Federal Grant Technical Assistance: Definition, Use, and Considerations for Congress

Federal Grant Technical Assistance: Definition, Use, and Considerations for Congress

Federal Grant Technical Assistance: Definition, June 26, 2023
Use, and Considerations for Congress
Natalie Keegan
Congress often takes an interest in how quickly federal money is expended by grantees, how
Analyst in American
effectively funding is targeted to the needs identified in the legislation, and how the risk of waste,
Federalism and Emergency
fraud, and abuse might be mitigated. This interest includes not only understanding how federal
Management Policy
agencies select grant recipients and monitor grant-funded project progression (what is commonly

called the spend rate), but also what tools are available to Congress for conducting oversight of
trillions of dollars in federal grant funding. There is also interest in identifying resources that are

available to constituents seeking grant awards, and ensuring that these resources are provided in
an equitable fashion to grant seekers.
Technical assistance is a category of activities undertaken by federal agencies and grant recipients to provide resources to
stakeholders to assist with navigating the federal grant process, and to strengthen the capacity of grant applicants and
recipients to apply for, and manage, federal grant funding. Technical assistance activities occur in every phase of the federal
grant life cycle. As discussed in this report, the types of activities will vary depending on the phase of the grant life cycle.
Understanding how technical assistance can be used as a tool in managing these concerns, how federal agencies and primary
grant recipients provide technical assistance, and how technical assistance can be used to reduce the need for recoupment of
federal funding will allow Congress to conduct more effective oversight of federal grants.

Congressional Research Service

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Contents
Introduction to Federal Grant Technical Assistance ........................................................................ 1
Defining Technical Assistance .................................................................................................. 1
Direct Technical Assistance ................................................................................................ 2
Indirect Technical Assistance .............................................................................................. 3
Use of Technical Assistance in the Grant Life Cycle ...................................................................... 3
Pre-Award Phase ....................................................................................................................... 4
Assistance to Potential Grant Applicants ............................................................................ 5
Corrective Action for Poor Grant Management Practices of Returning Grant
Recipients ........................................................................................................................ 5
Grant Award Phase .................................................................................................................... 6
Evaluating Grant Recipients ............................................................................................... 6
Establishing Types and Levels of Technical Assistance ..................................................... 7
Grant Project Administration Phase .......................................................................................... 7
Direct Assistance Through Site Visits ................................................................................. 7
Indirect Assistance Through Financial and Performance Document Reviews ................... 8
Post-Award Phase ...................................................................................................................... 8
Audit Resolution Plans ....................................................................................................... 8
Award Close-Out Assistance ............................................................................................... 9
Considerations for Congress in Providing Technical Assistance to Grant Recipients ..................... 9
Grant Mismanagement Magnifiers (GMM) .............................................................................. 9
Equitable Distribution of Federal Grants ................................................................................ 10
Balancing Need and Capacity ................................................................................................. 10
Benefits and Costs of Technical Assistance ............................................................................. 11
Proactive Versus Reactive Grant Management .................................................................. 11
Structuring Technical Assistance Resources ............................................................................ 11
Dedicating Grant Management Staff ................................................................................. 11
Establishing Dedicated Funding Within Programs for Technical Assistance .................... 11
Establishing a Grant Program Solely for Grant Management Technical Assistance ........ 12
Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................... 12

Figures
Figure 1. Life Cycle of a Federal Grant .......................................................................................... 4

Contacts
Author Information ........................................................................................................................ 13

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Federal Grant Technical Assistance: Definition, Use, and Considerations for Congress

