If you are aware of any fraud, waste, abuse, misconduct, or whistleblower reprisal relating to a Department of Justice employee, program, contract, or grant, you may report it to the OIG Hotline.
Prior approval is not required for grant award recipients; however, cooperative agreement recipients or contractors may be required to submit a formal conference cost approval.
View more information on OJP’s conference cost policy guidance and supporting materials, resources, and job aids.
Please review the Delivering Impact through Effective Grants Compliance and Oversight recorded webinar presented by the Office of Justice Programs’ (OJP) Office of Audit, Assessment, and Management. The webinar equips OVC anti-trafficking grantees with information about effective grants compliance and oversight to meet grant requirements, including subrecipient monitoring, agency internal controls, and common audit findings. Additional resources include:
- The OJP Financial Policies and Procedures Guide Sheets collection, developed by the OVC Tribal Financial Management Center, offers resources on internal controls, and other compliance and oversight topics.
- The Subawards and Procurement Contracts under OJP Awards resources help clarify the differences between subawards and procurement contracts under an OJP award and outlines the compliance and reporting requirements for each.
- The OJP Subaward and Procurement Toolkit provides guidance designed to help recipients of OJP grants and cooperative agreements understand subawards and procurement contracts and their administrative requirements.
It is important that each OJP recipient have a full understanding which (if any) of its actions (for purposes of OJP and other federal grants administrative requirements) are “subawards”, and which are “procurement contracts under an award.” The substance of the relationship should be given greater consideration than the form of agreement between the recipient and the outside entity.
If an OJP recipient agrees to provide award funds to an outside entity (or another third party), so that the outside entity will carry out part of the OJP award or program, OJP will consider the agreement between the recipient and the outside entity a “subaward.” If, instead, an OJP recipient agrees to provide funds to an outside entity, and, in exchange, the outside entity will simply provide the recipient with goods or services ancillary to the award, rather than “carry out part of the OJP award,” OJP will consider the agreement a “procurement contract (or procurement transaction) under the OJP award,” not a “subaward.” The critical question, then, is whether the outside entity is “carry[ing] out part of the OJP award or program.” The answer lies in the relationship between– (1) what the outside entity will do under its agreement with the recipient, and (2) what the recipient has committed (to OJP) to do to further the public purpose(s) of the OJP award.
The Office of Justice Programs (OJP) has developed the following guidance documents to help clarify the differences between subawards and procurement contracts under an OJP award and outline the compliance and reporting requirements for each.
- Subawards under OJP Awards and Procurement Contracts under Awards: A Toolkit for OJP Recipients.
- Checklist to Determine Subrecipient or Contractor Classification.
- Sole Source Justification Fact Sheet and Sole Source Review Checklist.
- Guide to Procurement Procedures for Recipients of DOJ Grants and Cooperative Agreements.
Please contact your grant manager if you have any questions regarding subawards and procurement contracts under an OJP award.
Your award package, including award conditions, will indicate whether your award was made as a grant or a cooperative agreement. Grants and cooperative agreement are both legal instruments of financial assistance from the Federal Government to a non-federal entity to carry out a public purpose authorized by U.S. law. Cooperative agreements provide for substantial involvement of the Federal awarding agency in carrying out the activity contemplated by the Federal award, while grants do not.
All cooperative agreements will include the Statement of Federal Involvement award condition:
Due to the substantial Federal involvement contemplated in completion of this project, the OVC has elected to enter into a cooperative agreement rather than a grant. This decision is based on OJP and OVC’s ongoing responsibility to assist and coordinate projects that relate to the funded activities. OJP and OVC will provide input and re-direction to the project, as needed, in consultation with the recipient, and will actively monitor the project by methods including, but not limited to, ongoing contact with the recipient. In meeting programmatic responsibilities, OJP, OVC, and the recipient will be guided by the following principles: responsibility for the day-to-day operations of this project rests with the recipient in implementation of the recipient’s approved proposal, the recipient’s approved budget, and the terms and conditions specified in this award. Responsibility for general oversight and redirection of the project, if necessary, rests with OVC. In addition to its programmatic reporting requirements, the recipient agrees to provide necessary information as requested by OJP and OVC. Information requests may include, but are not limited to, specific submissions related to: performance, including measurement of project outputs/outcomes; meeting performance specifications; developmental decision points; changes in project scope or personnel; budget modifications; and/or coordination of related projects.
Cooperative agreements have additional requirements including obtaining prior approval for some costs related to conferences/events. Grantees should carefully review the DOJ Financial Guide to understand the requirements associated with cooperative agreements.
Yes. Changes to subrecipients or subrecipient activities generally need to be reviewed and approved through budget modification and scope change GAMs because they are considered in an award’s eligibility and merit review.
If an applicant experiences unforeseen Grants.gov or JustGrants technical issues beyond its control that prevent it from submitting its application by the deadline, the applicant must email the Office of Justice Programs Response Center at [email protected] within 24 hours after the application deadline to request approval to submit its application after the deadline.
Applicants must submit their application electronically. OVC will not accept paper submissions.
If you have not yet contacted law enforcement officials to report your missing child, please do so immediately. Ask them about the issuing an AMBER Alert.
Through the AMBER Alert system, law enforcement agencies and broadcasters activate an urgent bulletin in the most serious child abduction cases. Request that law enforcement put out a Be On the Look Out (BOLO) bulletin. Ask them about involving the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the search for your child.
You may also contact the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at 800-843-5678 and view their Missing-Child, Emergency-Response, Quick-Reference Guide for Families.
Finally, visit the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) website. NamUs is a clearinghouse for missing persons and unidentified decedent records. This free online system can be searched by law enforcement officials, other allied professionals, and the general public to solve these cases.
Intimate partner homicide statistics are available in the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s annual Uniform Crime Reporting system.
For additional information, visit our Intimate Partner Violence and Homicide Survivors/Co-Survivors Topic pages.
OVC uses AEAP to help jurisdictions respond to victims’ immediate and ongoing needs in the aftermath of mass violence or domestic terrorism. This funding can compensate and assist victims of terrorism and mass violence that occur within the United States.
Further details can be found in the AEAP Notice of Funding Opportunity.