Budgets & Finance

Accurate and well-planned operational and project budgets are key to securing essential resources, and managers are responsible for utilizing grant funding efficiently and effectively. It is also critical that federal grant funds are expended within the funding period and that all required financial reports are submitted on schedule. A detailed description of required financial reports with schedules and deadlines can be found on the Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA).

An overall budget is required as part of the SP grant application. This is the official project budget, which will account for each year of the four-year grant lifecycle and includes an itemized budget organized by category, as well as a budget justification narrative explaining the details of the itemized budget. Awards, on a competitive basis, will be for a one-year budget period from March 1 to February 28. Funding for each subsequent year is based on availability of funding and successful progress as demonstrated through progress reports and other required submissions.

The budget justification is a narrative document that clearly describes how each item in the budget will support the achievement of proposed activities. All applicant categories (I, II, and III) must include a budget justification in their funding proposal. Specific requirements that are to be included in the budget for each category, such as a reassessment to evaluate progress, are listed in the FOA. For Category II and III applicants, budgets must reflect a clear focus on achievement of the performance measures. However, up to 10% of the budget may be allocated to other pediatric related activities, such as disaster preparedness or injury prevention.

It is recommended that the SP funds for each year be expended within the funding period. Unused or unobligated funds left over at the end of the funding period are not guaranteed to carry over into the next funding period. Furthermore, this could reflect poor planning or management and will be scrutinized by the Program during review of the Annual Progress Report. However, unexpected events, such as personnel changes leaving a budgeted position vacant for a part of the year, may leave the budget with a balance at the end of the period. When this occurs, a carryover of unobligated funds must be requested through a Prior Approval Request in HRSA's Electronic Handbook (EHB)