Introduction to Federal Grant Technical Assistance
The pandemic had a significant impact on every level of government, and, in particular, a fiscal
impact on state and local governments. According to the Pandemic Recovery Accountability
Committee (PRAC), Congress provided $2.6 trillion for coronavirus response and recovery.1 Of
that $2.6 trillion, $674.3 billion was provided to state, local, and tribal governments. An
additional $550 billion was provided to states for additional purposes under the Bipartisan
Infrastructure Act. This funding is in addition to the regular outlays for federal grants to state and
local governments, which was approximately $648.4 billion in FY2019 (in constant FY2012
dollars).2
Grant management challenges are an ongoing administration and oversight issue. Several grant
management challenges have arisen as a result of this unprecedented level of grant funding. For
example, the creation of new grant programs, or the significant expansion of existing grant
programs, contributes to the complexity of the grant application process. Additionally, portions of
the funding may face time-sensitive components because federal agencies are challenged with
balancing the need to expedite the awarding of grant funding with providing sufficient grant
guidance. Clear guidance to potential grant applicants and grant recipients is essential to ensure
the equitable and effective distribution of funding.
Many of these grant management challenges existed prior to pandemic-related supplemental grant
program appropriations, though the scale of such challenges was magnified with additional grant
program funding for pandemic response and recovery. Grant management challenges are an
inherent part of all grant program administration, at all levels of government. While grant
program appropriation levels may change depending on events such as a pandemic or other
significant natural disasters or economic events, these challenges will continue despite changing
appropriation levels. Consequently, tools to assist with mitigating waste, fraud, and abuse in
federal grant programs will be of ongoing utility.
Technical assistance is a tool that can assist with a number of grant management challenges. This
report explains what grant technical assistance is, how it is provided, and how it is used in each
phase of the grant life cycle. Additionally, this report discusses some considerations that may
arise when evaluating or implementing changes to federal grant program technical assistance.
Defining Technical Assistance
Grant management scholars define technical assistance as “programs, activities, and services
provided by federal agencies to strengthen the capacity of grant recipients and to improve their
performance of grant functions.”3 This definition can be expanded to include resources provided
by primary grant recipients, such as states, to assist sub-recipients, such as local governments or
school districts, in managing federal grant funding. There is also significant variance in the
definition of technical assistance between federal agencies, and this has created significant
challenges in evaluating the provision of technical assistance. In a 2020 report, the Government
Accountability Office (GAO) noted, “While the term is used in statutory and regulatory language
associated with these agencies’ selected grant programs, its meaning can vary depending on the

1 Pandemic Response Accountability Committee, Where Did Pandemic Relief Funds Go? Available at
https://www.pandemicoversight.gov/, accessed on April 4, 2023.
2 Office of Management and Budget, Budget of the U.S. Government: Fiscal Year 2024, Historical Table 12.1,
Summary Comparison of Total Outlays for Grants to State and Local Governments: 1940-2028.
3 U.S. Government Accountability Office, Grants Management: Agencies Provided Many Types of Technical
Assistance and Applied Recipients’ Feedback, GAO-20-580, August 11, 2020, p. 3.
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Federal Grant Technical Assistance: Definition, Use, and Considerations for Congress

program, with individual program offices applying their own working definitions of technical
assistance.”4 Despite the lack of a common definition, most technical assistance resources in
federal grant programs include general categories of resources for direct and indirect technical
assistance.
Direct Technical Assistance
Current and potential federal grant recipients often
Direct Technical Assistance
struggle with understanding how to navigate the federal
Programs
grant process. This includes developing a successful
The Federal Emergency Management
grant project application, completing all statutory and
Agency (FEMA) administers a grant
regulatory requirements throughout the life cycle of a
program called the Building Resilient
federal grant, and establishing performance metrics and
Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC)
measuring outcomes of awarded projects. Direct
grant program. In 2022, FEMA received
numerous requests by potential grant
technical assistance activities by federal and state
applicants for technical assistance for a
agencies might include:
range of topics, including support for local
hazard mitigation plan development,
• review of potential grant applications to ensure
identification of hazard specific solutions,
eligibility of a proposed project;
assistance with hazard mitigation project
•
planning, support to develop grant
assistance to applicants in calculating the
applicants, assistance in demonstrating a
benefit-cost ratio of a proposed project;
benefit-cost ratio for grant applications, and
•
help with managing federal grant funding.
recommendations for improving internal
FEMA developed the Non-Financial Direct
controls for effective grant management; and,
Technical Assistance program to provide
• recommendations for addressing and resolving
resources to grant seekers and recipients
grant funding audit deficiencies.
of the BRIC program.

Direct technical assistance is generally provided on a
one-on-one basis, with assistance tailored to address the specific needs of individual grant
recipients. The nature of the direct technical assistance may vary depending on the project grant
life cycle. For example, direct technical assistance in the pre-award phase might include
assistance with calculating the benefit-cost ratio to include in the application. While direct
technical assistance in the post-award phase might include recommendations for grantees to
improve cash management systems to better track grant expenditures.
While some federal agencies have developed stand-alone programs to provide technical
assistance5, most federal and state agencies provide direct technical assistance under a broader
category of activities known as management and administration (MA). MA activities are funded
as an allowable amount or percentage of a grant award rather than as a separate grant only for
MA. As a result, federal agencies and state agencies often provide technical assistance in a
broader fashion that provides indirect resources to potential grant applicants and grant recipients.

