April 2024 1

Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 Shelter and Services 

Program - Competitive (SSP-C) Fact Sheet

In FY 2024, SSP-C will provide $340.9 million to non-federal entities for services associated 

with noncitizen migrant arrivals in their communities.

Overview

The Shelter and Services Program (SSP) is administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in 

partnership with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). SSP provides financial support to non-federal entities 

that provide humanitarian services to noncitizen migrants following their release from the Department of Homeland 

Security (DHS). The FY 2024 SSP-C Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) will be issued April 12, 2024. Any eligible 

applicant can apply for SSP-C funding. Eligible applicants for SSP-Allocated (SSP-A) may also apply for SSP-C awards.

Eligibility

Eligible applicants, as listed in the NOFO, are:

▪ Local governments as defined by 2 C.F.R. § 200.1

▪ Indian Tribes as defined by 2 C.F.R. § 200.1

▪ Nonprofit organizations as defined by 2 C.F.R. § 200.1

▪ The 50 states of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and any agency 

or instrumentality thereof exclusive of local governments. (The term “state” or “state government” where used in 

this NOFO refers to these entities.)

Applicant Criteria: Each eligible applicant may submit one SSP-C grant application. Eligible applicants must 

demonstrate capacity, either internally or through a partnership, to carry out each SSP allowable activity they 

propose funding for in their application. Funding will not be provided to an applicant that charges any noncitizen 

migrant for services.

Subapplicant Criteria: Under the FY 2024 SSP-C, eligible subapplicants may apply to and receive subawards from 

more than one non-federal entity that applies for and receives an SSP-C award directly from FEMA. Subapplicants 

must work directly with an eligible SSP-C applicant to be included in an application. Subapplicants must have 

capacity to perform each SSP allowable activity that the applicant(s) proposes they will perform. 

Funding

In FY 2024, the total funding amount that will be awarded under SSP-C is $340.9 million.
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Allowability

Services are only allowed for noncitizen migrants following their release from DHS. Allowable costs and services 

must meet the following criteria: 

▪ Primary Services include shelter, food, transportation, acute medical care, personal hygiene, and labor for 

primary services. At least one primary service is required for all eligible applicants.

▪ Secondary Services include renovations or modifications to existing facilities, clothing, outreach information, 

translation services, and labor for secondary services. 

▪ Management and Administration expenses are an allowable cost.

For more information about allowable costs, see Appendix A Allowable Activities in the FY 2024 SSP-C NOFO.

Application Process

Applying for an award is a multi-step process. Applicants are encouraged to register early in the System for Award 

Management (SAM.gov) and the FEMA Grants Outcomes (FEMA GO) system, as the registration process can take 

four weeks or more to complete. Registration should be done in sufficient time to ensure it does not impact an 

applicant’s ability to meet required submission deadlines. Please refer to Section D in the FY 2024 SSP-C NOFO for 

detailed information and instructions.

All application materials, including FY 2024 SSP ancillary documents, will be posted on Grants.gov. Eligible 

applicants must submit their application through FEMA GO. For FEMA GO support, applicants should contact 

FEMAGO@fema.dhs.gov or (877) 585-3242, Monday-Friday from 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. ET.

Completed applications must be submitted in the FEMA GO system no later than 3 p.m. ET on June 13, 2024.

Application Review

FEMA will review applications for eligibility and compliance with all application requirements in the SSP-C NOFO 

through a multi-step process, outlined below. 

Compliance Review

FEMA and CBP will evaluate applications for eligibility and completeness to ensure compliance with program 

requirements, as outlined in the SSP-C NOFO, and statutory funding limitations.

Competitive Scoring

Subject-matter experts from FEMA and CBP will conduct a panel review of eligible and compliant applications using 

competitive scoring criteria. The competitive scoring criteria (listed below) use CBP data and data provided by 

applicants to calculate each applicant’s total score. 

▪ What percent of the organization’s annualized humanitarian services budget goes directly to noncitizen migrant 

services?

▪ What is the total possible capacity to serve noncitizen migrants per day?
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▪ What type of services are being requested for funding? Applicants will only receive points if a specific primary 

service meets 10% or more of their submitted budget. Secondary services do not have a minimum percentage to 

receive points.

▪ Does the organization currently (within the last 30 days) provide services to noncitizen migrants immediately

(the same calendar day or no later than the following calendar day) after their release from DHS custody?

▪ What is the location of shelter and services facility(ies)?

Eligible applications will be awarded two bonus points for each eligible subapplicant included in the SSP-C

application worksheet (maximum 10 possible points).

Final Application Ranking

FEMA will rank applications in descending order based on score, and funding will be provided to applicants based on 

score distribution. All final funding determinations will be made by the Secretary of Homeland Security, who retains 

the discretion to consider other factors and information, such as indicators of greatest need to provide services to 

the greatest number of migrants to decompress CBP facilities, in addition to the reviewer funding recommendations. 

Resources

There are a variety of resources available to address programmatic, technical, and financial questions, including:

▪ The FY 2024 SSP-C NOFO is available online at www.fema.gov/grants as well as www.grants.gov.

▪ For SSP-specific questions, please email fema-ssp@fema.dhs.gov.

▪ For support regarding financial grants management and budgetary technical assistance, applicants may contact 

the FEMA Award Administration Help Desk at ASK-GMD@fema.dhs.gov.

▪ For additional program-specific information, please contact the FEMA Grants News at (800) 368-6498 or femagrants-news@fema.dhs.gov. FEMA Grants News hours of operation are from 9 a.m. - 5p.m. ET, Monday through 

Friday.

▪ SSP will be hosting a series of SSP-101 webinars for interested applicants. Please monitor fema.gov/grants for a 

list of webinar details and registration links.