COPS

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COPS Hiring Program (CHP) In Brief

A penny for your thoughts, $137 million for your dreams!

So what is COPS CHP? (We’re so glad you asked!)

COPS CHP - COPS Hiring Program

The goal of the CHP is to increase community policing capacity and crime prevention efforts by providing grants to local communities to hire and/or rehire full-time sworn law enforcement officer positions. • CHP is offered by the COPS Office • Approximately $137 million available in funding

this year!

CHP Highlights • Financial assistance to help communities

– Rehire sworn police officers who have been laid off or are facing imminent layoffs

– Hire new police officers

• CHP only funds full-time sworn officer positions • The current size of your sworn force determines how

many positions you can apply for

Who can apply? CHP only applies to

Local, state, and tribal law enforcement agencies (LEA) that have primary law enforcement authority

IMPORTANT -The LEA’s governing body (typically the local government) is the applicant!

What does it fund? 75% funding for approved full-time, entry

level salaries and fringe benefits for newly hired or re-hired sworn career law

enforcement officers

IMPORTANT: • Maximum award is $125,000 to be over the course of three years (36 months) • Departments must agree to retain the grant funded position(s) for up to 12 months after the grant ends

NOTE: 25% minimum local cash match required

What is the application process?

This grant is a two-step application process:

Part I: Complete an SF-424 in Grants.gov

Part II: Complete the CHP application through the COPS Office Portal

Part I: Complete the SF-424 1. See if your local government is registered in Grants.gov

• If registered, create a profile and request to become an AOR

• If not registered, work with the Finance Office to create a Grants.gov account

2. Submit the SF-424 via Grants.gov

IMPORTANT • The SF-424 requires a complete project budget – start

preparing these numbers now! • COPS Office staff will link the SF-424 to your COPS

Portal – make sure you’ve created the account before submitting the SF-424!

Part II: Complete the COPS Online Application

1. After submitting your SF-424, you will receive an email confirmation with instructions on how to complete the COPS Online Application

2. Login to your COPS Account and complete the CHP Application

The CHP Application is not available in your COPS Portal until the SF-

424 is submitted!

What are key dates and time?

Application Submission Deadline: June 23, 2016 at 7:59 p.m. EDT

Anticipated Award Date: No later than October 1, 2016

9 Simple Rules to Get Started

Rule #1: Identify the Legal Applicant

Become friends with your City/County/Town Finance Office

To apply, you need the jurisdiction’s: • Legal name • DUNS Number • EIN/Tax ID (Employer Identification Number) Your DUNS number will look something like this

80-123-4567

Your EIN will looks something like this

Rule #2: Check SAM Registration • The Legal Applicant must have an active

SAM.gov Entity Record – When you apply – When you are awarded – Throughout the duration of your federal award If the Legal Applicant is not registered in SAM.gov, ask your Finance Office to create an Entity Record

Registration can take up to 2 weeks

(Let’s get started now!)

Rule #3: Register on Grants.gov Part I of the application is submitted via Grants.gov

You can create your own account, but cannot submit the SF-424 unless you’re an Authorized Organization Representative (AOR): • You need the jurisdiction’s DUNS number to request

AOR status • Grants.gov sends a request to the Electronic

Business POC associated with your jurisdiction’s SAM Entity Record For technical assistance, contact the Grants.gov Help Center

Call:800-518-4726 Email: support@grants.gov

Money doesn’t grow on trees…that’s why we have grants

Rule #4: Prepare Your COPS Portal Account

• Before submitting the SF-424 you must register/renew your COPS Portal Account – This helps COPS Staff associate the SF-424

with the correct applicant and grant you access to Part II of the application

To login see Cops Account Access

Need help? Contact the COPS Office Response Center Call: 800-421-6770 Email: AskCopsRC@usdoj.gov

Rule #5: Know Your Facts Ask these questions:

– What is your agency’s community policing strategy?

– Do we have crime statistics from the last 3 years?

– What percentage of employees in the jurisdiction has been reduced through layoffs?

Data and facts make for a strong application!

Rule #6: Financial Details Required • Organization budget for 2015 and 2016

– How does it compare to budgets from the last 3-5 years?

– How do revenue and expenses compare to the budget?

• You will need to provide: – Total annual operating budget for the current

fiscal year – Current salary and benefit costs for entry-level

officers – Explanation of how the city’s actual income and

expense compare to the department’s budget

• Legal Applicant’s financial situation – How does it impact your organization budget? – What other costs or revenue challenges are

straining the budget?

If you’re still using one of these to do math, click for help

Rule #7: Know your Needs • How many entry-level law enforcement

officers do you really need?

• Are you having difficulty retaining members due to a lack of incentives and/or benefits?

Rule #8: Understand The Review Process

Applications are reviewed by COPS Office Staff in collaboration with Peer Reviewers They consider • Financial Need • Commitment to Community Policing • Strength of Community Policing

strategy Make sure open COPS applications are up to date on reports!

Need help with your grant application? Click Here!

Rule #9: Plan Accordingly • Narratives are important BUT they’re only read if

your application passes technical review

• The moral of the story: There is no room for error!

Still have questions? We can help!

Our Grant Writers: • Have a combined 30+

years of grant writing experience

• Many are active members of the public safety community!

• Helped fund more than $80 million in grant awards!

• Have a grant success rate of 60% higher than the national average!

Contact us today for more info and help!

To work with the best of the best