and this is our 40th anniversary this year—to reduce violent crime, create safer communities, and reform our nation’s criminal justice system. BJA strengthens the nation’s criminal justice system and helps America’s state, local, and tribal jurisdictions reduce and prevent crime, reduce recidivism, and promote a fair and safe criminal justice system. We focus our programmatic and policy efforts on providing a wide range of resources, including training and technical assistance, to law enforcement, courts, corrections, treatment, reentry, justice information sharing, and community-based partners to address chronic and emerging criminal justice challenges nationwide. We are currently led by our presidentially appointed director, Karhlton F. Moore. Next slide, please.

So these are the tools, so to speak, in terms of how BJA supports the field. First, we invest in new and innovative approaches to criminal justice issues and challenges through grant funding and contracts with outside agencies and entities at the national, state, and local, and tribal levels. We also spend a lot of time compiling the best approaches and programming we find in the field, and then we share them broadly so that jurisdictions can learn from other’s efforts and know what works in criminal justice programming so outcomes are improved and services are expanded. We also view ourselves as key conveners and we try to connect organizations doing complementary work with one another and to connect actors in the field with the thought leaders and experts they need to improve their programming. Next slide, please.

So I believe now we have a poll question. And we are hoping that you can tell us, has your organization been awarded federal grants in the past? And we’ll give you all about 30 seconds to respond. All right, Daryl. Do we have data? Okay. So we’re looking at about half of you definitely having experience in the past. If you are new, brand new, to PSN and to the federal grant world, you’re in the right place. So we’re going to spend a lot of time today going through the resources that you will need, your go-to guides to ensure that you’re abiding by all the requirements of the program, as well as the requirements of the Office of Justice Programs, and you will know who to reach out to after you receive your award.

So I want to spend a couple minutes just providing some background on the purpose of PSN and an overview of the program. Now, PSN is designed to create and foster safer neighborhoods through a sustained reduction in violent crime, and it’s one of our longest existing programs. It was established in 2001 and has enjoyed truly bipartisan support throughout its history. It’s one of DOJ’s primary violence reduction programs and is intended to create and foster safer communities through the support of ongoing coordination, formal partnerships, among state and local/tribal enforcement agencies and the communities they serve. And this process is coordinated by each U.S. Attorney in all 94 districts. The grant program has always played an essential role in supporting the PSN Team members’ violence reduction activities and strategy implementation. Next slide, please.

PSN was actually redesigned in May 2020 to emphasize four main design features or pillars: community engagement to foster trust and collaboration, prevention and intervention to reduce the effects of violence in at-risk communities, focused and strategic enforcement that identifies key drivers of violence without negatively disrupting the community, and accountability for engagement and the results of these efforts.

The grant award you received should be used to support one or more of these elements of your district’s PSN strategies—one or more of these programmatic pillars. And I’ll now share a few examples of how districts have tackled these different program elements in the past.

So, meaningful engagement between and among communities, law enforcement, prosecutors, and other stakeholders is an essential component of an effective violence reduction strategy—of any violence reduction strategy.

And in the District of Nebraska, the PSN initiative has supported the Omaha 360 Violence Intervention and Prevention Collaborative, which has actually operated for 15 years. The initiative is made up of representatives from all parts of the community, from the clergy to the private sector to the police. And this collaborative uses a holistic approach to reduce gun violence and build stronger police-community relations. And we have some data that illustrates their success. You know, before COVID-19 was among us, their work contributed to a 74% sustained decrease in gun violence and a 90% decrease in officer-involved shootings over 10 years. And it’s now being replicated by Kansas City, Missouri, and other PSN districts. Next slide, please.

Our friends in the Northern District of Georgia have experienced remarkable recidivism-prevention success with their use of the Credible Messenger Model to intervene with high-risk youth and adults. The Credible Messenger Model is an evidence-based prevention strategy in use in the Atlanta area and has rendered significant reductions in shootings and killings as well as rearrests and attitudes supporting violence. The Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice uses credible messenger approaches to intervene with high-risk youth who will be released back into the Northern District’s communities. And the Georgia Department of Corrections, Georgia Department of Community Supervision, Federal Bureau of Prisons, and U.S. Probation Office use this approach to intervene with high-risk adults who are in state or federal custody. So this really stands as an excellent example of the partnership aspect of PSN as well as the intervention and prevention pillars that are so important. And in this way, it is used simultaneously as a violence-prevention and reentry strategy to reduce rearrests and reincarcerations. Next slide, please.

