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Assistance Awards Data System FEDERAL ASSISTANCE AWARDS DATA SYSTEM
PURPOSE
To provide current information on awards of Federal financial assistance to non-Federal organizations and individuals. The United States Code, Titles 13 and 31, and a 1982 designation by the Office of Management and Budget, authorize this program and provide for mandatory responses. Federal assistance award agencies provide the majority of the funding for the program.
COVERAGE
The thirty Federal agencies responsible for virtually all financial assistance awards to non-Federal governments, private and non-profit organizations, and individuals are covered. Awards include grants (such as waste water treatment grants); direct payments (such as Social Security payments); loans (such as small business and student loans); and insurance commitments (such as for crops and home mortgages). Exclusions include international transactions, Federal wages and salaries, and goods or services purchased for Federal government use.
CONTENT
Data are obtained about award recipients, assisted projects and financing. Data for recipients include name and geographic location, data for projects include assistance program name, Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) number, and purpose; and data for financing include amounts of Federal and non-Federal funding. Most data are presented by type of recipient (such as governments, private organizations, and individuals), and summarized by recipient location (such as state or county area).
FREQUENCY
Reported data are for Federal obligations during the preceding fiscal quarter. Data collection begins after each quarter and continues for about three months. Data has been collected quarterly since 1982.
METHODS
A compilation of administrative data from participating Federal assistance award agencies, supplemented with information from Census Bureau records. Agencies routinely submit assistance award data after the close of each quarter. Data are submitted in a standard format, usually electronically, and contain information for all financial assistance awards. The Census Bureau supplements agency data by adding CFDA program descriptions and titles, agency titles, places of performance, and state names.
PRODUCTS
Federal Assistance Award Data System (FAADS) databases are produced in CD-ROM and diskette format about four months after each reference quarter. Reports contain data and text information, by state and county, for 250,000 - 350,000 financial assistance award transactions each quarter. Data files are forwarded to the National Archives and Records Administration and are available for public purchase. Each quarterly file since FY 1996 has been posted to the Census Bureau's Internet site.
PRODUCTS
Copies of quarterly FAADS reports are sent to designated agencies in each state, and to offices of the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate. State agencies use the reports as their primary analytical tool for tracking changes in patterns and levels of Federal assistance. Congress also uses them as their primary analytic tool to monitor which Federal programs assist each state and congressional district. Federal assistance award agencies use the data to assess multi-program patterns and effects. The Bureau of Economic Analysis, Federal Reserve Board, economic modelers and market analysts use the data to help trace the flow and effects of Federal money in the national economy. Businesses and public interest groups use the data to analyze expenditure patterns in specific Federal programs.
SPECIAL FEATURES
Provides timely and uniform national information on Federal financial assistance transactions, and serves as the official notice of awards to each state.
RELATED PROGRAMS
Annual Survey of State
and Local Government Finances
Annual Public Employment Survey
Consolidated Federal Funds Report
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You are here: Economic Programs Overview
Governments
Federal Assistance Awards Data System Last revised: Thursday, 27-Jul-2006 10:39:17 EDT