4 Ibid, p. 4.
5 For example, the FEMA BRIC grant program. For additional information on the FEMA BRIC program, see CRS
Insight, CRS Insight IN11515, FEMA Pre-Disaster Mitigation: The Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities
(BRIC) Program, by Diane P. Horn. Additional information on the FEMA Non-Financial Direct Technical Assistance
program is available at https://www.fema.gov/sites/default/files/documents/fema_fy22-bric-technical assistance-
psm.pdf.
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Indirect Technical Assistance
Federal agencies may also provide technical assistance through resources that are targeted to a
broader audience, and through financial assistance that can be used by the grant recipient for non-
federal grant management assistance.
Federal Grant Program-wide Indirect Technical Assistance
Federal agencies may choose to leverage their resources by developing technical assistance tools
for a wide audience of grant stakeholders. For example, a federal agency may provide webinars
on how to apply for a specific grant program, or to discuss changes in the grant program since the
previous application period. Some federal agencies, such as the Department of Education, have
developed technical assistance centers that provide a range of resources for eligible grant
applicants and grant recipients, including “newsletters, guidebooks, or research syntheses,
downloaded from the TA center’s website.”6 This type of indirect technical assistance is designed
to meet the universal needs of grant seekers or recipients by providing information on frequently
asked questions or topics. While the federal agency is directly involved in developing and
disseminating the information, the individual grant recipients are indirectly benefitting from the
general resources.
Project-Specific Indirect Technical Assistance
While grant seekers and recipients may benefit from the general information provided by federal
agencies to address broader technical assistance topics, some grantees need more specialized
assistance. Federal agencies may be limited in their ability to provide such specialized assistance
due to the total volume of individual grant recipients (often thousands each year across all federal
agencies and programs). To address this shortfall, some agencies allow individual grant recipients
to use a portion of the awarded grant funds to cover expenses relating to technical assistance. For
example, a grant recipient may be allowed to use up to a certain percentage of the awarded grant
funds to pay for the services of a professional grant management contractor if the grant recipient
does not have the capacity or experience to manage the awarded grant funds. The grantee may be
required to cover any shortfall in the cost of technical assistance that exceeds the allowable
amount under the specific federal grant award.
Some grant programs have a program-wide cap on the allowable amount of awarded grant funds
that can be used for grant management activities, including technical assistance. Therefore, even
though the need for technical assistance may be unique to each individual grant project, the
guidelines on how much funding can be used are based on generalized programmatic
assumptions. In some cases, this limits the amount of indirect technical assistance available to a
grantee, creating a shortfall.
Use of Technical Assistance in the Grant Life Cycle
Technical assistance can support a range of activities associated with applying for, managing,
evaluating, and closing out federal grant awards. The specific activity may vary depending on
which phase of the grant life cycle an individual grant project is in at any given point in time.
Figure 1 provides a summary of the different phases of a grant life cycle and the federal agency
(FA) and grant recipient (GR) activities in each phase. The benefits of direct versus indirect

6 U.S. Government Accountability Office, Grants Management: Agencies Provided Many Types of Technical
Assistance and Applied Recipients’ Feedback, GAO-20-580, August 11, 2020, p. 7.
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technical assistance may also vary depending on the phase of the grant life cycle. In some phases,
direct assistance may be more efficient or effective, while in other phases a more individualized
technical assistance approach may be needed.
Figure 1. Life Cycle of a Federal Grant

Source: Congressional Research Service, April 2023.