The Middle District of Louisiana has implemented a Crime Gun Intelligence Model to identify the individuals driving violence in Baton Rouge and the PSN Team’s target enforcement area. CGIC data, as we call them—Crime Gun Intelligence Center, CGIC—data and law enforcement intelligence information are used to identify those at high risk of engaging in firearms-related violence and the places that are highest risk for it taking place through shots fired data. And this resulted in an increase in firearms cases referred for federal prosecution in the district. Next slide, please.

So accountability is critical for the sustainment of any gain, any success in any program. And analyzing and assessing reliable data related to violence, as well as effectiveness of strategies to address it, are critical in any violence reduction effort. In addition, having the processes and mechanisms in place that hold each PSN Team member accountable for the results of their crime-reduction efforts keeps and sustains the strategy and allows for database adjustments along the way. Through this reliance on data and defined accountability processes for those responsible for public safety, the PSN model fosters accountability for results and for DOJ’s investment in Project Safe Neighborhoods.
So in the district of Montana, Michigan State University assisted the PSN Team in developing a violent crime case review process as well as establishing monthly violent crime data collections for the U.S. Attorney’s Office. They also assisted the PSN Team with its operation and decision making with near real-time data, which was a significant improvement and helped them make better strategic choices in terms of how they invested their PSN resources and addressing their violent crime issues. And I have to note here that research partners often play a key role in this piece of a district’s PSN strategy. And we’ll talk later about how the PSN TTA [training and technical assistance] program also often helps districts establish data collection and accountability mechanisms. Next slide, please.

And now I will turn it over to my colleague, Steve Fender of the BJA programs office, to discuss the specific eligibility and application requirements that you’ll be addressing in your submissions. Steve.

STEPHEN FENDER: Thank you, Kate. This afternoon, I’m glad to cover the next portion of the presentation, and we shall start with who may apply. Next slide. Thank you.

So for PSN, only eligible entities may serve as a fiscal agent for the grant program. Those entities include states, units of local government, educational institutions, faith-based and other community organizations, private nonprofits, and federally recognized Indian tribal governments. Importantly for PSN, only those entities that are certified by the United States Attorney’s Office can serve as a fiscal agent and are eligible to apply. If you’re interested in serving as a fiscal agent, please contact your United States Attorney’s Office district PSN coordinator. And when you apply, please be sure to attach your certification letter to the application. If you’ve already submitted your application and did not include the letter, once you obtain it, please email it to BJA. You can send it to me directly. Next slide.

Okay. Funding allocations. So the funding amounts for FY24 has been posted and were revised, which I hope you all saw, and now reflect a 2.5% increase to each allocation amount. Please check the allocation link on the solicitation webpage—and also, it’s showed here on the slide—and make sure you apply for the right amount before submitting your application. Recently, I sent out an email with the revised allocations and instructions on how to recall your application if you had submitted for the incorrect amount. So take a look at that information if needed or email me directly after this presentation and I will provide it as well.

Also want to note here that for FY24, there’s once again a 30% gang set-aside requirement. When planning the use of your award funds, please make sure that you have 30% of the grant funds designated for gang-related costs. If you have any questions about that requirement, please review the FAQ you see here, and this is posted on the PSN website also. Next slide.

And now we’ll take a minute to talk a little about the goals and objectives section of the application. As part of your application for [FY]24 PSN, we require you to enter goals and objectives and a timeline for your grant-funded program. We—you know, when creating your goals, you should consider broadly how the funding will contribute to the PSN strategy in your districts and how the grant-funded portion of that strategy will support those goals. Then when crafting your objectives, you should consider more specific information that falls underneath your goals, such as what programmatic objectives that the funding is going to support in terms of the district’s PSN strategy and how, specifically, the funding will be used to support your goals. Finally, you’ll need to submit a timeline that shows when this will all take place within the project period, which is three years for this grant. If needed, please work with your United States Attorney’s Office district to understand the highest priorities that need to be supported under the PSN strategy for your district and use the information to populate this part of the application. Next slide, please.

