CHRP Post-Application Period FAQs

What should agencies do if they were unable to complete their CHRP application before the application closed?

• The CHRP application period was March 16, 2009 through April 14, 2009. 
• The CHRP application period is now closed and cannot be extended for agencies to complete their application.

What should agencies do if they want to revise their CHRP application after the application period has closed?

• Applicants were allowed to revise their finished application during the application period by calling into the COPS response center to request their application be unlocked. This feature was available only through Tuesday, April 14, when the application period closed.
• Submitted CHRP applications are locked and cannot be revised.

What is the formula for disbursing these CHRP grant funds?

• CHRP is not a "formula" grant program.
• All applications will be reviewed based on their responses on the application. 
• Awards will be made on a competitive basis.

When should an agency expect notification if awarded CHRP grant funds?

• The COPS Office will make CHRP grant award announcements no later than September 30, 2009.

How does an agency verify their application was received?

• Agencies should log back into the "Account Access" page on the COPS website and click on the "Recovery" link to access their application and status.
• To verify that your application was submitted and received by the COPS Office before 11:59 p.m. on April 14, your current application status will be "Completed and submitted."
• Agencies whose applications were not received by the COPS Office will receive a message in Red stating the application deadline has passed and they will not be able to proceed further. This may result from the agency not submitting their application before 11:59 p.m. EDT on April 14.

What should an agency do if they are awarded CHRP funds, but does not have a Central Contractor Registration (CCR) number?

• Agencies will be required to have a CCR number in order to receive CHRP funds. 
• For more information about how to register with the CCR, please refer to the How to Apply section of the COPS Application Guide.
• Please note that applicants must update or renew their CCR at least once per year to maintain an active status.

What should an agency do if it determines after submitting its CHRP application that it must schedule officer lay-offs and it now wishes to use CHRP funds, if awarded, to rehire laid off officers (or prevent a scheduled lay-off), rather than hire new officers?

• If your agency does receive a CHRP grant, it will have the opportunity after the grant award is announced to request a grant modification to move funding into a different category before expending the CHRP funds. If your agency's circumstances do change and you need a grant modification for this purpose, you may contact the COPS Office Response Center at 800-421-6770 after receiving your CHRP grant announcement to obtain additional details regarding grant modifications.

What should an agency do if it determines, after it is awarded CHRP funds, it will not be able to retain the hired officers after the 36 month grant period due to severe fiscal distress?

• At the time of grant application, your agency affirmed that it plans to retain the awarded positions and identified the planned source(s) of retention funding. However, if your agency becomes aware during the last quarter of the grant period that it will be unable to retain some or all of the awarded position(s) because of severe fiscal distress, you must submit a letter to the COPS Office requesting a retention exemption. The COPS Office will review retention exemption requests to evaluate whether your agency's fiscal distress is severe enough to exempt your agency from the retention requirement.
• If your agency does receive a retention exemption, it will be required to wait for one year before applying for new COPS grant awards that contain retention requirements (hiring grant programs). If your agency does not receive a retention exemption, it must retain the additional position or it will be barred from receiving any new COPS grant awards for three years.

What documentation does my agency need to provide if it requests a retention exemption?

• To qualify for an exemption, your agency must demonstrate, with supporting documentation, two key points. 

1. That your agency did plan for retention. Documents that might demonstrate an agency's intent to retain the CHRP-funded positions following the conclusion of funding for each position might include, but are not limited to, council meeting minutes, local government memoranda and/or future budget projections that demonstrate an agency's intent to add the funded positions to its local budget and attempts to seek additional law enforcement funding for the positions. 
2. That your agency is unable to implement its retention plan as a result of severe fiscal distress, natural disaster or other mitigating circumstances. The criteria can be found in the COPS Grant Monitoring Standards and Guidelines (Revised July 2001, Page 22).

What will happen if my agency is no longer able to retain during the retention period?

• If your agency retains the officer positions at the beginning of the retention period but then determines that it cannot complete the full 12-month retention period, it must request a retention exemption for the remainder of the retention period following the same procedures described above.

• Keep in mind, your agency must demonstrate fiscal distress in order to be considered for an exemption of the retention requirement.

What will happen if my agency is only able to retain some but not all of the awarded positions? 

• If your agency becomes aware prior to the end of the grant period that it will be unable to retain all of the awarded position(s) because of severe fiscal distress, natural disaster or other mitigating circumstances, you must submit a letter to the COPS Office requesting a retention exemption following the same procedures described above. 

If my agency does receive a retention exemption, what impact will this have on our ability to receive additional COPS grant funds?

• Agencies that qualify for retention exemptions will not be eligible for any additional new COPS grant funding that contains a retention requirement for a one-year period, referred to as a "waiting period." 

• The one-year waiting period will begin at the end of the 36-month funding period, when the retention requirement would have begun. However, your agency may complete implementation of any existing grants.

What will happen if my agency applies for but does not receive an exemption, but we still do not retain the positions?