Pre-Award Phase
Most of the grant administration activities provided
Pre-Award Phase Technical
during the pre-award phase involve developing general
Assistance
information that is made available to a broad audience.
During the pre-award phase, the federal
Therefore, federal agencies often use indirect technical
administering agency develops the factors
assistance tools such as webinars, best practice
for calculating the grant allocation for
documents, and other written guidance, to provide
formula grant programs, or establishes
criteria for scoring competitive grant
general program information, guidance on developing
program applications. During this phase, the
competitive applications, assistance with navigating the
federal agency also develops guidance for
application process, and clarification on allowable
the grant program, publishes notices for
projects and cost categories. In some cases, however,
funding availability in the Federal Register,
this generalized technical assistance may not be
and provides information regarding the
application process and program
sufficient for addressing the specific needs of some
requirements on the federal agency
grant seekers or grant recipients. For example, some
website.
potential grant applicants, such as first time grant
seekers or grant seekers from underserved areas, may have unique needs. Additionally, past grant
recipients seeking new grant awards may need more specific technical assistance to address
previously identified grant management challenges.
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Assistance to Potential Grant Applicants
Potential grant applicants may include first time federal grant seekers, previously unsuccessful
applicants, and returning grantees. The technical assistance needs of grant applicants may vary
based on a number of factors. These factors include, among others:
• the level of experience of the grant seeker in developing grant applications;
• capacity of the grant applicant to develop a grant application and manage a
federal grant award;
• scope and level of complexity of the proposed grant project; and
• available resources of the grant applicant to contribute to mandatory grant
requirements such as pre-award assessments and cost share requirements.
Technical assistance to potential grant applicants affords the agency the opportunity to create a
more equitable grant application environment. For example, federal agencies may undertake
indirect technical assistance activities to help ensure that information about what funding is
available and what types of projects would be eligible is shared across a range of communities in
a timely fashion.
Federal agencies may also identify those communities that may not have sought, or been
successful at seeking, federal grant awards in the past in order to evaluate how to improve
technical assistance in those communities. For example, in addition to providing a webinar on
changes to the grant program application process, a federal agency may also provide more direct
technical assistance by conducting in-person outreach sessions to underserved communities and
provide an opportunity to answer more project-specific questions. The FEMA BRIC program
discussed previously in this report utilizes this direct technical assistance approach for grant
applicants.
Corrective Action for Poor Grant Management Practices of Returning Grant
Recipients
As part of the grant award process discussed in more detail in the grant award and post-award
sections of this report, grant recipients must provide documentation of the use of federal grant
funds. In some cases, the audits conducted as part of the close-out process of a federal grant
award may identify particular grant management challenges experienced by the grant recipient
that may have resulted in misuse of federal grant funds. In some cases, this misuse of funds may
be inadvertent and attributable to lack of grant management knowledge on the part of the grant
recipient. This is particularly true for first time grant recipients who may be unfamiliar with the
appropriate grant management practices. When a grant recipient is identified in the audit process
as mismanaging a federal grant, the federal agency is required to issue a document to the grant
recipient that identifies the specific corrective actions the recipient must take before seeking
additional federal grant awards. For example, if the grant recipient has an outdated cash
management system and has struggled to track the financial data required of the grant award, the
grantee may be advised to update their cash management system. However, in some cases the
grant recipient may be unsure of how to implement the corrective action while still wishing to
seek additional federal grant awards. Technical assistance to these applicants may include direct
activities, such as making agency personnel available to explain how to resolve the corrective
action item, as well as indirect activities, such as allowing the applicant to use a certain amount of
new grant funds to cover the cost of the corrective action. Because corrective actions are often
unique to each individual grant recipient, technical assistance may need to be a more customized
activity rather than a general provision of information regarding how to apply for the grant
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funding. While both direct technical assistance and indirect technical assistance can be used to
provide the customized assistance that may be required, federal agencies may have limited
capacity to provide customized technical assistance to every new and returning grant applicant.
Therefore, federal agencies may need to establish criteria to prioritize which grant applicants will
be eligible to receive customized technical assistance in the pre-award phase.
Grant Award Phase
Technical assistance during the grant award phase often
Grant Award Phase Technical
involves assisting the grant recipients with complying
Assistance
with the grant agreement. Since each grant agreement is
During the award phase, grant awards are
unique to the specific individual grant project, technical