Another required application component is the project abstract. This is a high-level summary of the program that may include your project period, crime rate, and crime drivers. You can list key partners here, the target area, and ultimately, an overall summary of the grant-funded effort. This is now a web-based form in JustGrants that you will type or paste the information into. Next slide.

For your application, the program narrative should include at least the following information that’s required by the solicitation: a detailed description of the issue that you plan to address with the funding; an explanation of the planned grant-funded program that may include the elements such as who, what, when, where, why, and how the program will be implemented. You should also include information on how you’ll meet the required 30% gang set-aside that I mentioned before in your program narrative. Please be sure to indicate that in your narrative as part of your application. You should include the capabilities and competencies of the grant team and the program implementation team. And the plan for collecting the data required that will be reported in the performance measurement tool for PSN. Next slide, please. Thank you.

As noted on previous slides, the program narrative should include performance measurement information, and that should include your plan on how you will collect performance measurement data, and should identify who will collect the data, who’s responsible for performance measure reporting, and how the information will be used to guide and evaluate the impact of the project. Make sure you include information that describes this process accurately and indicates that you’ll be able to accurately report the data into the PMT. The link you see here is to the current PSN Performance Measures, for those interested in reviewing. And that’s a screenshot of the overall survey. Next slide, please.

Okay. Now, let’s spend a few minutes talking about the budget for your application. For application budgets, you should include any direct administrative costs and indirect costs that you plan to charge into your web-based budget form. All applications now use a web-based budget form in JustGrants. If you have indirect costs in the budget, make sure you include your current indirect cost rate or note in the budget your plan to use the de minimis amount as the basis of your calculation.

You also need to submit the Financial Management and Systems of Internal Controls information. And be sure to correctly enter all fields, with special attention to the Subaward Monitoring Policy section, because that is required for the PSN program. So make sure you don’t leave that blank and answer those accurately, and we’ll follow up with you, if needed, if you indicate “no,” because we will need to place a hold on the funds if you do not have a subrecipient monitoring policy, if you’re making subrecipients as part of this award, and almost all of our applicants do—not a hundred percent, but almost all. Next slide, please.

Okay. More information on your budget. When submitting your budget, you’ll submit directly into JustGrants by budget category, as I mentioned. You’ll need to include your subaward costs here, if you know them, and a detailed narrative of all line-item expenses. There’s a theme throughout PSN and budgets—and really, most BJA budgets—is the key that it’s important to have line-item detail on your expenses, that includes the narrative. If your subawards are not yet determined, which I know—understand is often the case for the new grants, you can put a projected amount and language that explains these are to be to be determined for now and we can approve your budget with that in the short term.
Travel costs are required again this year for PSN. You should include in your budget funds to support three non-federal members of the PSN Team to participate in one in-person workshop that will be hosted by the PSN Training and Technical Assistance Program. And you can estimate these costs based on three days and two nights in the Washington, DC, area as a placeholder for now.

Also, when calculating your administrative costs in your budgets, you may allocate up to 10% of the award for direct administrative expenses related to managing the award, and as I mentioned before, indirect costs can also be charged to the award using your approved rate or the de minimis rate if you do not have an approved rate that you’d like to use. Next slide, please.

Okay. A few notes on unallowable costs. For FY24 PSN, there are certain costs that will not be allowable. These include the information you see here on the slide. This is prizes, rewards, entertainment, trinket expenses or any type of monetary incentive, regardless of the program or program participant. No client stipends. No gift cards. No food and beverage expenses. Unmanned aircraft systems and unmanned aircraft vehicles, commonly referred to as drones, often are not allowable. And any cost listed in Executive Order 14074, which has a list of specifically prohibited expenses, such as firearms greater than .50 caliber and weaponized aircraft, to name a few. And also, within this executive order, there are some items that require additional review and approval by the BJA director, so please take a look at this executive order while you develop your budgets and let us know if you have any questions. Next slide. Thank you.

Okay. A few notes on subawards here. For PSN, as with in previous years, for FY24 PSN, as in previous years, all subawards require post-award authorization by BJA before funds can be obligated and expended. So even if you submit it with your application and your application is approved, once you receive the application, you’ll see on it, there is an award condition that requires post-award authorization for all subawards. So please be sure to contact your grant manager and submit a grant adjustment modification to make sure that we get these approved prior to obligating and expending money on your subgrants.

