Grants Center of Excellence CoE GrantSolutions HHS Administration for Children Families Michael Curtis May 2009

1. Grants Center of Excellence(CoE)GrantSolutions.govHHS Administration for Children & FamiliesMichael CurtisMay 2009

2. 2 GMLoB Vision & Goals Vision A government-wide solution to support end-to-end grants management activities that promote citizen access, customer service and agency financial and technical stewardship. Goals Improve customer access and efficiency of submission process Improve decision making Integrate with Financial Management processes Improve efficiency of reporting procedures in order to increase usable information content Optimize post-award and closeout actions

3. 3 GMLoB Progress to Date Designated Consortia Leads: Department of Education, National Science Foundation Health and Human Services - Administration for Children and Families Defined implementation approach for consolidating grants management systems into three Consortia solutions Provided tools and resources to assist the Consortium Leads in the development of their solutions Developed a process to assist migrating agencies in assessing their compatibility with Consortium Leads Distributed guidance and tools to aid agencies in meeting migration milestonesProvided tools and resources to assist the Consortium Leads in the development of their solutions Developed a process to assist migrating agencies in assessing their compatibility with Consortium Leads Distributed guidance and tools to aid agencies in meeting migration milestones

4. 4 Senate Bill 303 Approved Senate bill 111-s303 reauthorizing P.L. 106-107 contains language directing an integrated grants process Find and apply, Managing and tracking, Financial Performance reporting This integrated capability is currently provided to Grants Center of Excellence partners, but a national solution is required.

5. 5 National Response OMB is defining an implementation Strategy. Obtain input from the Grants Executive Board and the Grants Policy Committee. GMLOB is developing and vetting policy recommendations Electronic Work Group � Reviewing National Information Management Systems and Activities and making strategic recommendations.

6. 6 Components of National Grant Systems Federal Assistance Award Data System� http://www.census.gov/govs/www/faads.html Consolidated Federal Funds Report http://www.census.gov/govs/www/cffr.html Federal Audit Clearinghouse http://harvester.census.gov/sac/ Central Contractor Registration (CCR) http://www.ccr.gov Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) http://www.cfda.gov Interagency Edison (iEdison) http://iEdison.gov USASpending.gov http://www.USAspending.gov Excluded Parties List System (EPLS) http://www.epls.gov Grant Payment Systems http://www.fms.treas.gov/asap/�& ASAP.gov http://www.dpm.psc.gov Grants.gov http://www.grants.gov NSF Survey of Federal Science and Engineering Support http://chaffee.qrc.com/nsf/srs/fssweb/help/complete_survey.cfm#intro NSF https://www.fastlane.nsf.gov/fastlane.jsp Geodata.gov (aka, Geospatial One-stop) www.geodata.gov Federal Funds Express http://www.house.gov/ffr/ff_reports_about.shtml Federal Procurement Data System www.fpds.gov Past Performance Information Retrieval System (PPIRS) www.ppirs.gov Govbenefits.gov www.govbenefits.gov DisasterAssistance.gov www.disasterassistance.gov GovLoans.gov GovLoans.gov Central Contractor Registration (CCR) www.ccr.gov Past Performance and Integrity System CURRENTLY BEING DEVELOPED Federalreporting.gov CURRENTLY BEING DEVELOPED Recovery.gov Recovery.gov Recovery Act Data Architecture Central Reporting Repository for Recipients CURRENTLY BEING DEVELOPED Education CURRENTLY BEING DEVELOPED Grants Center of Excellence http://GrantSolutions.gov

7. 7 Business

8. 8 The Department and the GMLoB Strategically the State Assistance Management System (SAMS) Project positions the State Department as a managing partner of the Grants Center of Excellence (COE) allowing State to drive much of this national grants implementation vision Tactically the Department is working with the COE to build out and deploy the GrantSolutions.gov system worldwide.

