Providing grant information to current and prospective HHS grantees

The Department of Health and Human Services Grant Policy Statement (HHS GPS) makes available to HHS grantees, in a single document, up-to-date policy guidance to serve as the administrative terms and conditions of HHS discretionary grant awards. This document is also designed to be useful to those interested in HHS grant programs by providing information about HHS and its discretionary grant process.

Applicants for HHS grants and recipients have historically relied on a variety of sources for information about the grants process and requirements of HHS and its component OPDIVs. For the recipients of grants from the OPDIVs constituting the Public Health Service (PHS), the Public Health Grants Policy Statement (PHS GPS) served as the administrative terms and conditions. On October 1, 2006, the HHS GPS supercedes in its entirety the PHS GPS, dated April 1, 1994, and addendum, dated January 24, 1995. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Grants Policy Statement will continue to apply to all NIH grants and cooperative agreements with budget periods beginning on or after December 1, 2003 (http://grants1.nih1.gov/grants/policy/nihgps_2003/).

The HHS GPS has four parts and appendices, which allow general information, application information, and other types of reference material to be separated from legally binding terms and conditions. This four-part format provides Department-wide information in Parts I, II and III, and reserves Part IV for OPDIV supplementary information, including OPDIV-specific terms and conditions.

The individual parts and appendices provide the following information:

• Part I: HHS Grants Process. Part I describes the OPDIVs, their role, and the roles of other HHS organizations in HHS grants; specifies recipient and HHS staff responsibilities; outlines the grant application and review processes; and explains the various resources available to those interested in the HHS grants process.

• Part II: Terms and Conditions of HHS Grants Awards. Part II includes generally applicable terms and conditions. This part also specifies the terms and conditions that apply to particular types of grants, recipients, and activities that differ from, supplement, or elaborate on the general terms and conditions.

• Part III: Points of Contact. Part III lists pertinent offices and officials with their addresses and telephone numbers.

• Part IV: OPDIV-Specific Information and Terms and Conditions. Part IV, which supplements Parts I, II, and II for a given OPDIV, contains any OPDIV supplementary information and OPDIV-specific terms and conditions of award. This includes statutory, regulatory, or public policy requirements that apply only to that OPDIV or its programs. OPDIV-specific terms and conditions in Part IV take precedence if the conflict with requirements in Part II of the HHS GPS.

• Appendices: The appendices include all abbreviations and a glossary of terms used throughout the HHS GPS for ease of reference.

Upon approval, each OPDIV will make available its Part IV supplement on its web site.

HHS Grants Policy Statement (Microsoft Word) [1.87MB] [The Microsoft Word Viewer for WORD files is a free download.]