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Grants to USA Fire Departments and Tribes to Increase Firefighting Capacity in Local Communities

Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) Grant Program


GrantWatch ID# 169633
Agency: Federal

Funding Source
U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Grant Programs Directorate (GPD)
CFDA Number: 97.083
Funding or PIN Number: DHS-22-GPD-083-00-99
Array ( [0] => American Samoa (USA); [1] => Guam (USA); [2] => Puerto Rico (USA); [3] => Virgin Islands (USA); [4] => Northern Mariana Islands (USA); )

Geographic Focus
All USA
USA Territories: American Samoa (USA);   Guam (USA);   Puerto Rico (USA);   Virgin Islands (USA);   Northern Mariana Islands (USA);

Important Dates
Deadline: 03/17/23 5:00 PM ET Receipt Save

Grant Description
Grants to USA and territories fire departments, tribes, and tribal organizations to increase the number of firefighters available in communities throughout the nation. Applicants are advised that required registrations may take at least four weeks to complete. Funding is intended to enable fire departments to hire new, additional firefighters, rehire laid-off firefighters, and retain firefighters facing a layoff, as well as to recruit and retain volunteer firefighters.
The SAFER Program provides funding directly to fire departments and volunteer firefighter interest organizations to assist in increasing the number of firefighters to help communities meet industry minimum standards and attain 24-hour staffing to provide adequate fire protection from fire and fire-related hazards, and to fulfill traditional missions of fire departments.
The objectives of the SAFER Program are to assist local fire departments with staffing and deployment capabilities to respond to emergencies and ensure that communities have adequate protection from fire and fire-related hazards. Local fire departments accomplish this by improving staffing and deployment capabilities, so they may more effectively and safely respond to emergencies. With enhanced staffing levels, recipients should experience a reduction in response times and an increase in the number of trained personnel assembled at the incident scene.
SAFER offers grants to support projects in two areas:
  • Hiring Activity: The Hiring Activity offers grants to support applications to hire new, additional firefighters (or to change the status of part-time or paid-on-call firefighters to full-time firefighters), rehire laid off firefighters, or to retain firefighters facing layoff. 
  • Recruitment and Retention of Volunteer Firefighters (R&R Activity): The R&R Activity offers grants to support applications to assist fire departments with the recruitment and retention of volunteer firefighters who are involved with or trained in the operations of firefighting and emergency response. 


Recipient

Eligibility
  • City or township governments
  • County governments
  • Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized)
  • Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
  • Others (see text field entitled "Additional Eligibility Criteria" for clarification)

Additional Eligibility Criteria
Hiring Activity:
Fire departments operating in any of the 50 states, as well as fire departments in the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico,1 or any federally recognized Indian tribe or tribal organization. A fire department is an agency or organization having a formally recognized arrangement with a state, local, tribal, or territorial authority (city, county, parish, fire district, township, town, or other governing body) to provide fire suppression to a population within a geographically fixed primary first due response area.

R&R Activity:
Volunteer and combination fire departments operating in any of the 50 states, as well as fire departments in the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico,1 or any federally recognized Indian tribe or tribal organization. A fire department is an agency or organization having a formally recognized arrangement with a state, local, tribal, or territorial authority (city, county, parish, fire district, township, town, or other governing body) to provide fire suppression to a population within a geographically fixed primary first due response area. National, regional, state, local, tribal and nonprofit interest organizations representing the interests of volunteer firefighters are eligible to receive a SAFER Program award under the R&R Activity.

Ineligible
National, regional, state, local, tribal, and nonprofit interest organizations representing the interests of volunteer firefighters are not eligible to receive a SAFER Program award under the Hiring Activity.

Career fire departments are not eligible to apply for funding under the R&R Activity.

An application submitted by an otherwise eligible non-federal entity (i.e., the applicant) may be deemed ineligible when the person that submitted the application is not: 1) a current employee, personnel, official, staff, or leadership of the non-federal entity; and 2) duly authorized to apply for an award on behalf of the non-federal entity at the time of application.