To approve subawards, we need two main things: one is a line-item budget that breaks down all costs, and the second is a subaward summary. In your summary, we need you to address how the cost relate to violent crime reduction, ultimately. Also include that decision was made by the PSN selection committee and whether the costs are meeting the 30% gang set-aside requirement for that particular subaward.

Once you have the two documents complete—I guess they could be one document—once you have those elements complete, you submit that in a grant adjustment modification in JustGrants, and there’s a specific subaward approval grant adjustment modification in JustGrants, and this will take place post-award. And then BJA will review and approve the document, the authorization of that subaward. So it’s really important to note this, once we’re post-award, not to obligate or expend grant funds until—for subawards until—BJA has approved them. Next slide, please.

Before I conclude this section, I want to take a moment to talk a little bit about one of my favorite topics, subaward versus subcontract. It’s important to understand there’s a clear distinction to be aware of between these two agreements when using federal funds.

On this slide here, we have an excerpt of the OJP subaward training information that shows briefly a few things you should consider when making the determination. For PSN, many of our fiscal agents will make subawards to other local agencies. So that’s pretty clear. And then if you made a subaward to a local agency, they may enter into a contract for a good or service, such as police equipment, for example. In this case, there’s a subaward for the programmatic activity to the local and then a subcontract by the local for the police equipment. It’s important to understand the difference here, their implications, and the content of the agreement and procurement requirements that need to be considered. This is a larger issue and we’re glad to support if there’s any questions and help you understand this if you need to wade through it. So if you have any questions when making the decisions, please contact your BJA grant manager and we’ll be glad to help. Next slide, please.

Okay. I’m now going to turn this over to Brandy from the Executive Office for United States Attorneys for the next section. Brandy.

BRANDY DONINI-MELANSON: Thanks, Steve. All right. Let’s go to the next slide. I’m just going to offer some background, highlight a few basics, particularly for those who are new to PSN. Some of this information will be more applicable to U.S. Attorney’s Offices but it could be useful to fiscal agents for situational awareness.

So the first item on the screen is every U.S. Attorney’s Office has a written PSN strategic plan with goals, objectives, strategies, and performance measures for the PSN pillar areas. And the strategic plans are district specific and also include action items. And then although some districts may experience similar violent crime problems and challenges, the plans are tailored to address the unique issues in each district.

It’s also important to know that the strategic plan is a foundational element to Project Safe Neighborhoods, including the PSN formula grant. These plans are intended to focus on the most pressing violent crime issues and drivers in the district. And then every U.S. Attorney’s Office has been asked to lead a multiagency, multidisciplinary team—which is also known as a PSN Team—to help develop, implement elements of the PSN strategy. And for those new to PSN, every U.S. Attorney’s Office district should have a team that works collaboratively to define, refine, and implement the strategies with the overall purpose of reducing violent crime. There’s no one team model. However, all teams should include individuals internal and external to the U.S. Attorney’s Office and from diverse and varied disciplines.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office is part of and leads the PSN Team. I think that’s important to know, that the U.S. Attorney is, in fact, part of the Project Safe Neighborhoods Team. And then although we refer to it as a PSN Team, there is a lot of discretion in the name. I’ve heard some teams called PSN Leadership Team, I’ve heard some called Violent Crime Reduction working group, a PSN steering committee, a task force. So the names vary, but you should know that the team is critical not only to the PSN strategy, but it’s critical to the PSN formula grant. And then, as referenced on this slide, the team should discuss and identify the PSN strategic plan goals and objectives that should be prioritized with PSN grant funding.

So the U.S. Attorney’s Offices were recently asked to update their strategic plan after they carried out a strategic planning process with internal and external individuals and some who are likely part of the official PSN Team. For that process, the PSN Team should be able—or from that process, I should say, the PSN Team should be able to prioritize PSN goals and objectives for grant funding. And so, projects should only be funded with PSN grant funds, if they correspond with the applicable goals and objectives that have been prioritized by the PSN Team. Limited funds, because of limited funds, it’s unlikely that every PSN strategy goal and objective and every PSN pillar area can be prioritized. So it’s really important that the team is having these conversations of our PSN strategic plan, what should be prioritized with this limited funding.

