FY25 Tribal Victim Service Set-Aside (TVSSA) Pre-Application Webinar: Developing Your TVSSA Budget

JAMEEL EVANS: Hello everyone. Welcome to the Developing your TVSSA Budget webinar presented by the Office for Victims of Crime Tribal Financial Management Center or OVC TFMC and we're glad you can join us today.

We are appreciative of the representatives from the Office of the Chief Financial Officer or OCFO and the Office for Victims of Crime, OVC, who are on the line with us today to help answer any questions.

My name is Jameel Evans, and I’ll be providing technical support for today’s session. Before we begin, let’s review some details about our webinar platform to address any potential technical issues. Next, please note that all attendees will remain muted during the webinar. If you have questions, please enter them in the chat box, which will also contain copies of today’s PowerPoint presentation and messages from the presenters. If you’d like to view subtitles, you can use the live transcript button in your Zoom control panel. If you experience audio issues during the webinar, you may call in using one of the dial-in numbers found in your confirmation email and I'll provide that in your chat box. And with that, I'll turn it over to Jenny, who will introduce our speakers.

JENNY STANCELL: Well, good morning, good afternoon, depending on where you're joining us from, my name is Jenny Stancell, the OVC Grant Manager here at the Tribal Division.

It is my pleasure to introduce to you today presenters April Bird and Alicia Abdulla and to welcome you to the webinar and provide for you the information on how to develop your budget for the TVSSA Notice of Funding Opportunity.

April and Alicia are part of our OVC financial training and technical assistance provider.

Our TTA providers from the Tribal Financial Management Center, also known as TFMC. TFMC offers support on a range of financial related topics, everything from help with your budget modifications to assistance with financial reporting.

OVC TTA providers are available to victim service providers and other stakeholders at no cost.

To learn more about the types of training and technical assistance available, visit the TA page on our OVC website. The link will be posted in the chat for your convenience. However, if you should have any questions or need assistance with your grant application, by all means please contact OVC via our Tribal Set-Aside e-mail inbox [[email protected]]. That e-mail address will be posted also in the chat for you.

Now, I'll hand it over to Miss April Bird and Alicia Abdulla so they can get us started for today's webinar, Developing Your Budget. 

APRIL BIRD: Excuse me, Shio Nagata. My name is April Bird, and I'm an enrolled member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, and I'm joining you here from the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains in Cherokee, NC. I received my MLS Master of Legal Studies for Indigenous People from the University of Oklahoma and my BSBA in Corporate Finance from Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, NC. I currently serve as the Assistant Project Director at the Tribal Financial Management Center or TFMC. I've been here for almost six years now. And with that, I'm going to turn it over to Alicia to let you learn a little bit about her.

ALICIA ABDULLA: Good day. I'm Alicia Abdulla and I'm located in South Florida. I have a bachelor’s in accounting and an MBA. I bring in my background as a grant accountant in which I administered around 150 grants and contracts—a mix of state, federal, and private grants—to TFMC and our conversations today. I come from the financial side of grants, so I understand the nuances of financial reporting and budgeting. I'm so happy to be here with you all today as a member of the TFMC technical team. Back to you, April.

APRIL BIRD: Alright, thank you, Alicia. Sorry about that. I had a little coughing spell. OK, so these are our learning objectives for today, and we're just going to talk about budgeting and identify key elements of a TVSSA budget, use the budget detail worksheet, develop a project budget, and leverage resources to help you drive success.

So many of you may know a budget is a shared document and it makes it easier for you to run your program and plan your expenses. And it could be used for your entire tribal entity or just for one specific project. In any circumstance, it's important to develop a complete, detailed, and clear budget as you will have a guide to help direct your expenses and activities, and it's also going to help you obtain approval from OVC without any issues or delays.

Today, as I said, we're going to focus on these learning objectives. Just remember that a well-planned budget with a detailed budget narrative increases the likelihood that your budget will reach final budget clearance early in the process. That's important.

Before we get started, we're going to share some important resources in the chat, including the OVC American Indian and Alaska Native Victim Services Resources, the FY2025 TVSSA NOFO (Notice of Funding Opportunity), the FY2025 TVSSA budget guidance chart (which is new and a wonderful resource), and the OJP budget detail worksheet. Jameel's going to be adding those links in the chat, and we will be referencing these documents throughout the presentation. Make sure you click on those links and make them a favorite in your browser so you won't lose them. We will also have them listed on the resource page at the end of the presentation.

Now let's get started. Alicia.

ALICIA ABDULLA: Thank you, April.

Think of your project as a vibrant garden. Each cost category is a unique flower. Personnel is your sturdy sunflower. Supplies are your delicate orchids and equipment your climbing roses. Cost estimation is the gardener's blueprint. It tells you how much sunlight, soil, and water each bloom needs to survive to thrive.

Now we've planted the idea, let's dig into the details. The project cost cutter. Oh my God, excuse me.

The project cost categories that are included in the BDW are personnel, fringe benefits, travel, equipment, supplies, construction, sub-award and/or subcontracts, procurement contracts, other costs, and indirect costs.

The budget cost category descriptions can be found in the Budget Sheet Instructions tab of the BDW. You can see this tab listed at the bottom of the page on the left side. Below are a couple of examples from each category to show you what can be allowable.

Personnel: salary, cost of living increases. Types of positions included: Victim Advocates, Coordinators specialized on staff, and professionals. For fringe, we have a list of the majority of the fringe benefits—a couple of slides down, but some examples here are FICA, which includes Social Security, Medicare, medical insurance, and 401K.

The next category we have is travel. In this category, you would want to include all expenses related to travel like mileage, airfare, and per diem. In the equipment category, examples here are vehicles used to transport victims, equipment necessary to complete medical exams, and security systems. We will go into the details more in the equipment section, but it's important to remember that items purchased under the equipment line should not be over $10,000. Should be over $10,000 for a single item. If it's under that $10,000 threshold, it may be a better fit in the supplies category.

