1

Grant Administration Training Amid COVID-19

White Paper

Date

Name

Company Address Details

 2

Title: Grant Funding requirements from Federal to State Government amid COVID-19

Objective:

 To provide a report on grant administration training and its importance

Topics:

 COVID 19 Crisis Grants

 Grant compliance and why it's important

 Responsibility for both grantors (Federal Government) and grantees (State Governments)

 Why grant training is critical to support government missions and state government funds

management

Executive Summary

This paper aims to provide a report on grant administration training and its importance

amid Covid 19 crisis. The report will address vital requirements to state governments for grant

compliance in accordance with federal government regulations. According to (Wallis, 2018)

state governments are faced with grant noncompliance issues. This report will aim to address

issues surrounding the state government's compliance with grants (GAO, n.d). At the same time,

the paper will analyze the roles of grantors who are federal government and grantees who can be

state governments and the main reasons why professional development is vital in supporting

government missions on funds management. Grant compliance is identified with the conformity

of every applicable law, guidelines, business rule ethics, and policies that have been put in place.

State governments are supported within the establishment of compliance corporate infrastructure

guidelines as well as the accounting structures that are relevant to the process of acquiring a
 3

grant. Compliance requires fulfilment of the federal reporting requirements as well as granting

agency reporting requirements (Abrahams & Zhang, 2008). The process of acquiring grants in

times of crisis may as well demand a guided professional negotiation and preparation as well as

the audit plans. Any form of gaps that may be identified within the process of granting may

require compliance training. For instance, mismanagement of cash and problems with cash

reserves.

Stakeholders may seek third-party services for training on grant compliance. This

because third party individuals have more expertise and knowledge of all the requirements in a

granting process. They are also able to fully ensure that all the accounting for organizations'

needs is in line with every business activity. At the same time, third party individuals also ensure

proper measures are put in place to ensure federal funding is channelled in the right places.

Grantors may use training organizations to assist them in ensuring grant compliance. Third-party

organizations can provide smart solutions and can help them in successfully obtaining and

keeping a gold standard in compliance and integrity. Other reasons why grantors can use training

organization in grants compliance include:

 Long-lasting compliance solution

 Controlled risk

 Transparency, efficient, and reliable planning

 Automated and audited-proofed projects

 Proof compliance due diligence

Introduction
 4

According to (Hewitt, 2020). COVID-19 Update, reports indicate that over the past were

few weeks, the COVID-19 pandemic has escalated and continued to hit the world hard. It is also

expected that the situation may become worse if not well managed. Federal and state

governments are moving fast to gather funds to deal with this major threat. Federal governments

are providing grants to deal with the emergent issue at hand. To effectively account for the

money and successfully solve the problem with minimum cost possible, grant compliance and

training are important to the federal government and state governments. The main problem

facing state governments currently is how to implement a grant from the federal governments in

solving the COVID-19 crisis (Gates, 2020). The federal governments are faced with short-

budget issues and grants compliance issues. Therefore, it is essential to have enough knowledge

of compliance and the role of both federal and state governments in funds managements amid the

Coronavirus crisis.

Problem Statement

The COVID-19 pandemic has skyrocketed in the past few weeks, and there is a need to

have a clear plan on how to deal with the issue to get our normal life back. Before the pandemic,

financial grants were lined up to be channelled into economic improvement. Currently, due to the

crisis, the federal government is giving out grants to state governments to minimize the

pandemic. Some of the state governments will require assistance in putting in place a plan on

how grants compliance can be implemented in solving the coronavirus crisis. At the same time,

the potential problems which may require to be addressed after the pandemic may involve

acquiring more funds to control the affected economy within the health sector. Hence this report

will be addressed in these issues surrounding grant funding requirements from the federal

government. The report will also aim to educate grantors on the importance of grant compliance
 5

training during the COVID-19 crisis. The report will also address the impacts of not being

trained and how training ensures the management of funds is within compliance consideration

(Mallya, 2019).

A solution to the problem

The Coronavirus relief funds that are expected to solve the problem are estimated to be

about two trillion dollars. These funds are expected to battle out with the unforgiving effects of

the virus. The grant package includes:

1. State relief funds.

2. Education stability funds for states, districts, and high learning institutions

3. Disaster management funds for emergency needs

4. Deployment of the national guard

5. Funds to centres of disease control and prevention

6. Employment insurance and the transit systems

Grant compliance Training

Grant compliance training perfect for the grant managers who are looking to stay up-to-

date with financial grants management strategies as well as best practices. Trained by the

attorneys, CPAs, as well as other industry experts, this training will keep you compliant as well

as on the know on the grants and current COVID-19 crisis.

What to Consider to Stay Compliant

1. The compliance supplement. It is a document that is released on an annual basis guiding

the application of uniform Guidance requirements in federal grants programs. The latest
 6

2020 Compliance Supplement has various changes implemented that incorporate the

impact the way the audit is conducted. It also details how internal policies and procedures

should be designed. Internal control guidance compliance is tested by the auditor. Due to

many changes, program directors must learn how to refer to the new Compliance

supplement (eCivis, 2020).

2. Sub recipient monitoring. The monitoring grant sub-recipients are not just a compliant

exercise. To leading grantors, it is a substantial opportunity to improve the effectiveness

and efficiency of grant operations. Training on the best leading practices in monitoring

sub-recipient helps in providing grantors with good insight into grant execution while

demonstrating compliance with federal requirements over sub-recipient monitoring.

