2019-2020 DHS Announces Preparedness Grants Opportunity

DHS Announces Preparedness Grants Opportunity

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On Feb. 14, Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad F. Wolf announced the release of nearly $1.8 billion for preparedness.

The grant programs, which fund state, local, tribal and territorial governments, transportation authorities, nonprofit organizations and the private sector to improve the nation’s readiness in preventing, protecting against, responding to, recovering from and mitigating terrorist attacks, major disasters and other emergencies. 

The grants reflect the department’s focus on funding for programs that address our nation’s immediate security needs and ensure public safety in our communities. In 2020, DHS identified four critical priority areas for attention in the FY 2020 grant cycle: cybersecurity, soft targets and crowded places, intelligence and information sharing, and emerging threats.

Grant recipients under state homeland and urban area programs must dedicate a minimum of 20% of the award amounts to address the DHS priority areas by allocating no less than 5% to each category. Applicants will be required to submit investment justifications that address these priorities, and DHS will conduct an effectiveness review process to ensure grant funding is allocated to projects that most effectively address these priorities.

While several of the grant programs include changes from past practices, these changes also reflect comments and criticisms we have heard from stakeholder about the need for new ideas and new strategies in the following critical grant programs.

·       Homeland Security Grant Program - more than $1 billion including:

    - State Homeland Security Program: $415 million.

    - Urban Area Security Initiative: $615 million.

    - Operation Stonegarden: $90 million.

·       Emergency Management Performance Grants: more than $355 million.

·       Tribal Homeland Security Grant Program: $15 million.

·       Nonprofit Security Grant Program: $90 million.

·       Intercity Passenger Rail Program: Amtrak $10 million.

·       Intercity Bus Security Grant Program: $2 million.

·       Port Security Grant Program: $100 million.

·       Transit Security Grant Program: $88 million.

For 2020, the Urban Area Security Initiative will enhance regional preparedness and capabilities by funding 32 high-threat, high-density urban areas. This represents Congressional intent to limit funding to those urban areas that represent up to 85 percent of the nationwide risk, as stated in the Explanatory Statement accompanying the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2019 (Pub. L. No. 116-6).

All preparedness notices of funding opportunities can be found at www.grants.gov. Final submissions must be made through the Non-Disaster (ND) Grants system located at https://portal.fema.gov. 

Further information on DHS’s preparedness grant programs is available on the DHS and FEMA websites