Supplies: This could be supplies for outreach and awareness, shelter or transitional housing—excuse me, housing supplies, desktop computers, laptops, etc.

We will share a few examples of the remaining cost categories in this slide. Construction: fencing outside or surrounding victim service facilities, construction of a new building, major resident renovations, and expansion of existing buildings and purchases. Site preparation and installation of modular buildings, prefabricated buildings, trailer homes, mobile homes, or similar structures. Just by looking at these examples, you can tell that some pretty major costs are associated with this category.

Before you go to the basic guidance, the budget guidance chart, and take a little deeper dive into each of those examples.

And next area we have is sub-awards and/or sub-grants. These can be useful where the recipient itself does not have the expertise or capacity to provide a type of victim services, but another organization does.

Most allowable activities and their costs may be sub-awarded. For example, a tribe may use grant funds to rent space and pay personnel to provide victim intake, case management, and referral services. Or it could choose to sub-award funds to an organization that could or already does these things.

Make sure you read the resources provided for this section as there are detailed provisions around sub-awards. Award recipients who have included sub-recipients in this category will need to submit written sub-recipient monitoring policies and procedures to OVC for review and approval before executing sub-recipient agreements.

Procurement contracts would include expenses like equipment leases, tribal code development, cultural experts, trainers, etcetera. A note to remember for both sub-award and procurement services: any travel associated with experts who you've hired and paid from these categories are not included in the travel section above. Their travel costs are included just under the categories for these areas. For example, if you hire a trainer to come from another state to train your employees, the travel is listed directly under the Procurement Contracts area.

The budget narrative for those two areas can be found directly under travel. Some examples of other costs are emergency short-term needs of victims and court-related filing fees. And last but definitely not least are indirect costs. Examples of costs usually treated as indirect include those incurred by faculty, facility operation and maintenance, depreciation, and administrative salaries.

We'll go into each cost category soon, but just remember that all of the examples and more that we have just shared are listed in the allowable/unallowable cost chart located in the budget guidance chart. There's also detailed information about unallowable costs as well. Let's now talk about program cost estimation.

A program cost estimation is an estimate of the time, effort, costs, and resources needed to complete the program. The purpose is to create a realistic outline so the program can be completed on time, within scope and budget. It is important to remember to estimate as closely as possible, but changes can be made as your program evolves.

To prepare for your program cost estimation, it's good to have the following available items: the Notice of Funding Opportunity or the NOFO, the FY2025 TVSSA Budget Guidance Chart, the OJP Budget Detail Worksheet, your program narrative, and your timeline.

The narrative in your budget is as important as the line item details. Use this to tell a story about what you plan to do. It helps the reviewer determine that the items are necessary, reasonable, allowable, and allocable. Your narrative sheet includes an explanation of each line item and the basis of computation. For example, if you request $3,600 in office supplies, you'll want to explain what type of supplies might be considered office supplies and how you arrived at $3,600. In this example, you would represent this figure as an average monthly cost of $300 times 12 months.

Another important part of creating a budget narrative is to make sure you fill in any gaps of knowledge a budget reviewer might have. For instance, an Alaskan grantee is considering requesting a snow machine. The explanation may include a sentence stating that the community does not have a road system and that the common method of travel is by snow machine.

You'll now want to make sure your budget detail and budget narrative are tied to whatever you're proposing to do in your program narrative or program checklist. Now I turn it over to April to discuss allowable and unallowable costs.

APRIL BIRD: Thank you, Alicia. That was a lot of really good information. So in the garden of project budgeting, allowable costs are the healthy seeds you're permitted to plant. They're essential, well documented, and nurtured by compliance. Unallowable costs, on the other hand, are weeds. They may sneak in, but they don't belong and knowing the difference keeps your project blooming within the rules.

All right, you may be wondering where you can find the detailed chart on the allowable and unallowable costs. That information along with other helpful resources can be found on the OVC web page. You'll see several topics that may be of interest to you. They may help you with your journey. As you scroll down, you're also going to see a link to the NOFO highlighted in green.

You'll also see some other information about allowable activities, support for missing and murdered indigenous persons, and other helpful links. As you get down, you're going to notice a yellow box, and in that yellow box, you'll see the link to the budget guidance sheet. You'll want to click on that link and open information specifically written to assist you with your FY2025 TVSSA Award. OVC has provided an in-depth overview of allowable and unallowable costs.

We'll be providing the links to all of this information in the chat, but always remember that these costs must be necessary, reasonable, allowable, and allocable. Now this slide shows you a couple of examples of common equipment items that are requested under this NOFO. Vehicles may be allowable based on their proposed use, and a vehicle used to transport victims would also be allowable, while vehicles for law enforcement would be unallowable. Similarly, security system equipment would be allowable for certain victim services facilities, but that would not be allowable for public buildings that are not specific to serving victims.

Again, it's super important that costs must be necessary, reasonable, allowable, and allocable. While TVSSA funds can be used to provide a wide variety of services for victims of crime, there are some statutory limitations on how those funds can be used and costs related to investigation, prosecution, offender services, or corrections would be unallowable. Other activities focused solely on prevention are also unallowable.

Now, if your application contains unallowable costs or activities, you'll be asked to remove those from your applications. So remember that your budget should mirror your program scope or program checklist. On this slide, you're going to also see some things that are unallowable, like lobbying costs associated with law enforcement, prime prevention activities, etcetera.

And now I'm going to turn it right back over to Alicia to go into more detail about some of the different budget categories. Thank you, April. Are budget ideas blooming in your head? The Budget Detail Worksheet is where you'll want to plant them.

The Budget Detail Worksheet, or BDW, is a required budget format for this NOFO. You'll submit a completed BDW into JustGrants along with your application. The BDW is a helpful tool for writing a complete and detailed description of your estimated expenses to support the project's proposed activities. Each cost must be categorized in a cost category that includes a calculation and a brief supporting narrative explanation to link the cost to the proposed activities.

