220 R.I. Code R. 220-RICR-20-00-2.6

Current through August 19, 2024

Section 220-RICR-20-00-2.6 - Grantmaking by State Agencies

A. State agencies acting in their capacity as pass-through entities shall issue all new subawards through the GMS, unless the Controller determines it is not in the best interest of the State to do so.

2.6.1Competitive Grants and Subawards: Funding Opportunity Notices, Application Review and Subaward Funding Decisions

A. Funding Opportunity: Subaward funding opportunity notices shall be issued through the GMS.

1. Subaward funding opportunities must include at least the following information:

a. A description of the nature of the grant program, including eligible activities and recipients, and the anticipated duration of the program, including optional extension periods. The maximum allowable performance period, including extensions, may not exceed five (5) years, unless a longer performance period is explicitly allowed by the Federal government.

b. Identification of the funding source(s) and the estimated or actual total amount of available funds.

c. Whether a single award or multiple awards may be made.

d. The maximum individual award amount to be made, if appropriate.

e. Encouragement of collaboration by entities for community partnerships, if appropriate.

f. Any additional information required by the Federal grant award.

g. The due date for submittal of applications and the anticipated time the awards may be made.

2. The State Agency shall document in writing the criteria or factors under which applications will be evaluated for award and the relative importance of each criterion or factor.

B. Public Notice of Competitive Funding Opportunities: A funding opportunity notice for competitive subaward must be posted on the Grants Management Office Funding Opportunity website for a minimum of twenty-one (21) calendar days, or a shorter period as determined by the Controller, or their designee. In addition, State Agencies may post funding opportunities on their agency websites.

C. Preapplication conference: State Agencies may conduct a preapplication conference before the due date for the submittal of applications to explain the grant application requirements. Statements made at a preapplication conference are not amendments to the solicitation unless a written amendment is issued.

D. State Agencies may hold a Question and Answer (Q&A) period prior to the due date. The dates of any Q&A period shall be displayed, and any Q&A documents shall be posted in the funding opportunity.

E. Subaward applications must be submitted through the GMS.

F. Application review must be consistent with the terms and conditions of the Federal award(s). Applications shall be evaluated by at least three (3) reviewers for programs issuing awards of thirty thousand dollars ($30,000.00) or more. The State Agency has discretion in determining the number of reviewers for programs with no resulting awards of thirty thousand dollars ($30,000.00) or more. Reviewers shall be selected at the sole discretion of the State agency.

1. The Reviewers shall review each application based solely on consistent evaluation criteria or factors applied to all applications under the program. The State agency shall maintain a written record of the Reviewers' assessment of each application in the GMS, which shall include comments regarding compliance with each evaluation criteria or factor, the citation of a specific criteria or factor as the basis of each stated strength or weakness and a clear differentiation between comments based on facts presented in the application and comments based on professional judgment.

2. The Reviewers may allow applicants to make oral or written presentations regarding the scope of work, terms and conditions of the grant, budget and other relevant matters set forth in the request for grant applications. Applicants shall be accorded fair treatment with respect to any opportunity for oral or written presentations, and subsequent revisions. The Reviewers may require an applicant to revise its application to reflect information provided in an oral or written presentation.

3. Reviewers are required to disclose any real or apparent conflicts of interest. Reviewers shall comply with 2 C.F.R. § 200.318 (2022) incorporated above at § 2.4(A) of this Part and the Rhode Island Code of Ethics R.I. Gen. Laws Chapter 36-14 and 520-RICR-00-00-1, as applicable.

4. Reviewers shall abide by the following requirements for confidentiality before, during, and after the evaluation process, unless otherwise required by law or to obtain a legal opinion:

a. All documents and information relating to applications (content, budget, approach to problems, staffing) are to be kept in the strictest confidence;

b. Impressions or judgments concerning the applications are not to be discussed or shared with anyone not officially involved with the evaluation and except for the State agency staff;

c. Questions about any specific proposal or the review process are to be directed to the State agency. Under no circumstances are questions to be addressed to or discussions to be conducted with applicants, members of the public, the press, other units of State government, friends, relatives, business associates, or other reviewers not officially involved in the application process, unless authorized in writing by the State agency;

d. Proceedings of review committee meetings, statements and notes of the reviewers are not to be shared with anyone except other reviewers involved in the application process and State agency staff;

e. Discussions concerning applications are to be kept confidential; and

f. All application and review materials printed/saved outside of GMS are to be shredded, deleted, or returned to the State agency upon completion of the evaluation.

