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U. S. Department of Justice
<br />Office of Community Oriented Policing Services
<br />2014 COPS Hiring Program Grant Terms and Conditions
<br />By signing the Award Document to accept this COPS Hiring Program (CHP) grant, the grantee agrees to abide by the following grant terms and conditions
<br />1. Grant Owner's Manual. The grantee agrees to comply with the terms and conditions in the 2014 COPS Hiring Program Grant Owner's Manual; COPS statute (42
<br />U.S.C. §. 3796dd, et seq.); 28 C.F.R. Part 66 or 28 C.F.R. Part 70 as applicable (governing administrative requirements for grants and cooperative agreements); 2 C.F.R
<br />Part 225 (OMB Circular A-87),2 C.F.R. Part 220 (OMB Circular A-21),2 C.F.R. Part 230 (OMB Circular A -122), and 48 C.F.R. Part 31.000 et seq. (FAR 31.2) as
<br />applicable (governing cost principles); OMB Circular A -133 (governing audits); representations made in the CHP grant application; and all other applicable program
<br />requirements, laws, orders, regulations, or circulars.
<br />2. Assurances and Certifications. The grantee acknowledges its agreement to comply with the Assurances and Certifications forms that were signed as part of its
<br />CHP application.
<br />3. Allowable Costs. The funding under this project is for the payment of approved full -time entry-level salaries and fringe benefits over three years (for a total of 36
<br />months of funding), up to a maximum federal share of S 125,000 per officer position for career law enforcement officer positions hired and/or rehired on or after the
<br />official grant award start date. Any salary and fringe benefit costs higher than entry-level that your agency pays a CHP - funded officer must be paid with local funds.
<br />Your agency is required to use CHP grant funds for the specific hiring categories awarded. Funding under this program may be used for the following categories:
<br />a. Hiring new officers, which includes filling existing officer vacancies that are no longer funded in your agency's budget;
<br />b. Rehiring officers laid off by any jurisdiction as a result of state, local, or Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) budget cuts; and/or
<br />c. Rehiring officers who were, at the time of grant application, scheduled to be laid off (by your jurisdiction) on a specific future date as a result of state, local, or BIA
<br />budget cuts.
<br />If your agency's local fiscal conditions have changed and your agency needs to change one or more of the funded hiring categories, your agency should request a post -
<br />award grant modification and receive prior approval before spending CHP funding under the new category.
<br />The Financial Clearance Memorandum (FCM), included in your award package, specifies the amount of CHP funds awarded to your agency. You should carefully
<br />review your FCM, which contains the final officer salary and fringe benefit categories and amounts for which your agency was approved. Please note that the salary
<br />and fringe benefit costs requested in your CHP application may have been adjusted or removed. Your agency may only be reimbursed for the approved cost categories
<br />that are documented within the FCM, up to the amounts specified in the FCM. Your agency may not use CHP funds for any costs that are not identified as
<br />allowable in the Financial Clearance Memorandum.
<br />Only actual allowable costs incurred during the grant award period will be eligible for reimbursement and drawdown. If your agency experiences any cost savings over
<br />the course of the grant (for example, your grant application overestimated the total entry -level officer salary and fringe benefits package), your agency may not use that
<br />excess funding to extend the length of the grant beyond 36 months. Any funds remaining after your agency has drawn down for the costs of approved salaries and
<br />fringe benefits incurred for each awarded position during the 36 -month funding period will be deobligated during the closeout process, and should not be spent by your
<br />agency.
<br />4. Local Match. Grantees are required to contribute a local match of at least 25 percent towards the total cost of the approved grant project, unless waived in writing
<br />by the COPS Office. The local match must be a cash match from funds not previously budgeted for law enforcement purposes and must be paid during the grant award
<br />period. The local match contribution must be made on an increasing basis during each year of the three -year grant period, with the federal share decreasing
<br />accordingly.
<br />5. Suaalementin¢, Not Suaalantina. State, local, or BIA funds budgeted to pay for sworn officer positions irrespective of the receipt of CHP grant funds may not be
<br />reallocated to other purposes or refunded as a result of a CHP grant being awarded. Non - federal funds must remain available for and devoted to that purpose, with CHP
<br />funds supplementing those non - federal funds. Funding awarded cannot be obligated until after the grant award start date. This means that CHP funds cannot be applied
<br />to any agency cost or obligation incurred prior to the award start date. In addition, your agency must take active and timely steps pursuant to its standard procedures to
<br />fully fund law enforcement costs already budgeted as well as fill all locally - funded vacancies resulting from attrition during the life of the grant.
<br />6. Retention. At the time of grant application, your agency committed to retaining all swom officer positions awarded under the CHP grant with state and /or local
<br />funds for a minimum of 12 months following the conclusion of 36 months of federal funding for each position, over and above the number of locally - funded sworn
<br />officer positions that would have existed in the absence of the grant. Your agency cannot satisfy the retention requirement by using CHP - funded positions to fill
<br />locally - funded vacancies resulting from attrition.
<br />7. Extensions. Your agency may request an extension of the grant award period to receive additional time to implement your grant program. Such extensions do not
<br />provide additional funding. Grants may be extended a maximum of 36 months beyond the initial award expiration date. Any request for an extension beyond 36
<br />months will be evaluated on a case -by -case basis. Only those grantees that can provide a reasonable justification for delays will be granted no -cost extensions.
<br />Reasonable justifications may include difficulties in filling COPS - funded positions, officer turnover, or other circumstances that interrupt the 36 -month grant funding
<br />period. An extension allows your agency to compensate for such delays by providing additional time to complete the full 36 months of funding for each position
<br />awarded. Extension requests must be received prior to the end date of the award.
<br />8. Modifications. During the CHP grant award period, it may become necessary for an agency to modify its CHP grant award due to changes in an agency's fiscal or
<br />law enforcement situation. Modification requests should be submitted to the COPS Office when an agency determines that it will need to shift officer positions
<br />awarded in one hiring category into a different hiring category, reduce the total number of positions awarded, shift funds among benefit categories, and /or reduce the
<br />entry-level salary and fringe benefit amounts. For example, an agency may have been awarded CHP grant funding for ten new, additional full -time sworn officer
<br />positions, but due to severe fiscal distress /constraints, the agency determines it is unable to sustain all ten positions and must reduce its request to five full -time
<br />positions; or an agency may have been awarded CHP grant funding for two new, additional sworn officer positions, but due to fiscal distress /constraints the agency
<br />needs to change the hiring category from the new hire category to the rehire category for officers laid off or scheduled for lay -off on a specific future date post-
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