made to individual grant recipients either
assistance with a more generalized indirect approach
through a statutory formula allocation, or
may not be as effective as technical assistance
through agency discretion in selecting
customized to the individual grant project. For example,
successful applications. Once grant funding
is awarded for specific projects, the grant
the federal agency may provide one-on-one direct
recipients must comply with the reporting
technical assistance to the recipient by holding coaching
requirements and other conditions of
sessions or conducting site visits to be able to identify
funding, such as ensuring the funds are
potential problems with the grant management
spent on eligible expenses and within a
specific time frame. Federal grant funds are
activities, and then pro-actively assist the grant recipient
awarded under a legally binding contract
in resolving those problems. Indirect technical
known as a grant agreement. Grant
assistance during this phase may include the federal
recipients are required to comply with all
agency allowing the grant recipient to use a portion of
the terms and conditions of the grant
the grant award for grant management and
agreement.
administrative expenses such as hiring a grant
consultant.
Some agencies require technical assistance for first time grant recipients to help ensure the
recipient understands what is required of them based on the grant agreement. The indirect
technical assistance could be customized to address certain grant recipients, such as first-time
grant recipients, to allow for a higher percentage of the grant award for grant management to
offset unique challenges such as reduced capacity or a learning curve for good grant management
practices.
Evaluating Grant Recipients
In order to closely align the technical assistance with the specific grant management needs of the
grant recipient, the federal agencies may need to evaluate the needs of its grant recipients. Each
individual grant applicant or grant recipient is unique. Their specific need for technical assistance
is based on a variety of factors and may be addressed through several different types of technical
assistance at different points in the grant life cycle. Therefore, a federal agency may establish
criteria for evaluating the technical assistance needs of the grant recipients. The federal agency
must also establish priorities for providing technical assistance to balance the need for assistance
with the capacity of the federal agency. For example, FEMA established a criteria for prioritizing
the BRIC Non-Financial Direct Technical Assistance program. The criteria included whether the
grant recipient qualifies as an economically disadvantaged rural community, whether the
community has shown a compelling need in the request for direct technical assistance, and
whether the grant applicant has not received a grant award from certain programs within the past
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five years.7 Not all federal agencies have established criteria for providing technical assistance.
Standardizing technical assistance criteria would assist with evaluating grant recipients and
providing technical assistance based on documented need.
Establishing Types and Levels of Technical Assistance
Once a federal agency understands its grant applicants, it can then establish the types and
amounts of technical assistance it can make available. As discussed previously, the grant recipient
may receive direct or indirect technical assistance, or a combination thereof. While a grant
recipient may benefit from generalized technical assistance resources, it may also need
customized indirect and direct technical assistance, and certain grantees will likely need more
technical assistance than others. For example, grant recipients that routinely receive federal grant
awards, or those who have sufficient resources to manage large amounts of federal grant funds,
may need less technical assistance than a grantee who is a first time grant recipient or who may
have more limited capacity with managing federal grant projects.
Grant Project Administration Phase
Technical assistance activities during the project
Grant Project Administration
administration phase ensure that the federally funded
Phase Technical Assistance
projects are completed on time, in a cost-efficient way,
Once a federal grant has been awarded and
and that the risk of waste, fraud, and abuse is mitigated.
a grant agreement has been executed by
There are several types of technical assistance activities
both parties, the federal agency and the
that may be used during the grant project administration
grant recipient begin administration of the
grant. Grant administration activities may
phase, including site visits, monthly or quarterly project
include reviewing activities conducted
document reviews, evaluation of the spend rate and
under the terms of the grant award,
reimbursement schedule of the project, and assessment
reviewing and approving changes in the
of project performance milestones.
scope of work to be done under the grant
agreement, and assessing compliance with
program and financial reporting
Direct Assistance Through Site Visits
requirements
Federal agencies and primary grant recipients may
periodically visit a grant recipient project site to assess the status of a project and to provide direct
assistance with any issues that may have arisen during the implementation. The frequency of site
visits is based on the complexity of the project and/or the challenges that a particular grantee may
be facing. For example, if quarterly reports indicate that a project does not have a consistent
spend rate, the federal agency may conduct a site visit to determine the causes of the delayed
expenditures. In some cases, challenges may be attributed to issues beyond the control of the
grant recipient such as back-ordered materials. In other cases, the delay may arise from a lack of
grant management personnel to process payment of invoices. Site visits enable the assessment of
specific project management issues, after which the agency can attempt to resolve issues,
including through technical assistance.