9. 9 Benefits: Transparency Single-face to public Cost to public substantially reduced Fast response to Administration policy changes Partnership � shared technology evolution ideas and cost Flexible technology supporting agency uniqueness Predictable capped costs Appropriate financial stewardship & results assessment Consolidated accurate data reporting to public Lessened burden (Security Plan, COOP & disaster recovery, system & financial audits, Exhibit 300�s, and compliance with PMA and E-gov goals) Benefits Partnership Single-face to grantee Flexible collections and mechanisms for processing that support program/agency uniqueness in flexible technology solutions Consistent costs capped while providing a broad-based solution with progressive technology evolution A high degree of appropriate financial stewardship and the ability to process and deliver grant funding and assess program results and effectiveness Consolidated data reporting for Departmental and Government-wide requirements Lessened burdens in technology support (Security Plan compliant, COOP, disaster recovery, system and financial audits, Exhibit 300�s, Compliance with PMA and E-gov goals including Grants.gov)Benefits Partnership Single-face to grantee Flexible collections and mechanisms for processing that support program/agency uniqueness in flexible technology solutions Consistent costs capped while providing a broad-based solution with progressive technology evolution A high degree of appropriate financial stewardship and the ability to process and deliver grant funding and assess program results and effectiveness Consolidated data reporting for Departmental and Government-wide requirements Lessened burdens in technology support (Security Plan compliant, COOP, disaster recovery, system and financial audits, Exhibit 300�s, Compliance with PMA and E-gov goals including Grants.gov)

10. 10 Includes services for the 14 grant processes Integrated funds control Optional commitment accounting; Obligation within available funds; Flexibility in designs & templates: Number generator Review criteria & checklists Award notices, budget line items, terms & conditions Extranet �On-Line Data Collection� Supports standard forms as well as agency-specific forms and edits Submission of grantee reports saves partners thousands of hours Shared Oracle schema Modular connection and open architecture Enterprise-wide data reporting Quick turn around & ability to export information Clean Audits The COE is interested in partner assistance in developing common funds control interfaces to accounting and payments systems and has met with GSA members of the FMLoB task force. The system has interfaces for funds control including optional commitment accounting and obligation within available funds. Flexibility has been a lesson learned in taking on new customers. This has lead to a flexible numbering schema generator to accommodate new customers requirements for their own grant numbers, application numbers, log numbers, obligation and commitment numbers and funding opportunity numbers. In addition the system supports agency-specific templates for review criteria and checklists, and for notices of award, budget line-items and terms & conditions. The extranet for collection of all types of grantee submitted forms and reports allows the collection of any type of OMB-approved agency or program-specific form or report without ever having to revise the database. It includes pre-population and validation of those forms from the back-office database and routing, review and approval of the submissions within the internal awarding agency. A shared Oracle database schema allows external modules to connect to other modules for sharing and reuse of information. The Enterprise-wide reporting not only enables quick turn around but is also used to export information into other systems. The COE is interested in partner assistance in developing common funds control interfaces to accounting and payments systems and has met with GSA members of the FMLoB task force. The system has interfaces for funds control including optional commitment accounting and obligation within available funds. Flexibility has been a lesson learned in taking on new customers. This has lead to a flexible numbering schema generator to accommodate new customers requirements for their own grant numbers, application numbers, log numbers, obligation and commitment numbers and funding opportunity numbers. In addition the system supports agency-specific templates for review criteria and checklists, and for notices of award, budget line-items and terms & conditions. The extranet for collection of all types of grantee submitted forms and reports allows the collection of any type of OMB-approved agency or program-specific form or report without ever having to revise the database. It includes pre-population and validation of those forms from the back-office database and routing, review and approval of the submissions within the internal awarding agency. A shared Oracle database schema allows external modules to connect to other modules for sharing and reuse of information. The Enterprise-wide reporting not only enables quick turn around but is also used to export information into other systems.

