• APPLICATION PERIOD: Monday, January 30, 2012 - Friday, February 24, 2012 at 5:00 P.M. EST
• FY 2011 SAFER Program Guidance to be Posted on AFG Website on Wednesday, January 25, 2012
• Important Special Instructions for Completing the FY 2011 SAFER Grant Application
• New SAFER Self-Evaluation Tools Provide Insight into the Peer Review Evaluation Process

The FY 2011 Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) Grants application period will open on Monday, January 30, 2012 and run until Friday, February 24, 2012 at 5:00 P.M. EST.

The goal of the SAFER Grants is to assist local fire departments with staffing and deployment capabilities in order to respond to emergencies, assuring communities have adequate protection from fire and fire-related hazards.

The FY 2011 SAFER Grant Program Guidance and Application Kit will be posted on the AFG Website starting Wednesday, January 25, 2012.
All SAFER applicants should read the new FY 2011 SAFER Grants Program Guidance to fully understand the FY 2011 award criteria, funding priorities, and important special application instructions for completing the application.

Highlights of the FY 2011 SAFER Grant Program

The grant program conditions described below are in effect ONLY for the FY 2011 SAFER Grants; they are not retroactive to previous fiscal years and do not apply beyond the FY 2011 SAFER Grants Program.

• Salary limits: There are no annual salary limits
• Grantee cost share: There is no prescribed cost-share
• No retention commitment: Grantees that are hiring firefighters—whether they be rehires, new hires, or retained firefighters—do not have to commit to retaining the SAFER-funded firefighters beyond the period of performance. However, no firefighter layoffs are permitted—of either SAFER-funded on non-SAFER firefighters—during the grant's period of performance
• Period of performance: For the Hiring of Firefighters Category grants, the period of performance has been reduced to 2 years.
• Attrition of firefighters: FY 2011 grantees who are unable to back-fill firefighting positions that are vacated due to documentable economic hardship may petition FEMA for a waiver of staffing maintenance requirements. To qualify for this waiver, the economic hardship must affect the entire public safety sector in the jurisdiction and not only the fire department.
• Hiring of Firefighters Category: The priorities for funding will be as follows:

1.     First priority: Rehiring laid-off firefighters

2.     Second priority: Retention of firefighters who face imminent layoff and/or filling positions vacated through attrition but not filled due to economic circumstances

3.     Third priority: Hiring new firefighters

Important Special Instructions for Completing the FY 2011 SAFER Hiring Grant Application

A technical issue with the SAFER e-grant application will require that applicants requesting funds for the Hiring of Firefighters Category enter data for 4 budget years even though only 2 years of funding can be awarded for this Category. Unfortunately, the application format cannot be changed, and therefore Hiring of Firefighters applicants should follow these special instructions on how to complete the application:

• For budget years one (1) and two (2), input the requested salary and benefits for each line item;
• For budget years three (3) and four (4) insert $1.00 for both the salary and benefits
  NOTE: The system will not allow an input of $0 value. If an applicant submits a budget request for year three (3) and year four (4), the budget will be reduced prior to the grant award.  

If you need additional information or instructions, the SAFER Help Desk and Fire Program Specialists will be available throughout the application period to answer questions about the SAFER Program Guidance and the online grant application. The Help Desk can be contacted at 1-866-274-0960 or via e-mail at firegrants@dhs.gov. The Help Desk hours of operation during the application period are from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. All times listed are eastern daylight times.

New SAFER Grant Self-Evaluation Tools Provide Insight into the Peer Review Evaluation Process