OAAM Implementation Status Overview

Fiscal Year (FY) 2007 was the first year of operation for the OAAM, and a year of great achievement for the office.

FY 2008 Second Quarter Accomplishments

The following is a list of OAAM accomplishments to date for the second quarter of FY 2008:

Closed 19 single and OIG grant audit reports, which included 54 recommendations and $3.6 million in questioned costs to various DOJ grantees. Cumulatively for FY 2008, closed 45 single and OIG grant audit reports, which included 114 recommendations and $9.1 million in questioned costs to various DOJ grantees.
Deployed an enhancement to the GMS Closeout Module in February. The enhancement automatically generates closeout packages 91 days after the end date of the grant. In addition, any remaining grant funds are frozen 91 days after the end date of the grant.

The following is a list of OAAM accomplishments for the first quarter of FY 2008:

Streamlined audit coordination activities and transitioned audit coordination of OIG grant Single Audit resolution from the OCFO to the OAAM’s Audit and Review Division.
Closed 26 single and OIG grant audit reports, which included 60 recommendations and $5.5 million in questioned costs to various DOJ grantees.
Completed and distributed a formal report of OJP and COPS monitoring efforts, documenting both the level and quality of monitoring activities in FY 2007.
Integrated the web-based grantee financial reporting system into GMS. See instructions on how to use the new module.
Launched an enhanced peer review module in GMS.
Drafted a formal report on the OJP and COPS grant assessment process.

The following is a synopsis of OAAM accomplishments in FY 2007, by division.

Conducted a comprehensive information technology controls review and a mock financial review in preparation for the FY 2007 independent financial statement audit.
Collaborated intensively with the Offices of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO) and the Chief Information Officer at OJP to improve financial management and information technology internal controls to achieve a report of “No Material Weakness” for OJP’s FY 2007 Financial Statement Audit.
Worked with OJP offices and the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) to close 18 out of 45 OIG open recommendations relating to OJP’s operations and grant programs.
Conducted assessments of travel charge card and purchase card compliance and consulted with the OCFO and the Office of Administration concerning identified issues.

Grant Management System (GMS) - OJP’s collaborative, on-line, and end-to-end system used to accept and peer review grant applications, make grant awards, accept grantee reports, approve award adjustments, monitor grants, and close awards.

Completed adaptive maintenance to GMS, including the development of a grant closeout module to improve the timeliness of the grant closeout process.
Developed the GMS On-line Training Tool for grantees, covering the grant adjustment notice, progress reporting, and closeout modules. Since April 2007, this on-line training tool has had 63,000 hits.
Similar to the automatic system holds on grant funds for delinquent financial reports, OAAM implemented enhancements to GMS to apply automatic system holds on grant funds for delinquent progress reports. For the reporting period of July through December 2005, OJP received 3,060 progress reports. For the reporting period of July through December 2006, OJP received 5,690 progress reports. This is an increase of 86% of progress reports submitted.
In FY 2007, OJP processed 15,498 GANs. The average time to process a GAN in GMS was 17 days, compared to the 26 days it took to process a paper GAN.

Conducted a BPI initiative and developed recommendations to standardize performance measurement of OJP grant programs and inter-governmental procurements.
Combined the peer review support contracts of each individual OJP office into a single OJP-wide contract to both streamline and standardize peer review processes, and to reduce OJP’s peer review costs by nearly 20%.
Conducted a BPI initiative and developed recommendations to standardize the process for tracking earmark activity.

Revised and streamlined the OJP Grant Manager’s Manual and subsequently trained over 400 OJP staff on grant management policy.

Created an OJP/Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS)-wide programmatic monitoring plan and assessed progress against the plan on a quarterly basis. OJP and COPS monitored over 20% of open award funds in FY 2007.
Developed a standard grant monitoring tool making it possible for OJP staff to both monitor grants consistently across OJP, as well as to record findings in a common format.
Developed and implemented an OJP/COPS-wide grant assessment tool that uses 15 standard criteria to determine those grantees in need of assistance through on-site monitoring. Using this tool, OJP and COPS have assessed over 4,000 grants to date.
Evaluated the quality of monitoring efforts to determine where enhancements may be needed and drafted a formal report documenting the findings.
Revised OJP monitoring policies and procedures to create more accountability amongst grant managers for accurate and thorough monitoring activity.
Held a monitoring training program for 35 new grant managers.