11. Our history of building streamlined and broad-based technical solutions began in the early 90�s with the creation of ACF from the former FSA (Family Services Administration) and OHDS (Office of Human Development Services). At that time a full Grants process re-engineering resulted in the original GATES designs that were implemented in 1996. Since the year 2000 we have continued to add services: -- 2001 Post-award reporting for mandatory grants through OLDC -- 2004 in taking on other agencies we added flexible numbering schemas for grant and application numbers, rolled out the announcement system and tied to Grants.gov. Implemented unified �sign-in� procedures and developed Enterprise Reporting. -- 2006 in becoming a GMLoB lead and partnering with OPHS we began to adjust system components to be able to support better desktop views of pending work and grant-related tasks and flexible templates for grant reviews and for terms and conditions. -- 2007 and 2008 we are transitioning from GATES to GrantSolutions.gov on the web starting with the discretionary module. We will be participating in government-wide efforts related to standard performance reporting and readiness for the Federal Financial �Transparency & Accountability� Act (FFATA). We are moving into Service Oriented Architectures with more features to track actions, status of submissions and tasks and automated electronic notifications. GrantSolutions.gov will be used by our grantees as well as our internal Federal staff. Our history of building streamlined and broad-based technical solutions began in the early 90�s with the creation of ACF from the former FSA (Family Services Administration) and OHDS (Office of Human Development Services). At that time a full Grants process re-engineering resulted in the original GATES designs that were implemented in 1996. Since the year 2000 we have continued to add services: -- 2001 Post-award reporting for mandatory grants through OLDC -- 2004 in taking on other agencies we added flexible numbering schemas for grant and application numbers, rolled out the announcement system and tied to Grants.gov. Implemented unified �sign-in� procedures and developed Enterprise Reporting. -- 2006 in becoming a GMLoB lead and partnering with OPHS we began to adjust system components to be able to support better desktop views of pending work and grant-related tasks and flexible templates for grant reviews and for terms and conditions. -- 2007 and 2008 we are transitioning from GATES to GrantSolutions.gov on the web starting with the discretionary module. We will be participating in government-wide efforts related to standard performance reporting and readiness for the Federal Financial �Transparency & Accountability� Act (FFATA). We are moving into Service Oriented Architectures with more features to track actions, status of submissions and tasks and automated electronic notifications. GrantSolutions.gov will be used by our grantees as well as our internal Federal staff.

12. 12  CoE Partnership Solution Description Partnership options: (Managing Partners; Service Partners) Governance (COE Executive Board; COE Uses Group; COE Project Team; Change Control Board) Partner participation responsibilities: Sign and fund Inter-Agency Agreement(s) (3 types available: Fitgap MOU, Migration MOU, Operations & Maintenance MOU); Participate in the determination of their own fit-gap analysis; Assist with preparation of historic data preparation for migration, if any; Assist with setup of data related to programs, agency organization and staff, financial/accounting/payment, grants/grantees, and role/access/signature authorities/titles; Assist with review, setup and monitoring of any system-to-system interfaces; Identify and support Agency staff and grantee populations who will use the system modules. Physically or financially provide 1st tier training and help desk support (COE supports train-the-trainer approach; and 2nd tier help desk referrals.) Work with COE throughout staff/grantee training and setup processes. Managing partner responsibilities Provide at least one FTE on the COE Project Team. Not necessarily co-located but must participate actively in weekly team meetings and take on some level of responsibility in system development and design. This can be a combination of staff and can be Federal staff and/or contractor staff with knowledge of Partner Agency systems and business requirements and ability to serve as a liaison to the partner agency. Provide a high-level executive member to the COE Executive Board (meetings 2 to 4 times per year) with ability to make business and financial commitments on behalf of the Partner Agency. The COE Executive Board must approve any changes to the annual operations funding algorithm. Solution Description Partnership options: (Managing Partners; Service Partners) Governance (COE Executive Board; COE Uses Group; COE Project Team; Change Control Board) Partner participation responsibilities: Sign and fund Inter-Agency Agreement(s) (3 types available: Fitgap MOU, Migration MOU, Operations & Maintenance MOU); Participate in the determination of their own fit-gap analysis; Assist with preparation of historic data preparation for migration, if any; Assist with setup of data related to programs, agency organization and staff, financial/accounting/payment, grants/grantees, and role/access/signature authorities/titles; Assist with review, setup and monitoring of any system-to-system interfaces; Identify and support Agency staff and grantee populations who will use the system modules. Physically or financially provide 1st tier training and help desk support (COE supports train-the-trainer approach; and 2nd tier help desk referrals.) Work with COE throughout staff/grantee training and setup processes. Managing partner responsibilities Provide at least one FTE on the COE Project Team. Not necessarily co-located but must participate actively in weekly team meetings and take on some level of responsibility in system development and design. This can be a combination of staff and can be Federal staff and/or contractor staff with knowledge of Partner Agency systems and business requirements and ability to serve as a liaison to the partner agency. Provide a high-level executive member to the COE Executive Board (meetings 2 to 4 times per year) with ability to make business and financial commitments on behalf of the Partner Agency. The COE Executive Board must approve any changes to the annual operations funding algorithm.