And so it could be something like 60% of grant funding could be surged to improve enforcement strategies. That might be a way to prioritize. And, you know, the team may go on further and say that may be to specifically address violence in a particular city and that the resources are limited. So that’s sort of a priority focus. You could also say, you know, as part of that, you could even further say that the project should focus on improving equipment, software, technology, and training gaps to improve enforcement strategies. So these are, again, ways that you can prioritize some of the PSN goals and objectives. And U.S. Attorney’s Offices are permitted to be engaged in those discussions. They are part of the team. Again, these prioritized goals and objectives are not saying that X police agency or Y nonprofit is getting—should receive grant funds. They are an overarching priority for Project Safe Neighborhoods. So the U.S. Attorney’s Office is permitted to be engaged in those kinds of overarching discussions on setting priorities for grant funding.

All right. So also referenced on this slide, the PSN Team should further discuss project-specific elements that will assist the Fiscal Agent and PSN Selection Committee make subawards. So first, for those new to PSN, the PSN Selection Committee is our non-federal, non-conflicted individuals who make decisions on grant subrecipients and vendors. And the Selection Committee, like the PSN Team and the PSN strategic plan, the Selection Committee is foundational to the PSN grant. And if needed, I’d be happy to give more customized assistance and guidance on the Selection Committee.

But for now, I really want to elaborate on project-specific elements. So when the team prioritizes the focus of grant funds, it should also utilize what it knows to further identify other details to help the Fiscal Agent and Selection Committee make subawards.

For instance, if the team wants to prioritize funding for violence-prevention projects, it could discuss whether projects should utilize a specific evidence-based program. It could talk about whether there’s a preferred age group that should be targeted as part of the project. It should talk about, you know, the team can talk about whether there’s a preferred geographical area within the city where the focus should be surged based on how risk was identified in the strategic planning process. So these are—really getting into the weeds and having these conversations is only going to help the Fiscal Agent and Selection Committee make awards. So it’s really important that there’s some level of conversation about these particular project elements. Next slide.

And I think, you know, as Steve mentioned, if you know your subawards, if the applications will include subaward information, it’s important to know that decisions about the agencies and organizations that will receive grant funding must be made by non-federal, non-conflicted individuals, which I covered earlier, also known as the Selection Committee. It’s imperative that the PSN Team has a Selection Committee. Federal employees, individuals who are otherwise conflicted are prohibited from deciding subrecipients and/or contractors of the PSN grant. That means that the U.S. Attorney’s Office is not permitted to decide which agencies and organizations will receive grant funding. And the reason for that is that conflicts can arise with the standards of ethical conduct for employees, particularly around topics like favoritism and endorsements. All right, next slide.

So when it comes to discussions about grant-related projects, I wanted to highlight a few things. So the U.S. Attorney’s Office, PSN Team, Fiscal Agent, and Selection Committee should discuss, as I mentioned, grant-funded project elements. And they should also discuss criteria for selection, and project elements and criteria could include a discussion about potential eligible entities. So you can’t—the U.S. Attorney’s Office isn’t permitted to say who is going to receive grant funding, but they can educate the Fiscal Agent and the Selection Committee on who could be eligible, particularly in a particular—if the focus is in a particular geographic area.

For example, if your priority is going to focus on law enforcement, it could be helpful to even identify who are the potential eligible entities, what law enforcement agencies are even serving that particular area. For instance, you know, probation, parole, it could be a local police department or several, or it could be a sheriff’s office, or it could be all of the above. So just, you know, even sharing insight about potential eligible entities—that is—U.S. Attorney’s Offices in particular are okay to have those kinds of conversations, but there just needs to be a line in the sand about who’s going to be the recipient of those grant funds. That is really a decision of the Selection Committee.

