OJP Solicitation Template Supporting Statement 2020 Extension DRAFT 08172020

Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

Office of Audit, Assessment, and Management

Supporting Statement

Office of Justice Programs (OJP) Solicitation Template

1. Justification

1. Necessity of Information Collection

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs (OJP) provides innovative leadership to federal, state, local, and tribal justice systems, by disseminating state-of-the art knowledge and practices across America, and providing grants for the implementation of these crime fighting strategies. OJP is composed of six program offices, to include the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), National Institute of Justice (NIJ), Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), Office for Victims of Crime (OVC), and the Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking (SMART). The Office of Justice Programs is established at 42 U.S.C. § 3711, and operates under the general authority of the Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Programs, who is authorized to make grants, or enter into cooperative agreements and contracts for the Office and its components. 42 U.S.C. § 3715 note.

The collection of information represented in this Paperwork Reduction Act submission is necessary for OJP to implement its statutory requirements of Public Law 103-62 to maintain a standard template for use of all OJP bureaus and offices in the creation of formula and competitive discretionary program funding opportunities (solicitations) for public announcement. The solicitation template serves as a generic model for fiscal year announcements for OJP grant programs. The template will be used to solicit applications to fund grants to assist state, local, and tribal jurisdictions; for-profit and non-profit organizations; research organizations; and educational institutions, to combat violence against women, to fight internet crimes against children, to improve the functioning of the criminal justice system, to assist victims of crime, and to support youth mentoring.

2. Needs and Uses

The OJP Solicitation Template provides direction and a description of required information to be submitted by potential/eligible applicants. The solicitation notifies and provides information on the content, reporting format, and submission of additional requirements related to the specific grant program.

The OMB-approved (1121-0329) solicitation template collection contains the following forms specific to OJP and Coordinated Tribal Assistance Solicitation (CTAS) programs:

• OJP Budget Detail Worksheet (BDW)

• Financial Management and System of Internal Controls Questionnaire (FCQ) – formerly the Financial Capability Questionnaire 1121-0021

• CTAS Tribal Narrative Profile

• CTAS BDW and Demographic Form

3. Use of Information Technology

Additional information on application requirements, certifications, and assurances is provided through hyperlinks to the OJP website. The application process is managed through the Internet, using OJP’s electronic application system, the Community Partnership Grants Management System (GMS) or the Federal government’s central application system, Grants.gov.

All data collection instruments mentioned in the solicitation, and required as part of the application process, have OMB clearance approval under OMB Control No. 1121-0243.

4. Efforts to Identify Duplication

Information requested from applicants is specific to OJP grant programs and would not otherwise be collected by other organizations.

5. Methods to Minimize Burden on Small Businesses

The GMS and Grants.gov systems provide benefits to small business and other small sized entities relating to their record-keeping capabilities. GMS provides a centralized location to locate and manage all of the information about their OJP grants. Grants.gov provides a centralized location to locate and apply for grant funding opportunities.

6. Consequences of Not Conducting or Less Frequent Collection

The solicitation template provides a standardized format and agency-approved language governing the pre- and post-award grant as required by 2 CFR Part 200 Uniform Guidance and statutory provisions of the OJP grant programs. The non-collection of data would prohibit OJP from carrying out its mission to solicit applications and award grants for criminal and juvenile justice and victim assistance programs as well as to conduct proper oversight and statutorily required post monitoring of awards.

7. Special Circumstances

There are no special circumstances that would require the applicant to provide information under any of the described methods.

8. Public Comments

A notice was posted in the Federal Register for 60 days at Vol. __ page # _____ and 30 days at Vol. __ page # _____. No public comments were received.

9. Payments and/or Gifts to Respondents

There is neither payment nor gifts given to respondents outside of merited funding.

10. Assurances of Confidentiality

All information on the collection tool is collected in accordance with the Privacy Act. Any release of information will conform to the stipulations of the Privacy Act Authorization for Release Information. Only those individuals with a valid identification and password are authorized to access their personal information. A Privacy Notice is displayed on the GMS sign-in page.  The GMS Privacy Impact Assessment is available below

11. Justification for Sensitive Questions

No sensitive questions are asked of the respondents.

12. Estimate of Hourly Burden on Respondents.

The collection of the information for the solicitation template collection is not overly burdensome. Approximately 10,000 applicants respond once per year to solicitations developed under the OMB-approved solicitation template. OJP is seeking information that is necessary to make determinations about funding decisions and the solicitation template requires applicants to provide this information in a consistent and uniform manner across the different grant programs. The calculated burden hours remain as follows for the forms and additional requirements under the solicitation template:

OJP Budget Detail Worksheet (BDW)

Estimated 4,300 respondents x 5 hours = 21,500 Estimated Burden Hours

Financial Management and System of Internal Controls Questionnaire (FCQ) – formerly the Financial Capability Questionnaire 1121-0021

Estimated 3,000 respondents x 2 hours = 6,000 Estimated Burden Hours

Coordinated Tribal Assistance Solicitation (CTAS) Tribal Narrative Profile

Estimated 400 respondents x 1.5 hours = 600 Estimated Burden Hours

CTAS BDW and Demographic Form

Estimated 400 respondents x 5.25 hours = 2,100 Estimated Burden Hours

Burden Hours (forms) = 30,200

Remaining applicant burden (No change) = 313,088

13. Estimate of Cost Burden for Respondents

OJP estimates that using GMS imposes minimal costs on respondents. GMS is web-based and requires internet access. Respondents’ time to prepare and submit information is represented in burden hours captured in item 12. For those respondents that do not have internet access, public internet access can be used (e.g., public libraries, facilities offering free internet access). The GMS incurs no special fees from respondents. The use of an automated system also yields cost savings to respondents as the effort and cost spent on paper-based reporting would be significantly higher to respondents due to the costs of production of a paper form, postal service, and other necessities of a paper-based system.

14. Annualized Cost to the Federal Government

There will be no costs beyond the normal labor costs for staff.

15. Reason for Change in Burden

There are no program changes or adjustments for the estimates identified in Section 13 and in Section 14.

16. Anticipated Publication Plan and Schedule

There will be no complex analytical techniques used in connection with the publication of information collected under the request. Information will be gathered once a year during the solicitation process.

17. Display of Expiration Date

OJP is prepared to display all expiration dates.

18. Certification for Paperwork Reduction Act Submission

OJP has no exceptions to the certification statement.

2. Collection of Information Employing Statistical Methods

OJP does not collect information employing statistical methods.

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