Pre-Award Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

for the 2023 COPS Anti-Methamphetamine 

Program (CAMP)

Getting Started

Q. What is the purpose of COPS Anti-Methamphetamine Program (CAMP) funding?

A. CAMP is a competitive award program that provides funding in amounts not less than $1 million to 

state law enforcement agencies in states with high seizures of precursor chemicals, finished 

methamphetamine, laboratories, and laboratory dump seizures for the purpose of locating or 

investigating illicit activities such as precursor diversion, laboratories, or methamphetamine 

traffickers.

Q. Is CAMP an open solicitation?

A. Yes. State law enforcement agencies authorized by law or by a state agency to engage in or to 

supervise anti-methamphetamine investigative activities such as locating and investigating illicit 

activities including precursor diversion, laboratories, or methamphetamine traffickers are eligible to 

apply.

Allowable Costs Under CAMP

Q. What may my agency request funding for under CAMP? 

A. Budgets submitted under CAMP must be at least $1 million. Agencies may request funding to pay for 

the following:

• Personnel and fringe benefits

• New civilian personnel to work directly on anti-methamphetamine investigation activities

• New sworn personnel to work directly on anti-methamphetamine investigation activities

• Equipment directly related to anti-methamphetamine investigation activities

• Supplies directly related to anti-methamphetamine investigation activities

• Travel/Training directly related to anti-methamphetamine investigation activities

• Contracts/Consultants directly related to anti-methamphetamine investigation activities

• Other costs, including overtime for sworn officers and civilian staff engaging in antimethamphetamine investigation activities
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Agencies may elect to redeploy locally funded sworn personnel to engage in CAMP activities and 

assign newly hired CAMP-funded officers to backfill their positions 

Funding requests are not limited to your agency's entry-level salary and benefits. CAMP award funds 

will pay for experience level salaries as reflected in your agency's approved pay-scale. 

CAMP will pay only for costs not already funded in the applicant’s local budget. Please refer to the 

CAMP solicitation for a nonexhaustive list. 

Q. May CAMP funding be used to fund clandestine drug laboratory cleanup, treatment programs, or 

prosecution of methamphetamine-related activities? 

A. No. Agencies seeking funding for clandestine drug laboratory cleanup should contact the Drug 

Enforcement Administration (DEA). 

Q. May CAMP funding be used to fund overtime for sworn officers? 

A. Yes. Agencies may request funding for overtime for sworn officers engaging in antimethamphetamine investigation activities under the Other Costs budget category. 

Q. May CAMP funding be used to fund overtime for civilian positions? 

A. Yes. Agencies may request funding for overtime for civilians engaging in anti-methamphetamine 

investigative activities under the Other Costs budget category. 

Q. What is the maximum amount to be awarded per award? 

A. Each award will be capped at $2 million. 

Q. Is there a match requirement? 

A. No. There is no local match. 

Q. How long is the award period for CAMP? 

A. CAMP is a three-year (36-month) award program. All budget requests must not exceed this threeyear period. 

Q. May CAMP funding be used to rehire sworn officers previously employed by our agency? 

A. Yes. Officers previously employed by your agency may be rehired using CAMP funds. 

Q. May CAMP funding be used to fill sworn officer positions that are vacant at the time we apply for 

CAMP funding? 

A. No. Officers funded with CAMP funds must be in addition to any officers funded in your agency’s 

local budget. However, CAMP funding may be used to fill vacant sworn officer positions if the 

positions are unfunded in the law enforcement budget (i.e., state, local, or BIA funding has not been 

budgeted to pay for the salary and benefits costs of the positions) because of a hiring freeze or 

budget cuts due to local fiscal distress. 

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Preparing Your Application 

CAMP applications are a two-part process. Applicants will submit the SF-424 in Grants.gov and the full 

application in JustGrants. For further guidance and resources, read the solicitation document and the 

Application Resource Guide carefully, access the DOJ Application Submission Checklist, and see the 

JustGrants Application Submission training page. 

Q. What is the deadline for this solicitation? 

A. Complete application packages for the CAMP 2023 solicitation are due by Tuesday, April 25, 2023, 

at 4:59 p.m. ET. The SF-424 and SF-LLL must be submitted in Grants.gov by Tuesday, April 18, 2023. 

You are urged to register in Grants.gov as soon as your agency believes it will apply for CAMP 

funding. Note: Hard copy or emailed applications will not be accepted. 

Law Enforcement Coordination 

Q. Are recipients of CAMP awards required to coordinate with other law enforcement entities? 

A. Yes. Recipients are required to coordinate with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement 

agencies to maximize the impact and effectiveness of the award. The recipients must coordinate 

and work with U.S. Attorneys’ Offices in their states, coordinate and work with local and tribal law 

enforcement agencies in any area impacted by the work of the COPS Anti-Methamphetamine 

Program, and coordinate as appropriate with other federal law enforcement partners such as the 

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) or Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to assist tribal law 

enforcement agencies. 

Budget-Related Questions 

Q. What are allowable fringe benefits? 

A. In addition to Social Security, Medicare, health insurance, life insurance, vacation (enter value for 

line item only if funds are not included in the base salary listed above), sick leave (enter value for 

line item only if funds are not included in the base salary listed above), retirement, Worker’s 

Compensation, and unemployment insurance, the following are allowable fringe benefits: 

(1) dental insurance, (2) vision insurance, (3) prescription drugs, (4) holiday pay, (5) disability 

insurance, (6) accidental death and disability, (7) 401(k) plan, (8) liability insurance, (9) shift 

differential payments, (10) accident insurance, (11) bonding insurance, (12) Police Trust, (13) state 

funded retirement system, (14) professional liability insurance, (15) Federal Unemployment Tax Act 

(FUTA) tax, and (16) survivor benefit. Other benefits, such as severance pay, hazard pay, etc., are not 

allowed. 