G. Subaward decisions: The Reviewers shall make award recommendations to the head of the State agency based on the reviewers' evaluations of each application. The Reviewers' recommendations may include the adjustment of the budgets of the applicants individually or collectively.

1. The head of the State agency, or his/her designee, may affirm, modify or reject the Reviewers' recommendations in whole or in part. Modification of the Reviewers' recommendations may include the adjustment of the budget on any proposed award individually or on all awards by an amount or percentage. If recommendations are modified or rejected, prior to issuing tentative notice of award the head of the State agency, or his/her designee, shall document in writing the specific justifications for the action taken.

H. Subaward decision remedies: The head of the State agency, or designee, may resolve protests related to the solicitation of, or selection for, the award of a grant. Protests to the State agency head must be made in writing and must provide an explanation of the reasons for such protest. Protests must be made within seven (7) calendar days of when the protestor knew or should have known of the facts giving rise thereto. Upon receipt of a protest, the agency shall not proceed further with the solicitation or award until a determination has been made. An appeal from a decision of the head of a State agency or designee may be made to the Director of Administration, in accordance with the provisions of R.I. Gen. Laws § 37-2-52 and § 30-00-1.6 of this Title. The Director of Administration's decision shall be entitled to a presumption of correctness in accordance with R.I. Gen. Laws § 37-2-51 and associated Rhode Island law.

2.6.2Non-Competitive Grants and Subawards

A. If required or authorized by the terms and conditions of the Federal award(s), Agencies may conduct a non-competitive subaward issuance process. State agencies acting in their capacity as pass-through entities shall issue all noncompetitive subawards through the GMS, unless the Controller determines it is not in the best interest of the State to do so.

B. The State agency shall provide written justification of each non-competitive subaward, to be reviewed and approved by the Controller, or their designee. Such justification shall conform to the format and schedule established by the Controller, or their designee.

C. Subaward decision remedies: For non-competitive subaward programs, § 2.6.1(H) of this Part applies.

2.6.3First Come, First Served Grants and Subawards

A. If permissible under the terms and conditions of the Federal award(s), Agencies may conduct a first come, first served subaward issuance process. State agencies acting in their capacity as pass-through entities shall issue all first come, first served subawards through the GMS, unless the Controller determines it is not in the best interest of the State to do so.

B. Funding Opportunity Process, including Public Notice: For any first come, first served subaward program, the State agency shall comply with §§ 2.6.1(A)(1) and 2.6.1(C) through (E) of this Part. A funding opportunity notice for first come, first served subaward programs must be posted on the Grants Management Office Funding Opportunity website for the duration of the application period(s), but in no case less than twenty-one (21) consecutive calendar days. Such requirement does not preclude the State agency from closing and reopening a first come, first served funding opportunity after twenty-one (21) calendar days.

C. Review criteria: The State Agency shall document in writing the eligibility criteria or factors under which applications will be evaluated for award.

D. Review: Application review must be consistent with the terms and conditions of the Federal award(s). Applications requesting thirty thousand dollars ($30,000.00) or more shall be evaluated by at least three (3) reviewers. The State Agency has discretion in determining the number of reviewers for applications requesting less than thirty thousand dollars ($30,000.00). Reviewers shall be selected at the sole discretion of the State agency.

1. Applications shall be reviewed in the order in which they are received.

a. Applications deemed incomplete by the reviewer(s) shall be removed from the queue. Resubmitted applications shall be added to the queue, as of the date of resubmittal.

b. Applications denied by the reviewer(s) shall be removed from the queue.

2. The Reviewers shall review each application based solely on consistent eligibility criteria or factors. The State agency shall maintain a written record of the Reviewers' assessment of each application in the GMS, which shall include the citation of specific criteria(ion) or factor(s) as the basis of determining ineligibility. Reviewers are encouraged to include comments regarding compliance with each eligibility criteria or factor, and clearly differentiate between comments based on facts presented in the application and comments based on professional judgment.