Grantees can refer to the FY2025 TVSSA Budget Guidance Chart for examples of allowable and unallowable costs. You can find the budget detail worksheet on the Office of Justice Programs (OJP) website. We are including a link in the chat box. The Microsoft Excel file is a user-friendly fillable form, but if you don't have access to Microsoft Excel or experience any technical difficulties with the file, a 508 compliant PDF version is also available.

Applicants may submit a budget for a period up to 60 months using the Budget Detail Worksheet, which must be uploaded as an attachment in JustGrants. This file should be used to show calculations for requested funding and provide narrative descriptions for all proposed expenses.

Let's go over some instructions on how to navigate the Budget Detail Worksheet. Place your cursor over the red triangles in the upper right corners of individual cells for detailed instructions. This will bring up a yellow text box that includes a description for that heading. For example, when hovering over the red triangle above the heading "Number of Staff," a yellow text box tells you to enter the number of staff that will be claiming travel expenses. This may include the number of employees staying in a hotel or the number of employees who will claim local travel expenses.

Use the Add and Delete selected buttons in each cost category. As you can see, there is only one line available that can be used to add an employee working under the award. If you have two employees and need another line, click the Add Personnel button. If you later decide you only need one, click in the cell you want to delete and use the Delete selected button. The entire row will be deleted.

Review the tabs along the bottom of the Excel spreadsheet. Notice the budget summary tab, which shows a summary of all expenses for each year.

Here are some valuable tips and reminders. Show calculations for requested funding and narrative descriptions for proposed expenses. The budget should tie to the formula allocation and match the activities described in the personal or proposal narrative. Save your work often. Remove any blank lines under each category using the delete selected button.

Now I'll hand it back over to April. It's time to put the pedal to the metal and talk about developing your budget. Budgets may be challenging, but after today’s presentation, you should have additional information and some tips and tricks to make the development process easier. We’re going to walk you through developing a project budget and discuss cost categories in detail.

This slide shows the first two steps of the budget detail process: writing the project narrative and using the budget detail worksheet. It’s critical that your budget and budget narrative tie to the overall project narrative or checklist. Today we're going to focus in detail on Step 2, which is estimating costs.

We’ll also focus on Step 3: writing a budget narrative to ensure you have a strong budget for your project. This includes ensuring the budget narrative explains each cost in your cost categories. There’s no need to submit a separate budget narrative—the budgeted costs and related narrative can be included in the BDW. There is a space for that in the BDW. Step 4 is attaching the completed BDW to your application in JustGrants, and that's important as well.

Top tips and reminders: carefully review your current budget, if you have one, and familiarize yourself with what is already funded by previous years. Also, familiarize yourself with other federal grants, as that's important to this process. Remember that budgeting takes time, especially if you're new to it. Make sure you give yourself enough time to gather the necessary information and think through and discuss the various elements of the budget. It’s important not to rush the budgeting process, so take your time. You might find it helpful to make a task list for completing your budget and budget narrative.

The first recommended task is to outline your project activities. Ask yourself whether you are implementing a new victim services program in your community or expanding or enhancing an existing victim services program. Next, break those activities down into specific costs. For example, if one of those activities is providing cultural healing services to victims, consider what supply costs you need for that activity. Afterward, assign those costs to the appropriate cost categories in the BDW.

Once the costs are assigned, create a clear, complete, and concise budget narrative that explains and justifies each cost. It’s important to include your basis of computation—how you determined those estimated costs. Make sure that goes in the narrative because it will help justify those expenses. Always ensure that all costs meet the requirements in the NOFO by reviewing that NOFO carefully and paying attention to allowable and unallowable costs.

And even though we list this at the end of these steps, always remember that this task should be considered throughout the entire process while you're developing your budget.

A quick tip: the FY2025 invitation to apply indicates that applicants may submit a budget of either up to 12 months or starting at 12 to 60 months.

Now it's time to share some more tips and reminders. A tip to consider when preparing to write your budget is to define how much money can be spent in the different categories such as travel, supplies, and other costs. Again, always refer to the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the allowable and unallowable cost chart, which is now called the budget guidance chart. As always, you can contact your awarding agency for clarification.

If this is a continuation of a previous TVSSA award, review applicable budgets to ensure personnel costs or other costs in those categories don't overlap. You'll want to review your applicable budgets to ensure that none of the costs are duplicating, so you're not duplicating charges.

When thinking about what is allowable, there are three important questions you'll want to answer: Is this activity related to supporting or assisting victims of crime? How is this cost related to the proposed project, and how does this expense help victims of crime?

Consider who benefits from a program activity supported by this budget and direct victim services, which includes staff, equipment, and supplies to provide those services are allowable. Costs related to navigating the criminal justice system or welfare system are also allowable. Some other costs relate to awareness about victimization and resources available for the victims. Notice there is a trend here: expenses that benefit victims of crime are allowable. Refer to the budget guidance chart again in the NOFO for additional information.

Links will be provided throughout the presentation to make sure you have access, as it's very important in this process.

Now the part you've all been waiting for: the budget detail worksheet. We're going to jump right into that and turn it back over to Alicia.

ALICIA ABDULLA: Thanks, April. As April just noted, we're going to review each budget category in detail. As a reminder, representatives from OVC and the Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO) are here to take questions, so please feel free to type your questions in the chat.

Let's get started with the first budget category. Personnel award funds may be used to pay the salary for full and part-time employees who spend their time and effort providing services to victims of crime. Please note that applicants must follow provisions included in the DOJ Grants Financial Guide and Part 200 Uniform Requirements for Federal Awards for all cost categories.

Key points to remember: these are the steps you'll use when documenting personnel. You should include the details needed for each section. If all information is completed, the BDW will compute the totals for you. Once you have the detailed information listed, don't forget to write a detailed narrative in the Narrative section to back up the amounts in the line.