13. 13 CoE Partners ACF was selected in 2003 as an HHS Grants Center of Excellence. Our partner base expanded from the ACF program offices to include other HHS Operating Divisions (AoA in 2004, IHS and CMS in 2005, OPHS in 2006 and HRSA in 2007). By FY 2006 the Grants Management Line of Business (GMLoB) efforts lead to our selection as a consortia lead to service other Federal Agencies. The National Science Foundation was selected to lead a consortia for research agencies and the Department of Education is building a new system and capabilities. The USDA Food Safety Inspection Services began using GATES in 2006, Treasury CDFI and the Denali Commission signed agreements in 2007 and we are in discussions with a number of other Federal agencies including VA, CNS, EPA and SSA. ACF was selected in 2003 as an HHS Grants Center of Excellence. Our partner base expanded from the ACF program offices to include other HHS Operating Divisions (AoA in 2004, IHS and CMS in 2005, OPHS in 2006 and HRSA in 2007). By FY 2006 the Grants Management Line of Business (GMLoB) efforts lead to our selection as a consortia lead to service other Federal Agencies. The National Science Foundation was selected to lead a consortia for research agencies and the Department of Education is building a new system and capabilities. The USDA Food Safety Inspection Services began using GATES in 2006, Treasury CDFI and the Denali Commission signed agreements in 2007 and we are in discussions with a number of other Federal agencies including VA, CNS, EPA and SSA.

14. 14 2008 Partners

15. 15 CoETechnical Compliance Complies with Federal Enterprise Architecture Has an up-to-date Security Plan Complies with OMB and NIST security policies Maintains Continuity of Operations-COOP Tests regularly on established backup site Concluded recent audits with success A-123 internal controls audit Chief Financial Officer financial controls audit SAS-70 Provides high volume central database Built with scalable Oracle 10G Access controls and authorities for 9 different agencies and their sub-agency components Technical Compliance Burden covered for partners Security Plan (OMB and NIST compliant) Continuity of Operations (COOP) Plan maintained and regularly tested at back-up site History of over 5-years of clean audits A-123 internal controls audit Chief Financial Officer financial controls audit Voluntary SAS-70 system auditTechnical Compliance Burden covered for partners Security Plan (OMB and NIST compliant) Continuity of Operations (COOP) Plan maintained and regularly tested at back-up site History of over 5-years of clean audits A-123 internal controls audit Chief Financial Officer financial controls audit Voluntary SAS-70 system audit

16. Module 6 16 SAMS Current Activities Began piloting SAMS with G/TIP in January Working with AQM and INR to begin phase 2 of the pilot Briefing DOS grant-making bureaus on SAMS & project direction Coordinating Bureau review of the SAMS requirements Coordinating between RM and HHS/ACF to develop the financial interface between GFMS and SAMS

17. Module 6 17 SAMS Upcoming Activities State provides leadership as 1 of 4 Managing Partners for the Center of Excellence and GrantSolutions.gov Coordination & Management of contractor activities: CGI: Financial Integration Primescape Solutions: Data Migration Bearing Point: Independent Verification & Validation Continue with the Capital Planning process to determine funding levels and phase 3 of the pilot.