The discussion should also involve a timeline for the Selection Committee to identify subrecipients and contractors and other deadlines, should also include conversations about the subaward process and how the Fiscal Agent will initiate the process. For instance, is the plan to issue a formal request for proposals, which I know some Fiscal Agents will do? Is a competitive process important to this particular project? And then what needs to go into the RFP. These are decisions that the Fiscal Agent shouldn’t be expected to make alone. These should be collaborative conversations between the Fiscal Agent and the PSN Team. At no point should the Fiscal Agent feel like they’re on their own, sort of, making these kinds of decisions. So I think it’s really important for the offices to know that they should be helping the Fiscal Agent make these determinations around what type of process would be more or less useful.

And then what is the process for getting the word out about the subaward process for potential applicants? Is it going to go through distribution list, website, direct mail? I mean, these are really into the weeds, but these are just sort of discussions that you can think about having collaboratively. And then the method of notifying subrecipients and other details related to the subaward process. For instance, who really is going to do that? In terms of the timing of these discussions, it’s maybe important to have them now, or you may be able to postpone some of these discussions until after the grant award is made. I also want to flag that U.S. Attorney’s Offices should not assume the responsibilities of the Fiscal Agent, but they should provide programmatic assistance to the Fiscal Agent.

And then in terms, I think this is this last item, this is what a lot of offices, I think, are most interested in is, in terms of the PSN grant application: the U.S. Attorney’s Office may provide the Fiscal Agent with written project-related information, as discussed by the PSN Team and Selection Committee, to assist the Fiscal Agent in completing the proposal narrative and subaward summaries for BJA. Their, you know, best practice is for the PSN Team to memorialize specific project-design features and elements and memorialize that in writing, which is going to help the Fiscal Agent in completing the program narrative for the grant application, as well as to initiate the subaward process, when that time occurs. The U.S. Attorney’s Offices are not prohibited from taking the lead in drafting project-specific information, but the information should be reviewed by applicable PSN Team members, the Fiscal Agent, and the Selection Committee.

And I also want to make a distinction: When we’re talking about project-specific information and the program narrative, information needed for the program narrative, you know, some may see this as the grant application. You may say, “Oh, you’re writing the grant application.” I think there is a really important distinction to be made that these are pieces to the larger grant application. The U.S. Attorney’s Office, there are pieces that you can provide to the Fiscal Agent to complete the application. So if you have any further questions on what that might look like and if you’re worried that you might be sort of crossing this into some territory of, “Am I allowed to do this or not?”, give me a call and we can talk through that a little bit more. But I think it’s important to know that you do have some abilities to really support the Fiscal Agent, particularly if the Fiscal Agent is the State Administering Agency, they need that type of programmatic assistance because they may not be as in the weeds with the project.

And I also want to flag, finally, that if the PSN Team plans to prioritize funding for projects that produce materials, like curriculums, publications, public service announcements, graphics, or other similar items, those projects require clearance before they can be disseminated and/or used. And myself, Kate, and Steve, we can provide further guidance on that as needed. And folks should also just feel like they’re comfortable reaching out to me if they have any questions for customized guidance. So give me a call. Shoot me an email. I’d be happy to check in with you. That’s it. Turning it over to Kate.

KATE MCNAMEE: Thanks so much, Brandy. And if you’ve learned anything from us so far, it’s that you’re not in this alone. Brandy, me, Steve, we’re all standing by to help you. We know that PSN is a pretty complex program, especially for those of you who may be new. So we are standing by to help. And we also have a very robust training and technical assistance program to assist PSN Teams with pretty much all aspects of their PSN initiative, including their grant-funded work. So this program is dedicated to supporting PSN task forces and their partners with implementing and assessing their violence reduction strategies to ensure that they are as effective and efficient as possible.

We provide a wide variety of assistance services, including remote and onsite consultations; general informational resources on the latest violence-reduction data and approaches; virtual and in-person trainings, which can be customized to local needs; peer-to-peer exchanges among districts to learn what others are having success with or how they’ve overcome really challenging and common challenges; an expert assessment of local partner agencies’ capacities, and this can include crime analysis capacity, investigation practices, and community engagement activity. We have experts that can help with any district’s community engagement, strategic enforcement, prevention/ intervention planning, or accountability needs, so hitting on all programmatic elements of the PSN program. Next, please.

