Staffing For Adequate Fire and Emergency Response ( SAFER)

Grant Description

APPLICATION PERIOD:  Monday January 30th, 2012 - Friday, February 24th, 2012 at 5:00PM EST

The goal of SAFER Grants is to assist local fire departments with staffing and deployment capabilities in order to respond to emergencies, assuring communities have adequate protection from fire and fire-related hazards.

The grant program conditions described below are in effect ONLY for the FY2011 SAFER Grants, they are not retroactive to previous fiscal years and do not apply beyond the FY2011 SAFER Grants Program.

• Salary Limits: There are no annual salary limits
• Grantee Share Cost: There are no prescribed cost-share
• No retention commitment: Grantees that are hiring firefighters- whether they be rehires, new hires, or retained fireifghters - do not have to commit to retaining the SAFER-funded firefighters beyond the period of performance.strong> However, no firefighter layoffs are permitted - of either SAFER-funded or non-SAFER-funded firefighters - during the grant's period of performance.
• Period of performance: For the Hiring of Fireifghters Catagory grants, the period of performance has been reduced to 2 years
• Attrition of firefighters: FY 2011 grantees who are unable to back-fill firefighting positions that are vacated due to documentable economic hardship may petition FEMA for a waiver of staffing maintenance requierments. To qualify for this waiver, the economic harship must affect the entire public safety sector in the jurisdiction and not only the fire department.
• Hiring of Firefighters Catagory: The priortities for funding will be as follows   
• 1.) First Priority : Rehiring laid-off firefighters
• 2.) Second Priority: Retention  of firefighters who face imminent layoff and/or filling positions vacated through attrition but not filled due to economic circumstances
• 3.) Third Priority: Hiring new firefighters

Important Information for FY 2011 SAFER Hiring Grant Applicants

Corrections to the Online Application, from FEMA Feb. 7, 2012

In late December, 2011, Congress and the President approved waivers for the FY 2011 SAFER Grant Program, which reduced the period of performance for Hiring Grants and eliminated the commitment to retain the firefighters for 1 year beyond the period of performance. The statements in the SAFER Program Guidance and Application Kit on these issues are CORRECT. Unfortunately, the text in the online application could not be revised before the grant application period opened. Therefore, the statements in the online application about the 4-year period of performance and the need to retain firefighters are INCORRECT for FY 2011.
For FY 2011 grantees, the period of performance is TWO (2) years, not four (4), and grantees will NOT be required to retain newly hired firefighter beyond the 2-year period of performance.

1. Specific Corrections to the SAFER Hiring Grant Application:
   • Request Details, Question 1:
     "Grants awarded under the hiring category require the grantees to maintain their staffing and incur no lay-offs during the four year period of performance. In addition, all grants awarded under the new hire category are required to retain the SAFER-funded firefighters for one full year after the end of the period of performance." As stated above, the text in the online application about the 4-year period of performance and the need to retain firefighters is INCORRECT for FY 2011; for FY 2011 grantees, the period of performance is 2 years, not 4 years, and grantees will NOT be required to retain newly hired firefighter beyond the 2-year period of performance. The prohibition against layoffs throughout the period of performance remains.
   • Budget Screen.
     Applicants must enter data for 4 budget years even though only 2 years of funding can be awarded for the Hiring of Firefighters Category. Applicants should follow these instructions on how to complete the application:
     • For budget years one (1) and two (2), input the requested salary and benefits for each line item;
     • For budget years three (3) and four (4) insert $1.00 for both the salary and benefits
       NOTE: The system will not allow an input of $0 value. If an applicant submits a budget request for year three (3) and year four (4), the budget will be reduced prior to the grant award.
2. Ongoing Support for SAFER Applicants.
   The AFG has notified potential applicants in the fire service of the issues with the online SAFER application through e-mail announcements to the AFG mailing list, information on the AFG/SAFER Website, and announcements on the initial privacy screen of the online application. Fire program specialists on the SAFER Grants Help Desk have been briefed on the issues with the SAFER online application and are prepared to answer applicants' questions. Periodic updates and reminders about the application and other SAFER-related issues will continue throughout the application period.