LE Recruitment Grant Program FAQs

What are examples of best practices from the President’s Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice?

Examples of best practices from the President’s Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice include:

Recruitment

  • Internally identify priorities along with the priorities of the community.
  • Collaboratively work with stakeholders to conduct a thorough assessment of what critical characteristics and traits qualify an individual as a candidate for employment with their agency. 
  • Develop a comprehensive marketing strategy for recruitment.
  • Assure the validity of, and periodically audit, all testing instruments
  • Offer recruitment and retention incentives.
  • Reduce the time it takes to apply for and receive an offer from an agency.

Retention

  • Increase staff engagement in the agency, allowing for both top-down and bottom-up input into policies, procedures, and operations.
  • Develop formal procedures for exit interviews to identify reasons for leaving. 
  • Examine salary and benefit packages and incentive programs to ensure that they are competitive in the field. 

Training

  • Develop strategies to collaboratively work with stakeholders to develop minimum standards for annual online and in-person continuing education requirements. These should include the most significant areas and critical topics required, as well as the minimum training hours required for each. 
How do I find my project application if I don’t complete it all at the same time?

When you log into ZOOMGRANTS (ZG), click on My Account Home. Any incomplete applications will appear under the Incomplete tab. If the application deadline has passed the incomplete applications will move the to the Archived tab.

What do I do if I get the message that I exceeded the maximum length for a question? 

If there is a character limit it will appear with each question. As you type, a box indicates how many characters are remaining. There may be a slight discrepancy in character counts upon saving the answer. Carriage Returns count as two (2) characters when SAVED, but count as one (1) characters when TYPING/EDITING. The final characters count may be off by 1 character for each carriage return. You may need to shorten your answer if your initial answer uses the maximum character limit.

How do I submit more than one application for my agency?

A ZG account is linked to an individual within an agency, and not the agency as a whole. If your agency has distinct and separate projects with different project directors each project director should have his/her own account. (Unless the agency decides to have a singular generic account owner that provides project director access to each application on a case by case basis). 

  • If your agency has multiple ZG accounts, each account may submit one or more applications.
  • If a single ZG account holder would like to submit more than one application, you may accomplish this in one of two ways:
    1. Apply Again – creates a new blank application
      • Login 
      • Click Apply Again to create a new Application.
    2. Duplicate Application – copies an application within the same Grant Program and allows you to edit it. 
      • Under My Account Home find the application you want to duplicate (it will be under either the Incomplete or Submitted tab).
      • Click Duplicate and a copy of the application will open an allow you to edit.
 Do we need to include a breakdown budget for any contractors/vendors?

Yes. A line item budget must be included in the budget narrative under the consultants/contract (professional services) category. Suggested budget format is: list personnel, supplies and operating, travel, equipment, and contracted services or professional services. The budget should include only those items for which you are requesting funding.

Does the system allow for review by our Appointing Authority?

Prior to application submission by the division, all applications must be reviewed and approved by our Authorizing Authority so that s/he has the opportunity to evaluate projects to determine if they are in keeping with our mission and goals and do not violate laws or regulations.  Is that possible in the system?

Yes, you can “Print/Preview” the application prior to submission. This can be found on the top right corner of the individual application. You may save to PDF and/or print it.

Do the character limits in the sections include the spaces between words?

Yes. Be advised, hitting Return also uses two (2) characters.

We have not registered with SAM and do not have an UEI, will this stop us from submitting an application?

Yes. Please contact DCJ if you are currently registering with SAM or if you are reactivating your registration, but have not yet completed the process.

How do I update my SAM end date on my new application?

Using data released by the federal government, ZOOMGRANTS completes a SAM verification (via each applicant’s UEI) and presents the results for each applicant in the Application Summary tab of their applications.

The federal government releases this data every month, and SAM checks are completed once an applicant submits their application and are automatically updated monthly, following the release of the new data.

The SAM verification will only appear in the Application Summary tab on an application if the applicant has entered a valid UEI.