Managing Grants | Funding & Awards | Office for Victims of Crime

Overview

To ensure transparent and efficient use of funds, all award recipients are required to meet certain programmatic, financial, and administrative requirements while managing their grant projects.

Award Acceptance

Once an organization (also referred to as an “entity”) receives notification of a new OVC award, they must take certain steps to accept or decline their award. These steps are outlined in the Award Acceptance: Job Aid Reference Guide.

The following resources will also help guide you through the award acceptance process:

Help with Your Award

Learn where you go for help, what do if you have questions, and discover additional training and related resources on our Contacts for Help with Your Award referral sheet.

Get help with your award

System for Award Management

Organizations must maintain an active registration in System for Award Management (SAM) for the entire period of the award, which requires an annual update. Visit the JustGrants Resources website's Resources for Using the System for Award Management page for information about SAM registration.

Financial Management Online Training

To help grantees meet the financial requirements, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) offers a Grants Financial Management Online Training. The training is designed to cover all of the information you need to ensure sound fiscal management of your awards.

The training is available at no charge to all current DOJ award recipients and their employees. DOJ recommends that all Financial Points of Contact who have not attended one of the Office of Justice Programs (OJP) Financial Management Training Seminars complete the course.

Guidance for Conference Approval, Planning, and Reporting

All conferences (defined broadly to include meetings, retreats, seminars, symposia, events, and group training activity) conducted by Cooperative Agreement recipients or contractors funded by OJP must receive written prior approval.

Conferences conducted by grant recipients do not require prior approval. However, grant recipients must ensure compliance with the food/beverage, meeting room/audio-visual, logistical planner, and programmatic planner limitations and cost thresholds. (Note – if you do not have a "K" in the last 4 characters of your award number, your award is a grant.)

To determine if your conference requires prior approval, review the Policy and Guidance for Conference Approval, Planning, and Reporting: No Prior Approval Required section of the DOJ Grants Financial Guide.

This resource includes information on all conference-related policies and procedures, the conference planning and advance approval process, cost reporting requirements, and reporting forms and tools.

Requirements for Preparing OVC Funded Publications & Multimedia Products

OVC is committed to producing high quality print or electronic products and welcomes the opportunity to help grantees develop dynamic and useful products that will both inspire and educate the victims’ rights and services community about a wide range of existing and emerging issues.

As a special condition of an award, all grantees producing publications or multimedia products such as videos, must follow requirements set forth in the OVC Publishing Guidelines.

Tips for Managing Grants

The following most common programmatic, financial, and administrative requirements are oftentimes not met by grantees. More information about these and other requirements to help manage your grant are available in the OJP Postaward Instructions and the DOJ Grants Financial Guide.

Key program personnel designated in the application may be replaced only for compelling reasons and with the concurrence of OVC. All successors to key personnel must be approved, and such approval is contingent upon submission of appropriate information, including, but not limited to, a resume. Changes in other program personnel require only notification to OJP and submission of resumes, unless otherwise designated in the award document.
Employees’ timesheets must accurately reflect the amount of time spent on a particular grant for each pay period. All timesheets must be signed by the employee and counter signed by their supervisor.
Grant funds may be used only for the purposes in the grantee’s approved application. The recipient shall not undertake any work or activities that are not described in the grant application, and that use staff, equipment, or other goods or services paid for with OJP grant funds, without prior written approval from OJP.
Grantees that are required to contribute a match must maintain records which clearly show the date the matching contribution was applied, the source, and value. Note that matching contributions are restricted to the same use of funds as allowed for the Federal funds.
Errors on financial status reports and late submissions are common. To avoid freezing of funds and the suspension and/or termination of an award, reports must be submitted in a timely fashion.
Print or electronic promotional materials concerning an OVC-funded project that are intended for public dissemination must be submitted to OVC for review at least 7 working days in advance of release.
Review the OVC Publishing Guidelines for guidance on preparing print or electronic products.

OVC Tribal Financial Management Center

The OVC Tribal Financial Management Center provides financial management training, technical assistance, and resources to support American Indian and Alaska Native communities as they successfully manage the financial aspects of their federal awards.

Financial specialists are available to provide services at no cost to Tribal grantees.

Services available from the Center include, but are not limited to—

support the financial management and reporting requirements of their OVC award,
individualized financial training and technical assistance, and
financial needs assessments.

Request onsite technical assistance or virtual assistance by email at [email protected] or phone at 703-462-6900.

OVC Financial Management Resource Center

The OVC Financial Management Resource Center offers no cost financial management training and technical assistance to OVC human trafficking and discretionary grantees as they enhance their capacity to manage the financial aspects of their federal awards.

Services available from the Center include, but are not limited to—

reviewing award conditions and budget clearances;
preparing and submitting Grant Award Modifications (GAMs);
preparing for site visits and enhanced programmatic desk reviews (EPDRs);
re-allocating funds to meet project goals and pacing to project timeline;
providing orientation to new grant administration personnel; and
supporting specific grantee needs including but not limited to development of policies and procedures, budgeting, bookkeeping, fraud prevention, reporting, monitoring, and records retention.