• If your agency does not retain the positions following the 36-month funding period and the COPS Office determines that it did not meet the exemption criteria, it will be in violation of the retention requirement. As a result, your agency will be barred from receiving any and all COPS grants (regardless of whether there is a retention requirement) for a period of three years from the date of notification.
• All agencies barred from receiving new COPS grants based on violations of the retention requirement will receive a Notice of Noncompliance, which will also specify the exact dates of the three-year bar period.

What is the procedure to withdraw an application for a grant after it has been submitted?

• Agencies must submit a written request to the COPS Office to withdraw their grant application from consideration. The letter must be on official department letterhead signed by the Law Enforcement Executive or the Government Executive. The letter should identify the COPS grant program that your agency wishes to withdraw from and the reason(s) for the request. The original signed letter should be sent to the COPS Office at the following address:

  U.S. Department of Justice 
  Office of Community Oriented Policing Services 
  Attn: [Insert Program Name] 
  1100 Vermont Avenue, NW 
  Washington, DC 20530

The Community Policing Plan Narrative of my CHRP application was cut off because it was over the 2000 character limit. Will this be a disqualifying factor when my application is reviewed?

• No. The Community Policing Plan Narrative serves, along with the preceding community policing questions, as your agency's community policing plan. Applicants are advised to keep a copy of their full narrative as it documents your agency's community policing plan.
• If awarded, applicants may be requested to provide their complete Community Policing Plan Narrative and/or to provide future updates on their plan and other community policing activities through required progress reports.
• In addition, awarded agencies may be audited or monitored to ensure that it is initiating or enhancing community policing in accordance with its community policing plan.

My agency's fiscal year runs from July 1 to July 30. When we submitted our CHRP application for 5 new officer positions, our agency's budgeted sworn law enforcement strength was higher than it will be starting in our new fiscal year (July 1, 2009), because we experienced budget cuts to our sworn personnel after submitting the CHRP application. (For example, we reported 100 locally-funded sworn officer positions in our CHRP application, but as of July 1, 2009, we will have only 80 locally-funded sworn officer positions because of a 20% budget cut to the sworn personnel line item in our budget.) The budget cuts occurred as a result of severe local fiscal distress, but we did not have the opportunity to report this information in our CHRP application. If we do receive a CHRP grant, will our agency be required to maintain the previous (higher) level of budgeted sworn officer positions that we reported in our grant application (in addition to hiring or rehiring the CHRP positions) to comply with the nonsupplanting requirement? (For example, would we be required to fund the originally reported 100 locally-funded officers plus the 5 CHRP officers, for a total of 105 officers? Or could we fund the 80 locally-funded positions that exist in our budget as of July 1, 2009, plus the 5 CHRP positions, for a total of 85 positions?)

• "No. If your agency experiences budget cuts as a result of local fiscal distress, your agency may implement the CHRP grant, if awarded, over and above the new lower "baseline" of locally-funded sworn officer positions. (In the example above, this means that your agency could maintain a locally-funded baseline of 80 sworn officer positions plus 5 CHRP positions, for a total of 85 officer positions.) You will not be required to maintain the budgeted level of positions that you reported in your CHRP application as long as the budget cuts occurred for reasons unrelated to the anticipation or receipt of the CHRP grant program. 
• Your agency must maintain documentation in your CHRP grant file to demonstrate the reason for any budget cuts so that you may demonstrate that the cuts were not related to the receipt of the CHRP grant in the event of a future audit or monitoring visit. Please also note that if your agency's budget cuts resulted in officer lay-offs and you now wish to apply your CHRP grant, if awarded, to rehire the laid off officers, you will have an opportunity after the grant awards are announced to request a grant modification for this purpose. 
  
• What kind of documentation can prove that the lay-off(s) are not related to the receipt of CHRP funds?

  o Any records showing that the lay-off(s) occurred as a result of state, local, or tribal budget cuts. To show that the lay-offs did not occur as a direct result of the availability of CHRP funds, it is especially helpful to demonstrate that budget cuts occurred in the entire (or at least additional) municipal or tribal governmental departments, not just the law enforcement department. Or if budget cuts just occurred in the law enforcement agency's budget that they were across all categories not just for sworn officer positions. Documents might include:

  1. council meeting minutes discussing the budget cuts and lay-offs; 
  2. budget orders directing municipal departments to reduce their operating budget;
  3. personnel directives given to the officers who are scheduled for lay-off(s);
  4. any other local documents explaining why the lay-offs occurred; 
  5. and/or notices provided to the individual officers regarding the date(s) of the lay-offs.

Questions should be forwarded through:

• The COPS Office Response Center at 800-421-6770 
• The appropriate state Grant Program Specialist for the Discretionary Branch who administers the CHRP program is listed on the website (http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/Default.asp?Item=487)
• Agencies are encouraged to return to the website often as more information will be posted there throughout the review process with useful links and other information about this program.

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