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Updated: Nonprofit Grants Announcement

May 21, 2013

FY 2013 Urban Areas Security Initiative (UASI) Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP)

Key Dates and Time 

This is why we suggested that you start your work. The application window will be very short. Download the preliminary PDF version by clicking FY 2013 NSGP Investment Justification Template and get going now! N.B. It’s a PDF document, you will have to copy your answers into the official Excel spreadsheet which will be available on the NY DHSES website when they post the application package no later than Tuesday, 05/28/2013.

  • Application Start Date: In New York the NY DHSES needs to obtain certain clearances as required by the NY State contracting process before posting the application packet. It will be available no later than 05/28/2013. Click here to look at the NY DHSES website to see if the application package is posted.)
  • Application Submission Deadline Date: In New York,  the deadline will be June 10th.
  • E-Grants registration. New York  applicants must submit their grants through the E-Grants system. If you have a E-Grants account and remember your information you need not do anything else. If you need to be reminded of your account name and/or password, send a note to grants@dhses.ny.gov.  New applicants must fill out an E-Grants Registration  available in two formats: doc pdf
  • Mission statement. We are in the process of reviewing the guidance. Thus far, we’ve noticed one change: a requirement that applicants submit their “mission statements.” If your organization does not have a mission statement we will post some samples by next week at www.jcrcny.org/securitygrants.
  • Eligibility. You must be a 501(c)(3) organization located in an eligible area. New York City, Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester are eligible. No other counties in New York are eligible. For other states click here.
  • Anticipated Funding Selection Date: 08/02/2013
  • Anticipated Award Date: 09/30/2013

Total Funding Available in FY 2013: $10,000,000

Purpose: The FY 2013 NSGP provides support for target hardening and other physical security enhancements and activities to nonprofit organizations that are at high risk of terrorist attack and located within one of the specific UASI-eligible Urban Areas.  While this funding is provided specifically to high-risk nonprofit organizations under The Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2013 (Public Law 113-6), the program seeks to integrate nonprofit preparedness activities with broader State and local preparedness efforts.  It is also designed to promote coordination and collaboration in emergency preparedness activities among public and private community representatives, as well as State and local government agencies.

The FY 2013 NSGP plays an important role in the implementation of the National Preparedness System (NPS) as detailed in Presidential Policy Directive 8 (PPD-8) by supporting the development and sustainment of core capabilities.  Core capabilities are essential for the execution of each of the five mission areas outlined in the National Preparedness Goal (NPG).  The development and sustainment of these core capabilities are not exclusive to any single level of government or organization, but rather require the combined effort of the whole community.  The FY 2013 NSGP supports all core capabilities in the Prevention, Protection, Mitigation, Response, and Recovery mission areas based on allowable costs.

Eligible Applicants: The State Administrative Agency (SAA) is the only entity eligible to apply to FEMA for NSGP funds on behalf of eligible nonprofit organizations (as described under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986).  Eligible nonprofit organizations determined to be at high risk of a terrorist attack due to their ideology, beliefs or mission and located within one of the designated FY 2013 UASI-eligible Urban Areas must apply for funding through their SAA.

Program Awards: FY 2013 NSGP funds will be allocated based on risk analysis, effectiveness, and integration with broader state and local preparedness efforts.  Each nonprofit organization may apply through their SAA for up to a $75,000 grant award.

Additional Information

  • FY 2013 NSGP Funding Opportunity Announcement
  • FY 2013 NSGP Fact Sheet
  • FY 2013 NSGP Investment Justification Template
  • FY 2013 NSGP Scoring Worksheet (to be completed by the SAA only)
Last Updated:
05/21/2013 – 10:48
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A peek at the NSGP guidance

May 09, 2013

Rumor has it that the Nonprofit Security Grant Program guidance will be released on or about May 25th, but that’s just a rumor. If past experience holds, New York organizations will receive 40-50 grants.

In preparation for the announcement, the Grants Division of the D.C. Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency prepared the following for its constituents. Their advice closely tracks JCRC’s advice: start your process with the steps below (adapted for NY). Of course the official guidance the the final word on the program.