On your screen is an example of how to list the projected cost of each type of project personnel. You'll need to include the title, rate of pay, portion of time dedicated to the project activities, and length of time the individual will work on the project for the budget period. List each position by title and name, employee if available. If you do not know who will be hired for the position, you may list TBD until the position is filled.

Show the salary rate and the percentage of time to be devoted to the project for that individual. Wages for employees engaged in grant activities must be consistent with the pay for similar work with the applicant entity in the budget narrative. Include a description of the responsibilities and duties of each position in relationship to fulfilling the project goals and objectives. All requested information must be included in the Budget Detail Worksheet and Budget Narrative. Complete this level of detail for each budget year of the project.

For example, if you're adding staff in year 2, make sure they're reflected. If you have more than one position held by different people with the same title, label each differently so it does not appear that there are duplicative costs; for example, Advocate number 1 and Advocate number 2. Also, remember to budget for cost-of-living allowances or COLA increases if applicable to your entity.

Let's review the personnel examples: The first person is Jason Owl. His position is a victim advocate. His salary is $20 per hour and he is working a full year, which is 2080 hours at 100% of time. So his full salary would be allocated to this grant.

The next example is Ella Bird. Her position is project director. Her salary is $37 an hour and her full-time load is also 2080 hours, but for this program she'll be only working 15% of the time. That means only 15% of her salary will be paid out of this award. The other 85% will be allocated elsewhere.

Please make a note of the total personnel cost, as we'll use it in the Fringe section. If you have any questions on the Personnel category, please put them in the chat for us. Fringe benefits are listed for all staff included in the Personnel Budget category.

All benefits should be listed separately and be included in the Budget Detail Worksheet and Budget Narrative. As you can see, there can be many benefits paid by your entity. While collecting the information, you'll also need to know the percentage of each benefit. Outliers can include time and position, whether medical insurance is included for all employees or only employees who have requested the benefit, and opt-in services like vision and dental.

Typically, you can find information about your entity's fringe benefits in the Employee Handbook, which covers benefits and payroll information. Here are the steps of documenting fringe benefits. When documenting fringe benefits, start by listing all benefits offered to an employee, such as health insurance or retirement plans. Include the total personnel that each were computed in the personnel section. Then list the percentage of each benefit. Keeping the records organized is crucial for transparency. Remember, TFMC can assist you if you have questions.

This is an excellent example of the detail that should be included when writing the fringe section of the budget. Fringe benefits should be based on the actual benefits paid from your entity. The composition of the fringe benefits package may include FICA, Medicare, workers compensation, retirement, life, and health insurance. The rate for the benefits in the example listed above is 28.45%, and they are broken down by each benefit.

As we stated earlier, fringe benefits are for the personnel listed in the Personnel Budget category and only for the percentage of time devoted to the project. Here are a few helpful hints. Be accurate. Make sure the information you enter is correct. Ask for help. If you're unsure, ask someone who knows about the grant and keep your records. Save all your notes and calculations.

I'll be passing it over to April to speak about the next few categories. That was a lot of really detailed information. Hopefully you will get all the information you need and just remember, any questions that you have, you don't have to wait till the end. Go ahead and type those in the chat and we have some experts on hand that will answer them.

All right, we're going to talk about travel costs. So travel costs are expenses, and those are for transportation, lodging, subsistence, and any other related items incurred by employees who are in travel status or are on official business of their nonfederal entity. Grantees may be reimbursed based on their agency travel policy, but at rates that do not exceed the federal per diem rates and they must follow the provisions included in the DOJ Grant's Financial Guide.

As with other budget categories, all requested information must be included in the BDW and the budget narrative. So in the narrative, be sure to state whether the budget numbers are based on the tribal entity's travel policy or the federal travel regulations. Make sure those are followed. As a note, consultant travel is not included in this category. It will be included later under Consultant Travel in the Sub Awards, Procurement Contracts, budget categories.

Per this year's NOFO, applicants should budget at least one trip per year for one or two key personnel to attend the OVC required meetings or conferences or any other travel that will be needed to meet the goals of the budget or in the project. Required events could include things like the OVC National Indian Nations Conference that's been in Palm Springs the past few years and also the OVC Regional Training and Technical Assistance events.

When documenting travel, it's necessary to clearly outline the purpose of each travel trip, and it not only helps in justifying the travel, but it also aids in your future planning. Be sure to specify the destination as it can impact the costs and logistics depending on where you're going. It's also important to categorize expenses accurately, including lodging and meals, as those are typically the larger costs of travel. And don't forget to account for other travel related expenses such as parking fees or taxi rides, because those can add up really quickly. One important thing to remember is that the first and last calendar day of travel per diem is calculated at 75%.

Whenever I'm traveling, one of the things that I do is when I'm documenting it is I start from start to finish. When I leave and travel to the airport, I have to go over 50 miles. So I need to make sure that I'm accounting for my mileage, baggage fees, airfare, and then when I land, I'm going to have to get a taxi or an Uber. I go through those steps and that's how I compute my charges for my travel and get my estimates.

Finally, calculating the total cost per type of expense based on the number of travelers ensures a comprehensive overview of the trip's financial impact. The structured approach will facilitate better budgeting and reporting. So check for allowable costs, make sure all your travel costs are allowed under the DOJ guidelines. Some costs might not be allowed, so make sure you're checking those rules carefully. Always reach out to your grant manager if you have any questions.

Jameel is going to add links to the GSA per diem rates for grants in the grantees in the Lower 48. And for Alaska grantees, there will be a link to the defense travel management rates. You can see here an example of travel for the first year of the project. Local travel is included, and that is for the victim advocate because they need to transport victims to and from court proceedings with meetings with service providers. Based on this budget, they're expecting to drive up to 1,000 miles per year.

Also included is travel for the project director and victim advocate to one DOJ sponsored training. It accounts for a round-trip airfare and local transportation costs. Whenever you're estimating that, you can use an online airfare site to get some estimates for those transportation costs.