Funding Restrictions: https://www.fema.gov/sites/default/files/documents/fema_afg-safer-2022-nofo.pdf#page=14

For examples of ineligible applications and organizations, see https://www.fema.gov/sites/default/files/documents/fema_afg-safer-2022-nofo.pdf#page=51.

Pre-Proposal Conference
FY22 SAFER Recruitment & Retention Webinar
Mar 1, 2023 9:00 p.m. GMT+2 - 11:00 p.m. GMT+2 Virtual
This webinar is intended to outline important information on the SAFER program, what is new for 2022, program priorities, eligible costs, how to navigate the grant application, and tips for preparing a SAFER- R&R Activity application.
Register and Join Webinar: https://fema.connectsolutions.com/fy22saferrandr2/event/event_info.html

FY22 SAFER Hiring Webinar
Mar 8, 2023 9:00 p.m. GMT+2 - 11:00 p.m. GMT+2 Virtual
This webinar is intended to outline important information on the SAFER program, what is new for 2022, program priorities, eligible costs, how to navigate the grant application, and tips for preparing a SAFER- R&R Activity application.
Register and Join Webinar: https://fema.connectsolutions.com/fy22saferhiringwebinar2/event/event_info.html

Pre-Application Information
Key Dates and Times:
- Application Start Date: February 13, 2023 at 8 a.m. ET
- Application Submission Deadline: March 17, 2023 at 5 p.m. ET. All applications must be received by the established deadline.
- Anticipated Funding Selection Date: No later than 9/30/2023
- Anticipated Award Date: Beginning on approximately 06/02/2023 and continuing thereafter until all FY 2022 SAFER Program grant awards are issued (but no later than 09/30/2023).

Other Key Dates:
- Obtaining UEI number: Four weeks before actual submission deadline
- Obtaining a valid EIN: Four weeks before actual submission deadline
- Creating an account with login.gov: Four weeks before actual submission deadline
- Registering in SAM or updating SAM registration: Four weeks before actual submission deadline
- Registering Organization in FEMA GO: Four weeks prior to beginning application
- Submitting complete application in FEMA GO: One week before actual submission deadline

For this funding opportunity, FEMA requires applicants to submit applications through FEMA GO.

Applying for an award under this program is a multi-step process and requires time to complete. Applicants are encouraged to register early as the registration process can take four weeks or more to complete. Therefore, registration should be done in sufficient time to ensure it does not impact your ability to meet required submission deadlines.

Volunteer and combination fire departments may apply for funding under both the Hiring Activity and the R&R Activity; however, departments must complete separate applications for each activity. Applicants are limited to one application per activity, per application period. If an applicant submits two applications for the same activity during a single application period, FEMA will disqualify both applications.

For a list of documents related to this grant, see: https://www.fema.gov/grants/preparedness/firefighters/safer/documents

Rules and Tools: https://www.fema.gov/grants/preparedness/firefighters/rules-tools

View this opportunity on Grants.gov: https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=345836

Additional Funding Information

Estimated Total Program Funding:

$360,000,000

Number of Grants
300

Term of Contract
Period of Performance: 12-48 months

- Hiring of Firefighters (Hiring) Activity: The period of performance for applications funded under the Hiring Activity will be 36 months.
- Recruitment and Retention (R&R) Activity: The period of performance for pplications funded under the R&R Activity will be 12, 24, 36, or 48 months.

Extensions to the period of performance are allowed.

- Projected Period of Performance Start Date(s): 06/02/2023 (will vary based on award date and activity type)
- Projected Period of Performance End Date(s): 05/31/2024, 05/31/2025, 05/31/2026, or 05/31/2027 (will vary based on award date and activity type)

Contact Information
Apply online: https://go.fema.gov/login?redirect=%2F

The SAFER Program Help Desk can be contacted at (866) 274-0960 or by email at FireGrants@fema.dhs.gov. Normal hours of operation are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m.–4:30 p.m. ET.

For technical assistance with the FEMA GO system, please contact the FEMA GO Helpdesk at FEMAGO@fema.dhs.gov or (877) 585-3242, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. – 6 p.m. ET.

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