TFSC Session 1: Charting Your Pathway to Success (Pre-Learning)

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[Music]

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Welcome to Journey in Grants  Financial Management Essentials.

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In this pre-learning video, we’ll  cover topics for Session 1:  

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Charting Your Pathway to Success.  Let’s begin our learning journey!

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This training series is recommended to be taken  after you have completed the required Grant  

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Financial Management Certification Training.  The Essentials series does not fulfill the  

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Department of Justice (DOJ) Grants Financial  Management certification requirement. As an  

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As an introduction to this series, let's look  at the Financial Life Cycle.  

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The process of the grant life cycle has five phases based  on the Office of Justice Program (OJP) model:  

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application, budget review, award,  grant administration, and closeout.

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Within these five phases are high-level steps that  detail project milestones. This session has been  

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developed to assist you with growing your personal  knowledge of the steps involved in financial grant  

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management and, ultimately, help complement  your knowledge to assist with your grant-funded  

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project. What are some processes that you  should consider as you get ready for your award?

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Let's briefly take a look. Let’s check off some  key things to consider as you’re getting set  

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up for your award. You’ll want to understand the  award conditions by reviewing them in JustGrants.  

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And by reviewing the information in JustGrants,  you’ll be able to create a backup file system to  

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establish backup copies of essential documentation  related to the life cycle of your grant. Finally,  

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you should follow the performance and  financial reporting requirements of your grant.

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Finally, you should follow the performance  and financial reporting requirements of your  

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grant. Let’s start with understanding the award  conditions. It may have been some time since you  

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last reviewed key information about your grant  award package, or maybe you need to confirm  

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details related to your specific award conditions.  Make sure everyone involved in the management of  

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the award, including the Grant Writer or  Planner, read the grant solicitation, too.

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We’ll talk more about that when we discuss  roles and responsibilities. The Grants.gov  

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website is the central platform for all federal  grants. This is where you can find the original  

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Notice of Funding Opportunity, also known as  NOFO. You can also find the NOFO in JustGrants.  

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From the ‘Search Grants’ button on the top of the  Grants.gov website, you can search by keyword,  

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status, and many other criteria to find  high level information on all grants.

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With a System for Award Management or SAM account,  

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you can gain access to other specific  information related to your grant.  

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There are several key pieces of information  that you can locate to begin creating an award  

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grant management file. Let’s begin with how  to locate your grant award information using  

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the JustGrants system. Once you log in, you can  check to see the current status of your award.

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From the Actions menu, you can  select “print Award Package PDF.”

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Next, your award package will download  to your computer as a PDF file.  

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A copy can be printed and saved as a  backup copy. The document header will  

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display the DOJ seal. Your award package  will contain information to assist you  

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with filling out the Grant Information Page,  which should be placed in your grant file.

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To ensure compliance with grant award  requirements, grantees should establish  

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a grant file that accounts for all three phases  of the grant lifecycle. The file structure shown  

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here offers a practical way to begin organizing  the records you should maintain for each phase of  

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grant activity. Within each grant lifecycle phase  folder, grantees can create subfolders to organize  

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relevant materials according to naming conventions  that best meet the needs of their entity.

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The entity should decide what documents are  necessary to maintain the files. For security  

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purposes, only individuals with clearly designated  roles should have access to the grant file. As  

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mentioned earlier, roles and responsibilities  are important to designate when managing a grant.  

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There are three main roles in managing federal  grants: program, financial, and administrative.

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No matter how big or small your entity is,  

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plan ahead to decide who will be responsible  for these roles. For more assistance, visit the  

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Just Grants Training for Entity Management  linked in the Session 1 resource packet.

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Like roles and responsibilities, there are various  

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systems to manage grants. These include  ASAP, JustGrants, SAM.gov, and Grants.gov.  

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While this journey is helpful to complement your  skills, as a DOJ award grantee, it is important to  

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be acquainted with the financial management  requirements stated in 2 CFR 200: Uniform  

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Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles,  and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards.

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Also, use the DOJ Grants Financial Guide  to help fulfill the grant's duties,  

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safeguard funds, and ensure  funds are used appropriately.  

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It’s a starting point for grantees to learn about  the effective day-to-day management of awards.

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All individuals responsible for the financial  administration of discretionary and/or formula  

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grants awarded from federal grant-in-aid  programs administered by various bureaus and  

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offices at DOJ, are required to complete  DOJ training for financial management.  

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There are various reports you’ll also need to  maintain and provide throughout the lifecycle  

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of your grant, including financial reports,  performance reports, and property reports.

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You can download many of these  reports from our website.

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As you prepare your grant management file,  

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be sure to write down important dates,  such as these, in your calendar.  

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Dates related to the Federal Financial Report (or  FFR) period, due dates for submitting the FFR,  

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and dates the funds are frozen if you do  not submit the FFR, should all be included.

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There are two systems you'll need to use  to provide reports. The Office for Victims  

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of Crime's Performance Management Tool (or  PMT) is used to submit performance reports,  

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and JustGrants is used to submit financial  reports. During Session 1, we will provide a  

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comprehensive walkthrough of the grant management  file, showcasing various documents and strategies  

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for organizing essential materials that your  team will need to set up your entity for success.

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Our focus will be on the award phase,  

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ensuring you have the tools and knowledge  to navigate this critical stage effectively.

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We are excited to invite you to join us for  Session 1, where we will delve deeper into the  

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topics covered in this video. During this session,  you will learn how to: identify documentation  

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and procedures to include when establishing your  entity’s grant management processes and policies;  

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establish roles and responsibilities that can  help facilitate compliance with your award  

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and solicitation conditions and other federal  requirements; and set up strategies to maintain  

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roles and procedures at your entity for the long  term, even when there is workforce turnover.

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Reach out to your Training and Technical  Assistance center if you have any questions  

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or need assistance with Session 1.  We hope to see you soon! [Music]