SMART Office walks AWA grant recipients through award management, reporting and compliance

Samantha Opong, associate director for programs and planning in the SMART Office, opened a recorded webinar for Adam Walsh Act (AWA) Implementation Grant Program recipients and introduced SMART grant management staff who outlined the steps recipients must follow to manage awards in JustGrants.

"Remember, your success is our success," Opong said, stressing that grant managers are available to help recipients meet award conditions. Daniel Rapoport, a grants management specialist, described JustGrants as "DOJ's official grants management system" and urged recipients to review their entity profile and assign the five critical user roles that enable award actions in the system.

Presenters told recipients to accept or decline awards in JustGrants (OJP encourages a decision within 45 days), and warned that acceptance binds an entity to the award conditions. Daniel Rapoport noted that if an award includes a condition requiring a revised program narrative, recipients must not begin project activities until SMART issues a modification that removes the condition.

Kim Martin explained steps required before accessing funds, including enrollment in ASAP (Automated Standard Application for Payments), keeping bank and user information current, and preparing payment justifications tied to the DOJ-approved budget. Martin said DOJ often issues conditional budget clearance and that recipients should respond promptly to requests for additional documents or budget revisions submitted through JustGrants.

Financial responsibilities were emphasized: a mandatory financial management training for the grant administrator and financial manager (every three years) and quarterly Federal Financial Reports (FFRs) that must be completed within 30 days of quarter end; late FFRs will freeze access to funds until submitted. Presenters advised aligning accounting records with reported amounts and keeping supporting documentation for all expenditures.

Kishan Alamein covered semiannual performance reporting and new performance measures being introduced for AWA awards. He reiterated that recipients must upload performance reports and complete the performance measures questionnaire in JustGrants, and noted the reporting due dates of July 30 (for Jan–Jun) and Jan 30 (for Jul–Dec).

Yolanda Curtis Gibson reviewed grant award modification (GAM) types — project period extensions, two programmatic GAMs (programmatic cost and scope change) and two financial GAMs (budget modification and sole source). She said sole-source requests are used when a contract would exceed the simplified acquisition threshold and urged recipients to consult grant managers before submitting GAMs. Gibson added recipients cannot submit a project period extension GAM with only one day left in the performance period and recommended early communication with grant managers to avoid last-minute issues.

The SMART team described OJP and SMART Office monitoring activities, including report reviews, virtual and in-person in-depth monitoring of a subset of awards, and external oversight by DOJ's Office of Inspector General and the Government Accountability Office. Gibson closed with closeout guidance: complete closeout requirements within 120 days of the project period end by submitting final programmatic and financial reports and requesting final payment so OJP can verify and close the award in JustGrants.

In a Q&A session presenters confirmed that slides will be emailed to attendees by the end of the week, reviewed examples of allowable and unallowable costs under AWA, and directed recipients to contact their assigned grant manager or the ASK SMART email address for further assistance.