FY 2008 Competitive Training Grant Program (CTGP) 

 

Overview 

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Federal 
Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) 
Competitive Training Grant Program (CTGP) is an 
important component of the administration’s larger, 
coordinated effort to strengthen homeland security 
preparedness. The CTGP awards funds to 
competitively selected applicants to develop and deliver 
innovative training programs addressing high priority 
national homeland security training needs. The CTGP 
demonstrates FEMA’s commitment to work closely 
with the nation’s homeland security stakeholders in a 
unified national effort to continuously expand training 
opportunities that address the evolving national risk environment. The CTGP supports 
objectives addressed in a series of post-9/11 laws, such as Section 648(a) of the Post Katrina 
Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006, and other strategy documents, such as the 
National Preparedness Guidelines and Homeland Security Presidential Directives. 

 

Purpose 

The purpose of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2008 CTGP awards is to fund competitively selected 
applicants who will develop and deliver innovative training programs addressing high priority 
national homeland security training needs. 

 

Funding 

The FY 2008 CTGP will provide approximately $27.2 million. 

 

Eligibility 

Entities eligible to receive FY 2008 CTGP funding include: state, local, tribal and territorial 
governments; national associations, organizations and for-profits with a demonstrable expertise 
relevant to the focus area for which grant funding is being requested; non-profit higher education 
institutions with existing programs which address the focus area for which grant funding is 
requested; and nonprofits, including community and faith-based organizations, with a 
demonstrable expertise relevant to focus area for which grant funding is requested. 

 

Application Deadline 

Beginning May 19, 2008, eligible entities applied for funding through the Grants.gov portal, 
accessible on the Internet at http://www.grants.gov. The application deadline for FY 2008 GTGP 
grants was June 9, 2008. 

 

The Fiscal Year 2008 Competitive 
Training Grant Program will 
provide approximately $27.2 
million to address high priority 
national homeland security 
training needs to prevent, protect 
against, respond to, and recover 
from acts of terrorism and/or 
catastrophic events. 



Program Highlights 

This year, five important focus areas were identified for applicants to use in the development of 
their application and concept papers: 

 

• Intelligence / Information Sharing and Dissemination; 


• Critical Infrastructure Protection; 


• Regional Collaboration; 


• Citizen Preparedness and Participation; and 


• Citizen Evacuation and/or Shelter-In-Place. 




 

Interested applicants proposed a national-scope training program for one of the focus areas and 
submitted applications through the http://www.grants.gov Web site. Training was to be designed 
for, and delivered to, appropriate state and local personnel with homeland security-related 
responsibilities. The audience for training was identified by the applicants in their proposals. 
Awards have a funding period not to exceed 36 months. 

 

Peer Review Process and Evaluation Criteria 

DHS established a two-step application process for CTGP. The first step involved the 
submission of an application on http://www.grants.gov that included a nine-page national 
training concept paper. Applicants competitively selected during this step were invited to submit 
a more detailed national training proposal (step two). 

 

Concept papers were reviewed and evaluated for adherence to content and format requirements 
as established in the Fiscal Year 2008 CTGP Program Guidance and Application Kit. Awardees 
were determined following an independent subject matter expert evaluation and panel review of 
full proposals consisting of representatives from academia, industry or federal government 
organizations, along with practitioners from federal, state and local criminal justice and public 
safety agencies.