Interim Guidance

The FY2013 Federal Budget for DHS/FEMA includes $10,000,000 for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP) – the same amount as last year, which is to provide funding to eligible nonprofit entities in major urban areas for physical security upgrades. [The allocation will be further reduced by about 5% due to sequestration.]

Due to significant delays in Congress approving the federal budget this year, the grant guidance and application package for the FY2013 NSGP has not yet been released by DHS/FEMA. However we anticipate that the grant application package will be released in mid to late May, and that applications will be due very quickly after that.

For that reason, we encourage all interested applicants to begin preparing for the short application turn-around time by gathering together the necessary information as soon as possible.

The application template has not yet been released by DHS/FEMA, but based on prior year grant guidance, the following information will likely be requested – prospective applicants should begin putting this information together now in order to have it ready for the 2013 application (see the 2012 Investment Justification/application here).

NOTE: In all prior years, the NY Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Services has been the sole “applicant” to DHS/FEMA on behalf of all of the applications submitted by the individual nonprofit subgrantees. Our assumption is that this will remain the same in 2013.

    1. Determine if your organization is eligible
      1. Must be a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization
      2. Must be located within a designated high-threat urban area [Still to be determined by DHS/FEMA, but the list from last year included NYC, Long Island and Westchester and can be seen here]
    2. Find your organization’s existing Dun & Bradstreet Number (DUNS) or get one by calling (866-705-5711)
      1. Note – you should not have to register with the Central Contracting Registration (CCR), as long as NY DHSES is the sole applicant on behalf of the designated area.
    3. Determine what your organization’s “risk” is, describing it in three concise categories:
      1. Threat. What potential terrorist threats do your organization face?
      2. Vulnerability. Based on the threats described, how vulnerable is your organization to that threat (how likely is it to succeed?) and why?
      3. Consequence. If the treat described above actually occurs, what impact would it have in terms of human casualties, property damage, and community impact?
    4. Propose a project that could mitigate the “risk” described above. [In recent years the Federal portion of the grant has been capped at $75,0000]
      1. The proposed project should directly address the threat, vulnerability or consequence described.
      2. The proposed costs must only be in the following categories described in FEMA’s Authorized Equipment List (AEL).
        1. Category 14 – Physical Security Enhancement Equipment
        2. Category 15 – Inspection and Screening Systems
        3. The link above provides an expandable list underneath those two categories – please ensure that all proposed costs can clearly be linked to specific equipment sub-items in category 14 and/or 15
        4. The proposed project budget should identify all costs (under categories 14 and 15) and add up to the total amount requested. [Federal amount, plus any additional amount provided through other sources]
        5. The proposed project should have a high-level timeline (assume sub-grant award by Sept. 01 2013, and a period of performance of no more than 21 months). Include at least 90 days in your timeline for Environmental/Historic Preservation (EHP) approval. [The award should be announced no later than September 30, 2013]

Any progress a potential applicant can make in addressing the items listed above should be able to be plugged directly into the FY2013 NSGP application template when it becomes available. With a shortened application timeframe, getting started now will help ensure timely submission of applications.

When the 2013 NSGP application package becomes available, the NY DHSES should provide the materials here.

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Do the NYC Readiness Challenge

May 08, 2013

Readiness challenge

Try out the NYC Readiness Challenge, a new online tool that:

  • highlights what could happen in the event of an emergency in New York City; and
  • outlines steps users can take to prepare for a disaster.

Designed to help New Yorkers learn about emergency preparedness in a fun, engaging way, the NYC Readiness Challenge takes users through different topics on disaster preparedness. Users learn about staying informed during an emergency, contacting loved ones who may be concerned, gathering emergency supplies ahead of a disaster, preparing pets for emergencies, and helping family members and friends with special needs. Thanks to NYC OEM Commissioner Joe Bruno for his ongoing leadership.

To check out the NYC Readiness Challenge, click here. 

 

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Patience: There will be a 2013 Nonprofit Security Grant Program

May 03, 2013

Timing: Yes, everyone is frustrated and we still don’t know when US DHS will release the guidance document for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program. Best guess: third of fourth week of May. New York DHSES will release its application documents soon thereafter. As soon as the guidance is released we will schedule a training session.