3. Fraud Prevention and Detection

4. Boosting your cost recovery efficiency

5. Strategic consideration for Audit Defense

6. Understanding and managing indirect cost-related risks

7. Third-party risk management: Mitigating risk through internal control

8. Post-award noncompliance disclosures

Importance of Grant Compliance amid COVID-19 Crisis

Due to the severity, overnight, the COVID-19 has disrupted priorities of grant

compliance. The things which were on top of the list importance, for example, students' loan

grants and employment funds, have been replaced by action items that could be avoided a few

weeks ago. According to (Gates, 2020), the author argues that the management of this crisis is

possibly going to last longer than may be expected. Federal grant compliance issues will as well

be experienced, for example, what amount of funds will be allocated to different states Michael
 7

et al., n.d) Grant compliance involves all the management activities which stipulate the

requirements for the fulfilment of grant policies. The grant-seeking state governments show their

reputability and ingenuity of their corporation in solving and dealing with a crisis. To the grant

seeker, the management of grants is an essential part of maintaining a relationship with those

providing the funds. For instance, how the state government uses funds is key to how they relate

with the federal government and the possibility of getting further grants (Segal, 2019). To the

grant-makers, effective grant management is essential for the value of every dollar spent in the

process (Donationx, 2020). This is essential in ensuring that all the money is channelled towards

operations aimed at dealing with the problem at hand and not any other operations. The local

states, as well as health organizations, are working closely with CDC, federal authorities, and

other relevant agencies to make sure of a collaborative response. The lawmakers have provided

directions to federal and state resources to keep the public informed. At the same time,

legislative actions have also been implemented in effect on the outbreak.

Responsibility for Both Grantors and Grantees

i. They have the responsibility of making sure that funds are used in line with the

budget, which has been stipulated in a grant application process to solving the

crisis.

ii. Individuals involved with a grantee organization should be focused on the

management of grant compliance.

iii. They act the watchdogs in ensuring that funds that have been disbursed are

channelled to the right places and are following accurate records (Drabczyk,

2016).
 8

iv. The grantee is required to have enough knowledge on regulatory rules governing

granting of an award that has been funded. They must evaluate and analyze grant

award requirements keeping track of the progress in meeting milestones that have

been established in a grant agreement.

Both Grantor and grantees have the responsibility of making sure that an organization has

specific personnel who are tasked with reviewing the period after an award has been granted. All

through the process, grantors should be able to ensure open communication, which helps then in

addressing any problems which may arise along the way.

How Grant Training Is Vital to Government Missions and Funds Management

Grant training is essential to organizational and government missions. The development

of management skills is achieved through nonprofit grant provisions. Federal governments are

the primary sources for getting grants. Grants, in this case, will be used in dealing with the

COVID-19 pandemic. Grant training and funds management is essential in achieving long-term

goals for the grant provided by the federal government. Nonprofit grant disbursement by the

federal government gives a chance to the state government and relevant organization to focus on

planning for a long-term solution in solving a crisis. Grant compliance requirements call for

relevant institutions to specify the main long-term objectives for a particular solution to the crisis

(Barnald, 2018). Through the stipulated requirement for a grant provision, goals can be refined,

and a close focus developed to the task which needs to be completed (Tan, 2017).

Summary

The problem at hand is to deal with the unforgiving effects of the Coronavirus. The

results which this report hopes to accomplish is placing granted funds from the federal
 9

government into finding long-lasting solutions amid the COVID-19 crisis. The Coronavirus

grants provision is essential in battling the unforgiving effects of COVID-19 pandemic. Funds

are likely to be used in expenditures incurred as a result of COVID-19. At the same time, due to

the uncertainty of the COVID-19 crisis, conservatism is the best method in dealing with cash

management functions by the government. This report has been completed to help the federal

government in grants provision and deliver compliance training, which is cost-effective (Winter,

2015).
 10

References

Abrahams, C. R., & Zhang, M. (2008). Fair lending compliance: intelligence and implications

for credit risk management (Vol. 13). John Wiley & Sons.

Drabczyk, T. E. (2016). How Grant Recipients Can Satisfy Compliance Requirements for U.S.

Federal Awards.

Gates, B. (2020). Responding to Covid-19—A Once-in-a-Century Pandemic? New England

Journal of Medicine.

Hewitt, T. (2020). COVID-19 Update.

Mallya, S. (2019). U.S. Patent No. 10,375,115. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark

Office.

Tan, M. W. J. (2017). Design and development of a grant management system.

Wallis, J. J. (2018). What determines the allocation of national government grants to the states?.

In Public Choice Analyses of American Economic History (pp. 181-199). Springer,

Cham.

Barnald, C. (2018, May 22). "The 12 Areas of Federal Grant Compliance." Aronson LLC.

Retrieved from: https://aronsonllc.com/12-areas-of-federal-grant-compliance/

 11

Winter, S. (2015, January 29). "Compliance Training—Critically Important, Too Often an

Afterthought." caveolearning Retrieved from

https://www.caveolearning.com/blog/compliance-training

Michael D. Aukamp, Dunham. A. & Rhodes. (n.d.). "Federal Grant Compliance Issues."

Segal, Z. (2019). "Understanding Federal Grant Compliance" grantstation.

Retrieved from: https://grantstation.com/tracks-to-success/Understanding-Federal-Grant-

Compliance

eCivis. (2020). "Learn Grants Management, Improve Your Grant Management Knowledge."

Retrieved from: https://www.ecivis.com/learn

Donationx. (2020). What is Grant Management? A Complete Guide to Grant Management for

Companies and Nonprofits. Retrieved from: https://www.donationx.org/blog/What-is-

Grant-Management-A-Complete-Guide-to-Grant-Management-for-Companies-and-

Nonprofits/AX67XULA

GAO. (n.d). Federal Grants to State and Local Governments. Retrieved from:

https://www.gao.gov/key_issues/management_of_federal_grants_to_state_local/issue_su

mmary