FAQ Listing

Learn more on JustGrants Resources website's Application Submission page in the section Complete the Application in JustGrants - Budget

Applicants should provide a budget that—

• is complete, allowable, and cost-effective in relation to the proposed activities;
• shows the cost calculations demonstrating how they arrived at the total amount requested; and
• provides a brief supporting narrative to link costs with project activities. The budget should cover the entire award period.

Your Budget Detail Form should clearly present a breakdown of costs associated with each of nine budget categories. Itemize where necessary. For more detail on what is required, reference the specific Notice of Funding Opportunity. OJJDP expects applicants to provide a thorough narrative for each section of the Budget Detail Form. The Budget Detail Form should break out costs by year.

Applicants will complete a web-based budget form on JustGrants. See the OJP Application Resource Guide for additional information on preparing a budget.

The budget narrative should thoroughly and clearly describe every category of expense listed in the Budget Detail Form. OJP expects proposed budgets to be complete, cost effective, and allowable (e.g., reasonable, allocable, and necessary for project activities).

Applicants should demonstrate in their budget narrative how they will maximize cost effectiveness of award expenditures. Budget narratives should generally describe cost effectiveness in relation to potential alternatives and the goals of the project. As with the Budget Detail Form, the budget narrative should describe costs by year.

To learn about what a budget narrative should include, go to the Narrative Justification for Every Cost section of the OJP Grant Application Resource Guide.

See the Part 200 Uniform Requirements page for more details on audit requirements.

OJP is committed to ensuring a fair and open process for making awards. OJJDP reviews the application to make sure that the information presented is reasonable, understandable, measurable, and achievable, as well as consistent with the funding opportunity.

All proposals are reviewed by independent peer reviewer panels to ensure applications meet basic minimum requirements. For purposes of assessing whether an application meets basic minimum requirements and should proceed to further consideration, OJP screens applications for compliance with those requirements. All final award decisions are made by the Assistant Attorney General. OJJDP will not discuss details regarding the status of your applications until all awards have been made to grant recipients. 

Learn how to become a peer reviewer.

Award notifications are usually sent by September 30 (the end of the federal fiscal year). For successful applicants, JustGrants will send a system-generated email to the Application Submitter, Authorized Representative, and Entity Administrator with information on accessing their official award package in JustGrants. The award package will include key information (such as funding amount and period of performance) as well as award conditions that must be followed. An Authorized Representative for the entity should accept or decline the award within 45 days of the notification. See the Application Resource Guide for information on award notifications and instructions.

Review these resources to learn how to accept your award in JustGrants:

• Training: Award Acceptance page on the JustGrants Resources site
• Award Acceptance Checklist for JustGrants
• JustGrants Award Acceptance Job Aid Reference Guide 

If your project is funded, you will be required to submit several reports and other materials. See Post Award Reporting Requirements. In addition, you will be required to report information relevant to program performance measures established by OJJDP to help measure the performance of federal funding. See the Notice of Funding Opportunity for details.