Assistance to Firefighters Grants Program Frequently Asked Questions

The SAFER Program is separated into two activities:

• Hiring Activity: Provides federal financial assistance to help fire departments hire new, additional firefighters (or change the status of part-time or paid-on-call firefighters to full-time firefighters) and to rehire laid off firefighters or retain firefighters facing imminent layoff. National, regional, state, local, tribal, and nonprofit interest organizations are not eligible to apply for funding under the Hiring Activity.

• R&R Activity: Assists volunteer and combination fire departments and national, regional, state, local, federally recognized tribal, and nonprofit interest organizations with the recruitment and/or retention of volunteer firefighters who are involved with or trained in the operations of firefighting and emergency response. Career fire departments are not eligible to apply for funding under the R&R Activity.

There is no cost share or match or position cost limit for the FY 2021 SAFER Program.

The period of performance under the Hiring Activity is 36 months for all grants awarded. A default 180-day recruitment period, which allows grant recipients to begin hiring SAFER Program-funded firefighters, begins when FEMA approves the application for an award under this activity. The 36-month period of performance automatically starts after the 180-day recruitment period, regardless of whether the recipient has successfully hired the requested firefighters.

The period of performance under the R&R Activity is 12, 24, 36 or 48 months for all grants awarded. A default 90- day recruitment period, which allows recipients time to gather resources, initiate processes, and finalize contracts needed to implement SAFER Program grant activities, begins when FEMA approves the application for award. The period of performance automatically starts after the 90-day recruitment period ends, regardless of whether the recipient is ready to begin implementing its grant award.

Applications will only be accepted between 8 a.m. Eastern Time (ET) on Monday, January 3, 2022 and 5 p.m. ET on Friday, February 4, 2022. FEMA GO automatically records proof of timely submission and the system generates an electronic date/time stamp when FEMA GO successfully receives the application. The individual with the Authorized Organization Representative role that submitted the application will also receive the official date/time stamp and a FEMA GO tracking number in an email serving as proof of their timely submission on the date and time that FEMA GO received the application.

Applications not received by the application submission deadline will not be accepted. Applicants using unreliable internet connections, such as dial-up connections, should be aware that submission can take some time before FEMA GO receives your application.

Applicants who experience system-related issues will be addressed until 3 p.m. ET on Friday, February 4, 2022. No new system-related issues will be addressed after this deadline.

All applications will be evaluated and scored competitively by no less than three members of a Peer Review Panel. The panel of peer reviewers is comprised of fire service representatives recommended by the Criteria Development Panel. Peer reviewers will assess the merits of each project within the application based on the evaluation elements listed in the “Narrative Evaluation Criteria” section of the FY 2021 FP&S Program NOFO. Panelists will independently score each requested activity within the application, discuss the merits and/or shortcomings of the application with his or her peers, and document the findings. A consensus is not required.

Note that Fire Departments and Interest Organizations are assigned differing weights for each scored element.