This is a continuation of the previous slide and shows the remaining travel costs that are included in the budget, and those were the lodging and meals. Additionally, on this side, you'll see the narrative section for the travel and the narrative states who is expected to travel, the purpose of that travel, and some additional detail about each budgeted cost and when estimating those travel costs. If an event location has yet to be determined, you can use Washington, DC as a placeholder to get your estimates.

You'll want to write specific details about the lodging and meal per diem. This narrative states that the GSA travel per diems were used to estimate the lodging and meal costs.

And the narrative states that the other travel line item that you saw on the prior slide, that cost you saw on the prior slide is for the baggage or luggage.

Some additional travel costs that could be included but aren't reflected in this example are like airport parking, bus fares, taxis, toll fees. Those are some other things to take into consideration.

There's always a lot of questions related to travel. So if you have any questions, please feel free to put your questions in the chat box and we're going to do our best to answer them.

And we've added the links again to the GSA per diem rates and the defense travel management rates for the Alaska grantees. Lower 48 uses the GSA per diem rates.

All right, lot of heavy information, but here's some tips and reminders regarding the travel section. Use your agency's travel policy if you have one, and follow federal rates. If your agency does not have a travel policy, use the federal per diem rates.

For each cost, write a short explanation that should say why the cost is needed for your project. For example, you might want to write something like flight to attend the training workshop and some reminders.

Are first and last day of travel always the first and last day of travel. Remember that you can only claim up to 75% of the per diem rate for those days and then also indicate which policy you followed in the budget narrative.

So I always like to think, what questions might they ask if a grant manager is looking at this, what questions might they have? And so I try to answer those ahead of time. Be proactive.

All right, award funds. We're going to discuss equipment.

Award funds can be used to obtain equipment for program staff to carry out project activities, and all equipment obtained with grant funds must be reasonable and necessary. You've heard those words before for the project purposes, and the DOJ Grants Financial Guide defines equipment as tangible personal property, including information technology systems. That one has a useful life of more than one year and to a per unit acquisition cost of $10,000 or greater or the entity's capitalization threshold if it's less than the $10,000.

If the item does not meet those thresholds, then you're probably going to want to categorize that under the supplies category.

Award funds can be used to obtain equipment for program staff to carry out project activities, and all equipment obtained with grant funds must be reasonable and necessary. The DOJ Grants Financial Guide defines equipment as tangible personal property, including information technology systems, with a useful life of more than one year and a per unit acquisition cost of $10,000 or greater, or the entity's capitalization threshold if it’s less than $10,000. If the item does not meet those thresholds, then you’ll want to categorize that under supplies.

Down in the budget narrative, you want to explain how the equipment is necessary for the success of the project and describe the procurement methods you’ll use. Rented or leased equipment should be listed under the procurement contracts budget section, and we have a guide sheet to help make that decision. Modular or prefabricated buildings, trailers, mobile homes, or similar structures would be posted in the construction category.

Types of allowable equipment can include vehicles, other modes of transportation, equipment necessary for medical exams for victims, computer software, security system equipment, and remote access equipment. These are examples you may see under the equipment category. Make sure to review the budget guidance chart for examples of allowable and unallowable equipment costs.

When documenting your equipment cost, it’s a crucial step in project planning and budgeting. Start by compiling a comprehensive list of all the items you anticipate needing, such as vehicles, a case management system, or other types of equipment. For each of those items, detail the required quantity and the unit cost. This helps you calculate the total cost effectively. Remember to provide a brief justification for each item and explain why it’s necessary for the project. For instance, a vehicle may be essential for staff to provide transportation to victims.

Finally, ensure all documented costs comply with the DOJ guidelines, as some expenses may not be permissible. Review the allowable and unallowable cost chart to avoid compliance issues down the line.

This example shows equipment charges and, for the equipment expense budget, you’ll want to list the type of equipment, the quantity, and the cost. In the example, case management software and 4x4 vans are being purchased. Be sure to check the budget guidance chart provided in the NOFO to confirm your equipment costs are allowed under the DOJ guidelines, as some costs might not be allowed.

Follow your agency’s policy when buying equipment to ensure you don’t exceed the policy thresholds allowed by your agency. There are a couple of things to check: in the budget narrative, explain how the equipment is necessary for the success of your project and describe the procurement methods to be used. This can be just a sentence or two about the applicable tribal procurement policy.

Award funds can be used to purchase supplies necessary to carry out project activities. Supplies are all other items of tangible personal property that are non-equipment. This includes computing devices that cost less than $10,000 per unit or the entity’s capitalization threshold if that’s less than $10,000. Typical supplies you may need to run your program include furniture for a new office and waiting room, computers, office supplies for the project director and victim advocate, and cultural supplies to promote wellness and incorporate traditional healing practices.

If you have questions about what is categorized as supplies or other costs, you can find that information in the FY2025 TVSSA Budget Guidance Chart. All requested information must be included in the Budget Detail Worksheet and budget narrative. The Budget Guidance Chart lists examples of allowable and unallowable supplies.

In this example, you see furniture for a new office and waiting room, computers, and office supplies for the project director and victim advocate. To promote wellness and incorporate traditional healing practices, cultural supplies are also included. To effectively document supplies for your projects, start by creating comprehensive lists of all necessary items. List items by type, such as office supplies, postage, training materials, and more.

Start by creating comprehensive lists of all necessary items. List items by type, such as office supplies, postage, training materials, copying paper, and other expendable items like books and hand-held tape recorders. It’s important to show the basis for computation—generally, supplies include any materials that are expendable or consumed during the course of the project.

Specify the type of supplies, such as paper or pens, and detail the quantity required for each. Be sure to calculate the unit cost and then determine the total cost by multiplying the quantity by the unit cost. Additionally, for each item, provide a brief explanation of its necessity. This not only clarifies the purpose of each supply but also helps justify the budget. For instance, stating that paper is needed for printing reports gives context to the expense.

This structured approach ensures clarity and accountability in your project planning. Make sure all your supplies costs are allowed under the DOJ guidelines—check the FY25 TVSSA Budget Guidance Chart for examples of allowable costs.