3. The Reviewers and State agency shall comply with §§ 2.6.1(F)(2) through (4) of this Part.

E. Subaward decisions: For any first come, first served subaward, the State agency shall comply with § 2.6.1(G) of this Part.

F. Subaward decision remedies: The head of the State agency, or designee, may resolve protests related to the solicitation of or selection for the award of a first come, first served grant. Protests to the State agency head must be made in writing and must provide an explanation of the reasons for such protest. Protests must be made within seven (7) calendar days of when the protestor knew or should have known of the facts giving rise thereto. Upon receipt of a protest, the agency may continue to award first come, first served grants, but must reserve from awarding the amount in controversy. An appeal from a decision of the head of a State agency or designee may be made to the Director of Administration, in accordance with the provisions of R.I. Gen. Laws § 37-2-52 and § 30-00-1.6 of this Title. The Director of Administration's decision shall be entitled to a presumption of correctness in accordance with R.I. Gen. Laws § 37-2-51 and associated Rhode Island law.

2.6.4Risk Assessment by State Agency

A. The State agency shall evaluate each Subrecipient's risk of noncompliance with Federal and State statutes, Regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Subaward for purposes of determining the appropriate subrecipient monitoring. Such evaluation may include, but is not limited to, consideration of the following factors:

1. The subrecipient's prior experience with the same or similar subawards;

2. The results of previous audits including whether or not the subrecipient receives a Single Audit in accordance with Subpart F of 2 C.F.R. Part 200 (2022), and the extent to which the same or similar subaward has been audited as a major program;

3. Whether the subrecipient has new personnel or new or substantially changed systems;

4. The extent and results of Federal awarding agency monitoring (e.g., if the subrecipient also receives Federal awards directly from a Federal awarding agency);

5. The extent and results of prior monitoring and/or auditing by State agencies; and

6. Credible allegations of fraud, waste, mismanagement, or abuse.

B. The State agency may impose specific subaward conditions based on the risk assessment the agency completed, in accordance with 2 C.F.R. § 200.208 (2022).

2.6.5Grant/Subaward Issuance

A. State agencies shall issue a notice of tentative award to the Subrecipient through the GMS. State agencies shall include the requirements for subaward issuance.

B. Requirements for Subaward Issuance:

1. Subrecipient must have a public Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) issued through SAM.gov, unless an exemption has been made in writing by the federal awarding agency in accordance with 2 CFR 25.110 (2022). Absent such exemption, suppressed or private UEI records are not sufficient.

2. Subrecipient must be actively registered in Ocean State Procures (OSP).

3. Subrecipient must complete the Annual Organization Registration in the GMS.

4. Subrecipient must obtain all required certificates of insurance, as stipulated in the Subaward Agreement.

C. State agencies shall use the State of Rhode Island Subaward Agreement template for all subawards funded, in whole or in part, with Federal funds. Each subaward shall be clearly identified to the subrecipient as a subaward. All Subaward Agreements shall include Federal award identification and terms and conditions, as required by 2 C.F.R. § 200.332 (2022) incorporated above at § 2.4(A) of this Part.

1. State agencies are responsible for appending subaward or agency specific terms and conditions through the applicable section(s) in the State of Rhode Island Subaward Agreement.

2. For subawards, the Controller, or designee, is authorized to waive insurance requirements and approve agency requests to assume financial risk. State agencies are solely responsible for requesting insurance waivers, or assumption of risk. Such requests shall be made in accordance with current policies and procedures of the Insurance Risk Management unit.

3. If a State agency requires a modification to the Subaward Agreement template, the State agency shall be responsible for providing a modified Subaward Agreement template for review and written approval by the Controller, or designee, prior to use. Modifications to the Subaward Agreement template shall be considered at the sole discretion of the Controller, or designee, when there is a showing that the proposed modification is in the best interest of the state or essential to achieving the federal program purpose.

220 R.I. Code R. 220-RICR-20-00-2.6

Adopted effective 3/15/2023
Amended effective 4/23/2024
Amended effective 7/15/2024