Contact the Center by email at [email protected] or phone at 202-572-9500.

OVC Human Trafficking Program FAQs

Grantees are expected to be familiar with the program requirements detailed in the fiscal year solicitation under which the award was made, and with the terms and conditions contained in their award documents. Discover answers to frequently asked questions about OVC human trafficking awards on our Human Trafficking Program FAQs page.

Office of Justice Programs Territories Financial Support Center

The Office of Justice Programs Territories Financial Support Center (OJP TFSC) provides free customized financial management training and technical assistance to OJP grantees in American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands to improve financial management of federal awards.

OJP TFSC offers training and technical assistance to grantees covering a variety of financial management topics, including but not limited to—

policies and procedures surrounding financial infrastructure,
allowable costs consistent with the principles set out in the Uniform Guidance 2 C.F.R. § 200 and those permitted by the grant program’s authorizing legislation,
managing internal controls and grant funds, and
fully implementing cash flow best practices.

Please contact the OJP TFSC Virtual Support Center by email at [email protected] for additional information, questions, requests for resources, or requests for training and technical assistance. We also encourage VOCA Administrators to coordinate and discuss their financial management training and technical assistance needs with their OVC Grant Manager.

Grant Monitoring

OVC staff conduct regular and continuous monitoring of discretionary and formula grantees for the dual purpose of ensuring the effective use of public funds and assisting grantees in program development and grant administration. Monitoring allows OVC to—

Provide guidance to grantees on OJP policies and procedures, grant program requirements, general federal regulations, and basic programmatic, administrative, and financial reporting requirements.
Identify and resolve problems that may impede the effective implementation of programs.
Ensure that the grantees comply with the programmatic, administrative, and fiscal requirements of relevant statutes, regulations, policies, and guidelines.
Advocate responsible management of awarded funds.
Ensure that programs/projects initiated by grantees are carried out in a manner consistent with the grantee’s stated implementation plan and/or according to the policy guidelines and applicable rules and regulations of the awarding office within OJP.

OVC employs several approaches to monitoring discretionary and formula grants, some of which involve the assistance of the Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO), Office of Audit, Assessment, and Management (OAAM), and the Office of the Inspector General (OIG):

OVC conducts desk audits that facilitate monitoring of grant activities throughout the grant award period and assist in the preparation for site visits.
OVC and OCFO conduct site visits and enhanced programmatic desk reviews to discuss specific issues related to implementation plan progress, observe grant activity, and assess planned versus actual progress.
OVC reviews and analyzes programmatic progress reports.
OVC and OCFO review and analyze financial status reports submitted by grantees.
OVC and OAAM review and analyze audits performed by OIG staff.

Office of the Inspector General (OIG) Audits

OIG conducts audits of OVC grants to ensure that award recipients are complying with applicable statutes and are accomplishing the goals of the awards. Watch a five-part Grant Award Audit Process Webinar for an overview of the grant audit lifecycle.

Civil Rights Compliance

OVC grantees must comply with federal laws that prohibit discrimination in employment and/or the delivery of services or benefits based on race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, and/or disability, depending on the source of OVC funding.

Compliance with the civil rights laws also means taking reasonable steps to ensure that individuals with limited English proficiency have meaningful access to OJP-funded programs or services. See Civil Rights Requirements for more information.

All recipients of OVC funding are required to have a process in place for investigating discrimination complaints.

Employees, beneficiaries, and applicants for employment or services of an OVC grantee who believe that they have experienced unlawful discrimination may file a civil rights complaint with the Office for Civil Rights at the Office of Justice Programs.

If you have questions about civil rights compliance, please contact the Office for Civil Rights at:

Phone: 202-307-0690
Email: [email protected]
Fax: 202-354-4380

Contact Information

Every OVC discretionary grant is monitored by an OVC Victim Justice Program Specialist. The name and contact information for the assigned Victim Justice Program Specialist is provided in award documents and in JustGrants. For specific questions about a particular grant program, please contact the appropriate Grants Management Specialist or OVC at 202-307-5983.

For technical assistance or guidance using JustGrants, contact JustGrants Support at 833-872-5175 or [email protected]. JustGrants Support operates weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. eastern time and Saturday, Sunday, and Federal holidays from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. eastern time.

For technical assistance or guidance using PMT, please contact the OVC PMT Help Desk via email at [email protected] or by phone at 844-884-2503.

For information about the financial aspects of OVC grants, contact the Office of the Chief Financial Officer at:

Phone: 800-458-0786
Fax: 202-616-5962
Email: [email protected]

If you have questions about civil rights compliance, please contact the Office for Civil Rights at:

Phone: 202-307-0690
Email: [email protected]
Fax: 202-354-4380

Learn about JustGrants, DOJ’s grants management system.