Office of the Secretary

Office of State and Local 

Government Coordination &

Preparedness 

Washington, DC 20531 

SLGCP Information Bulletin 

No. 143 December 14, 2004 

TO All State Administrative Agency Heads 

 All State Administrative Agency Points of Contact 

 All State Homeland Security Directors 

 All State Emergency Management Directors 

FROM: C. Suzanne Mencer 

 Executive Director 

SUBJECT: Guidelines for Biannual Strategy Implementation Report Technical Assistance 

The Office of State and Local Government Coordination and Preparedness (SLGCP) is currently 

developing a web application for states’ submissions of the Initial Strategy Implementation Plan 

(ISIP) and Biannual Strategy Implementation Report (BSIR). The ISIP/BSIR is designed to 

outline how state, urban area and local SLGCP grant funding is being used to meet the strategic 

goals and objectives outlined in the State and Urban Area Homeland Security Strategies. 

The current ISIP submission process is based on Microsoft Excel templates. The BSIR, which is 

web-based, will completely replace the Excel templates. The BSIR application will be delivered to 

states in early January to correspond with the February 28, 2005 BSIR submission due date. The 

BSIR submission must be submitted online via the Grant Reporting Tool (GRT) and it must be 

completed by state grantees and sub-grantees at the state, urban area, and local levels. 

Technical Assistance 

SLGCP is offering several types of technical assistance (TA) to assist SAAs with the BSIR completion and 

submission process. These TA workshops will be delivered by TEEX. 

Scheduling Protocols 

Scheduling protocols have been established to ensure consistency and accuracy when scheduling 

TA workshop deliveries to the states. The SAA should contact the state’s SLGCP Preparedness 

Officer to schedule TA. If the SAA has not contacted SLGCP regarding TA within a reasonable 

time period, the Preparedness Officer should contact the SAA to discuss possible TA needs. 

Helpline Protocols 

Helpline protocols have been established to ensure that incoming BSIR calls are answered in the 

appropriate manner and by the appropriate person.

 
Technical Assistance Options 

To assist SAAs with the BSIR completion and submission process by January 31st, 2004, SLGCP 

is offering several types of technical assistance (TA). Available TA includes: a BSIR overview 

workshop and a BSIR data entry workshop. States may request that both workshops be presented 

in one session, or they may choose to schedule each type at a different time. One delivery of the 

overview TA and one delivery of the data entry TA are allotted per state. Depending on the state’s 

needs, the duration of each data entry TA is one to four days.

BSIR TA Workshop 

Description 

This one day workshop focuses on providing an overview, facilitation and assistance to the State 

Administrative Agency (SAA) in the BSIR on- line application. It will cover: 

* Registration in the BSIR 

* Reporting Process 

* BSIR Basic Operation 

* Submitting the BSIR 

* Information for the BSIR 

Frequency One session per state/territory 

Target Audience 

SAAs and any personnel designated by the SAA for participation. This should include personnel 

responsible for developing and updating the projects to be funded through FY 2004 HSGP and 

UASI grants, and may include subgrantees. The SAA may also want to include the financial 

services representative responsible for managing its grant resources. 

BSIR Data Entry TA Workshop 

Description 

This one to four day workshop assists the state with entering the BSIR data into the BSIR 

application. SLGCP will provide staff that will work on site in the state to facilitate data entry by 

state and local jurisdictions, as well as to enter data collected for the BSIR. 

Frequency One session per state/territory 

Target Audience 

SAAs and any personnel designated by the SAA for participation. This should include personnel 

responsible for developing and updating the projects to be funded through FY 2004 HSGP and 

UASI grants, and may include subgrantees. The SAA may also want to include the financial 

services representative responsible for managing its grant resources. 
Requesting Workshops 

Requests for TA workshops must be made through the state’s SLGCP Preparedness Officer. 

Other Technical Assistance 

Grant Reporting and Assessment Tool Help Line 

Description 

The Grant Reporting and Assessment Tool Help Line is available to answer BSIR questions 

Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., 

Central Standard Time at 1-877-612-HELP (4357). 
BSIR Technical Assistance Scheduling Process

1. SAA POC contacts their Preparedness Officer (PO) with request for technical assistance. 

2. The PO will work with the SAA to determine the date, time, and type of TA to be delivered. 

Available types of TA include: 

1) BSIR Overview TA Workshop 

 

2) BSIR Data Entry Completion TA Workshop 

 

States may request that both types be presented in one workshop, or they may choose to schedule 

each type at a different time (i.e. if they are targeting different audiences). One delivery of overview 

TA and one delivery of data entry TA is allotted each state. Depending on the state’s needs, the 

duration will be one to four days for the data entry TA.

3. The PO will then send the scheduling request, with details, to the BSIR Technical Assistance 

Scheduling Officer at SLGCP (in this case Jessica Tylecki or Johanna Steele). The Scheduling 

Officer will work with the PO and the TA provider to schedule the TA workshop. 

4. Once the TA workshop date has been scheduled, the TA provider will send an email confirmation to 

the SAA, PO, Scheduling Officer, and CSID. 

5. TEEX will conduct the TA delivery to the state. 

6. After the TA delivery has been completed, TEEX will complete an after action report (AAR) and 

submit it within seven business days of the workshop to the CSID and the Scheduling Officer. The 

CSID will post the AAR to the appropriate state folder on the SLGCP shared drive, and send an email 

confirmation to the PO that the AAR has been posted.