Managing a Grant | ACL Administration for Community Living

Successful grant applicants receive from ACL an electronic Notice of Award (NoA) that indicates the grant (program) start and end dates. The NoA is an authorizing document from the ACL authorizing official, Chief Grants Management Officer, and ACL's Office of Budget and Finance. Acceptance of the award is signified by the drawdown of funds from the Payment Management System.

Once an NoA is received, grant program work can begin. As an ACL grantee, there are requirements you need to know as you work to fulfill the expectations of your award. Your Grants Management Specialist and ACL Project Officer are always available to answer questions and discuss issues that arise during implementation of the grant program,

To help you administer your grant award, the following sections offer general information, as well as links to ACL and other federal resources. Please note that specific grant compliance requirements will be included in the Notice of Award and must be followed.

Information for New Grantees

Notice of Award (NoA)

Upon award, grantees should thoroughly review the NoA. The NoA includes terms and conditions required to remain compliant with federal statutes and regulations. You should follow up immediately with the Federal Project Office or Grants Management Specialist if you have any questions.

Payments

Payments for grantees are made through the Payment Management System (PMS). PMS is administered by the Program Support Center, within the Division of Payment Management, DHHS. Organizations are assigned an 11-digit Entity Identification Number (EIN) for payment and accounting purposes; this number is provided on the NoA. The EIN number is an expansion of the 9-digit Employer or Tax Identification Number assigned to an organization by the Internal Revenue Service. Inquiries regarding payments and requests for downloadable forms should be directed to PMS. Visit https://pms.psc.gov/grant-recipients/user-access.html for information on this procedure.

Federal Restrictions on Lobbying for HHS Financial Assistance Recipients (New)

Please review: http://www.hhs.gov/grants/grants/grants-policies-regulations/lobbying-restrictions.html.

GrantSolutions Grantee Resources

GrantSolutions is an online grants management system that ACL discretionary grantees are required to use to view their official grant files, submit program and financial reports, and request grant amendments. The following resources were developed by ACL to assist grantees in navigating GrantSolutions:

GrantSolutions Grantee Basics (PDF, 4.62MB)
Frequently Asked Questions (PDF, 134KB)

ACL offers the following GrantSolutions training videos and transcripts. Full-screen viewing is recommended for videos.

Requesting, Modifying, or Deleting a GrantSolutions User Account
Video | Transcript (PDF, 104KB)
Logging Into* and Navigating GrantSolutions
Video | Transcript (PDF, 112KB)
My Grants List: Accessing and Viewing Your Official Grant File
Video | Transcript (PDF, 99KB)
Grant Notes: Submitting Documents (such as Program or Financial Reports)
Video | Transcript (PDF, 120KB)
Requesting an Amendment (such as a Carryover or No Cost Extension)
Video | Transcript (PDF, 108KB)

If you have technical difficulties with GrantSolutions, contact help@grantsolutions.gov or call 866-577-0771 or 202-401-5282 (Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-6 p.m. ET, excepting federal holidays).

Federal Funding Requirements

There are standard reporting guidelines for grantees that receive funds from ACL. The guidelines below provide general instructions, unless otherwise noted in the Notice of Award (NoA) for each program. Find the instructions in the Current Guidelines for Preparing Performance Reports for Grants (PDF, 332KB). Please note: Reporting requirements may vary depending on the grant. Please consult the Notice of Award for the grant to ensure compliance.

For grant programs requiring semi-annual SF-425 (FFR) reports, they are due 30 days after each 6-month reporting period. A final report, which takes the place of a semi-annual report at the end of a grant's final year, is due within 120 days of the project’s completion date.
For grant programs with multiple budget periods requiring annual SF-425 (FFR) reports, they are due 90 days after the end of each budget period. Final report is due 120 days after the end of the project period, unless otherwise noted in the NoA. For grants where the budget period and the project period are the same, an annual report is due 90 days after each 12 month period effective with the start date of the award and a final report is due 120 days after the end of the project period.
For grant programs with a 12-month budget period requiring annual SF-425 (FFR) reports, an annual and final report is due 120 days after the end of the project period.
For AoA’s Title III State Formula Grants, the SF-425 (FFR) is required semi-annually. A supplemental form to the SF-425 report is also required. The revised supplemental form and instructions, which was approved by OMB on November 12, 2014, can be downloaded.
Any project funds that remain unobligated at the end of the project period as reported on the SF-425 are de-obligated at closeout and returned to the Treasury, unless the grantee has requested an extension during the time the grant was active.
Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System Reporting.

Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System (FAPIIS)

If the total value of your currently active grants, cooperative agreements, and procurement contracts from all Federal awarding agencies exceeds $10,000,000 for any period of time during the period of performance of this Federal award, then you as the recipient during that period of time, must maintain the currency of information reported to the System for Award Management (SAM) that is made available in the designated integrity and performance system (currently the Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System (FAPIIS)) about civil, criminal, or administrative proceedings. This is a statutory requirement under section 872 of Public Law 110-417, as amended (41 U.S.C. 2313). As required by section 3010 of Public Law 111-212, all information posted in the designated integrity and performance system on or after April 15, 2011, except past performance reviews required for Federal procurement contracts, will be publicly available. (See 45 CFR Appendix XII to part 75 – Award Term and Conditions for Recipient Integrity and Performance Matters.)