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The COPS Office will not pay for any fringe benefits not listed, and if your agency pays those benefits 

for locally funded positions, your agency will be required to do so for CAMP-funded positions with 

local funds. Please note: If sick leave and/or vacation leave costs are already reflected in the base 

salary figure lease DO NOT also list these costs individually under fringe benefits. 

Q. Are fringe benefits allowable for requested overtime costs? 

A. Yes, but the only fringe benefits allowable for requested overtime compensation are FICA, Worker’s 

Compensation, and unemployment insurance. The COPS Office will not pay for any other fringe 

benefits for requested overtime costs. If your agency pays for additional benefits for overtime, then 

your agency will be required to do so with local funds. 

Q. How do I determine the health care and fringe benefits costs for my agency? 

A. An agency should contact its Human Resources/Benefits Office to help determine their costs for 

health care and fringe benefits. 

Q. How should an agency calculate the first-year salary and benefit package of officers who will be

recruits promoted to sworn officer positions, given that a recruit and sworn officer fall under 

different pay and benefit levels? 

A. The first-year salary and benefits package should cover the sworn officer salary and benefits of the 

officer postgraduation. 

Q. My agency has officers who are exempt from Social Security benefit deductions. How should I 

address this in the CAMP application? 

A. Agencies that have officers that are exempt from Social Security benefit deductions should check 

the “Exempt” option on the application. By checking “Exempt,” the agency is not required to submit 

additional information. 

Q. Are subawards allowed under CAMP awards? 

A. No, subawards are not an allowable cost under this program 

Q. Are academy costs allowed under CAMP awards? 

A. No, academy costs are unallowable under this program. 

Q. Are indirect costs allowable under CAMP awards? 

A. No, CAMP does not pay for any indirect costs. 

Q. If awarded funding from CAMP, will our agency be obligated to keep the total number of officers 

on staff at the time the award was funded? 

A. To comply with the nonsupplanting requirement of the CAMP award, the recipient must maintain its 

locally funded sworn force baseline and any planned increases of officer positions during the award 

period. 

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Nonsupplanting requirement 

Q. Does the nonsupplanting requirement apply to CAMP funding? 

A. Yes. The nonsupplanting requirement is a legal requirement in the Public Safety and Community 

Policing Act, which is the COPS Office’s authorizing statute. The nonsupplanting requirement means 

COPS Office award funds must be used to supplement (not replace) state, local, or Bureau of Indian 

Affairs (BIA) funds that would have been dedicated toward law enforcement if federal funding had 

not been awarded. As it applies to your agency’s CAMP award, recipients must not reduce the level 

of state, local, or BIA funding that would have been dedicated toward any hiring or procurement as 

a result of receiving federal funding. 

CAMP funding and other COPS Office awards 

Q. May our agency request funding under CAMP if we have an active COPS Office hiring award for 

sworn officer positions? 

A. Yes. Agencies with an active COPS Office hiring award are not disqualified from applying for a CAMP 

award, but the CAMP-funded position(s) must be over and above the number of officer positions 

funded in the agency’s local budget and under any other COPS Office hiring award. 

Q. May CAMP funding be used to retain officers hired under other COPS Office hiring programs? 

A. No. CAMP funding may not be used to comply with the retention requirement of your other COPS 

Office hiring awards. Instead, your agency must use state, local, or tribal funding to retain the COPS 

Office–funded positions for the required retention period following the conclusion of the award 

period. 

In addition, the retained officer position(s) must be over and above your agency’s locally funded 

sworn force and any full-time sworn positions funded under the CAMP award. 

Retention requirement 

Q. Is there a retention requirement for officers hired under CAMP? 

A. No. There is no retention requirement for officers hired using CAMP funding. However, recipients 

will be subject to the nonsupplanting requirement. 

Other Questions 

Q. What is the formula for disbursing CAMP funds? 

A. CAMP is not a “formula” award program. All applications will be reviewed based on the information 

provided in the solicitation survey data, the statewide methamphetamine seizure data, and other 

relevant factors determined by the COPS Office. Awards will be made on a competitive basis. 

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Q. When should I expect notification if awarded CAMP funds? 

A. The COPS Office anticipates making CAMP award announcements prior to September 30, 2023. 

Questions? For technical assistance with submitting the full application in JustGrants, contact the 

JustGrants Service Desk at JustGrants.Support@usdoj.gov or 833-872-5175. The JustGrants Service Desk 

operates 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. eastern time (ET) Monday through Friday, and 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. ET 

on Saturday, Sunday, and federal holidays. Email requests for JustGrants assistance may be sent 

24/7/365 and will be handled during operating hours. 

For programmatic and general assistance with the solicitation requirements, contact the COPS Office 

Response Center at 800-421-6770 or by email at AskCOPSRC@usdoj.gov. The Response Center’s hours 

of operation are Monday–Friday (except U.S. Federal Government holidays; see 

https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/snow-dismissal-procedures/federal-holidays/) from 9:00 

a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ET). 

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