 Okay. Thanks. I've been with the agencies since 1998 in a number of different capacities, not all with the grants office. But first, I want to say welcome. And it's good to be with you. I actually work out of California. So it took me a while to get here. I came flew in yesterday, so flew in to San Antonio, then drove on down. So I got to see the great scenery from San Antonio down to McCollum. And it was breathtaking, yeah. What can I say? But anyway, this was my first time in this part of the country. So it's good to be here with you. And a couple of things before I start. I just want to let you know that the grant that we've given to MHM is the first SIF grant that we've given in the state of Texas, number one. Number two, it's the largest SIF grant that we gave out last year. You know, $5 million a year is a pretty sizable federal grant. And third, you're the recipients of all that. So you should feel, you should feel pretty special because I know you went through a rigorous selection process. So, you know, it starts off obviously with MHM applying to the federal government and going through that process and getting funded and awarded and then they go and sub-grant out to you guys. So you're the beneficiaries of all that work. So you should feel, I think, a little special. And particularly since you're doing work in areas of great need down here in Texas, I think that's important because we haven't really had a significant SIF presence in Texas. So you'll be literally marking history in terms of Social Innovation Fund here in Texas. And that's, I think that's pretty important. And you're the first. So you have to understand that as the first, you're going to be a little bit of the guinea pigs as well. So because that just comes, anyone, I'm sure all of you have at one point been in the first year of a new program and know how that goes. So you'll be a little bit of that. But you also have a very, very capable team behind you. So you're really good hands in terms of the folks here at MHM. And to the degree that we can help and support obviously the grantees at the corporation, we will do that as well. Some of the things I may be talking about may be repetitive of things you've already heard. So I may skip through a few things. And there's some things I may want to just kind of emphasize from the, you know, from the subgrantee perspective. So we're going to talk a little bit about CNCS rules and laws, although those have been hit upon before in regulations, the grant terms and just general accepted financial principles and some of the things you may need to do. Now, we have the corporation is bound by various OMB circulars that were referenced to earlier. And also in terms of there's going to be a news general circular that's going to be incorporated or already out, but it won't be an effect for you as well. But in terms of the OMB circulars that apply to you like A110 and A122, I think you're all nonprofits. And so those are the applicable circulars that will apply to you. If you already have federal grants, then we're just one more grant that you have to accept. So you won't really need to do too much in terms of your overall policies. If you're new to federal grants, then yes, you'll need to adopt some new policies to ensure that you're in compliance with the required circulars. And we'll talk a little bit more about what those circulars are as well as where you can find those circulars and get more information. Thanks. So what are the key characteristics of organizations with highly effective financial management? We've already talked about written and filed policies and procedures. And we talk about that, but why do we talk about it so much? Well, because these are federal dollars you're responsible for. And some of you are getting some very sizable federal grants. We need to be sure that the federal funds are being used in appropriate manner. We need to be sure they're used in a consistent manner. We need to be sure that the federal funds are treated just like all your other funds. So specific policies need to be in place to ensure that that happens. That's okay. Trained financial staff, as I indicated, you're responsible for significant amounts of federal dollars. So we need to ensure that you have staff who are trained and who are knowledgeable about financial practices and general accounting principles and those kinds of things that we expect. Communications is so important. I can't tell you how many times I have as a grants officer gone out and do site visits because just like MHM is going to do site visits for you, I do site visits for various grantees. And it becomes obvious that at some point the program people and the fiscal people have not been communicating because I get them into a room and I make them talk, right? And you can tell at some point that communication hasn't happened in terms of what these grant requirements are, what the time reporting requirements are. Very important for everyone involved in the grant, you know, your fiscal people, your program people, your evaluation people. Very important that you have those communications. Very important everyone is on the same page. If you want an effective program, that has to happen. And it doesn't mean, you know, emails every couple of weeks or whatever. It really means, I think, you know, consistent communications, joint meetings, making sure that everyone understands. Particularly with regard to program and fiscal people. Sometimes in certain organizations, there's just kind of natural walls between them. But when it comes to managing a grant, you really need to be sure that you're all working as a team together to accomplish your goals. Succession planning and cross-training. Some of it's pretty obvious, but people need to be cross-trained. Particularly with regard to various