7 Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA Program Support Material, BRIC Non-Financial Direct Technical
Assistance, October 2022, p.3, at https://www.fema.gov/sites/default/files/documents/fema_fy22-bric-technical-
assistance-psm.pdf.

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Indirect Assistance Through Financial and Performance Document Reviews
Federal agencies generally establish a standard process for reviewing grant project documents
(such as quarterly financial reports). This process allows the agency to identify certain
characteristics of a grant project that may indicate grant management challenges. The federal
agency can then adjust the type of technical assistance made available to that grant recipient to
resolve the grant management issue. For example, as discussed previously, the lack of recent
draw-down requests on a specific project may indicate the grantee is experiencing a problem with
the project. For instance, if the grant management issue involves a lack of understanding by the
grant recipient about how to submit a reimbursement request, the agency may direct the grant
recipient to general indirect technical assistance tools such as a frequently asked questions
document. However, if the grant management problem is more unique to that particular grant
recipient, the agency may consider other indirect actions. For instance, if delays in draw down
requests result from attrition of grant management personnel, the agency may then adjust the
allowable amount that can be used by the grant recipient to hire more grant management
personnel. Reviewing financial and performance documents on a regular basis during the project
administration phase allows the federal agency to provide timely and needed technical assistance
in a proactive way to best align with the needs of the individual grant recipients.
Post-Award Phase
Federal agencies use technical assistance during the
Post-Award Phase Technical
post-award phase to ensure that the information
Assistance
necessary to conduct oversight of the grant funds is
The final phase of the grant life cycle
accurate, complete, and timely. Both direct and indirect
involves oversight activities of the
technical assistance is utilized during this phase of the
expended grant funds. There are several
grant life cycle. Indirect technical assistance generally
accountability and oversight provisions that
includes webinars on how to complete and submit
are part of the grants administration
process. Reporting requirements, both
closeout forms and how to submit audit findings to the
statutory and regulatory, require data
Federal Audit Clearinghouse. However, more
col ection, reporting and evaluation by the
customized direct technical assistance may be necessary
grant recipient and federal agency. The
in cases where the grant recipient has unique issues,
grant recipient also has specific post-award
requirements. This includes submitting all
such as a need to request an extension on the grant
final financial documents and performance
project period of performance if the project is not yet
reports to the federal agency. The federal
complete.
agency then reconciles all expenditures and
disbursements relating to the individual
grant project, and closes all cash
Audit Resolution Plans
management and program management
A grant recipient is required to submit all of the
system accounts for each award. Once the
federal grant award is closed out, the
prescribed financial and performance reports to the
federal agency wil evaluate the project
federal agency at the end of the grant project period of
audit for appropriate use of funds and any
performance. For certain grant recipients, the closeout
indication of waste, fraud, and abuse.
requirements may also include an audit of federal grant
funds by a third party accounting firm. The auditors will evaluate the use of grant funds to ensure
that the project was conducted in compliance with required statutory and regulatory provisions
and that the conditions contained in the grant agreement have been met. If the auditors find any
costs that are questionable, or if there are any other compliance concerns, then the auditors note
those concerns in the audit report that is submitted to the federal agency. The federal agency is
then required to developed a corrective action plan and provide the plan to the grant recipient.
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Certain grant recipients may require technical assistance from the federal agency in order to take
the corrective actions required in the plan. Currently there is no requirement that federal agencies
provide technical assistance based on issuance of a corrective action plan. Some types of
technical assistance are not available to assist with resolution of bad audit findings. For example,
indirect technical assistance that allows the grant recipient to use a portion of the awarded grant
funds to cover grant management costs is not available after the grant is closed out because the
grant recipient is not allowed to expend any grant funds after the grant is closed. However,
federal agencies can provide other types of technical assistance (such as direct technical
assistance), and provide federal agency personnel to assist with implementation of the corrective
action plan. Given their limited resources, federal agencies may need to establish criteria by
which they select grant recipients for direct technical assistance for post-award activities.
Award Close-Out Assistance
Some grant recipients face challenges in closing out the grant projects. Delays by grant recipients
in closing out federal grant awards results in delayed oversight of federal grant funds at the
agency or congressional level since grant expenditures cannot be evaluated for waste, fraud, and
abuse until closeout documents have been submitted. While there is an administrative cost to
providing grant closeout technical assistance, there is an oversight and accountability benefit to
ensuring timely and accurate grant award closeouts. As with other types of technical assistance
activities, there is no standardized criteria for identifying what grant recipient should receive
close-out technical assistance. Federal agencies also do not have a standard type of closeout
technical assistance activity. Evaluating grant program closeout trends allows agencies to assess