What you can do now: If you are thinking of applying for a grant we strongly suggest that you have all of the materials for your Investment Justification (your vulnerability assessment and the answers to the questions on the 2012 Investment Justification) ready to submit when the New York Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services releases the official Request for Applications. We will alert you regarding any changes in the 2013 Investment Justification and you will be able to easily cut and past your answers into the 2013 spreadsheet.

Any changes in the status of the grants will be posted in the JCRC-NY Security and Emergency Planning Blog. Click here to subscribe to the JCRC-NY Security and Emergency Preparedness Alert list in order to receive ongoing alerts and updates, including information on grants.

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More on our plates: suspicious letters

April 17, 2013

From the FBI: A second letter containing a granular substance that preliminarily tested positive for ricin was received at an offsite mail screening facility. The envelope, addressed to the President, was immediately quarantined by U.S. Secret Service personnel, and a coordinated investigation with the FBI was initiated. It is important to note that operations at the White House have not been affected as a result of the investigation.

Additionally, filters at a second government mail screening facility preliminarily tested positive for ricin this morning. Mail from that facility is being tested.

Any time suspicious powder is located in a mail facility, field tests are conducted. The field and other preliminary tests can produce inconsistent results. Any time field tests indicate the possibility of a biological agent, the material is sent to an accredited laboratory for further analysis. Only a full analysis performed at an accredited laboratory can determine the presence of a biological agent such as ricin. Those tests are currently being conducted and generally take 24 to 48 hours.

The investigation into these letters remains ongoing, and more letters may still be received. There is no indication of a connection to the attack in Boston.

The targets of these suspicious letters were the President and a Senator and there is no reason to believe that Jewish institutions are at risk. However, we recommend that all institutions (and businesses) that have mailrooms should review their mail screening and handling procedures with staff.  Please advise your mailroom personnel not to handle letters or packages that look suspicious (discoloration, stains, or emits an odor).  Personnel should immediately leave the area and dial 911. Personnel should make sure that no one re-enters the area until the NYPD/FDNY Hazmat Unit declares it safe.

Read Safe Mail Handling from DHS and find the USPS page on mail security, including suspicious mail and packages, here.

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Pres. Obama, Mayor Bloomberg, NYPD and Jewish community response to Boston Marathon explosions

April 15, 2013

Combined Jewish Philanthropies and Jewish Community Relations Council express our sincere sympathy to the families and friends of the victims of this tragedy. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Greater Boston community, courageous runners, family, friends and those visiting from the United States and abroad.

  • Statement of Mayor Michael Bloomberg

As law enforcement authorities investigate today’s explosions in Boston, I ask all New Yorkers to keep the victims and their families in your thoughts and prayers. I have spoken with Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, and the NYPD has stepped up security at strategic locations and critical infrastructure, including our subways. Some of the security steps we are taking may be noticeable, including deployment of Critical Response Vehicles and additional police personnel, and others will not be. We have 1,000 members of the NYPD assigned to counter-terrorism duties, and they – along with the entire NYPD and the investments we have made in counter-terrorism infrastructure – are being fully mobilized to protect our city.

  • As per the Deputy Commissioner of Public Information of the NYPD:

We’re stepping up security at hotels and other prominent locations in the city through deployment of the NYPD’s critical response vehicles (CRVs) until more about the explosion is learned.

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Outrage against Williamsburg mezuzah arsons

April 09, 2013

BHa1JB8CAAAK47RA host of officials turned out this morning in support of the Williamsburg Jewish community to decry the burning of 11 mezuzot there.

David Pollock offered the following statement:

Williamsburg is a community of faith and the mezuzot affixed outside our doors represent our faith in the spiritual protection divinely promised to our ancestors in Egypt and extended to us throughout the centuries. No vandal, however filled with hate, could ever undermine that.

The fact that the vandals chose to strike on Holocaust Remembrance Day is especially horrifying. The physical protection of New York’s Jewish community is safeguarded by the NYPD. The Hate Crimes Task Force joined with the local precinct in order to muster every appropriate resource for the investigation. We have faith that they will apprehend those responsible so that they may face the full weight of our criminal justice system.

