Volunteer Fire Assistance - Cooperative Forestry Assistance

Provides financial, technical and related assistance for organizing, training and equipping rural fire departments. Funding is passed through to local fire departments and fire training academies; to prevent and suppress rural fires and enhance protection capabilities by assisting rural communities at risk in the wild land urban interface. This funding opportunity also allows IDNR to connect Illinois fire departments with surplus federal resources (FEPP & VFAIFS).

Training & resources provided to fire training academy, along with surplus federal resources (FEPP & FFP).

FY'24 VFAIFS/FEPP Funding

https://gata.illinois.gov/grantee.html Pre-Award Requirements There are five grantee pre-award requirements: 1. Authentication 2. Grantee Registration 3. Grantee Pre-qualification 4. Fiscal and Administrative Risk Assessment (ICQ) 5. Programmatic Risk Assessment 1. Authentication The Grantee Portal utilizes the Illinois.gov Authentication Portal. A personal or business email address is required to establish an account. Authentication verifies the relationship between an individual and the organization they represent. Authentication is performed once for each individual associated with a registration. To obtain an account click the “Create a new account” link below the “Sign in” button. For help with the Illinois.gov Authentication Portal please click the 'Can't access your account' link below the sign in button. 2. Grantee Registration All grantees must be registered with the State of Illinois. Grantee Registration is completed by browsing to https://grants.illinois.gov/portal and associating your Illinois.gov account with your organization. New accounts must enter the organization’s information on the Registration screen. Existing accounts must click the “Edit” button next to the organization name on the Main Menu. 3. Grantee Pre-qualification All entities must be qualified to do business with the State of Illinois. To be qualified for a grant award, an entity must: Be registered in the SAM.gov system and have a valid UEI number assigned; Have a current SAM.gov account; Not be on the Federal Excluded Parties List; Be in Good Standing with the Illinois Secretary of State, as applicable; Not be on the Illinois Stop Payment list; Not on the Dept. of Healthcare and Family Services Provider Sanctions list. Pre-qualification status will be verified after Grantee Registration is registered and nightly thereafter. If an entity has a pre-qualification issue, the specific issue and remediation support is provided thru the grantee portal. Entities on the Federal Excluded Parties List are not eligible to do business with the State of Illinois. 4. Fiscal and Administrative Risk Assessment (ICQ) Entities must complete an Internal Controls Questionnaire (ICQ) as the Fiscal and Administrative Risk Assessment. The ICQ is completed once, annually. All state agencies will utilize the results of the ICQ. The entity can access the ICQ from the grantee portal. 5. Programmatic Risk Assessment Entities must complete a Programmatic Risk Assessment for each grant award. The grant-specific Programmatic Risk Assessment is administered by the awarding agency. The programmatic risk assessment is generally performed towards the end of the application process. Your state awarding agency will inform you of the timing of the Programmatic Risk Assessment and administer the Programmatic Risk Assessment. These grantee pre-award requirements are mandated by Federal Uniform Guidance (2 CFR 200) and the Grant Accountability and Transparency Act (GATA). Grantees must complete these requirements prior to receiving a grant award from the State of Illinois. Questions regarding the grantee pre-award requirements should be directed to your state awarding agency.

For grant program specific questions contact the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. For questions specific to the AmpliFund program contact: support@il-amplifund.zendesk.com AmpliFund Support Site: https://il-amplifund.zendesk.com