August 4, 2020 Webinar FAQs

Yes, any of your Grants Management Specialists should be able to pull up all of your organization's Notices of Award (NoAs). They can send it to you again through EHB or email if you need copies of them.

The Grants Management Specialist' contact information is on the last page of your Notice of Award.

HRSA Electronic Handbooks (EHB) is the grants management system that HRSA uses. All of your Notices of Award are in the system.  Your organization's Project Director will have access to the system and should be able to access the documents. You can also call the EHB Contact Center to make sure those who should have access do. You can reach the  EHB Contact Center at 301-443-2112. 

The HHS Grants Policy Statement (PDF - 1.32 MB) was released on January 1, 2007. 

The HHS Grants Policy Statement defines a Project Period as: The total time for which support of a project has been programmatically approved. The total project period comprises the initial competitive segment, any subsequent competitive segments resulting from a competing continuation award, and any non-competing extensions.

A Budget Period is defined as: The intervals of time (usually 12 months each) into which a project period is divided for budgetary and funding purposed. Funding of individual budget periods sometimes is referred to as “incremental funding”.

No, we do not penalize organizations for relinquishing their award funds.

We determine the amount awarded on each Notice of Award by many factors, including the amount of appropriation, number of awards, among other things; and is always subject to the availability of appropriations. Each Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) describes how funding amounts will be determined in section II.2. Summary of Funding.

You should check with your Project Officer and Grants Management Specialist to determine what is considered a change in scope for your program and if a prior approval request is required.

If you did not include equipment or supplies in your approved budget, you may submit a prior approval request to modify your approved budget. You should always check with your Grants Management Specialist to determine what items are allowable for your program.

No, supplies do not require a disposition request from HRSA. You should dispose of obsolete supplies according to your organization’s policies.

Your organization may be required to submit a prior approval for disposition of equipment, depending on the current value of the equipment and what your organization intends to do with the equipment. You should check 45 CFR Part 75.320 for the specific regulations on equipment disposition and check with your Grants Management Specialist for assistance with your specific situation.

Yes, if your approved budget does not include equipment and you would like to add equipment to your budget, you must request prior approval before purchasing the equipment.

Any supplies with an aggregate value that exceeds $5,000 in total would be treated as equipment at the completion of the project or program. For example, if your organization purchased $10,000 worth of medical supplies, for which the unit cost is less than $5,000, during your project period, and you have $6,000 worth of those supplies left, those would be treated as equipment. You can find additional information at 45 CFR Part 75.321.

45 CFR Part 74.321 states, “Title to supplies will vest in the non-federal entity upon acquisition. If there is a residual inventory of unused supplies exceeding $5,000 in total aggregate value upon termination or completion of the project or program and the supplies are not needed for any other federal award, the non-federal entity must retain the supplies for use on other activities or sell them, but must, in either case, compensate the Federal Government for its share."

Your organization should have a system in place that can record and keep track of your supplies.

The rebudgeting threshold relates to each budget period, as that is the period for which a budget is approved.

You may submit a rebudgeting request at any time during your budget period. Because the funds will need to be used in the current budget period (unless a carryover is approved), it is advised that you submit a rebudgeting request as early as possible. This is to ensure HRSA can review the request and provide a response, and to ensure you have the maximum amount of time to use the funds in the current budget period.

The 25% rule applies to the total federal award. You can find additional information about the 25% rule in the HHS Grants Policy Statement under Significant Rebudgeting.

No, the program income amount you included in your application is an estimate. If the amount changes, you can note it and include any rationale in your reports.

You should check with your Grants Management Specialist to determine if a carryover request is needed. The requirements can vary, based on which program your organization is implementing.

You should check with your Grants Management Specialist to determine if your program needs a carryover request. The requirements can vary, based on which program your organization is implementing and the specific situation of your organization.

We only provide no-cost extension to recipients whose project period is ending and no subsequent project period is being awarded. Therefore, a carryover request would not be appropriate, as there is no upcoming budget period to carry the funds into. If we grant a no-cost extension, it extends the date of your current budget period and allows you to use the funds until the revised end date.

Yes, we handle these requests on a case-by-case basis. If you would like to carryover funds from a budget period that are not immediately prior to the new budget period, you should contact your Grants Management Specialist to determine if it is possible for your organization.

An FQHC that is a Health Center Program recipient has the ability to carryover an unobligated balance from one 3-year Project Period into the next 3-year Project Period. When you requests to carryover funds from one Project Period into another, you must submit a Prior Approval request, even for organizations that are under Expanded Authority. Your Grants Management Specialist can assist you with determining if you need a Prior Approval request.

