SMART Grant Program FAQs

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
• 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
• 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. 
• 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. 

This grant program is new so there is no past history to base the average amount. There are no caps stipulated in the program legislation.

Applicants should ask for what is needed.

The committee making decisions will evaluate the number of applicants, and requested amounts when making decisions.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

"Public safety employees'" are included in the SMART grant program to increase the diversity to better reflect the community in which they work. Other than what appears in the legislation that I sent in the previous email, there is no further definition provided on what a "public safety employee" means. Please note, "public safety employees" are not included under the LE Workforce Grant program.

The LE Workforce and SMART grants are listed under the same funding opportunity in ZoomGrants; however, as you work through the application and answer questions, it will toggle to the program you are applying for. If you want to apply for both it requires two applications. While they do have similarities, they do have different intent.

• SMART- The goal of the State’s Mission for Assistance in Recruiting and Training (SMART) Grant Program is to provide grants to law enforcement agencies to increase the number of P.O.S.T.-certified and non-certified law enforcement officers who are representative of the communities they serve and to provide training for those additional law enforcement officers.
• LE Workforce - The goals of the Law Enforcement Workforce Recruitment, Retention, and Tuition Grant Program, as established by SB22-145, are to: Assist Law Enforcement Agencies in addressing workforce shortages, Improve the training given to POST certified Peace Officers, Improve relationships between Law Enforcement and impacted communities.

Please review the eligible activities for each grant program and be as specific as possible as to how your request fits within the legislative intent of the program in which you are applying.

"Swag" items used for events, such as recruitment efforts, were funded in the first round. As with any item, please make sure to describe in detail how the expenses fit within the legislative intent of the grant program.

Applicants will be notified of the funding committee decision on their applications mid- to late-October. The Project start date for the SMART Program is January 1, 2024.

The legislation states child care may be covered for Peace Officers but does not set other parameters surrounding this eligible activity. The funding committee will make a decision based on each request for this activity. Applicants are encouraged to be as detailed as possible in their application.