In the next section, we address construction. Grantees may use TVSSA funds for purchasing and installing modular homes, renovating existing spaces, or expanding facilities when traditional stick build or ground-up construction is proposed as a more cost-effective, long-term option. OVC will work with the tribe to determine the most effective use of TVSSA funds. Construction costs must be justified as a reasonable and necessary expense of the tribe’s victim services. The DOJ Financial Guide strictly prohibits using grant funds for land acquisition. The constructed space must be used to support tribal crime victims in the community, such as creating spaces for a shelter or counseling.

Minor repairs and renovations typically go in the contracts category, while new or significant construction should be listed in the construction category. Applicants proposing to use the funds for major renovation or construction—including the purchase and installation of modular buildings, mobile homes, prefabricated buildings, and similar structures—are strongly advised to choose a project period of at least 36 months to allow sufficient time for environmental review, approvals, and actual construction, assembly, or installation.

Applicants must complete and upload the separate TVSSA Construction Renovation Questionnaire in addition to the proposal narrative or, for those electing to schedule an interview with OVC staff, a staff member will complete the questionnaire during the interview. Grantees must adhere to NEPA requirements and the environmental review process, and there will be award conditions placed on the grant funds requiring the project’s compliance with NEPA and other federal or DOJ-specific requirements.

There is a lot of new information surrounding construction with FY25 funding. We encourage everyone planning to include these costs to refer to the grant NOFO for more details. OVC is sponsoring a webinar, “Considerations for the Construction Project,” which will be held tomorrow, August 13th, at 2:00 PM Eastern Standard Time. The registration link for the construction webinar is at the bottom of the screen and will also be shared in the chat.

Documenting construction costs is a critical step in project planning. Start by listing all anticipated expenses and categorizing them by construction type, whether new build or renovation. For each item, provide a detailed cost estimate to help with budgeting and securing funding. Additionally, include a brief justification for each cost; the explanation clarifies the necessity of the expense and aligns it with the overall project goals. For example, if you are adding a new room for counseling services, highlight how this addition will enhance service delivery.

This structured approach ensures transparency and supports effective project management. Please note that these steps represent costs on the BDW and are not inclusive of the entire construction project. More construction information will be provided tomorrow at the OVC-sponsored Considerations for Construction Projects Webinar. Construction TTA providers and grant manager specialists can assist with construction estimates. This example shows the purpose description of work in a brief budget narrative.

When submitting your initial budget, all fields including cost estimates will need to be included. Back to you, April.

APRIL BIRD: Thank you, Alicia. All right, so I'm going to be talking to you all about sub-awards, also known as sub-grants. That leads to basically what the sub-awards or sub-grant category is: a prime grantee, which would be you, makes sub-awards to carry out the required activities under the grants. It’s an agreement that meets the criteria, which should be categorized as a sub-award, not a procurement contract, even if your entity refers to the sub-award agreement as a type of contract.

To be considered for a sub-award, the criteria on the slide must be met, including making decisions about programmatic activities, adhering to federal program requirements, and providing services to members of the public. Sub-recipients must also report on their activities to the prime grantee for inclusion in required program performance measures. Just like you would report to the grant managers, the sub-recipients would report to you.

The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act, or FFATA, requires that grantees who have sub-awards greater than $30,000 file a Funding Accountability and Transparency Act report. Do not include procurement contracts in this section—it’s only for sub-awards.

The sub-grantee or sub-recipient information is provided in this category. You should write the name of the entity, the amount, the type of entity that it is, what services it’s going to be providing, and where and to whom—these are questions that need to be answered. Also, you want to provide documentation that the sub-grantee will be performing the project activities aligned with the requirements for the sub-awards, such as determining eligibility, reporting data, and complying with federal funding guidelines. In this example, a FFATA report would be required because the amount is over $30,000.

Now, procurement contracts are different than sub-awards, but award funds can be used to procure goods and services for the benefit of the grantee. Procurement transactions must be conducted using an entity's established process and sole source. Procurement contracts in excess of $250,000 must receive prior approval from OJP. As a reminder, the DOJ Grants Financial Guide and the Part 200 Uniform Requirements detail restrictions imposed on recipients and sub-recipients that use federal assistance funds to procure property or services needed to carry out the grant-funded project.

The 2 CFR 200 was updated in October 2024, and it now allows tribal government recipients to use their own internal procurement standards rather than complying with the federal procurement standards previously prescribed in the Uniform Guidance and Sections 200.13 through 200.327. So check for allowable costs and make sure that all your procurement costs are permitted under DOJ guidelines. Some costs might not be allowed, so check those rules carefully.

You want to follow your agency's rules for buying goods and services. If you need to buy something that costs more than $150,000, you should get approval from OJP. Consultants and contracts should indicate whether the applicant’s formal written procurement policy or the Federal Acquisition Regulations are followed.

Then, for consultant fees, for each consultant you will want to enter the name if known, the service to be provided, the hourly or daily fee—such as for an eight-hour day—and estimate the time spent on the project. Consultant fees in excess of $650 a day require additional justification or prior approval from OJP.

The steps to document procurement are listed here. You'll want to list the procurement costs, writing down all the costs for the goods or services you need to buy. That includes the types of goods or services you want: write down what you need to purchase, whether it's office furniture, labor for installing a modular home kit, or consulting services. Then, write down the cost estimate for each item or service.

Equally important is to provide a small explanation for each item. For each of those items or services, write a brief explanation indicating why it's needed for your project. For example, you may want to note "consulting services for project evaluation," and the same level of specific details should be provided for sub-awards and procurement contracts. The example here lists labor to install the modular home kit. Janitorial and security services may also be included in this category.

And now I'm going to turn it back over to Alicia, who will take you through the last couple of categories.

ALICIA ABDULLA: Thank you, April.

