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Preparing for BJA financial and programmatic monitoring

Awards are selected for federal monitoring at random, and any award can be chosen, including an award in good standing. The monitor will ask for proof of service, proof of spending, and proof that you oversee every subrecipient. This series walks through what a Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) monitor asks for and shows you what a good answer looks like.

  • For everyone
  • 10 modules
  • Checklists, sample records, and worked examples

Who this series is for

BJA conducts two kinds of monitoring, financial and programmatic, and a grantee may be selected for one or both. The series covers the elements in a sample BJA monitoring request and marks each one as financial or programmatic.

Finance staff are responsible for financial monitoring, and the Project Director is responsible for programmatic monitoring. The Project Director is also responsible for coordinating with program staff, contractors, and subrecipients to ensure that they are aware of monitoring. The series is written for finance staff and the Project Director, and modules marked for everyone apply to both.

Each module covers one part of the grant file, so each one can be handed to the person who keeps that folder.

Find your modules

Figure 1 shows the folders of the grant file, who each group of folders is for, and the modules that cover them.

Figure 1: The grant file folders, who they are for, and the modules that cover them

The grant file folders, who they are for, and the modules that cover them Folders 00 and 01 are for finance staff and the Project Director and are covered in Modules 1 to 3 and Module 10. Folders 02 to 05 are for finance staff, fall under financial monitoring, and are covered in Modules 4 to 7. Folders 06 to 09 are for the Project Director, fall under programmatic monitoring, and are covered in Modules 8 and 9 and Lesson 5.4. Grant File Shared drive›Grants›Grant File Folders and who they are for Type of monitoring Grant File Folders 00 and 01 Both For finance staff and the Project Director The grant file, the key personnel list, and the work that finance staff and the Project Director share. Modules 1 to 3 and Module 10 Folders 02 to 05 Financial monitoring For finance staff Payroll, procurement, contracts, subaward oversight, and cash management. Modules 4 to 7 Folders 06 to 09 Programmatic monitoring For the Project Director Proof of service, evidence for each deliverable, the data collection plan, and partner meetings. Modules 8 and 9, and Lesson 5.4
Choose your role

Table 1: Modules in this series

ModuleWhat you will findWho should take itTimeYour role

The modules build on one another. Module 1 produces the list of monitoring elements that apply to your award, Module 2 sets up the file, Module 3 covers the written policies, Modules 4 through 9 cover the records in each folder, and Module 10 tests the whole file.

How each lesson works

Every lesson has the same four parts.

  1. What the monitor asks for. The wording of the request from the sample BJA monitoring request, under the heading "Be prepared to provide the following."
  2. What a good answer looks like. A worked example from the Riverbend award.
  3. Build it. A checklist of what to assemble, and a template or a short tool when one helps.
  4. File milestone. What is in your grant file when the lesson is complete.

Each module opens with key questions and closes with a checklist of what its folder should include.

The Riverbend example

Every name, number, and record shown in an example is fictional. The examples follow one made-up award, the Riverbend County Reentry Support Project, funded at $300,000.

Samples you can edit

Every sample policy, sample memo, and blank template in this series is also provided in a companion Word file, Sample Policies and Templates, so it can be saved, filled in, and adopted without retyping. The Templates and resources page lists each one.

Download Sample Policies and Templates (Word)

Your award controls

This series is based on a sample set of BJA monitoring requests and on common practice across Department of Justice awards. The requests you receive from your monitor, your award conditions, and the DOJ Grants Financial Guide always take precedence, and your grant manager is the right person to ask when something here does not match your award.

Before you begin

For help with JustGrants roles, award documents, modifications, and reporting, see the Grant Management Resources page.

Next: Module 1, How monitoring works

Rulo Strategies produced this series to provide technical assistance to Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Use Program (COSSUP) grantees. This is not an official Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) publication.

Source: Grantee Guidebook, Preparing for BJA Financial and Programmatic Monitoring, Rulo Strategies LLC, October 2026.