@UnitedJewish @chriscquinn @StephenLevin33 @scottmstringer @NydiaVelazquez @assemblymanjoe @TishJames @DanielSquadron @jcrc

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Conducting Security Assessments: A Guide for Schools and Houses of Worship

April 08, 2013

Key Dates: Wednesday, May 1, 2013 at 2:00 – 3:00 p.m. (EDT)

Background Information: In support of the Presidential Initiative on Reducing Gun Violence, this virtual roundtable explores how to assess and strengthen security at houses of worship and K-12 schools and will have representatives from the Department of Homeland Security and from religious and educational communities will discuss how to:

  • Develop assessment teams
  • Assess security measures
  • Create a culture of security throughout the institution

This free, online, interactive roundtable will include panel discussions, a question-and-answer session, and additional resources.

 Who should attend:

  • Leaders, administrators, staff, and volunteers from schools and houses of worship
  • Law enforcement and Federal, State, local, tribal, and territorial officials

See the resources page here.

 

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Budget deal includes nonprofit grant program

March 21, 2013

Security grants updateThe Jewish Federations of North America applauds today’s Congressional approval of $10 million in new funding to nonprofits through the Department of Homeland Security’s Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP).

The allocation was included within the just-completed Fiscal Year 2013 Continuing Resolution. Though the win was hard fought amid difficult budget discussions, the approved funding will help ensure that a minimum of 127 grants for at-risk nonprofits will be available this year. These federal funds help bolster the security of nonprofit institutions deemed by the Department of Homeland Security to be vulnerable to terrorist attacks, including many Jewish organizations and institutions.

“We are grateful that nonprofits will once again benefit from this funding that is so critical to the ongoing safety of our communities,” said Michael Siegal, chair of the JFNA Board of Trustees. “These security grants are vital to the ongoing protection of at-risk institutions, enabling us to work, worship, gather and learn without fear.”

Threats to Jewish institutions continue to be a national security concern. Though the Nonprofit Security Grant Program has taken a number of funding hits in recent years, with funding at the $10 million level, the NSGP will be able to remain a program that is impactful, tangible and preventative.

“Since September 11, nonprofits generally, and Jewish communal institutions specifically, have been the targets of an alarming number of threats and attacks,” said William Daroff, JFNA’s vice president for Public Policy. “We are incredibly grateful for the bipartisan, bicameral support for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program as it is a proven, critical resource that helps supplement the work of local and federal law enforcement to help keep us safe.”

Senate Appropriations Chairwoman Barbara A. Mikulski (D-MD) has been the stalwart champion of the NSGP since co-sponsoring the establishment of the program with the late Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter. Sen. Mikulski’s efforts are supported by her Senate Appropriations counterpart, Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL), as well as House Appropriations Chairman Harold Rogers (R-KY) and Ranking Member Nita Lowey (D-NY), and Senate and House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee leaders including: Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Sen. Dan Coats (R-IN), Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-AL) and Rep. David Price (D-NC), among others.

JFNA thanked Congressional leaders and Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano for their support of this vital program, and expressed gratitude to partners including the Orthodox Union, Agudath Israel, the Jewish Community Relations Councils of New York, Washington, Baltimore and Indianapolis, and Federation communities including New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington, Baltimore, Seattle, Boston and Las Vegas.

JFNA works with partners to sustain the program and serves as the leading technical resource to hundreds of Jewish grant applicants annually. JFNA continues to work with Congress to ensure that the NSGP continues in Fiscal Year 2014, and to press the Administration to support continuing and strengthening the NSGP in 2014.

“We are acutely aware of the dangers that exist for Jewish institutions in our communities,” added Daroff. “That is why the Jewish Federations and our partners urge the Administration and Congress to continue supporting this program and why we work with schools, synagogues, Federations and Jewish Community Centers to successfully guide them through the Homeland Security grant process.”

Created by Congress in 2005, the Nonprofit Security Grant Program has successfully carried out its mission to support nonprofit organizations that are at increased risk of terrorist threats and integrate nonprofit preparedness activities with broader state and local preparedness efforts.

JFNA, along with key communal partners, facilitated the establishment of the program, and spearheaded its own security initiative, the Secure Community Network. Since the program began, Congress has appropriated $138 million toward NSGP, which is distributed within designated high-risk areas across the country to help nonprofits acquire and install physical security enhancements intended to deter and detect terrorists and extremists.

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