NCJ Number
250105
Date Published
June 2011
Length
25 pages
Annotation
This report by the U.S Justice Department's Office of Justice Program's (OJP's) Office of Audit, Assessment, and Management (OAAM), which has oversight of OJP's grant monitoring, assesses the application review and award process used by the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) for the FY 2009 Recovery Act State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance Program: Combating Criminal Narcotics Activity Stemming From the Southern Border of the United States (CCNA program).
Abstract
The assessment's objective was to determine whether BJA's award process provided for "fair and open competition" for CCNA grant applicants. This involved determining whether CCNA program grants were made in compliance with established award process policies and procedures and whether all eligible applicants had the same opportunity to compete for CCNA funding. OAAM uses "fair and open competition" to describe an award process that affords objective and equitable opportunity for all applicants to compete for funding. Overall, OAAM's assessment determined that BJA's award process for the CCNA program provided for fair and open competition for applicants in all five areas of the assessment. BJA completed the award process within the narrow time frame allotted for granting Recovery Act awards; however, the assessment identified opportunities for BJA to improve its documentation throughout the award process and to provide more specific information to applicants rejected for grants. Six recommendations are offered for addressing these issues. BJA's comments on these recommendations in the draft report are included, along with OAAM's response to BJA's comments. 1 table and appended supplementary details