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What are the requirements for the matching funds in the Hiring Firefighters Activity?
Recipients of grants in the Hiring of Firefighters Activity must commit to a 5-year period of performance during which the Federal contribution toward the costs of the salaries will diminish over the course of the performance period. No Federal funds will be provided in Year Five. Therefore, each applicant must certify that its governing body has been informed of its intention to submit a SAFER grant application that the local governing body acknowledges the commitment under the grant, and that appropriate financial support will be secured for the applicant's cost-sharing obligations.
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What type of firefighter positions will be funded?
Only full-time firefighter positions will be funded. Full-time positions are those that are funded for at least 2,080 hours per year (i.e., 40 hours per week, 52 weeks per year.) The Grant Program recognizes that many fire departments have shifts beyond this typical 40-hour work week. The Grant Program will consider funding job-share positions if there is sufficient justification.
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What is a job-share position?
A job-share position is a full-time position that is occupied by more than one person. The number of employees who may share a job-share position will be limited to four (4).
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How does the Federal share and applicant matching share for the Hiring Firefighters Activity work?
Recipients of grants in the Hiring of Firefighters Activity must commit to a 5-year period of performance during which the Federal contribution toward the costs of the salaries will diminish over the course of the performance period, with all costs borne by the grantee in Year Five. Based on a total funding cap of $108,380 per position over 5 years, the maximum annual Federal share of funds that grantees can receive under SAFER for salary and benefits for newly hired firefighters will not exceed the lesser of the following:
| Grant Year |
Federal Share Per Firefighter Position |
| Year One |
90 percent of the actual costs or $39,015, whichever is less |
| Year Two |
80 percent of the actual costs or $34,675, whichever is less |
| Year Three |
50 percent of the actual costs or $21,670, whichever is less |
| Year Four |
30 percent of the actual costs or $13,020, whichever is less |
| Year Five |
No Federal share |
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May I apply for more than one firefighter position, with different salaries and benefits for each?
A department that is eligible for the Hiring of Firefighters Activity may apply for multiple entry-level positions that have the same salary or have varying salaries and benefits. To make such a request, click "Add Budget Item" in the "Request Details" section of the online application. Complete the information required, and click "Save and Continue." Repeat the "Add Budget Item" steps until you have added all the positions you wish to request.
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If I apply for both SAFER Program activities-Hiring of Firefighters and Recruitment and Retention of Volunteer Firefighters-do I have to write two narrative statements?
No. You have a choice of dividing your narrative into two separate parts and addressing each activity or combining your requests into one narrative statement.
If you choose to combine your requests into one narrative, you may discuss the four items (shown below) required for both the Hiring of Firefighters Activity and the Recruitment and Retention of Volunteer Firefighters Activity.
1. A statement that describes why the applicant needs the grant funds, i.e., how the recruitment of new firefighters and retention of current firefighters will be used within the department and a description of the specific benefit these firefighters will be to the fire department and community. This statement should include specifics about the recruitment and/or retention plan and what specific benefit the efforts would provide to the community.
2. A statement regarding how the community and current firefighters are at risk without the needed firefighters, and to what extent that risk will be reduced if the applicant is awarded.
3. An explanation of the applicant's inability to address the need without Federal assistance.
4. A statement relating to how the applicant will ensure, to the extent possible, that it will seek, recruit, and hire members of racial and ethnic minority groups and women to increase their ranks within the department.
There are two additional items (shown below) that also must be discussed in the Hiring Firefighters activity.
- A statement regarding how the applicant plans to meet the match requirements for the 5 years required under the grant award. This statement should include any long-term plans to retain the new firefighter positions.
- A statement regarding how the applicant plans to meet the requirement to ensure that firefighter positions filled under the SAFER grants are not discriminated against for, or prohibited from, engaging in volunteer activities in another jurisdiction during off-duty hours.
You may choose to discuss the four items for both activities in the early portion of your presentation and add the two additional items for the Hiring Firefighters activity at the end of your narrative. Remember, you are limited to six pages for your narrative. It is recommended that you type your narrative offline in a word processing document and paste it into the space provided. Please check it to make sure all your text is shown in the six pages provided.
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If I receive a SAFER award, how much time do I have to hire the firefighters?
The SAFER grant performance period does not start until 90 days after the award has been approved. This delay provides grantees with an opportunity to recruit new firefighters. Not all grantees will need the full 90 days, and some may need more. Grantees that can recruit and hire a firefighter before the start of the performance period are responsible for paying 100% of incurred salary and benefits for that time, but may be afforded credit toward the final 12 months of the grant performance period, when the grantee must fund the entire salary. The period of performance will commence whether or not the grantee has filled the new firefighter positions. Grantees that take more than 90 days will be losing an opportunity to receive Federal cost share.
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If I am awarded new firefighter positions and can hire them before the end of the 90-day recruitment period, at my own cost, will I receive credit for that period of time?
Yes. If you are able to hire the new firefighters before the end of the 90-day recruitment period, an equal time period will be subtracted from the last (fifth) year of the period of performance when grantees must absorb the entire cost of the new positions. The grantee must request through the Grant Amendment process that consideration be given for pre-period of performance credit in order to receive the credit.
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Can I submit a payment request for pre-award expenditures?
No, pre-award expenditures are not allowable in the Hiring of Firefighters Activity. Thus, firefighters hired prior to award are not eligible for SAFER funding.
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Can fire departments request that current volunteer members be converted to career positions?
Yes, but those volunteer and combination fire department applicants in the Hiring Firefighters Activity who will increase the total number of active firefighters through hiring personnel from outside the organization will receive higher consideration than those who recruit from within the organization without increasing the total number of members.
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What kind of documentation must be provided under the new training requirement in SAFER?
You should be prepared to provide copies of training certificates indicating that the newly hired firefighters are certified to the Firefighter I and Firefighter II levels (NFPA 1001 or equivalent), if requested by the program office.
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