Grant Award Modification (GAM)

A Sole Source GAM is a type of Financial GAM which includes justification and attachment. A Sole Source GAM is initiated to request to enter into a non-competitive contractual relationship with a contractor under a grant where the contracted cost exceeds the simplified acquisition threshold.

A Scope Change GAM is a sub-type of Programmatic GAM. The Grant Award Administrator or the Alternate Grant Award Administrator submits Programmatic Scope Changes as a single GAM rather than as separate GAMs. Scope changes include:

• Altering programmatic activities
• Changing the purpose of the project
• Changing the project site
• Staff changes that include experiencing or making changes to the organization or staff with primary responsibility for award implementation
• Updating the Project Title and Project Description

The Scope is the established boundary of what must be accomplished during an award period. Changes to the scope of a project can be requested by a Scope Change GAM.

A Project Period Extension GAM is used to extend the length of the funded award. The most direct way to do this is to change the End Date. JustGrants will make the end date the last day of the last month of the extension and auto-calculate the end date for No Cost Extension GAMs.

A Programmatic GAM is used to update changes in project scope or to gain prior approval for changes with programmatic costs and activities as determined by the DOJ Financial Guide. Programmatic GAMs have two sub-types:

• Programmatic Costs GAM
• Scope Change GAM

A Programmatic Costs GAM is a sub-type of Programmatic GAM. Within Programmatic Costs, the Grant Award Administrator or the Alternate Grant Award Administrator can submit multiple GAMs for programmatic costs but can only have one GAM per cost type in progress at the same time. They can also submit multiple costs in the same GAM.

Financial GAMs are used to modify budget details or approve a budget that received a conditional clearance when awarded (a process performed by a DOJ Financial Analyst). There are three types:

• Budget Modification GAM
• Sole Source GAM
• Budget Reduction GAM (COPS Office awards only)

A Budget Reduction GAM is a type of Financial GAM only available within JustGrants to grantees on COPS Office awards. A budget reduction is used to reduce the amount of federal funds on an award. For OJP and OVW awards, if this is needed, it must be initiated by the grant manager.

A Budget Modification GAM is a type of Financial GAM used to add program income. Each budget category can be updated and once the updated amount is entered, JustGrants will calculate the requested changes. You can add, subtract, or edit the category totals. The Revised Budget column can never be negative, and the Federal Award Amount cannot be edited. Federal Funds Amount + Match Amount + Program Income Amount must equal Total Project Costs.

The following case number prefixes are used in JustGrants:

• A-   Application
• AA-  ASAP Authorization
• ADPR-  Annual Programmatic Desk Review
• AW-  Award Package
• FA-  Funding Approval
• FAW-  Funded Award 
• FAWS-  Funded Supplemental Award
• FFR-  Federal Financial Report
• GAM-  Grant Award Modification
• M-  Monitoring
• PR-  Performance Report
• SI-  Solicitation Initiation
• ST-  Solicitation Template
• UO-  UFMS Obligation

A Grant Award Modification (GAM) is a request for a modification to a key element of a funded award. Most GAMs can be initiated by the grantee’s Grant Award Administrator or the Alternate Grant Award Administrator but must be approved by DOJ personnel. Types of GAMS:

• Project Period Extension GAM
• Programmatic GAM (Programmatic Cost GAM and Scope Change GAM)
• Financial GAMs (Budget Reduction GAM, Budget Modification GAM, and Sole Source GAM)

Grant Award Administrator is one of the six foundational JustGrants entity user roles. This is the grantee role that manages many aspects of the grant. This role allows a grantee to view and submit performance reports, initiate some Grant Award Modifications (GAMs), review and respond to monitoring issues as applicable, upload documents, and view award, application, and notice of funding opportunity information. 

The Financial Manager is one of the six foundational JustGrants entity user roles. This role is responsible for certifying and submitting federal financial reports (FFRs), processing financial Grant Award Modifications (GAMs), and initiating closeout on behalf of the entity.