To view this site you need Adobe Flash Player and your browser must allow javaScripts. Go here to get the latest Flash Player. STATE & LOCAL MANAGERS’ GUIDE TO Homeland Security GRANTS & GRANTS FUNDING Cross-funding and the requirement for coordination THIS YEAR’S HOMELAND SECURITY FUNDING PROGRAMS EXTEND THE TREND OF ENCOURAGING COORDINATION AMONG THE VARIOUS FUNDING SOURCES SUPPORTING LOCAL REGIONS’ ACTIVITIES TO INCLUDE LOCAL COST SHARING. THIS NEW DEVELOPMENT BRINGS LOCAL FUNDING, WHICH MAY COME FROM LOCAL GOVERNMENT TAX ROLLS, BOND ISSUES OR OUTSIDE PRIVATE-SECTOR CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PROJECT, INTO THE POOL OF RESOURCES THAT NEED TO BE COORDINATED FOR SEVERAL APPLICATIONS FOR SECURITY-RELATED FUNDING PROGRAMS. FOUNDATION AND OTHER PRIVATE-SECTOR FUNDING HAVE BEEN A MISSING COMPONENT IN THE GROWING TREND TOWARD DEMONSTRATING COORDINATION OF RESOURCES IN LOCAL PROJECTS. Requiring documentation of coordinated funding is certainly nothing new in the grantmaking world. In fact, it’s quite common for funders to ask what other resources are being leveraged to support a particular project. However, that question is normally open ended, asking for a list of other sources of funding from anywhere, with no way of determining whether the list is comprehensive, nor is there usually any way to check on the veracity of the claims of support the grantseeker is making. The homeland security funding landscape is different in that there are a set of funding sources that are known to provide funding to specific municipalities and that should be leveraged, or at least have their role defined, for regional projects. Most projects, for example, will contain a communications component, even if communications are not the primary focus of the projects. In those cases, every source that supports communications for the agencies that are participating in the projects should be brought to bear for each application. Tips for building effective collaborations Consider what agencies/sectors would benefit and could contribute to the outcomes of the project Create a clear, written vision and descriptive title for the project Explain what need the project will address Explain what approach you are planning to take Explain how you will know when you have achieved success Provide a draft timeline List who has been committed and who has been invited to participate Include a draft budget, including shared costs and costs that will be borne by each collaborator in the project Get executive buy-in to the project Form a core planning team of the most relevant collaborators Break out collective costs and participant costs (funders may support individual or collective efforts) Consider resources the group has to pursue Expect to seek funding over a 12-month period 2009 2008 Benefits of cross-funding Integrating the range of funding sources prior to launching a local security project is more than just an exercise in accounting. In fact, most high-level DHS plans, including the National Response Framework (NRF) and the National Infrastructure Protection Plan, and even the more tactical guidelines like the NRF Emergency Support and Incident Annexes and the National Incident Management System depend on collaborative response capability, predicated on joint planning. In the 32-page Nuclear/Radiological Incident Annex alone, the word “coordinated” and related words like “coordination” appear at least 164 times. The more agencies you have involved in a project at the outset, the more likely they are to dovetail with the regional approach, rather than defecting from the rest of the group. The fewer noncompliant modules that spring up from these projects, the more failure-proof the project becomes and the more likely you will be to be able to consciously add to the project as new applications, systems and requirements become available. This emphasizes the operational benefit of coordination, but there’s also a funding benefit tied to coordinating different sources of funding. More funding is generally requested for bigger projects, and more funding is usually made available. The Assistance to Firefighters Regional component allows applicants to use the population of the entire region, as defined in the application, to determine the request ceiling. The greater the population served, the greater the potential award. Similarly, multi-state and multi-urban projects can qualify for additional effectiveness points that help them get additional funding beyond their standard allocations, potentially making the whole award greater than the sum of its parts. Another major benefit of coordinating funded efforts across agencies and across the region is that each agency has its own set of potential funding sources, based on the eligibility requirements for each program and funding source. Fire departments, police departments and EMS agencies all have their own pools of funding, for which many other agencies are ineligible. Of course, there will be overlap, where some programs are broad enough to include many potential applicant types (the Transit Security Grant Program is an example), but the struggles for leadership inherent in a few programs don’t outweigh the benefit of aggregating these funding sources for the benefit of the community. G8 HS T od ay Guide to Homeland Security Grants 2009