AFGP PROGRAM UPDATE | January 2024
Each month, we supply information regarding the management of current Assistance to Firefighters Grants, as well as helpful details on upcoming grant opportunities.
In this month’s update:
- FY 2022 AFG Programs Status Update
- FY 2023 AFG Programs Status Update
- Semi-Annual Programmatic Performance Report (PPR) & Federal Financial Report (SF-425): Due Jan. 30
- Did You Know? – Turndown Technical Assistance
- January Fire Prevention Message – Fire is Fast. Plan Ahead to Save Lives!
- Grant Management Training – Grants Management Technical Assistance FY 24
- Closeout module available in FEMA GO
- AFGP Success Stories
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FY 2022 AFG Programs Status Update
Awards have been completed for all the FY 2022 AFG Programs, and all funds have been exhausted. Turndown letters for all programs have been sent.
Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG)
In December, the program office held AFG Turndown Webinars to go over the evaluation process and answer questions. If you were unable to attend and would like more information about your 2022 AFG application, please view the Did You Know? section of this email or contact your Regional Fire Program Representative.
AFG Award Listings: Assistance to Firefighters Grants | FEMA.gov.
Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) Grant
Beginning on Tuesday, Jan. 16 at 12 p.m. ET, FEMA will host a series of live Adobe Connect webinars. The webinars are designed for departments and organizations that did not receive a Fiscal Year 2022 SAFER Grant award to provide insight into the evaluation process. Preparedness Officers will be available to answer questions.
Please note that each webinar will focus on either the Hiring Activity or the Recruitment & Retention Activity and interested attendees need only attend one session that is relevant to their application. Attendees are encouraged to have their FY 22 AFG application available for review during the webinar session. Please see the schedule below for webinar dates and times.
SAFER Award Listings: Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) | FEMA.gov.
Fire Prevention & Safety (FP&S) Grant
If you receive a turndown letter and would like further information, please contact the Preparedness Officer assigned to your state or contact the AFG Help Desk at firegrants@fema.dhs.gov.
FP&S Award Listings: Fire Prevention and Safety | FEMA.gov.
FY 2023 AFG Programs Status Update
Fiscal Year 2023 AFG Application Period Opens Jan. 29, 2024
The FY 2023 AFG application period is expected to run Jan. 29 through March 8, 2024. The AFG Program will conduct application development workshop webinars for the 2023 AFG starting on Jan. 8, 2024. The schedule is posted HERE.
The Criteria Development Panel recommended putting an emphasis on PPE for FY 2023 AFG that is necessary to protect firefighter health and safety. It is strongly recommended that applicants attend an application development webinar or read the 2023 AFG Notice of Funding Opportunity before deciding what to apply for.
In anticipation of the 2023 AFG application period, below is a list of things that you can do NOW to start preparing.
- Coordinate with your local officials to verify your organization’s SAM.gov account is Active and that no changes have been made.
- Ensure grant writing staff have accounts and appropriate permissions in FEMA GO.
- Attend a 2023 AFG Application Development Workshop Webinar.
- Conduct a Risk Assessment to determine your greatest needs. Compare your needs to the priorities of the program once the FY23 funding notice is released to identify what you should request.
- Poll vendors to start determining the costs of items you plan to request.
- If requesting a vehicle, establish your committee and develop specifications.
- Use the Application Checklist to gather information needed to complete the application.
- Use the Self-Evaluation Sheets to start drafting the four scored sections of the application narrative. These documents provide the exact criteria that panelists will be looking for in your narrative at panel review. There is one for Operations & Safety and another for Vehicle applications.
- Use the Narrative Development Toolkit (formerly the Narrative Development Guide) to help identify ways that you can address the criteria outlined in the Self-Evaluation Sheets.
- Write your narrative. It is easily pasted into the application once the application period opens. This will allow ample time for others to review what you’ve written and provide feedback.
- Contact your Regional Fire Program Representative with any questions.
Semi-Annual Programmatic Performance Report (PPR) & Federal Financial Report (SF-425)
Due Jan. 30
PPR
Recipients who received an award through the FEMA Grants Outcome (FEMA GO) system must prepare and submit the PPR through FEMA GO for the following programs:
- Assistance to Firefighters Grants (AFG)
- Fire Prevention and Safety (FP&S) Grants; and
- Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) Grants
PPR requirements have changed from FY 2018, FY 2019, and FY 2020 AFG NOFO per Information Bulletin 468. PPR deadlines are:
- No later than July 30 (for the period Jan. 1 – June 30)
- No later than January 30 (for the period July 1 – Dec. 31)
- Within 120 calendar days after the end of the Period of Performance
Recipients must submit programmatic performance reports as a condition of their award acceptance. Future awards and funds drawdown may be withheld if these reports are delinquent.
TIPS FOR PPR SUBMISSION:
- The PPR forms can be found at Semi-Annual Performance Report | FEMA.gov.
- The PPR task will not appear in "My to do list." Go to "Grants" at the top of the page and in the "I want to..." dropdown next to your grant, indicate "Submit performance progress report."
- SAFER grant recipients should be cognizant of the separate forms for Hiring and the Recruitment & Retention activities and ensure selection of the correct form before submitting.
- For more information on completing a PPR, view the FEMA GO Programmatic Performance Report Guide.
Contact the AFG Helpdesk toll-free at 1-866-274-0960 if you have problems completing the report.