how timely and complete the closeout process is for the majority of grant recipients, and may
assist federal agencies in determining what type, and to what extent, post-award closeout
technical assistance may be needed.
Considerations for Congress in Providing Technical
Assistance to Grant Recipients
Given the large amount of federal funding administered through federal grant programs, Congress
may consider how technical assistance could be used to ensure those funds are effectively and
efficiently spent.
Grant Mismanagement Magnifiers (GMM)
The administration of federal grant funding faces ongoing challenges. These challenges include:
• managing high risk grantees;
• conducting sufficient oversight of federal grant awards;
• ensuring timely reporting of grant expenditures and performance measurements;
• tracking federal grant funding from the appropriations to the expenditure levels;
• ensuring timely closeout of federal grant awards; and,
• evaluating grant recipient performance and grant management practices.
Such challenges are part of the nature of federal grant management; however, they can be
magnified under certain circumstances, such as:
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• significant increases in the level of funding above normal grant appropriation
levels;
• creation of new grant programs;
• expanding existing grant program eligibility or eligible use of grant funding; and
• waiving grant management requirements.
These so-called “grant mismanagement magnifiers” (GMMs) strain the ability of both grantees
and agencies to administer funds efficiently and effectively. While a single GMM can inhibit
good grants management practices for any program, the scope of effect of multiple GMMs
occurring simultaneously presents significant oversight and transparency challenges (as seen
during the COVID-19 pandemic). When implementing new grant programs or adjusting the
parameters of existing ones, Congress may consider the degree to which technical assistance can
be used to mitigate grant management challenges. For instance, in the presence of multiple
GMMs, Congress may consider additional investments in, or requirements for, technical
assistance to offset the risk of fraud, waste, and abuse.
Equitable Distribution of Federal Grants
Federal grant funding provides a mechanism to address some of the needs of communities that do
not have the capacity or resources to address those needs in the absence of federal funds.
Consequently, ensuring that federal grant funds are equitably distributed aligns with the overall
purpose of federal grant funding. While there may be many reasons why a community is not
receiving a proportionate share of federal grant funding, some of those reasons may be addressed
through grant technical assistance. Technical assistance can assist underserved communities with
certain challenges, such as understanding what funding is available and how to access that
funding, developing a competitive grant project application, understanding and meeting the
requirements of grant awards, and ensuring that recipients have the capacity to implement good
grant management practices. However, federal agencies have broad discretion in establishing the
types of grant technical assistance made available, and also in selecting the recipients of that
technical assistance. Congress may consider whether standardizing grant technical assistance
processes across federal agencies and programs would enhance the equitable distribution of
federal grant funding.
Balancing Need and Capacity
One of the inherent dilemmas within federal grant management is that grant recipients are often
selected based upon the evidence that the recipients cannot address an unmet need without federal
grant funding. In essence, federal grant recipients must demonstrate a certain degree of limited
resources and limited capacity to address a need, and this inability may also impact their ability to
manage the federal grant funding. There are certain grant management requirements, however,
such as data collection and financial reporting requirements, that require a certain level of skill
and resources to ensure good practice. Grant recipients with very limited resources often face
significant challenges with managing federal grant funds. Technical assistance provides a
mechanism to enhance the capacity of those grant recipients to ensure that the neediest grant
recipients can be good stewards of federal grant funds. While reducing the application or
reporting requirements for certain grant applicants can be used to alleviate certain administrative
burdens, waiving grant management requirements can also result in a reduced ability to conduct
oversight and enforce accountability for grant mismanagement. Therefore, Congress may
consider whether there should be a balance between the administrative burden place on federal
grant recipients and need for oversight of grant funding.
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Benefits and Costs of Technical Assistance
Federal grant technical assistance is an administrative activity for federal agencies as well as
primary federal grant recipients who pass grant funds to the sub-state level. As such, there is a
cost associated with providing technical assistance to grant recipients. There is also a cost,
however, associated with poor grant management, which can result in the need to recoup federal
grant funding. The question of whether to prevent grant mismanagement, or recoup mismanaged
grant funds is fundamentally a question of proactive versus reactive grant management.
Proactive Versus Reactive Grant Management
Technical assistance can be used to proactively reduce the occurrence of waste, fraud and abuse.
For instance, if grant recipients receive technical assistance that identifies grant management
errors during a grant award’s period of performance, they have the opportunity to resolve the
mistake before more funds are misspent. Conversely, if technical assistance occurs in the post-
award phase of federal grants, the grant recipients no longer have the ability to resolve the grant
management error and must return disallowed funding to the Treasury rather than redirect it for
other allowable purposes. Proactive technical assistance is an alternative approach to grant
management that attempts to ensure that grant funds are used for allowable purposes at the