You should check with your Grants Management Specialist to determine if you need a carryover request. The requirements and thresholds can vary, based on which program your organization is implementing.

A Prior Approval request may be required if your organization wants to move $500 from the Travel line to the Supplies line. If your organization did not previously have any funds on the Supplies line, this would be considered category rebudgeting and it would require prior approval.

However, if your organization did previously have funds on the Supplies line, then a Prior Approval request would most likely not be required. If $500 exceeded 25% of your organization’s award, then it would require prior approval. For this example, you would want to check with your Grants Management Specialist to ensure that none of the other rebudgeting requirements apply that would require a Prior Approval request to be submitted.

You should check with your Project Officer and Grants Management Specialist to determine if your organization’s CEO is considered key personnel and if the change would require prior approval from HRSA.

You should check with your Grants Management Specialist to determine if the purchase of a laptop would require prior approval from HRSA. It can vary, depending on what’s included in your approved budget.

You should check with your Grants Management Specialist to determine if you need a carryover request. The requirements can vary, based on which program your organization is implementing.

To find examples of budgets for the program to which you are applying, you should look in the Notice of Funding Opportunity. Section V includes information on the requirements for the budget submission. Additionally, any technical assistance resources will be included or linked in the document, which may include samples of budgets. The appropriate HRSA Application Guide will also be linked, which provides additional information on completing the budget for your application.

Organizations should charge indirect costs according to their financial management policies. You can find additional information about indirect costs at 45 CFR Part 75.414.  To claim indirect costs in a HRSA budget, your organization should have a negotiated indirect cost rate agreement. To obtain a negotiated indirect cost rate agreement, visit Program Support Center, Division of Cost Allocation.

If your organization has never had a negotiated indirect cost rate, you may choose to use the deminimis rate, which is 10% of modified total direct costs indefinitely. You can also find information on the de minimis rate in 45 CFR Part 75.414.

You can find the budget requirements for each program application in the Notice of Funding Opportunity. Some programs require the inclusion of non-federal resources because of cost-sharing requirements. Other programs may require non-federal resources to be included in the budget so HRSA can see how you will implement the entire program.

The salary rate limitation can change. The salary rate limitation law limits the amount that may be charged to most HRSA grants and cooperative agreements. Award funds may not be used to pay the salary of an individual at a rate in excess of Executive Level II (PDF - 3.26 KB). When the Executive Level II amount changes, the salary rate limitation also increases.

Check with your Grants Management Specialist if you are unsure of the current salary rate limitation.

Yes. The fringe benefits should be directly proportional to the portion of personnel costs that you allocated for the project. If an individual’s base salary exceeds the legislative salary cap (i.e., $197,300), you will have to adjust fringe proportionally.

Program income is defined as income earned by a recipient, subrecipient, or a contractor under a grant that is directly generated by the grant-supported activity or earned as a result of the award.

Program income includes, but is not limited to

• income from fees for services performed;
• charges for the use or rental of real property, equipment, or supplies acquired under a grant;
• the sale of commodities or items fabricated under an award;
• charges for research resources; and
• license fees and royalties on patents and copyrights.

Program income does not include third-party in-kind contributions, gifts, financial assistance from another source, such as another federal or a non-federal grant, or charitable contributions.

Allowable costs vary based on the purpose of your program and the Cost Principles. You should always refer to the Notice of Funding Opportunity for your program, the Notice of Award, and 45 CFR Part 75 to determine if a cost is allowable. All costs should also be allocable to and reasonable for your program.

There is not a specific cap on the amount that you may spend on hotel lodging. The costs should always be reasonable and allocable to the program. The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) per diem rates can be used as a guide for determining the reasonableness of hotel rates, but other circumstances should be considered.

You should always ask your Grants Management Specialist if you have questions about what rates are considered reasonable for your program and the area in which the hotel is located.

You should check with your Grants Management Specialist to determine if payment of an honoraria is an allowable cost for your program.

Food is rarely an allowable cost. You should check with your Grants Management Specialist to see if it is an allowable cost for your particular program.

Allowable costs vary based on the purpose of your program and the Cost Principles. You should always refer to the Notice of Funding Opportunity for your program, the Notice of Award, and 45 CFR Part 75 to determine if a cost is allowable. All costs should also be allocable to your program and reasonable. If you need additional guidance, please contact your Grants Management Specialist.

Some advertising costs are allowable in certain circumstances. You can check 45 CFR Part 75.421 for the parameters around advertising. Please check with the Grants Management Specialist on your Notice of Award if you have specific questions related to advertising.