FY-25 JACE Grants Frequently Asked Questions .docx

Norman Y. Mineta Japanese American Confinement Education Grants Frequently Asked Questions Last updated 10/29/2024

How much money can I request for an individual project?

Based on the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 that authorized the Japanese American Confinement Education (JACE) grants, no restrictions were put on the maximum amount of funding that a project applicant may request. As required by the authorizing legislation, the minimum amount of federal funding that an applicant can apply for is set at $750,000. The legislation also directs the National Park Service to award no more than $10 million in JACE grants.

When considering how much funding to request for your project, keep in mind that grant projects should be completed within an established grant period of performance, generally within two to four years starting at the time that the grant is awarded. A grant application should reflect a project schedule and budget obligations that are achievable within this timeframe.

Depending on Congressional Appropriations in fiscal year 2025, the National Park Service is anticipating roughly $4 million will be available to potentially award selected projects during the current grant cycle.

If my project application is selected, how long do I have to complete my project?

Projects should be completed within an established grant period of performance, generally within two to four years starting at the time that the grant is awarded. Grants awards are not effective until a fully executed grant agreement with signature from the National Park Service Financial Assistance Awarding Officer (FAAO) is in place.

How many Japanese American Confinement Education (JACE) grants will be awarded during a one-year grant cycle?

The total number of JACE grants awarded in a one-year grant cycle will be determined by the amount of funding made available by Congress through the federal appropriations process. JACE grant applications will go through a merit review process as outlined in the fiscal year 2025 Notice of Funding Opportunity announcement. A merit review panel of NPS subject matter experts will review the applications and apply the merit review criteria to score individual grant applications using the materials submitted by the applicant. Based on their individual scores, the highest-ranking grant applications will be recommended for awards and transmitted to the National Park Service Director through the apportionment memo process used for final approval and awarding. Based on the number of project applications received and their individual ranked scores as well as the availability of federal funds in a given fiscal year, the number of grant applications recommended for final award will vary from year to year.

Depending on Congressional appropriations in fiscal year 2025, the National Park Service is anticipating roughly $4 million will be available to potentially award selected projects during the current grant cycle. The Notice of Funding Opportunity will be cancelled if fiscal year 2025 appropriations are insufficient to support new grant awards.

Are there additional examples of grant projects or similar programming that could be shared?

Since this is the first year that the Japanese American Confinement Education (JACE) grants will be awarded there are currently no examples from past projects that can be shared at this time. Examples of projects were intentionally not included in the Notices of Funding Opportunity to an effort to promote creativity and innovation in the project development, direction, and content.

Do I have to use the provided JACS Project Narrative Template document for my application?

Similar to the existing Japanese American Confinement Sites grant program application process, a Project Narrative is required as part of the Japanese American Confinement Education (JACE) Grant Application Package. The provided Project Narrative template is optional and provided for applicants who may want to use it for the preparation of the narrative component of their grant application. Applicants are not required to use this template and may provide the Project Narrative information in any format of their choosing, including word-processing documents. There is not a set word count requirement for the project narrative, but it is recommended that applicants limit their project narrative to 12 pages. Here’s a link to the JACE grant application materials hosted on the NPS JACS website:

Japanese American Confinement Education Grants Application and Instructions - Japanese American Confinement Sites Grant Program (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov

Have key qualifying Japanese American organizations been alerted to apply and who are they?

On September 16, 2024, The National Park Service posted a press release announcing the FY-25 Japanese American Confinement Education (JACE) grant cycle to alert any potential qualified organization about this funding opportunity. The National Park Service does not maintain a list of qualifying Japanese American organizations. The definition that will be used to determine eligible organizations was provided in the JACE authorizing legislation. Here’s a link to the press release.

National Park Service Seeks Project Proposals for Japanese American Confinement Grants - Office of Communications (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)

The 2 to 1 non-federal match. How much is it in-kind non-cash vs cash? Do written pledges for recipient cash matches count contingent upon NPS award? And over the multi-year grant proposal?

Similar to the Japanese American Confinement Sites (JACS) grants, either a cash or in-kind cost share is allowable for the 2 to 1 non-federal match. There are no set threshold requirements for non-cash or cash amounts, and a combination of both is allowable, as long as the cost share match requirement is met. Eligible non-Federal sources of cost share contributions (match) must be in accordance with 2 C.F.R. § 200.306 and may include: cash, in-kind contributions, and/or volunteer services. If an organization is planning to use an in-kind cost share, then they will need to document what the match is, how they are calculating its value, and record the in-kind amount claimed. For example, if the in-kind cost share is identified as volunteer or donated staff hours, then the organization will need to identify an hourly rate for the staff time and record the number of hours that will be used as part of the in-kind match.

If the organization's grant application is selected for an award, the non-Federal cost share may be raised and spent during the grant period of performance; it does not have to be “in the bank” at the time of the application, but a plan for raising it should be explained in the application. A written pledge for cash match is acceptable at the application stage as long as the organization can meet the match requirements as costs as are incurred during a multi-year project.

Can there be one lead organization and several subcontractor regional partners?

Yes, there can be only one lead organization for the project and this organization would be the applicant. Any number of subcontractors / regional partners can participate based on the needs to the project.

Is the lead organization required to submit A1-333 Audit as a requirement for submission?

No, the lead organization is not required to submit an A1-333 Audit in their JACE grant application. If the organization's grant application is selected for an award and they do not meet the financial assistance single audit threshold, then the National Park Service would request an A1-333 Audit as part of the financial assistance Risk Assessment process.

Is it ok to get support letters from non-grant recipient partners like regional NPS sites or Smithsonian partners?

Yes, additional support letters from non-grant recipient partners supporting the project proposal are encouraged and should be submitted as part of grant application packet. Like the JACS grant application process, letters of support can be included as supplemental materials to your application.

As a Japanese American organization, can we partner with another national organization to submit?

The prime recipient must be an eligible entity type, however the subrecipients are not subject to the eligible entity requirement. All project funds for prime and sub recipients are combined to reach the total project value, for both federal and cost share. All cost share from subrecipients is counted towards the total cost share. All costs for prime and subrecipients are also subject to the regulations and cost principles. The named principal investigator (project director) and authorizing official should be from the prime recipient organization. These are the officials named on the award and exercise decision making authority. Any other individuals named in the application under whatever title would not have authority on the award, regardless of prime or sub organization. They can name anyone to those roles, as they are not formalized in the agreement.