Grants Organizations

Activities under the Act cover two major areas: policy and implementation. The Grants Policy Committee (GPC), under the Federal Chief Financial Officers Council, is responsible for crafting policy related to streamlining and simplifying grant management (i.e., overseeing the implementation activities pursuant to the Act). The GPC is supported by the P.L. 106-107 Program Management Office and five Work Groups: Mandatory, Pre-Award, Post Award, Audit, and Training and Certification (see organization chart ). The Grants Executive Board (GEB) provides strategic direction/execution and oversight of Grants.gov (and the Grants.gov Program Management Office) and the Grants Management Line of Business, which implement technological aspects of P.L. 106-107. The GPC and GEB coordinate policy and implementation business activities.

Grants Streamlining

P.L. 106-107 Program Management Office (PMO)
The Office of Management and Budget designated the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), as the managing partner for implementation of P.L.106-107. The PMO in HHS coordinates activities with and provides support to the GPC and P.L. 106-107 work groups.

Grants Policy Committee (GPC)
The Grants Policy Committee, established by the Federal Chief Financial Officers Council, is responsible for formulating overall grant management reform policy, overseeing the efforts of the inter-agency work groups, and developing policies to implement the goals of P.L. 106-107.

Mandatory Work Group
The Mandatory Grant Work Group is responsible for identifying ways to increase the posting of mandatory grants to Grants.gov. In addition, the Work Group will explore ways in which to streamline and coordinate mandatory grant requirements across federal mandatory grant making agencies. The Work Group will focus on data collection standardization and simplification consistent with statutory, regulatory and other government-wide efforts. The Work Group will also address pertinent Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act impacts on mandatory grants.

Pre-Award Work Group
The Pre-Award Work Group is responsible for developing policy proposals for streamlining and simplifying the phase of the grants life cycle that extends from the time of announcement of a funding opportunity through the making of the award. The specific areas that the Work Group addresses are: 1) the grants policy framework; 2) announcements of funding opportunities; 3)??certifications and assurances; 4) award format and content, including terms and conditions; and 5)??non-procurement suspension and debarment, which the Work Group addresses in partnership with the Interagency Suspension and Debarment Committee established by Executive Order 12549. The Work Group coordinates its proposals, as needed, with other interagency groups, including the groups that are responsible for developing application forms and data elements for them.

Post-Award Work Group
The Post-Award Work Group is responsible for identifying streamlining and simplification opportunities in the grants life cycle phase during which recipients perform project activities under their awards and submit progress, financial, and other required reports (other than audit reports). In addition, it covers the grantee’s request for and receipt of payment, the monitoring of awards for compliance and progress, and the provision of federal technical assistance. The objectives of this Work Group are to: 1) streamline and simplify reporting requirements and the payment process, 2) achieve greater uniformity in business processes related to reporting while improving the quality of information reported by recipients, and 3) to make the federal cost principles more consistent where appropriate.

Audit Oversight Work Group
The Audit Oversight Work Group is responsible for improving the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) A-133 single audit process to ensure that audits provide useful and reliable information to federal agencies and pass-through entities and that recipient audits are in compliance with federal audit requirements. The objectives of this Work Group include: 1) maintaining the OMB A-133 Compliance Supplement for up-to-date information on federal requirements, 2) verifying that single audits are conducted and submitted as required, 3) ensuring that audit quality is adequate, and 4) improving the services provided by the Federal Audit Clearinghouse. The activities of this Work Group are being carried out by several subgroups addressing the A-133 Compliance Supplement, audit quality, sub-recipient monitoring, and auditing of indirect costs.

Training and Certification Work Group
The Training and Certification Work Group is responsible for addressing government-wide issues concerning the grants management workforce. This Work Group’s objectives include: 1) developing a government-wide grants management series as a professional series under Office of Personnel Management guidelines, and 2) developing standards for a government-wide grants management training curriculum and certification program. This Work Group has four subgroups: Training (researching the existing grants management training curriculums within and outside of the federal government), Competencies (working to identify baseline government-wide core grants management competencies), Certification (researching various methodologies and best practices to implement a government-wide grants management certification program), and Grants Management Database (researching the development of a government-wide grants management professional resource database).

Grants.gov

Grants.gov Program Management Office
This office, established within HHS as the OMB-designated managing partner for the Grants.gov initiative, one of the 24 E-Gov initiatives under the President's Management Agenda, is responsible for leading those activities resulting in the development of a one-stop electronic grant portal where potential grant recipients will receive full service to find and apply for all federal grants. The Grants.gov PMO is under the oversight of the Grants Executive Board.

Grants Executive Board (GEB)
The Grants Executive Board provides strategic direction/execution and oversight of Grants.gov and the Grants Management Line of Business, which implement technological aspects of P.L. 106-107. The GEB also ensures federal grant partner agency consensus on projects and funding.