We do this through our funded partners at CNA who coordinates the efforts of Michigan State University, the National Center for Victims of Crime, and the National District Attorneys Association. And it always helps to see what kind of help we are talking about, so we’ve listed some of our most popular assistance topics here under most requested TTA. And so for more information, please visit the PSN TTA website at psntta.org. You’ll access our full training catalog and also learn how to ask for this help, so that we can support you as much as we can. So now I will turn it over to Steve, who will lay out some additional resources that are available to you. Steve?

STEPHEN FENDER: Thanks, Kate. Before I move to the next section, I want to take a moment to highlight the importance of one of the items that Brandy covered, which is the importance of the PSN Team collaboration for PSN. It’s been my experience that the most successful programs collaborate early and often with all team members. And we recommend working closely with all the partners, which keeps the PSN grant funding moving out the door. When that collaboration breaks down it tends to—things tend to get slower and ultimately we end up running into delays, so collaboration, key element. Thanks for covering that, Brandy. That’s really important. Okay. Next slide, please.

All right. So here, I’m going to go through some resources and other information for applicants that you should be aware of. First, we have the Application Resource Guide. For any questions you have on developing your application, please see the OJP Application Resource Guide that you see a sample image of here and a link to on the slide. This is an excellent resource to use when questions arise when working on an application. This is available on any internet web search also, quick browser search, just type in OJP Application Resource Guide and this will come up. And you’ll see the sections that correspond with the solicitation. Now, we put a lot of work into this document and it’s really detailed, so please use that if you have questions as you develop your application or other applications for BJA funding. Next slide, please.

Here we want to direct you to other resources and tools for OJP payment and management systems. Take a look at this link here for more information should you have questions about the payment or other management—grant management-related systems. Next slide, please.

On this slide, we have the Grants.gov customer support as well as the JustGrants support information. Please refer to these helpdesks if you have any technical problems with submitting your application. And I’ll also note here, please don’t wait until the very last minute, if you can avoid it, to submit, because if you do have a technical problem, it can be more difficult to deal with, and I’ll note here in a couple slides that we’re getting close to the deadline, so please go ahead and submit, if you intend to, to avoid any technical problems that could delay your application. But if you have system problems, please contact these two resources, as needed. Next slide, please.

On this slide here, I have the information on how to subscribe to OJP updates for a variety of resources, that includes our publications, Funding News, and newsletters, and otherwise. So please take a look here and subscribe if you’re interested.

Here we have information about BJA social media, contact information, as well as the link to the BJA funding opportunities webpage, which is really important for those taking federal funding from BJA. Next slide, please.

Here’s some additional contact information for other assistance you may have—any questions you may have for Grants.gov, not only PSN or other application. And anytime you have questions about JustGrants, you can contact the support desk. They’re really fast, especially on email—that’s my recommended method of contact—but you can call them as well. Next slide, please. Thanks.

And here we are, importantly, finally, here are the deadlines for the FY24 PSN grant applications. Note that again this year, and in the future, there will be two deadlines: Grants.gov and a JustGrants deadline. So there are two steps to your applications, which we cover in detail in the solicitation. So step one has a deadline that is tomorrow, so you have the rest of the day today and by close of business tomorrow, Eastern Time, to submit the first step in Grants.gov, if you intend to apply. And then August 26, which is Monday, is the deadline to have all materials move forward in JustGrants. So please look closely at these deadlines, move your applications forward, please do not wait until the last minute. And I see—actually submission deadline time’s 8:59 PM. So there you have it, beyond close of business Eastern Time, and that’s Eastern Time. So please mind these deadlines. Don’t wait until the last minute, if you intend to submit. Submit what you have. If you’re waiting for something and you don’t have it, we would rather you go ahead and submit what you have, and we can add that stuff later than miss the deadline and not submit. So please submit your applications, if you intend to do so, by the deadline indicated here.

And, oh, there’s one final point there I want to make there, Daryl. It’s really important, we do put a ton of information in the solicitation. So we try to include everything we can think of to put in there on our experience over the years, so that really is your guide for submitting. So look closely there and, of course, contact us if you have questions about any of those requirements. And now next slide, please. Okay. Very good.

At this time, I’m going to turn over to Kevin, and he is going to manage any questions that we may have that needs to be addressed. Kevin?

KEVIN STEWART: Thanks, Steve. So it looks like we only have a few questions so far. The first question pertains to the SF-424. So for applicants who have already submitted the SF-424 with the pre-allocation amount, can you go over the process for them to redo and resubmit that form?