The next budget category is other costs and includes estimated costs that do not fit into the prior noted categories. Some examples are printing and copying, utilities, registration fees, Internet and phone services, postage, emergency victim services, expenses including housing and supplies, and MMIP awareness. Individual cases that we mentioned earlier in their presentation would be included in this category.

The TVSSA resource page includes an infographic and fact sheet to learn how tribes can use their TVSSA funds to help missing or murdered indigenous persons. We are including that link in this chat. Also, find the other costs section. Look for the section labeled "Other costs" on the worksheet. This is where you'll enter all the information about your other costs.

List your other costs down. Write down all other costs you expect to have. This includes, but is not limited to, printing, postage, and training fees, and then you're going to write how much each cost will estimate is. Researching costs is beneficial to creating a more realistic budget estimate. Write a short explanation for each cost. This should say why the cost is needed for your project. For example, printing brochures for community outreach.

This screen shows an example of a project year’s other cost budget category. This example includes utilities, cellphone charges, postage, emergency housing assistance, and emergency supplies for victim services through the program.

Now for the last budget category: indirect costs. Indirect costs are those which cannot be readily ended by as benefiting a specific program or cost objective. They're usually referred to as an overhead expense, such as rent, utilities, as well as administrative expenses, including officers’ salaries, accounting department costs, and personnel department costs like IT and HR.

Indirect costs may be charged to an award only if, A, the recipient has a current, unexpired federally approved indirect cost rate or, B, the recipient is eligible to use and elects to use the de minimis indirect cost rate described in part in the Part 200 Uniform Requirements and the DOJ Grants Financial Guide. Grantees that do not have an approved federal indirect cost rate may either negotiate an indirect cost rate with their cognizant federal agency or elect to charge the de minimis rate of 15% of modified total direct cost on any actions taken after October 1st, 2024.

Costs must be consistently charged as either indirect or direct costs, but may not be double charged or inconsistently charged as both. Also, if you elect to use the de minimis rate, it must be applied consistently for all federal awards until such time as indirect costs as an indirect cost code is negotiated, which may be done at any time. See the 2 CFR section 200.4414.

As a reminder, we're going to put these links in the DOJ Grants Financial Guide and the Code of Federal Regulations.

This slide shows the calculations of a grantee with a negotiated rate of 23.56%. The narrative clearly explains what period the rate is approved for and how the base amount was calculated. Total direct cost, less pass through funds. The narrative goes on to explain that the procurement contracts for labor are identified as pass through for this entity, so those funds are excluded from the direct cost basis.

As you complete each of the budget categories in the BDW, the final numbers are automatically pulled into the Budget Summary tab of this Excel file. This Budget Summary tab shows a final summary of how costs are allocated at the budget category level across all years of the award. What you see on the screen is how a summary will look for the one year example we used in this presentation. Remember, any errors on the budget summary page need to be fixed on the corresponding Budget Detail tab. The BDW will not allow you to manipulate this tab of the file.

April, will you please walk us through some typical challenges and struggles for success?

APRIL BIRD: Sure. So let's start with some tips and reminders for project costs. One of the top tips is to consider adding indirect costs to the final project budget to cover those indirect costs such as your business's overhead expenses.

Expenses like rent, utilities, employee training, and similar items are important to consider. An important reminder is to always use a new BDW when creating or modifying a budget. That is a good best practice—always use a new BDW when creating or modifying a budget.

The following outlines the steps for uploading your BDW into JustGrants. First, log into JustGrants with your credentials. Next, navigate to your application by finding it in your work list. Click on your case ID and go to the budget and associated document section, which is where you’ll upload the BDW. Any budget-related files, such as your indirect cost rate or other necessary documents for your grant manager, should be uploaded here as well. Click 'add attachment' and select your completed BDW file. After confirming the upload, make sure the file appears in the attachment list, and review it for accuracy.

Double-check that the budget totals align across the standard applicant information and the budget and associated document sections. Then, submit the application once all required documents are uploaded and reviewed.

There are several helpful resources available, which will be shared in the chat. For example, a video that, at the 3:44 minute mark, walks you through creating, completing, and uploading the BDW. There is also a step-by-step visual in the JustGrants budget submission job aid, as well as information found on page 57 of the application submission guide.

Some BDW takeaways include: ask for help when you need it. It's okay to ask questions—TFMC is here to help, and OVC is also available to support your grant managers. Work together, share ideas, and collaborate as a team. Everyone's input is important.

Finally, stay organized and keep all documentation in one place. A link to the Essentials session one recorded webinar will be shared in the chat. There will also be another session later this year.

As we close the presentation and open it up for questions, here are some final tips and key resources to support you. First, read the NOFO carefully to ensure you understand all requirements. Create a SMART budget—one that is Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound—so it aligns with your project. Involve project staff and collaborators in the budgeting process.

Try to determine actual costs for big-ticket items and remember to factor in shipping or delivery fees. Document everything; this is crucial for managing your budget throughout the year and at year-end. You’ll likely need to customize your budget-building process, as each entity’s process is unique.

Review what your current OVC grants cover, if applicable. One of the main challenges in building a budget is confusion over cost categories, which can arise from each grantee or entity having different internal definitions for costs compared to OJP and OVC categories. For example, definitions of equipment or supplies may differ from the federal categories.

If you're confused about which category to use after carefully reviewing the explanations for each cost category found in the NOFO, reach out to your grant manager. And don't forget we're here as a resource as well. You can also reach out to us and we'll be happy to help.

We have some upcoming deadlines that are important. They're on the screen. The first page of the application NOFO outlines the major deadlines and dates you need to be aware of. And OVC is following the required two-step submission process, which includes submitting information into JustGrants and grants.gov. Award announcements are expected to be made on or before September 30th.

For most grantees, your project’s start date should be January 1st, but you also have the option of choosing October 1st of this year if you'd like. The NOFO references the OJP Grant Application Resource Guide, so make sure you're familiar with that as well. And of course, we're going to be dropping those links in the chat.

Additional application submission resources include the budgets and associated documentation video and the JustGrants Training application submission page.