reports. Your financial reports that are due and your programmatic reports that are going to be due to MHM, they're expecting those to come in on time. Right? Just like we expect our reports to come in on time. And I can't tell you how many times I've gotten memos saying, you know, Mary Jane went on vacation. She's not going to be back until later. Can I have an extension? That's not a reason. That's not an excuse. You need to plan for all your reports and you need to have the necessary backup systems in place. When I tell my grantees, you know, that they're going to be late, or they're asking, I said, well, unless it's a hurricane, tornado, storm, or some other significant thing, then we're just not going to give an extension. And obviously that's a little bit of a push, but the point is, is that you're responsible for making sure that everyone is cross-trained enough to get your required reports in. Because it's important to be on time. And the Board and Finance Committee, obviously you're non-profits, so you have to report to them, and it's important for them to know what's going on with your grant. All of you are getting new federal dollars, and I'm sure your Board is going to be interested, particularly our Finance Committee on your Board, in terms of how those plans are being implemented and how those dollars are being spent. So important to keep that communication. So again, a little bit of extra in terms of policies and procedures. They're written documents. They need to be in place in terms of what needs to be done, how it needs to be done. And the other important thing about policy and procedures, remember is that if someone's coming down, an auditor's coming down to do your a site visit, or if you're selected to be an auditee, the first thing they're going to do is ask for your policies and procedures. They read those policies and procedures, then they are, in effect, going to measure you against those policies that you had written. Are you following your procedures as indicated? And if not, there's going to be a problem. If there's no policies and procedures, in effect, there's certainly going to be a problem, particularly with the handling of these federal dollars. So I know many of you already have some in place, and some of you're going to have to add additional policies and procedures, but those are key. And I know we kind of repeat that over and over again, but it is important. And that's something that when MHM comes down and takes a review, they're going to be looking at and want to see those. Obviously, keeping up to date, important. You don't want to come in and see a policy as dated. 1989 has been updated. And everything else with regard to the rationale and the transactions completed form. So we're just kind of emphasizing that fact. Get them done now. Get them done early in their program. And then the bulk of your work is completed. Then it's just a matter of keeping up to date and keeping them current. Next. So we've already talked a little bit about accounting system, but here's a little bit more information. Obviously, our dollars, our federal dollars, need to be kept separate and tracked separately from your match dollars. And obviously, from any other operating dollars that your program maintains. So your accounting system must be capable of doing that. And you must be capable of separating those accounts. It must be capable of tracking them by program. You want to be able to track them by budget year. Essentially, your accounting system should be able to produce any kind of report you need at any time on any expense. You also need to make a difference between direct and indirect costs if you have an indirect cost rate. And of course, it's key that each award and grant be done separately. So most of the time you'd have a separate cost center assigned to each grant that you track. Many of you have multiple grants, federal grants, state grants. All those obviously need to be tracked separately. And if you're having state money that you're using to match your federal money, then you obviously need to track that and see in terms of how you're spending that money in order to meet your match requirements. So all that needs to flow. Now, that's something that your accounting people will take care of and handle. But as program people, you need to know that stuff as well. You need to know, particularly, in terms of what your budget is, right? Don't assume, because I've had instances of this happening where program people assume that they have permission to do something and the finance people never approved it, or even the other way around, where the finance people are producing reports. And producing reports are fine, but you have to communicate with your program people on what they mean in terms of your budget. I've had situations where program people overspent their budgets and they had to wind up coming up with some other way of paying off salaries and other expenses. So very important, as we're talking about communication, but very important that the program people get budget to actual reports. I would recommend monthly reports where you're looking at them and making sure that spending is going as you intended. And if there needs to be correction, you can correct them then, as opposed to the end of the year when it's too late. Next, please. And this is just a little bit more information. I think it's important. This is kind of budget 101 that you'd be able to compare your outlay with your budgets for each grant. That's what we call budget to actual. I mean, you do have some flexibility, but MHM is the one who provides you that flexibility as your direct funder. And so they've established terms in terms of they've said they wanted to know about any budget changes. So make sure you communicate those budget changes with them. But in terms of