STEPHEN FENDER: Yeah, sure. You actually do not have to go back and change your SF-424. If you change the amount in JustGrants, that’s adequate.

KEVIN STEWART: Perfect. The next question is regarding travel carryover from a previous award. The question is, if there’s travel carryover from a previous award, do they still need to include travel for this application?

STEPHEN FENDER: Yes, you’ll need to include travel for this application. And you can repurpose travel funds from previous award years. What’s going to be important is that we make sure you access—that potential travelers have access to this money. So you can repurpose that money if you didn’t use it for the meeting last year and you want to add it to a current subaward or make a new subaward or use it in some other allowable way, you can do so. But we do need you to set aside money in this solicitation for travel funds as indicated. Good question.

KEVIN STEWART: Perfect. Thank you. All right. The next question is in regarding to the in-person conference in DC. The question is that we typically do not know who will be traveling to the conference, so we leave conference travel in the fiscal agency budget, and once attendees are determined, if they’re funded in the FY budget, we just create a GAM. However, if they are not, we need a new contract. Is there are better way to do it?

STEPHEN FENDER: What was the last part? However what? Can you just restate that?

KEVIN STEWART: It said, if they are not funded to attend the conference, is there a better way to do this other than creating a GAM?

STEPHEN FENDER: No, that’s the best way to do that at this time. I think you’ve got it.
KEVIN STEWART: Okay. Perfect. Those are all the questions we have right now. I will go back. There are a few that Kate did answer, so I’ll just share that with the entire group.

One question was, is there a cost to attend the in-person workshop and should that be included in the budget? The response there is there’s no cost to attend the workshop beyond just travel and per diem.

And there’s another question regarding the TTA distribution email list. There should be a link on the psntta.org website where you can opt to join that distro list for TTA. If you don’t see that link, just reach out to Kate McNamee, and she will provide additional information regarding that.

So as of now, those are all the questions we have. If folks do have any other questions, please add them. All right. So I do see another question here that says, just confirming—have a pop up, so I can’t see it all the way…. Just confirming that the Fiscal Agent can also be the grantee.

STEPHEN FENDER: Yes. And that’s going to go back to the funding decision by the Selection Committee that Brandy covered. Yes. The Fiscal Agents can be funded for programmatic activity as long as the funding decisions were made by the Selection Committee.

KEVIN STEWART: All right. Thanks, Stephen. So I’m going to go back to the question regarding travel funds for the in-person conference. This question is from Marlana Dokken, and she’s trying to clarify here, it says that, “Is it other than entering into a contract with an unfunded agency.” So I’m not entirely clear on the question, but I’m not sure if you can still answer it there. And that was the question regarding if they don’t know who will be traveling to the in-person conference, what’s the best approach for that?

STEPHEN FENDER: Oh, I think I understand now. I understand, yes. Thanks, Marlana. Yes. So the best method—well, the appropriate method—is to enter into a subaward agreement between the Fiscal Agent and the traveler, as we’ve done in years past. I understand the question. That’s—that is the best method. There is no—there’s not another way at this time.
And I also want to answer another question I received over the email during the presentation, just in case others have it. It’s a question regarding prohibited expenses and food costs. If you’re funding travel, either for a PSN meeting or some programmatic purpose, such as training which we do see some for, per diem is an allowable expense. So in that case, you can use money to support per diem, but no other food costs outside of that.

KEVIN STEWART: Thanks, Stephen. Still not seeing any additional questions in the Q&A.

STEPHEN FENDER: Okay. I think at this time, I’ll turn it back over to Daryl to conclude us, if there’s no other questions. Daryl, can you take us away here?

DARYL FOX: Okay. Certainly. Thanks much, Stephen. Just a reference, I’ve been putting items in the chat for you to click on as needed. We’re going to get this PowerPoint up on the site by tomorrow, so you can reference it, because I know that the deadlines are fastly approaching, so something for you to reference. And everybody that’s registered today will receive an email when that’s posted, so check out the BJA website at the link provided. And with that, so on behalf of the Bureau of Justice Assistance and all of our panelists, we want to thank you for joining today’s webinar. This will end today’s presentation.