NCJ Number
192145
Date Published
November 2001
Length
56 pages
Annotation
This report presents the methodology and findings of a review of the program monitoring of discretionary grants awarded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance's (BJA) Byrne Program and the Violence Against Women Office (VAWO) within the Justice Department's Office of Justice Program's (OJP).
Abstract
The study assessed OJP's discretionary grant monitoring process and requirements; the extent to which BJA and VAWO documented their monitoring activities for discretionary grants; what BJA and VAWO did to determine compliance with OJP's grant monitoring guidelines; and OJP's efforts to identify and address grant monitoring problems. Interviews were conducted with agency officials, grant managers, and supervisors in Washington, D.C. Data were analyzed from a representative sample of 46 of 110 Byrne and 84 of 635 VAWO grant files active during 1999 and/or 2000. Budget data were analyzed for OJP, BJA, and VAWO regarding OJP grant programs from fiscal years 1990 through 2000. The study found that Byrne and VAWO discretionary grants did not always contain the required monitoring plans. In addition, for awards in the most recent 12-month period of grant activity, grant managers were not consistently documenting their monitoring activities according to the monitoring plans they developed. A substantial number of Byrne and VAWO files did not contain progress and financial reports sufficient to cover the entire grant period, and progress and financial reports were often submitted late by grantees. Further, the Byrne and VAWO files reviewed did not always contain the required closeout documents. BJA and VAWO are not positioned to systematically oversee grant managers' compliance with monitoring requirements because documentation is not readily available on monitoring activities. Recommendations pertain to BJA's and VAWO's need to improve their documentation of discretionary grant monitoring, as well as OJP's need to establish an approach to compile, maintain, and systematically review the documentation of monitoring activities. Appendixes provide information on the size and growth of OJP, BJA, and VAWO budgets and BJA and VAWO discretionary grant programs; stages of the discretionary grant process; comments on this report from the Department of Justice; and General Accounting Office contacts and staff acknowledgments. 2 tables and 8 figures