your money and how it's spent and how much money you have, that's something that as program people you need to be very mindful of and responsible for. Typically, the fiscal people will produce the reports and give you the numbers, but you as a program folks have to be able to interpret them and know exactly where you are in terms of spending and where you are in terms of allocated work and work that remains to be done for your grant. Okay, next. So this is just a little, a little schematic or a little drawing of terms of how to separate your funds. You need to be able to, this is a scenario where you have a department education grant, then you have a social innovation fund grant, and then you have a Ford Foundation grant, which is obviously private money. Each one of those grants need to be tracked separately, as you kind of see in our little balls and accounting system. I mean, this is by as elementary as we can put it, but essentially, make sure that you're tracking each grant separately, that you can account for each grant separately, because actually all your funders, no matter where you are, whether you're getting federal funds, state funds, private funds, you probably already know this, they want you to be able to report accurately on their funds. So we don't want to see in the bottom a hodgepodge of money just all together. We want it split and accounted for separately. Next. Documentation obviously is important for these specific information to track incoming information, to review information. You want to provide evidence of accomplishments and your MHM will want you to be able to do that, and some of these accomplishments will be programmatic as well as financial. And the other is to prepare for an audit. I think the key that I would say in terms of you as new programs in a new federal grant with a new grantee in terms of MHM is just be sure that if you can document all your costs. So if I were to come in and I were to look at each and every receipt, you want to be able to show or let's say if I went in and looked at General Edger and I saw something for $12.50, you want to be sure you have a receipt or some documentation for $12.50. So I'm kind of getting down to the real basic level, but you want to be able to be able to provide that global documentation for several reasons. For one, you want it for your own peace of mind and for your own system to make sure that you know how you're spending your money. Number two, MHM may come down and do a review and start pulling information. And they already indicated they're going to start actually asking for all the documentation for I think you said the first three months or so. It might sound like burdens some, but the reality is establishing a good pattern for your good habit for you because if you have that information, you don't have to worry about somebody coming in and questioning those costs like an IG audit or something of that nature. As long as those costs obviously relevant and equitable and allowable. So you know, if you have a receipt for $500 for, you know, a tab at a bar at a hotel, even though you've documented that cost, that cost is not going to fly. So I'm pretty sure most of you are aware of some of those prohibited costs, but alcohol is certainly one of them. Also, one of the prohibited costs just in general is which kind of makes sense. You certainly can't use the federal money to pursue or sue the federal government. Number three is you can't use federal dollars to lobby. So you can't use it to go to Austin to lobby for more funds. So there's a number of key prohibitions in terms of federal funds across the board, but kind of keep those in mind. So don't lobby and don't drink. And I don't know how that works in Texas. It seems like those two go hand in hand, but in any event, I know in California it doesn't and actually in D.C. it does as well. But that's a couple prohibitions. Okay, next please. And we've talked, I think, a lot about staff time and I think Peggy and her staff did a good job of going over what we're talking about. The term is time and effort reporting, but in reality we're really talking about the time sheets and we're really talking about the fact that it needs to report actual time, not budgeted time. So you might be budgeted 30% on the grant, but you need to charge the actual amount of time that you're actually working on the grant. And that needs to be done on a regular bi-weekly or monthly basis. So if I come in and if I see miraculously that every day you're spending the exact amount of time that ties to the budgeted, I probably have some concerns about whether or not you're really doing actual time reporting as opposed to it would fluctuate from day to day. Now if you're 100% on the grant, are any of you going to be 100% on the grant? Probably not, okay. Because you're 100% on the grant that makes it simple because all your time is spent on the grant, right? But if you're not, then you need to separate that out. So it would need to say on your time sheets, it would need to have an indication of, you know, your SIF grant or whatever your name you call it, you know, eight hours this day, four hours, three hours, two hours, and then you need to account for the rest of that time as well. So your whole time sheet has to account for your full day, right? So it needs to tie out to eight hours a day. And one of the things we kind of press on time sheets because that's one area that we've found that we've found significant problems with in terms of compliance and that grantees have had issues with or problems with not accurately completing these time sheets. So as you start your new grant, it's very good to get in that habit. It's not just a habit's requirement, but it's good to start with a solid foundation in terms of ensuring that you're doing your time sheets accurately