SF-425
Recipients are required to submit a Federal Financial Report (FFR or SF-425) on a semi-annual basis. The FFR must be submitted through FEMA GO based on the calendar year beginning with the period after the award is made. Grant recipients are required to submit an FFR throughout the entire period of performance of the grant and for closeout. Reports are due:
- No later than July 30 (for the period Jan. 1 – June 30)
- No later than Jan. 30 (for the period July 1 – Dec. 31)
- Within 120 days after the end of the Period of Performance
PLEASE NOTE: The SF-425 will not appear in "My to do list. Click on the "Financial reports" link on the left-hand side of your "Manage grants" landing page, then click on "Actions" to open the report.
A detailed instructional guide for completing an SF-425 report can be found on the Grants.gov website at Post-Award Reporting Forms | GRANTS.GOV. On the Grants.gov website, please select the Instructions document for "Federal Financial Report (SF-425)."
Future awards and fund drawdowns may be withheld if these reports are delinquent, demonstrate lack of progress, or are insufficient in detail.
If the period of performance for your award has expired, and you have not yet formally closed the grant, you do NOT need to submit a semi-annual SF-425 report. You will submit the FINAL SF-425 report when you submit your grant's final close outreport. If the online closeout report for your grant is not yet available, you will be notified by e-mail when it is released.
Did You Know?
There is technical assistance available to help understand the reasons your 2022 AFG application was turned down.
Hopefully you were able to take advantage of the 2022 AFG turndown webinars held last month. These are intended to provide you with the tools to review your application for obvious things that may have caused you not to score as well. In some cases, those reasons may not be so obvious.
Therefore, the AFG program provides additional data to regional fire program specialists so that they can assist you further in understanding how your application could be improved. This assistance can include understanding what caused you not to score well in the computer pre-score phase or if you made it to panel, panelist comments on what they did or did not see in the scored narrative sections. If you are interested in this additional technical assistance, you are encouraged to reach out to the regional fire program specialist that covers your state. A listing of regional contacts is located HERE.
January Fire Prevention Message
Escape Planning: Fire is fast. P = Plan Ahead to Save Lives.
Key messages:
The increasing severity of home fires due to modern building contents and open space configurations makes it crucial that people are prepared to leave their homes immediately in the event of fire. Residents could have less than 2 minutes to escape a home fire once the smoke alarm sounds. Use these messages and free materials to teach your community about the importance of making and practicing a home fire escape plan.
For more information, please visit the U.S. Fire Administration’s website for Fire Prevention and Community Risk Reduction HERE.
Grants Management Training
Grants Management Technical Assistance
The K0705 Fundamentals of Grants Management is a virtual course offered by FEMA to grant recipients. Although not a requirement for accepting an AFG award, the course is designed to assist organizations strengthen their grant management practices. Upon completion of the course, participants will be able to:
- Improve collaboration among policy, program and financial staff to integrate grant management functions;
- Identify applicable regulations and navigate and apply the Code of Federal Regulations, including 2 CFR Part 200;
- Apply proven business practices related to the grant lifecycle to increase efficiency and meet grant management priorities, such as strategic planning, organization, program implementation, staff training, monitoring, reporting and audits;
- Develop or revise policies, procedures, and practices in critical areas of grants management, such as monitoring, procurement, source documentation, payments, and equipment inventory; and
- Prepare for federal monitoring and sub-recipient monitoring.
To Apply: National Emergency Training Center Online Admissions Application (fema.gov)
Questions: fema-gpd-training@fema.dhs.gov
Closeout Report Available in FEMA GO
The closeout module has been released in FEMA GO for recipients that have received AFG awards from 2018 to 2020. Recipients with awards that are no longer open will have 90 days to complete the module. If an award still has an open period of performance (POP), the recipient will have to wait until the POP ends to initiate the closeout process and will have 90 to 120 days to complete the process. Do not start your closeout if there is a chance that more funds or an amendment could be requested as these functions will no longer be available. A tutorial on the closeout process is available by clicking here.
For closeout help, contact your Regional Fire Program Representative or the AFG Helpdesk toll-free at 1-866-274-0960 or email firegrants@fema.dhs.gov
AFGP Success Stories
Township of Spring Fire & Rescue Services – West Lawn, Pennsylvania
Awarded items: 2020 AFG award for extrication equipment
Submitted by: Chief Colin Hackman
The Township of Spring Fire Rescue Services was in need of portable battery-operated hydraulic rescue tools. We were awarded an Assistance to Firefighters Grant to purchase a battery powered cutter and spreader, which was placed in service on October 8, 2021.
On October 29, 2021, we were dispatched to assist Western Burks Fire Department with a motor vehicle crash with entrapment on Papermill Road in Lower Heidelberg Township. The incident involved one vehicle that had left the roadway and went down an embankment and into the woods. Due to the location where the vehicle came to rest, the recently purchased battery-operated tools were pivotal in the successful extrication of one patient in critical condition and another that was deceased.
The battery-operated cutter and spreader made possible by the AFG grant was a great asset to the outcome of this rescue and many more to date.
SHARE YOUR SUCCESS STORY
Do you have a Success Story regarding a FEMA Grant that you’d like to share with everyone? Contact us at gpd-comms@fema.dhs.gov or through Twitter @FEMAGrants using a private message.
