ACP Outreach Grant Program Management Policies and Resources

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The ACP has Ended for Now

Due to a lack of additional funding from Congress, the Affordable Connectivity Program has ended for now. Effective June 1, 2024, households will no longer receive an ACP discount.

The Federal Communications Commission Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau (CGB) Grants Team administers the Affordable Connectivity Outreach Grant Program (ACP Outreach Grant Program), including the Pilot Program Outreach Grants.

Grant recipients, selected through a competitive application review process, serve as trusted community messengers to implement innovative outreach strategies to reach ACP-eligible households nationwide.

The CGB Grants Team is responsible for ensuring each recipient is a good steward of grant funds awarded and in compliance with federal regulations and agency policies by performing two functions:

  1. Grants Management (Grantee Engagement & Policy): Serves as the first point of contact for grant recipient engagement and financial grants administration for topics, including: Grant policy; grants financial oversight and evaluation; and grants systems management and coordination. Grant recipients are directed to contact their assigned Grants Management Specialist listed in the Notice of Award for questions.
  2. Programmatic (Performance Evaluation): Oversees the program development of new grant opportunities; application review and selection; and grants programmatic oversight and evaluation.

Monitoring

Grants Monitoring

FCC is required to conduct monitoring of its ACP recipients to ensure proper use of funds per federal and program requirements including 2 CFR 200. Monitoring is conducted by the FCC Grants Management Specialist (GMS) and requires recipients to send documentation for the GMS review.

A risk assessment and random sampling will be used by FCC to identify recipients for monitoring. Your FCC GMS will send a monitoring engagement letter to your AOR and/or PI/PD identifying what kind of monitoring is to be conducted, desk or financial.

  • Desk Review: The GMS reviews the recipient’s full grant processes and policies. These policies and documents will be used to determine if the recipient is compliant with 2 CFR 200 and FCC policies.
  • Financial Review: The GMS reviews of documents relative to reimbursement payments to confirm expenses incurred for the drawdown are allowable and a reimbursement. This review will include a review of invoices, timesheets, activity descriptions, and time stamps, receipts, etc.

Once the monitoring is complete, the GMS will issue a Post-Monitoring Letter identifying Best Practices, potential areas of weakness, and technical assistance as needed

Closeout

ACP Outreach Grants Closeout

Closeout is the process by which the Federal Communications Commission determines that all applicable administrative actions and all required work of the federal award have been completed. In cases of a qualifying event, an Affordable Connectivity Outreach Grant Program (ACP Outreach Grant Program) award may be closed out. The purpose of closeout is to ensure: Final reports are received and evaluated; allowable costs are determined; and the amounts due to either the federal agency or to the recipient are determined, and payment arrangements are made.

Per 2 CFR § 200.344, upon the period of performance end date of the award, recipients have up to 120 calendar days to submit all financial, performance, and other reports required in the Terms and Conditions of the Award, or receive approval, within a fixed due date, for an extension for the submission of a report(s) from the FCC. An award expires at midnight, local time for the recipient, on the period of performance end date noted on the latest Notice of Award (NOA). Before the closeout process begins, grant recipients will receive multiple notices from the Commission confirming the end of the period of performance, communicating closeout requirements, and key deadlines all recipients are required to adhere to before the grant award can be closed.

Each grant recipient is required to submit a series of closeout requirements as a condition of the grant agreement. This includes recipients who have had no activity during the award period. Grant recipients must prepare and submit the following grant recipient closeout requirements by August 30, 2024:

  • Final request for payment, if applicable, in PMS;
  • Final PPR and PPR-Supplemental in GrantSolutions Reporting Module; and
  • Final FFR (SF-425) in PMS.

Resources that can be reviewed to support closeout activities include:

  • April 2024 Grantee Webinar Presentation [PDF]: Provides an overview of the ACP Outreach Grants monitoring and closeout processes.
  • April 2024 Grantee Webinar [Video]: Recording of the April 2024 Grantee Webinar
  • Final PPR-Supplemental Template [XLSX]: This new excel template for the Final Performance Progress Report must be submitted in the GrantSolutions reporting module 120 days after the end of the period of performance. 
  • Final Reporting Office Hours Presentation (FFR/PPR) [PDF] [Video]: This presentation contains a walk through of final PPR and FFR processes, along with some tips and tricks for submitting reports.
  • April 2024 Grantee Webinar [Presentation] [Video]: This webinar includes an overview of the closeout process on slides 16-18 (26:00), followed by a review of the Final FFR and Final PPR. 

Reporting

Reporting Resources

Resources

Grants Management Resources

Grantee Resource Hub

Events

Events

Archive:

Bureau/Office:
Consumer and Governmental Affairs
Updated:
Monday, June 3, 2024