Hopefully we've answered a lot of questions throughout this presentation. Do you have any additional questions? If so, put them in the chat box—Jameel or Brooke or Andrea, someone will read those out loud. We've got a lot of support for you here today. If you have any additional questions, and I've seen a lot asked throughout the presentation, those questions have been answered. But are there any lingering questions right now that you have that you can put in the chat box?

Any questions at all—while we're waiting on questions or while you're writing your questions in the chat, we can go on to the next slide and explain a little bit about who we are. Alicia, do you want to talk about who we are and what some of the support we can provide?

ALCIA ABDULLA: So TFMC supports OVC by providing intensive, individualized financial management TTA, including customized plans to tribal awardees in coordination with grant managers, OCFO and OJP TTA providers. We do this by supporting new Notice of Funding Opportunities, submission processes, providing risk mitigation, enhancing and strengthening policies and procedures, walking through Grant Award Modifications or GAMs, and addressing audit findings.

What all that means is if you need assistance with any of the financial aspects of your award—help with your budgeting, help with budget modifications, project extensions, or questions dealing with the financial aspects, your federal financial reports, or any of those types of things—contact us, we'll be happy to help you.

And as she said, we will work in coordination with your grant managers, OCFO, and also the other TTA providers like the construction TTA providers or T-VSTTA for the programmatic, and let us know what we can do. We also have NEPA providers, etc.

Let's see, there's one question that came in April: If we already submitted in grants.gov with the previous NOFO before the announcement was closed, do we have to do a new filing in grants.gov or can we just modify what we submitted previously?

APRIL BIRD: That's a good question and I think, go ahead, Brooke. I'm sorry. Yeah, we have an answer from one of the grant managers saying no, you do not need to submit a new SF-424 in grants.gov so that you can change standard information in JustGrants. So the answer is there already. Thank you.

RACHEL GIBSON: And as a reminder, this is Rachel, one of the grant managers. We will make sure you get the application resource guide in the follow up materials that will have screenshots on how to make a recall or change in JustGrants if you need to do that. But you will get that application resource guide that can show you how to do that.

ALICIA ABDULLA: Wonderful. Good question. And also LeBretia wrote that you can modify what was previously submitted by accessing the SF-424 in JustGrants. Alright, we have our OVC team all over that question. Who else has a question?

RACHEL GIBSON:  And April, Just one last reminder that Jenny wanted me to give was that if you all have any questions and I'm going to ask if someone can put the OVC Tribal Set-Aside e-mail in the chat, you are more than welcome to use that e-mail to ask any question. It goes to your OVC Tribal Division and that helps us track sort of what questions and concerns are out there regarding this application process. But if you have any questions, please feel free to use that e-mail.

APRIL BIRD: And it was also at the beginning of the presentation that link was in the chat as well. But let me go ahead and put it in there again so you all have it and it's front of mind. And it's [email protected]. All right, any other questions?

ALICIA ABDULLA: We have one question, April: would food for traditional pipe ceremonies or gatherings held on clients healing be an allowable expense? I know purchasing food is typically not an allowable expense from Samantha H. So would food or a feast for traditional pipe ceremonies or gatherings held for clients for healing be an allowable expense?

APRIL BIRD: So what we have told grantees in the past is, you know, food is an allowable expense if you're using it for healing purposes. So for example, if you're teaching someone how to create or how to cook one of your native foods, then that may be allowable. But those are questions that you would want to reach out to and explain to your grant manager what the necessity or what the benefit of the healing would be for the food that you would purchase. And then they will assist you with determining whether or not that would be allowable. So that one's a tough one in most instances.

Any of the grant managers, do you have any tips or tricks for that question? 

LEBRETIA WHITE: Hi, this is LeBretia White with OVC. And yes, you can budget for food for traditional purposes that ties to support to victims and their families. Hopefully that response is helpful.

APRIL BIRD: OK. And Carmen wrote food provided to crime victims as part of a direct service or while victims participate in cultural traditional activities have been reasonably incorporated into victim services is allowable.

And Doresa from OVC states that purchasing food for a shelter for the victims is allowable as well. So those are normally a couple of different things: if you're purchasing food for victims, that is almost always allowable. It's the traditional part of it that gets a little bit tricky. But when I've worked with the grant managers, they have all been willing to listen and help and be able to figure out the answers to those questions. And they're always here to help. And they are trying to understand the traditional practices that are used in healing.

And so that has been a really pleasant experience for me with the OVC grant managers.

All right. And another grant manager, Tanya Miller, put some information about the previous question about the SF-424, and it says if the applicant did not complete a JustGrants submission before we close the application process in June, they should be able to find their application in JustGrants, make the correction to the SF-424, and proceed with submitting all of the other application components.

Number two, if the application completed the full submission process in JustGrants before they shut it down in June, they must recall the application to make any changes to the prior submission, including to the SF-424. Sorry, SF-424.

Thank you for that clarification, Tanya. And Brooke has also added about the food under the other cost categories.

Also, for emergency and short-term needs of victims, food and groceries are allowable.

It's so nice to have all these experts here to answer these questions. Thank you all.

All right. We have just a couple more minutes left. Are there any other burning questions that we need to get answered before we close?

And just FYI, we also at the end of this presentation, which we are going to share with everyone within the next 10 business days or so, at the end of the presentation, there are three slides that include general resources. And those are things like the DOJ Financial Guide, Code of Federal Regulations or the 2 CFR 200, the NOFO, the budget guidance. A lot of these we shared in the chat along the way. But we do have three slides that have those general resources, some application submission resources, and also some TFMC resources.

All right. Well, thank you all for coming. We appreciate it. There will be a survey link that's going to open up at the end of the session, so as soon as we close. So again, thank you for your participation and for staying with us throughout the entire process today. I know it was a long presentation with a lot of valuable information.

One more quick reminder before we leave, LeBretia says to please be reminded to click on, to submit should you make any changes to your application.

Thank you all very much. We appreciate you and have a great day.