community level during the project implementation, as compared to reactive technical assistance
where the focus is on identifying expenditures that may later be determined to be ineligible and
thus potentially recouped.
Structuring Technical Assistance Resources
There are several options for identifying and funding grant management personnel that provide
federal grant technical assistance. Some options include establishing dedicated grant management
staff solely providing technical assistance, establishing dedicated funding for technical assistance
within each grant program, or creating a separate grant program to provide technical assistance
outreach as a grant funded project. Each of these options may result in increased program
administration costs and may require reassessment of grant program appropriation levels.
Depending on how such options are structured and implemented, these options may also change
the administrative burden on grant applicants and recipients.
Dedicating Grant Management Staff
Federal grant personnel frequently undertake a variety of grant management functions with a
federal agency. For example, the same staff involved in selecting and awarding grants at the
beginning of the fiscal year may be closing out and reconciling grant documentation at the end of
the fiscal year. Providing technical assistance to grant recipients may be only a part of their
duties. As discussed previously, technical assistance can occur at every phase of the grant life
cycle. Consequently, Congress may evaluate whether establishing dedicated grant management
personnel for technical assistance would prove beneficial to grant management practices.
Establishing Dedicated Funding Within Programs for Technical Assistance
Funding for technical assistance is provided in a number of ways for different grant programs.
For some programs, the administrative costs for technical assistance may be covered by a
separate appropriation under a broader management and administration account for the federal
agency. For other grant programs, the technical assistance costs may fall under an even broader
grant program appropriation. Separating technical assistance costs from other management and
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administrative costs, (and establishing a funding structure that identifies specific funding levels
for technical assistance) could increase transparency concerning the actual cost of grant technical
assistance. Once technical assistance costs can be clearly identified, Congress can then evaluate
whether the funding levels for technical assistance are sufficient to ensure good grant
management practices.
Creating a Technical Assistance Set-Aside Within Grant Programs
Some grant programs include technical assistance costs as part of the overall program
appropriation. However, if Congress seeks to target technical assistance funding to ensure specific
funding levels is provided, or to ensure that a certain amount of technical assistance funding is
provided to specific grant recipients, then a certain amount of grant appropriations could be
designated as a set aside from the total program appropriations. This could also help ensure that
Congress had better visibility into how much grant funding was directly spent on technical
assistance activities.
Establishing a Grant Program Solely for Grant Management Technical
Assistance
Technical assistance activities are generally funded on a programmatic level within each federal
grant program. However, providing technical assistance could also be designated as an eligible
activity under a grant program solely funding technical assistance outreach projects. For example,
Congress may consider a government-wide technical assistance program similar to the FEMA
non-financial direct technical assistance program utilized for BRIC grant applications (discussed
earlier in this report). Congress may also consider ways to leverage the expertise of good grant
managers within communities by funding mentoring or outreach activities to support and
encourage new grant seekers navigating the federal grant process. Alternatively, these activities
could also be combined wherein Congress may consider establishing local or regional technical
assistance centers (similar to business development centers) and providing grant funding to
support these centers.
Conclusion
Federal grant technical assistance is a tool that can be used to enhance grant program objectives
and address grant management challenges. There is not a common definition of grant technical
assistance because of the diverse nature of federal grant programs and federal agency discretion
in the administration of those programs. However, assessing the types of technical assistance
activities provided by federal agencies and evaluating opportunities to use technical assistance
throughout the grant life cycle may enhance grant program funding objectives. These objectives
may include, among others, fair competition, equitable distribution, and efficient utilization of
federal grant funding. Federal grant technical assistance may also mitigate waste, fraud, and
abuse in federal grant programs. As discussed in this report, several factors influence the extent to
which grant technical assistance may prove beneficial for dealing with grant management
challenges. These considerations include how much grant funding is provided, how grant funds
are allocated, what resources are available to management grant funds, and what portion of grant
appropriations can be directed to technical assistance. Potential options to address technical
assistance may involve balancing the cost of technical assistance with the potential benefit of
enhancing good stewardship of taxpayer’s money.

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Author Information

Natalie Keegan

Analyst in American Federalism and Emergency
Management Policy

Disclaimer
This document was prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). CRS serves as nonpartisan
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under the direction of Congress. Information in a CRS Report should not be relied upon for purposes other
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Congressional Research Service
R47607 · VERSION 1 · NEW
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