and regularly and ensuring that someone's monitoring that and making sure it happens. There's nothing, there's no scarier feeling than being sitting in an office and having someone from the state or federal government come and want to look at your time sheets and you're not able to pull those time sheets. Because what happens from that is what we call question costs, that is we're questioning the validity of your charges and what can happen is that we can actually go in and disallow those costs, which means that you have to pay back the federal government. And that's a situation you don't want. We've had those situations in the past and it's not, hasn't been too great for everyone around. Also talking about equipment, just to kind of piggyback on that more. Equipment in the federal terminology is items of $5,000 or more. And so for those things you would require approval from MHM and then MHM would have to get approval from the federal government for any of those items. So it's very important you don't go out and buy any cars or vans or any item over $5,000 unless you have specific written prior approval. If you don't then you could be liable for those costs. We had one grantee a couple years ago that authorized the subs of purchasing several cars. They did not get prior approval and they wound up having to pay the government about $95,000 for that. So we want to be sure that you have those approvals in place. So this is just another little sketch in terms of tracking your various revenues and expenditures. I won't kind of go through it but you have that actually on your sheet and it's just a kind of a way of just tracking your CNCS funds, your federal funds, the intermediary funds, your sub-grantee funds and ensuring that they're all separate and you're all matched, they're all separate and they have the systems in order to track it for each and every one of those funding sources. So as we indicate before we look to the general ledger which is your accounting system to have the capability of producing all these reports and all this information we would expect would be in your accounting system. It's obviously important to review and reconcile the information and ensure that they're accurate. For you as sub-grantees you'll be submitting reports to MHM and so you want to make sure that they're all accurate and also you have to remember that MHM has to submit financial reports to the federal government to us every six months so they need to use your data as well as their information in order to prepare accurate financial reports and the financial reports they submit to us includes all the expenditures of federal dollars it also includes all the match expended which will be your match and their match so it's important that you submit accurate data to them so they can submit accurate data to us and submitting reports on time I can't kind of I can't stress enough of submitting them time we have a system in the federal government and and the corporation national community service which we call e-grants which is our overall grants management system so all those reports are filed electronically now as a grant officer I can do a number of different kinds of things with grantees one thing I cannot do I can't turn back the hands of time so if you submit it those are electronically date stamped and they're automatically considered late one day or three days or however many days so it's it's really important for those to be submitted on time now for you you'll be won't be submitted electronically you'll be submitting them to mhm on the required dates but still as part of their overall monitoring and evaluation of you as a program one of the things are going to look at do they submit their required reports on time so you know there's a lot of different ways to manage that simple as getting a big old year calendar and circling those dates on the calendar when they're due as well as a lot electronic tickler systems or whatever but ensure you get them on time and if there's some reason legitimate reason you can't be sure to request an extension for that and don't request extension the day before it's due okay I mean that's we go with some recommendation in terms of how I would look at things when I get those so if there's some real emergency situation that prevents it we do know that those things happen from time to time but don't wait till the last minute to do that and so I know you already had a session on criminal history checks so I'm not going to go over all of this just to note that those are very important and very critical in terms of criminal checks for those individuals who are going to be on the grant next okay next so I think in and kind of in summary I just would like to say that even though you're getting federal dollars and it may seem a little bit intimidating at first particularly if you're new I would suggest that you have capable staff who are willing to help you and assist you and you can do research on your own as well but I think the the key thing is to treat them with with a lot of diligence in terms of how they're spent how they're tracked and we don't want to put the you know the overall situation of well you know track them because someone else might come down and look at them track them carefully and keep the expenditure no you want to do that because you want to be a responsible steward of the federal funds that you're getting and that's you know that's the key and you know just applying some of these simple techniques particularly from the very beginning of the grant will yield lots of success and will put you in compliance with all the various requirements and things so with that I'm certainly open to any questions you have have you had enough financial compliance spoken to you this time okay well great well thanks for your time and attention