Understanding Grant Award Adjustments and Budget Modifications
Grant award adjustments involve modifications to federal awards, such as reallocating funds or changing project scope. Recipients must initiate a Grant Adjustment Notice (GAN) for budget modifications and follow specific guidelines to ensure timely processing and approval. Different criteria apply for OJP/OVW and COPS recipients, requiring careful attention to budget changes and documentation. Failure to comply with the procedures could result in delays or denial of the request, emphasizing the importance of following the established protocols for grant adjustments.
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Grant Award Adjustments - Module 18 Budget Modifications
A grant adjustment is a modification or change to a recipient's federal award. Requests for grant modifications and adjustments are evaluated on a case-by-case basis. OJP/OVW For OJP and OVW award recipients, a Grant Adjustment Notice (GAN) is used to request programmatic, administrative, or financial changes to a Federal award. GANs may be submitted by the recipient, grant manager, or automatically generated by the Grant Management System (GMS). The recipient must request any GAN electronically through the GAN module in GMS. All GANs are reviewed by the Program Manager and/or Grants Financial Management Division. Upon submission of a GAN, an email is automatically sent to the Program Manager as notification. After submission of a GAN, OJP and OVW award recipients should monitor GMS for returned GANs in case additional information or changes are required. An untimely response could delay the processing of the GAN, and could also result in the request being denied, with the grantee having to restart the GAN process. This situation can be especially problematic if the request is to extend the grant period and the project end date is near.
OJP and OVW award recipients may initiate a GAN for a budget modification if the request is to modify an approved budget to reallocate funds among the budget categories. This type of GAN can also be used to de-obligate a portion of the award amount. However, the original award amount may not be increased by this procedure. Typically, OJP/OVW award recipients must initiate a GAN for a budget modification if: The budget modification changes the scope of the project. The budget adjustment affects a cost category that was not included in the previously approved budget. The proposed cumulative change is greater than 10 percent (10%) of the total award amount. The 10 percent rule does not apply to an award of less than $250,000. Example of the 10% Rule: Total Award Amount = $260,000. 10% = $26,000 Change 1 = $8,700 Change 2 = $12,900 Change 3 = $5,850 (now must submit a GAN) Total desired budget modification = $27,450 For COPS recipients, budget modification requests for federal awards in excess of $250,000 involving the reallocation of funding between budget categories that exceed or are expected to exceed 10 percent of the total approved budget require prior written approval by the COPS Office. The recipient must submit a formal budget modification through the COPS Agency Portal. In addition, OJP and COPS recipients must initiate a GAN if there is any dollar increase or decrease to the indirect cost category of an approved budget. For record-keeping purposes and audit documentation, OJP award recipients should submit a GAN even if the proposed budget modification is less than 10 percent of the total award amount. This also provides your grant manager with notification.
OJP and OVW grant recipients must record with DOJ or to make changes to the person on record with DOJ who is responsible for authorizing and signing official documents. The request must include the name, address, phone number, email address, fax number, and title of the recipient s new authorized signing official. The name used on the GAN must exactly match the name in GMS. must also initiate a GAN to change the name of your organization on OJP or OVW grant recipients may may initiate a GAN for the following changes: To request a change to your organization s mailing address. To make changes to the name and contact information of your designated recipient or key recipient staff due to a permanent withdrawal, change in staff, or in case of a temporary absence. To request a change to your organization s DUNS number. For the COPS Office, you may update the authorized signing official and contact information in Account Information through the online Agency Portal, or by calling the Response Center at 1-800- 421-6770 for technical assistance.
For OJP and OVW award recipients, a GAN must activities, or other significant project areas. These changes include, but are not limited to: must be initiated for changes in project scope, duration, - Altering programmatic activities - Changing the purpose of the project - Changing the project site - Experiencing or making changes to the organization or staff with primary responsibility for implementation of the award (key personnel) -Certain subawards (See Module 12- Subawards) -Changes in scope that affect the budget When in doubt, the grant program manager should be contacted to determine if a GAN is required. A sample Change to Project Scope GAN Change to Project Scope GAN (PDF) shows the types of attachments required, as well as the program manager approval designation. COPS Office award recipients must must request a modification for changes to the award via the Agency Portal.
For OJP or OVW award recipients, a GAN must be submitted when a change to the award period is requested. A request to change the start date may be submitted by the award recipient or a grant manager. There is no systematic time limit on when a Start Date GAN can be submitted. These requests are rarely approved except for programs that are, by statute, allowed to change the start date based on the draw down date. In general, in order for a Start Date GAN to be approved, the recipient must not have drawn down funds. Requests to change the project end date may be submitted by the award recipient or a grant manager no later than 30 calendar days before the project period end date. Any request to change the project end date after that time may only be submitted by a grant manager. Some awards have statutory maximum grant periods, beyond which they cannot be extended. Extensions may provide additional time to complete a grant, but they do not provide additional Extensions may provide additional time to complete a grant, but they do not provide additional funding. funding. An example of a Change in Project Period GAN Change in Project Period GAN (PDF) demonstrates what is required in terms of providing a justification.
