Agency Recovery Plan

Last updated: 2009-05-14
Read the full Agency Plan or scroll down to read excerpts from the Plan.
   Download the MD5 hash for this file.These numbers reflect a one-way hash function that ensures the integrity of the document.

• Number of Programs:1
  

Program Plans

Broad Recovery Goals

The goal of the Arts Endowment's Recovery Act funding is to preserve jobs in the nonprofit arts sector. Outcomes will be measured in terms of number of jobs preserved (salaried and contract positions), expressed in FTEs (full-time equivalents, based on 2,080 hours per work year).

Competition on Contracts

N/A

Contract Type

N/A

Accountability Plan

The Arts Endowment provides regular monitoring of all of its grants, including those that will be awarded using Recovery Act funds. Each grantee is required to submit a Progress Report at the point that its request for payment exceeds two-thirds of the total grant amount. Organizations receiving funds for salary support are asked to maintain time and effort reports where each affected employee keeps track on a regular basis (at least monthly) of the percentage of their time expended on an NEA grant. Grantees also are required to maintain copies of all contracts and related documents that they execute in connection with an NEA grant. The NEA's Grants & Contracts Office will conduct random samplings of Recovery Act grantees to verify compliance with these requirements.

As required by OMB, all Recovery Act grantees will provide quarterly reports to a central Government-wide portal no later than 10 calendar days after the end of each calendar quarter during which Recovery Act funding is received. In addition, all grantees are required to submit a Final Federal Financial Report no later than 90 days following the end of the grant period.

With appropriate access, the NEA will monitor the above reports to assure that projects are being carried out in accordance with the purposes of the Recovery Act and in compliance with the NEA's General Terms and Conditions. Through this monitoring, the NEA will be able to identify any cases of risk, and will work with grantees to rectify problematic situations. However, as eligible applicants were limited to previous grantees that have been vetted through the NEA's rigorous review system and have demonstrated the ability to manage Federal funds appropriately, the Arts Endowment anticipates that the risk of low performance against the program objectives will be minimal.

In addition, the NEA's Office of Inspector General will be conducting random samplings of Recovery Act grantees. The Inspector General will examine compliance with applicable requirements at the pre-award stage, during the grant period, and after the period of support has ended.

The NEA Acting Chairman has designated Robert Frankel, NEA Acting Deputy Chairman for Grants & Awards, and Larry Baden, NEA Deputy Chairman for Management & Budget, as the co-leads and designated Agency officials for this program. In addition, the following has occurred:

• Designated senior staff consults regularly to track actions required to implement the Recovery Act and to assign responsibilities.
• A weekly meeting of key affected Agency staff has been implemented to provide for regular updates on the status of plans and actions.
• An intra-Agency work group has been established to assist with the application processing and grant award, monitoring, and payment components of the program.
• A new part-time, temporary position was allocated to, and has been filled by, the Grants & Contracts Office for an individual who will work exclusively on Recovery Act grants.
• A new position was allocated to the NEA Office of Inspector General to enable the Agency to recruit for an employee who will focus on the NEA and grantee implementation of the Recovery Act.
• A weekly meeting is held with the Inspector General to advise on progress and respond to any questions.




Source: Data provided by the Agency through the Office of Management and Budget.