Message From the Director
I would
like to take this opportunity to update you on a very
recent and exciting opportunity at the Office of Justice
Programs (OJP) and Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA).
As part of the President's proposal to increase
competition and efficiency for activities performed by
government for commercial-type work, the U.S. Department
of Justice implemented "Competitive Sourcing," with OJP
responsible to administer the strategy within its
Bureaus and Offices. The overall goal of Competitive
Sourcing is to make government competitive with private
sector counterparts, and to create efficient government
focused on inherently governmental work. Through
Competitive Sourcing, non-governmental work is performed
by the "winner" of a competitive bid on the work, and
both government and the private sector are eligible to
bid. In OJP's case, this bid for non-governmental work
focused on grants and benefits services.
With the outcome of the bid recently announced by
OJP's Assistant Attorney General Regina B. Schofield, I
am pleased to share that OJP's own bid as the "Most
Efficient Organization" (MEO) was selected to provide
these grants and benefits services to the field. Over
the next six months the new MEO "Office of Grants
Management Support" will be created within OJP to
perform very specific tasks for grantees-like Grant
Adjustment Notices (GANS) and basic reporting forms.
Once these specific tasks are transferred to the MEO,
the "residual" BJA staff will continue to be responsible
for the remaining inherently government work that
exemplifies a true Policy Office. The new MEO Grants
Office is expected to be fully functional by August 1,
2006.
What this change means for BJA customers:
- Staff: OJP and BJA staff may shift to the
MEO and serve customers from that arena. Also, the
ratio of staff for grantees will most likely increase
from one to two; that is, you will have an MEO Grant
Specialist assigned for the day-to-day paperwork of
your award, and a BJA State or National Policy Advisor
for key issues such as in-depth monitoring and
performance and program development.
- Transition: Because it will take
approximately six months to stand up the new MEO
Office, it is recommended that all grantees work with
their current BJA Point of Contact on any potential
issues-including anticipated no-cost extensions-to
cover this period. Planning now for the MEO transition
will provide an added assurance that any paperwork or
issues are resolved well within the required timeframe
of your grant.
- Services: In addition to BJA State or
National Policy Advisors for programmatic support
related to your grant, Advisors will be responsible
for scanning for crime issues in your state and
nationwide; linking you with any technical assistance
or training you might require; and providing other
services to better meet your law enforcement and
justice needs.
Having served at the local, state, and
now federal level, I believe that this newest change at
BJA represents the best in good government: the ability
to have important, but non-governmental, work performed
by the most capable individuals selected for those
tasks, freeing up BJA staff to focus on substantive
policy and programmatic trends, accountability, and
innovation in the years ahead.
Domingo S. Herraiz
Director
Bureau of Justice Assistance
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