Note: Some programs funded by ACL may have individual reporting requirements that differ from those above. Regardless, both financial and programmatic reporting is required by statute for all ACL grant programs.

Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (FFATA)

The Federal Financial Accountability and Transparency Act (FFATA) requires data entry at the FFATA Subaward Reporting System located at http://www.FSRS.gov for all sub-awards and sub-contracts issued for $30,000 or more as well as executive total compensation for both recipient and subaward organizations. The Award term is located at 2 CFR part 170, Appendix A.

FFATA Terms and Conditions (PDF, 37KB)

FFATA Sub-award Reporting System (FSRS)

FFATA FSRS FAQs

Award Terms and Conditions

Current as of: March 18, 2026

Standard Terms and Conditions

The following apply to all awards administered by ACL. Please note: Per 89 FR 80055, the adoption of the eight provisions in 2 CFR Part 200 with an effective date of October 1, 2024 identified in the ACL Standard Terms and Conditions are in effect when awards or award amendments are issued that incorporates them by reference, beginning on or after October 1, 2024. 2 CFR Parts 200 and 300 Implementation effective 10/1/2025: Recipients that receive an updated T&C may immediately apply in full the 2 CFR Parts on 10/1/2025 without receiving an additional Notice of Award update.

Requesting a Grant Amendment

A grantee may request an amendment to a current grant award, as identified by Federal Administrative Regulations (45 CFR Part 75). Modifications require prior approval from ACL and may include: budget modifications, changes in key personnel, budget carryover requests from one program year to the next, no-cost extensions of time, or supplemental award funding. All requests must be made through GrantSolutions. The following Video / Transcript provides additional guidance on requesting an amendment:

Continuation Awards

ACL continues to improve the procedures for grantees to receive continuation funding for their current project period as denoted in the NoA. Generally, procedures will not involve the submission of subsequent applications through Grants.gov. Since ACL accepts, meritoriously reviews, and awards grants or cooperative agreements based on a multi-year application, future funding will be released based on, and subject to, the availability of funds from a Congressional appropriation, ACL’s approval, and a recipient’s compliance with all terms and conditions. At a minimum, ACL and a recipient must ensure the following:

Submission of up-to-date program progress and financial (SF-425/PMS) reports;
Reporting of federal cash transactions in the Payment Management System are up-to-date; and
System for Award Management (SAM) annual registration and DUNS information are up-to-date.

If the above minimum conditions are met:

ACL Project Officer will review program progress reports to ensure overall outcomes and grantee performance are in compliance with the work plan and terms and conditions of the award;
If project is performing satisfactorily; grantee will receive an NoA from ACL’s Office of Grants Management certifying approval of continued funding;
If performance does not meet ACL’s approval, restrictions will be placed on the award/funding until it complies; and
Continuation funding is subject to revisions and contingent upon availability of funds; changes prior to the issuance of the award may occur.

Note: Always read your subsequent NoA for any possible changes to the agreement.

Types of Continuation Applications:

Non-Competing Continuation Application — Request for funding during the second or subsequent budget periods of an approved competitive segment. Applications do not undergo a competitive process. ACL provides further instructions as appropriate.

Competing Continuation Application — Request to renew and add one or more budget periods to a project period that would otherwise expire. Applications must compete for support in the same manner as new applications. Further instructions for competing continuations will be provided by the ACL Project Officer for the particular program.

An NoA is sent to the grantee after the action has been reviewed, processed, and approved.

Grantee Product Disclaimer—REQUIRED

Stevens Amendment

In accordance with the Stevens Amendment, all HHS grant and cooperative agreement recipients are required to acknowledge federal funding when publicly communicating projects or programs funded through HHS federal financial assistance. You must use the following language when issuing statements, press releases, requests for proposals, bid solicitations, and other ACL supported publications and forums describing projects or programs funded in whole or in part with ACL funding.

HHS Grant or Cooperative Agreement is NOT funded with other non-governmental sources:

"This [project/publication/program/website, etc.] [is/was] supported by the Administration for Community Living (ACL), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award totaling $XX with 100 percent funding by ACL/HHS. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by ACL/HHS or the U.S. Government.”

The HHS Grant or Cooperative Agreement IS partially funded with other nongovernmental sources:

"This [project/publication/program/website, etc.] [is/was] supported by the Administration for Community Living (ACL), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award totaling $XX with XX percentage funded by ACL/HHS and $XX amount and XX percentage funded by non-government source(s). The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement by, ACL/HHS, or the U.S. Government.”

If you have any additional questions or require further clarification on any of the information provided above, please email your ACL Grants Management Specialist.

Grantee Forms

PLEASE NOTE: As of December 31, 2017, applicants will need to begin applying for federal grants using Grants.gov Workspace which is the “new” standard way for organizations and individuals to apply for federal grants using grants.gov. Training materials on how to use Workspace are available on Grants.gov . The forms below are provided for informational purposes.