18. 18 Opportunity The SAMS/COE Partnership provides public good government. Faster implementation of Administration policies and congressional law Provide consistent quality e-government services to the public Reduce Government wide grant system costs Provide accurate transparent information to the public The CoE supports all types of grants and all types of programs: Discretionary, formula, block and open-ended entitlement grant programs Service, training, demonstration, research and other types of grants** The COE is supportive of those ready to actively participate in this effort. This is a partnership, not a take-over and not a dictatorship. It will only work well if viewed in the role of an active parnter. The process will only work with partners willing to promote common front-office and common interface standards to launch their programs, grant projects and grantees into an easier way of doing business with the Federal awarding agencies in support of delivery of results from Federal grant programs and funding. ** We do not believe that a Federal agency must choose one and only one consortia for partnership. There are demonstrated opportunities for partnership across consortia and for an agency to seek the appropriate solutions for its grant programs and sub-agencies. An important concept is to emphasize a single Federal face for the grantee community. That does not necessarily translate to one-and-only-one interface. The grantee should have an option to do what makes sense for them. For example if a grantee has only research grants perhaps they will choose to submit only to Research.gov. There is nothing preventing the COE and NSF from partnering in this endeavor. If an institution or state or local government has a variety of types of grants ranging from service and training grants to research grants, then they should be able to go to a single place and submit their forms and reports. Technology, cooperation and vision can make this possible. The single face of �Find & Apply� through Grants.gov, for example, is not intended to prevent agencies from doing business in a way that makes sense to their programs and strategic goals. It is intended to provide transparency to Federal funding opportunities and to provide a consistent platform for applicants and grantees to do business.The CoE supports all types of grants and all types of programs: Discretionary, formula, block and open-ended entitlement grant programs Service, training, demonstration, research and other types of grants** The COE is supportive of those ready to actively participate in this effort. This is a partnership, not a take-over and not a dictatorship. It will only work well if viewed in the role of an active parnter. The process will only work with partners willing to promote common front-office and common interface standards to launch their programs, grant projects and grantees into an easier way of doing business with the Federal awarding agencies in support of delivery of results from Federal grant programs and funding. ** We do not believe that a Federal agency must choose one and only one consortia for partnership. There are demonstrated opportunities for partnership across consortia and for an agency to seek the appropriate solutions for its grant programs and sub-agencies. An important concept is to emphasize a single Federal face for the grantee community. That does not necessarily translate to one-and-only-one interface. The grantee should have an option to do what makes sense for them. For example if a grantee has only research grants perhaps they will choose to submit only to Research.gov. There is nothing preventing the COE and NSF from partnering in this endeavor. If an institution or state or local government has a variety of types of grants ranging from service and training grants to research grants, then they should be able to go to a single place and submit their forms and reports. Technology, cooperation and vision can make this possible. The single face of �Find & Apply� through Grants.gov, for example, is not intended to prevent agencies from doing business in a way that makes sense to their programs and strategic goals. It is intended to provide transparency to Federal funding opportunities and to provide a consistent platform for applicants and grantees to do business.

19. �Thank You!� Visit the State Assistance Management System & Grants Center of Excellence at www.grantsolutions.gov 19 Thank you. Please visit our site for more information and documentation including for system screen snapshots.Thank you. Please visit our site for more information and documentation including for system screen snapshots.