Dear DOJ Award Recipient –

Due to a federal government shutdown, the staff of the DOJ grant-making offices — Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office), Office of Justice Programs (OJP), and Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) — are in a furlough status until further notice. As a DOJ award recipient, your entity may generally continue with your scheduled federally funded activities.

We are providing the following information, in question and answer format, regarding the availability of the COPS Office, OJP, and OVW staff, systems, and services.

Impact to Grantee Activities

1) Will I be able to continue activities and projects under my existing DOJ grants or cooperative agreements while the federal government is shut down?

Response: Generally, yes. Grantee activities and projects that are already funded under existing grants using prior federal fiscal year funding will generally be able to continue.

However, the exception to this guidance would be if federal employee involvement is critical to the project or activity being carried out. For example, if the project reaches a decision point that requires federal government approval, such as a grant award modification, approval of a deliverable, or award condition modification, the award recipient would not receive approval of that action until Federal staff are available.   

2) Will I be able to request payments and draw down funds while the federal government is shut down?

Response: Yes, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Automated Standard Application for Payments (ASAP) system will remain in service to accept grant drawdown requests.

3) Will grantee-sponsored events (such as conferences, meetings, and trainings) scheduled while the federal government is shut down be affected?

Response: All existing pre-event approval requirements remain in effect.  

Most approved grantee-sponsored events (e.g., conferences, meetings, trainings) scheduled while the federal government is shut down generally will not be affected and can proceed as planned.  If federal employee participation in these meetings or trainings is critical for these events to proceed, the event cannot be held even if previously approved.

No new events will be approved until DOJ reopens.

4) If we operate a non-.gov website (e.g., .org) with full or partial grant funding from DOJ, are any special actions required?

Response: No. However, DOJ requests that you not push new content or notifications on behalf of DOJ until the shutdown has ended.

Availability of DOJ Staff and JustGrants

1) Will COPS Office, OJP, or OVW staff be available while the federal government is shut down?

Response: No. COPS Office, OJP, and OVW staff are on furlough status and will not be available until the shutdown has ended.

2) Will JustGrants be available while the federal government is shut down?

Response: No. JustGrants will not be available during the shutdown.

Please note: Once reopened, DOJ will examine deadlines impacted by the closure and adjust deadlines for reporting or application submission, as needed.

3) Will a programmatic or financial on-site monitoring visit, enhanced programmatic desk review, or office-based review scheduled during the shutdown still occur?

Response: No. All programmatic and/or financial monitoring scheduled during the period of the funding lapse will be postponed or cancelled. If your DOJ grant manager or financial monitor has not yet contacted you to reschedule the monitoring, expect them to do so once the government is reopened.

Availability of non-DOJ-operated Grants Management Systems

1) Will the General Services Administration (GSA) System for Award Management (SAM) remain operational during a period of a funding lapse?

Response: Yes. GSA’s SAM will remain operational and available to users. Users will be able to submit new entity registrations and renew and update to existing registrations. Users will be able to search for entity registration records and exclusion records on SAM.gov. Please check the Federal Service Desk at www.fsd.gov or the SAM.gov homepage for any changes to SAM's operating status.

2) Will the S. Department of the Treasury’s (Treasury Department) Automated Standard Application for Payments (ASAP) system remain operational during a period of a funding lapse?

Response: Yes.  ASAP will remain operational and available to users to accept grant drawdown requests.

3) Will the Grants.gov system remain operational for searching Notices of Funding Opportunities (NOFOs) and submitting applications?

Response: Yes.  Grants.gov will remain available for applicants to search and apply for open NOFOs.  The Grants.gov Help Desk will also remain open during its regular 24/7 operating hours; however, the furlough of federal staff may cause delays in responses.  Please note that JustGrants is not operational, preventing an applicant from completing its full application in JustGrants.  DOJ will examine JustGrants deadlines impacted by the closure and extend as necessary once the shutdown has ended. 

This email was sent to justin.marmolejo@utsa.edu using GovDelivery Communications Cloud on behalf of Department of Justice · Washington, DC