Welcome Package Overview

The grantee Welcome Package provides grant award information, grant requirements, orientation information, details about the Grant Program, and objectives of the Accountability Program.  In addition to serving as an orientation tool, the Welcome Package clearly states DCEO’s commitment to customer service.

Welcome Package Components

The Welcome Package includes these six components:

1. Welcome Letter

The Welcome Letter is the first component of the Welcome Package and provides a welcome to grantees from DCEO.  The Welcome Letter includes four key elements:

A. Director’s welcome to grantee
B. DCEO’s mission statement.
C. Welcome Package purpose/intent
D. Office of Accountability web site references

2. Fully-Executed Grant Agreement

The second component is the fully-executed grant agreement.  This copy will be signed by both the grantee and DCEO.

3. Grant Program Contact Information

The third component is the grant program contact information for the following: DCEO grant manager, DCEO Audit Unit, and DCEO Accounting Closeout Unit.

4. Grantee Due Dates and Deliverables

The fourth component is the Report Deliverable Schedule and provides Due Dates and Deliverables required by the grant agreement. This section is based on the grant agreement's project schedule and requirements. 

5. Office of Accountability Web Site Information

The fifth component of the Welcome Package provides a link to the Office of Accountability Web site and highlights content included on the site.

• Internet Resources, includes helpful links and references to other Web sites.  This section of the Office of Accountability Web site provides on-line access for grantees researching detailed grant-related information.  For example, grants may be required to follow specific federal guidelines or regulations.  The website provides federal regulatory information as a resource link for grant programs with those requirements.  Other resource links include State of Illinois links, DCEO websites, and other management resources.
• Grant Glossary of Terms and Acronyms, includes full definitions of grant-related terms and commonly used acronyms.
• Grant Monitoring Overview, includes explanations of DCEO’s various forms of monitoring and assists grantees in understanding and maintaining the types of documentation needed to verify grant expenditures and activities. 
• The non-compliance process includes information on what grantees should expect should they not meet terms and conditions of their grant.  It also includes information on assistance available to grantees to re-establish their compliance. Legal Requirements and Processes, includes information about how and when DCEO’s legal staff become involved when grantees become non-compliant with their grant agreements, in accordance with the Grant Funds Recovery Act.
• Requirements of DCEO Grantees, includes links to mandatory requirements for grantees, including the policies regarding a Drug-Free Workplace, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Policy on Sexual Harassment.

6. Program Specific Attachments

The sixth and final component of the Welcome Package is program specific attachments.  Each grant is unique and therefore, some grantees may require extra information, which will be provided by program staff.

Welcome Package Preparation and Delivery
Information in the Welcome Package is generated by eGrants based on information input into the system by DCEO staff.  Program staff are responsible for managing and delivering each Welcome Package to grantees along with the fully executed grant agreement.

Glossary
Glossary from MaRS manual.